DO NOT COME HERE! It's sad to leave a negative review as I've been wanting to come here for a while now! im a california native that grew up with great japanese food and i've been to japan multiple times and ive been really craving japanese food. It wasn't that busy during lunch hours, my friend got the udon ($18) and it took 25 min to come out while my food and our other friend who ordered a different hot dish took less than 5 min to come. It felt like they forgot her order and we only had an hour for lunch so taking so long for a quick food joint was inconvenient. The udon was BAD and the texture of the noodle was like instant udon. I make better udon at home using frozen noodles from the grocery store. It's extremely overpriced my two temakis cost $20... that's california prices without the california quality.... the rice wasn't seasoned with enough vinegar (if at all...) and it was falling apart, the fish was meh but it's the midwest so i understand. and the quality & size was like those at a revolving sushi restaurant. but you can get better sushi at a revolving sushi restaurant.... bc at least at those places these two mini rolls would've been maybe $7 altogether and i can expect the fish quality to be less because that's what im paying for. for $20 i expect either larger quantity or better quality or even better service! none of which we got and the wait was long even though they visibly had full staff (open concept we can see into the kitchen and there were plenty of waiters walking around to tables). the spicy salmon also wasn't spicy in the slightest! but hey it's minnesota and clearly this cafe is meant for white people. To top it off, my friend made a very funny joke and we all had a good laugh and the manager immediately came by to tell us that he loved our energy but to "quiet down because heads were turning".... i'm literally gagged because we were in secluded corner spot, had a normal volume conversation up until that (admittedly loud) laugh, and the restaurant was also quite normal noise level already with all the tables talking.... so i'm not sure which karen complained (if at all because he only said that heads were turning but not that anyone said anything...) but having a white man tell a group of asian girls (the only asian people eating in the restaurant) in a japanese inspired cafe to keep it down after one incident of laughing felt extra absurd. ive never been told to quiet down in a restaurant full of talking people. i would be more understanding it was a continuous obnoxiously loud disturbance, but this was just moments after that laughing. also god forbid the girls go out for a silly little lunch and have a good time he then asked if we wanted to box the udon to go because my friend didn't eat it and she said no and then he asked why and she said because she was full. he should've just left it at that when she said no to the box because at that point it just felt awkward. i wish she had been honest and said that the udon tasted terrible but she didn't want to be rude and make the situation more uncomfortable. we left after that but it was disappointing for the service, prices, & food to be awful! Already decided we weren't coming back after the initial service and overpriced mid food, but being told off by the manager was the cherry on top. so sad bc i was craving japanese food and the other restaurant (billy sushi) we meant to go to was closed. i am also still hungry because these hand rolls ($20) were two bites each... save your time and money and go to billy sushi their fish is so fresh, quantities are good, and service is great! you can definitely have a yummy meal & lovely conversation there with some friends. read more

Cafe Yoto - salmon temaki - Japanese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Ambience is clean, service is friendly, and the food is simply delicious and fresh. The karage was hot seasoned to perfection. The temaki was easy to eat and fresh! Would come here again if I'm in MN. The Osaka fog tasted like milk tea w/black sesame in it. read more

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Food was absolutely delicious and the service was so amazing. Very spacious and clean restaurant! read more

Cafe Yoto - Dessert- Potato Roll Cake - Japanese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Looked fake, tasted worse I usually don't leave Yelp reviews, but I had to for this one. I decided to try Yoto for the first time, it looked new and trendy, so I figured, why not? I ordered the rice bowl with crispy chicken, and honestly... it felt like I was eating fake food. The texture was so strange, the chicken was super chewy and almost plastic-like, and the rice looked and tasted off. It literally reminded me of Play-Doh food from a kids' set. For $20, I expected at least a full, fresh meal - not five pieces of chewy chicken on top of a scoop of sushi rice with random sauces on the side. I asked to exchange the chicken, and while the staff were kind about it, I waited nearly 20 minutes for the shrimp replacement, even though I was the only customer there. By the time it came out, my rice was cold, and the portion was tiny (two shrimp tempuras). I really wanted to like this place, but it just didn't deliver. Between the fake-tasting food, long wait, and small portions, I left feeling disappointed and low-key scammed. The staff were polite, but the food itself was not it. read more

Cafe Yoto - Rice and shrimp - Japanese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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I wanted to like this place. The Twin Cities lack a good selection of Japanese spots that aren't sushi or ramen. This place looks pretty, the ingredients seem fresh, the service is passable for a casual counter service place. The total is missing something. Temaki are hand rolls. They come in several formats: the most common is a cone of seaweed filled with rice and meat. Some are cylinders. The style done here is basically sushi tacos. No form is inherently better than the other. The temaki here gets the most photo time because it's pretty and they do combinations of toppings. The basic flavors are all there. None I've tried were unpleasant. The problem is how they serve them: the seaweed is still wrapped in plastic. These are individual pieces of seaweed pre-wrapped for individual use. The rice and toppings are placed on the plastic. To eat each one you must slide the plastic (it's composed of two halves that can be slid off), the process often jumbles the meat and toppings. Let's be clear: wrapped seaweed is not uncommon on *prepackaged food* at convenience stores and grocery stores that cater to Japanese clients here or in Japan. It serves the purpose of keeping the seaweed fresher for when you get around to eating it (assuming it was made in the morning, etc.). This food is being made-to-order for immediate consumption. I've never seen this before and I can see why: it's dumb and only makes the enjoyment of the food messier, more complicated, and--let's face it--wasteful. Food this simple should be unfussy. This is pretentious in a fast casual counter-service environment. The temaki here just isn't worth it. There's better. They also have rice dishes (donburi) which I was hopeful would make up for the temaki, but the times I've had it have all been mediocre. I have not tried the udon, as I'm not as into it. My overall service experiences have been average. Trying to do takeout here was a disaster early in their opening: the staff was clearly disinterested (poor management training), they wouldn't do temaki as take-out (ironic as the plastic they use is actually meant for that, not dining in), and the rice dishes I eventually got were mediocre. I didn't give up on it then, but after 3 visits I think I've seen all there is. Cafe Yoto feels like it wants to become a chain restaurant but I'm not seeing it. Okome is better as a sushi-alternative Japanese restaurant. Hikari Hand Rolls in Eat Street Crossing does unfussy temaki. Hopefully more good options will arrive. read more

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Frankly an embarrassing experience. Extremely high prices for some of the most mid Japanese food in the city. Sajusan, the sister restaurant, was my favourite food in the city before I was priced out of being able to eat there. I was hoping this would be a more affordable option, especially since the karaage place across the street closed, but no. The food is surprisingly bad, the only redeeming dish is the temaki. I've visited 3 times and this has been the case every time. On top of this, the portions are minuscule for the price, especially the desserts. The owners need to try the food before putting it on the menu. read more

This place is awesome -- I had the fresh tofu bowl and the tofu really was so fresh! I think they make it themselves. It was delicious. The Japanese barley tea is also really excellent. Quick service, very friendly, clean, and fair prices. read more

Both were really yummy and the fish were really fresh. I would say having just two of them wouldn't fill you up. Great place to stop by for a quick bite. Service was really fast and for a small shop they did have lots of seating. read more

Cafe Yoto - Salmon & tuna hand roll - Japanese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Went today for lunch. I had the mushroom udon with curry broth, my girlfriend got the same with the traditional dashi. Both were delicious. Noodles are made in house and broths are very flavorful. Good size portion for lunch. We each got a temaki, these were also very tasty. Excited to go back and try more things. Our server was welcoming at the counter and chased me down on the street to bring me my watch, which I had left at the table. read more

fun atmosphere. good hand rolls. good ramen. nothing that changed my life but I would definitely come back to try more. read more

Cafe Yoto - spicy tuna and then the salmon avocado - Japanese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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The food is okay but expensive. I'm not sure if I'll go back. The price-to-quality ratio was not worth repeating. read more

Cafe Yoto - What was left when I remembered to take a photo? Fried chicken with rice. - Japanese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Cute and casual with quick service. I definitely felt like the food was overpriced. It was good (the udon in particular) but nothing too special or exciting. The dessert was definitely disappointing, not fresh. read more

Cafe Yoto - Desserts. Cute but did not taste fresh at all. Stale and dry they keep them in a little fridge - Japanese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

After Chef Yo's successful run of Yo Monday Cafe at Kado no Mise in the summer of 2024, he has now expanded to Cafe Yoto. Though they were supposed to open around October of 2024, they finally opened today. The menu is also a much more expanded version of the Yo Monday Cafe menu as well. Menu focuses on udon, donburi, temaki, and various "street food items" in their small bites sections. No soba [yet?], unfortunately. Drink menu is generous and impressive, and mostly nonalcoholic. Alcohol is also offered. Order at the counter. Food comes out very quickly. Ordered unadon (eel donburi), karaage, and mentaiko scallop temaki. The uni is tender, and the sauce goes very well with the uni and rice. Really satisfying. Karaage is very tender and juicy and well marinated. Hits all the right flavors and notes. Lemon gives it additional freshness. Spicy Kewpie was forgotten, but didn't matter. Still delicious. The mentaiko scallop temaki was also delicious. Dipping it soy sauce brought the roll to the next level with regards to depth of flavor and savoriness and was probably the best of the three items. Honestly, I'm still thinking of the temaki and how awesome it was hours after eating it. Top quality food, good portions for the quality. I can easily find myself coming back here on the regular. Future things to definitely go for next time is the udon, as it was easily the best item on the menu for Yo Monday Cafe. No other place in town offers udon at this quality, to my knowledge. Udon noodles are also made in-house. Donburi is also very hard to come by in the Twin Cities as well. Also recommend trying the spicy miso in the future. I do hope the soba makes a comeback, especially cold soba for the dog days of summer coming up. Chef Yo (now Hasegawa-sensei?) is an amazing guy and came out to personally greet just about everyone on opening day despite being so busy. He has certainly made a very special place. Well worth the wait for Cafe Yoto to open. 5/5 Edit: Please help the staff and bus your own table when done. The dishes and waste can be dropped off to the left of the kitchen before hitting the restrooms. That section, is, unfortunately, not visible to most of the dining area. read more

A fantastic addition to North Loop. The staff is super friendly and the food came out fast on a weekday evening. I really enjoyed the karage donburi, fried tofu, and ebi shio (shrimp & shiso wrapped in wanton and fried). The kinoko udon was pretty good, but didn't stand out as much as the other foods. The barley iced tea was perfectly brewed and came with free refills. One thing I appreciate--no single-use plastic. They have composting and recycling, and eco-friendly takeaway containers for your leftovers (available at the place where you bus your dishes, so you can grab one when you are done). read more

Great service and really thoughtful menu. Very nice staff and helpful. Super bright and clean space. Will recommend to many.

Very tasty udon, definitely go for a barley tea with it if it's warm outside. Almost like being transported back to Japan

Everything we ate (hand rolls, karage , fried tofu, fried shrimp, ribeye donburi) was good. I wish the hand rolls were bigger though. I had 3 of the hand rolls but it wasn't enough to be a dinner, so we ordered other stuff. I will come here again to try their udon. The karage and fried tofu was the best thing we ate. read more

I'm Japanese and this place was very good. Hand rolls were just above average but I got the unagidon and it slapped. They also have katsudon which I'd like to try next time. Friends got ebi udon and yakinikudon and the reviews were all very strong. Like this place a lot, and also appreciate that the handrolls use a plant-based film and not plastic ;) read more

Great food, evolving menu, reasonable prices. I recommend the curry udon with karaage

Service is good. But any restaurant should have good service so it doesn't really count. What's important is the food and prices. I don't agree to any of the prices they have to expensive for not good quality/portion size. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. Came with 4 people they were not satisfied read more

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Excellent udon. We had Niku Udon (ribeye)& Karaage Udon (JFC). Both delicious. I'd give the nod to the Niku. Gyoza of the day was the star. Perfect wrappers, delicious filling, spot on dipping sauce. Nice selection of sake in cans. read more

Cafe Yoto - Karaage Udon - Japanese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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We enjoyed the karaage udon, kado hand roll, and Kado Donburi bowl. They were delicious and authentic Japanese style. The service was great, everyone was very polite and short wait time even though they were busy! Very clean and perfect place to gather with a group of friends for lunch or dinner. Chef Yo is the best! read more

Cafe Yoto - Kado Donburi - Japanese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Almost $10 for a 2/10 matcha, very light color matcha with cheap strawberry puree. The drink tasted like straight milk with barely any matcha unfortunately! read more

This place is a solid addition to the North Loop. Good food, good staff, nice little place to eat (or take out).

This was my first time and I tried the tofu donburi with fried tofu. It tasted like bland, undercooked tofu on top of rice with a few slivers of carrots--not flavorful, not interesting, very Americanized, but at least the rice felt authentic with a nice texture. The service and cleanliness were excellent. I'll try something else next time as I have faith in this place. read more

if you want mid sushi for a crazy price. pay $12 for a single bite of some sushi which was overall mid. but they do give you soy sauce with every meal. it's overall very over priced and not great. sushi isn't even cut up for you. would chose to go hungry read more

I came on the weekend they had the Yoto Don bowl. Salmon belly, tuna, some ikura, over Chirashi rice. Was it good? I thought so. The salmon belly was extra buttery but the tuna was just ok not the greatest quality. They pride themselves on using grade A rice which you can definitely notice. The reason I'm Cafe Yoto 3 stars instead of 4 (which is what the food alone deserves) is due to the price. I paid $31 for a bowl of rice with some 6 pieces of fish and some ikura. I also paid $8.50 for a tuna & avocado handroll. Those prices are on par with Billy sushi (another popular sushi restaurant in North Loop). The difference between the two? Billy's tuna is fresher in my opinion but also Billy's is a sit down restaurant with a good ambiance. Cafe Yoto you order at the counter and buss your own dishes. Not that I have anything against the concept of self service model but they need to reflect that in the prices. Staff was very friendly and helpful but I can't overlook the the massively overpriced menu. read more

Cafe Yoto - Yoto Don (Weekend Special) - Japanese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

A great place to get a quick bite. I have wanted a place like this in the north loop for a while and seeing it open and live up to my expectations gives me joy. read more

the food was immaculate simple but a burst of flavor I got the Karaage Udon and it was amazing and the service was jusy as good as good they were so patient with use and were great at answering our questions I will 110% visit again! read more