I've spent a lot of time traveling over the last few months and was really craving some Asian fusion. My friend and I decided on Yoko for dinner earlier this week. It's located at the corner of a fairly inconspicuous plaza, but I was surprised to find the restaurant on the fuller side, especially since it was 8pm on a weekday. Promising! We looked at the other tables for cues on what to order (and at yelp too of course) and decided on the chicken katsu combo with the udon on the side. FYI the broth is seafood, which matters to me since I don't eat pork. Anyway, we were first given this little mortar and pestle with sesame seeds to grind which I though was cute. Our meals took awhile but when they arrived we were totally impressed by the portion size. Leftovers ftw! The katsu was really good, and I liked the sesame sauce we got with it. I did find it strange that we were given cabbage instead of rice though. Cabbage with dressing was delish but I still wanted rice. The udon is the reason for the 3 stars. It was really just meh. I had just had a really delicious udon the week before and was unfairly comparing the two. I can't even pinpoint what was bad about it but wasn't a huge fan. I'd definitely come back for katsu, but I'd say stick to the plate and not the combo. read more

Delish! Always hits the spot! Reminds me of the katsu we had in Japan! The standard katsu order is the more than enough for one for dinner, and the combo is enough to share! read more

Exactly like Wako in Los Angeles. That's a good thing. You get a lot of food for the money.

I was at a conference in LA and was browsing Reddit and saw a picture of a beautiful bowl of soup, and thought "Man...I can definitely have some of this right now." Well, it turned out, I was able to! haha. The place is in SoCal and I just happened to be there. Based on the reviews, I thought there was going to be a long line, but when we got there, we were seated right away. Restaurant is cozy. They say hi to everyone who comes in through the door. :) Not a lot of variety on the menu, though. They appear to specialize in katsus and udon, so if you're not a fan of those, then this is definitely not the place for you. I got the fish cake udon combo. The broth was so flavorful. And they have several sides to go with the soup. Service was quick. Our waiter was patient and kind. Total came out to less than $12. Not bad. read more

YOKO. You only katsu once. This place offers a unique twist to the traditional Bento. Their menu consists of difference style Katsu and soup noodles. The decor in the restaurant is very creative, gives much character to this little place. The service is friendly, although sometimes there is quite a wait to be seated. Memorable mentions: Cheese Katsu Pizza Katsu read more

Came back from a water park and ate this. Probably the best Katsu I have ever had in my life. Should definitely consider trying this place out if you're in the area. read more

Yoko - Chicken Katsu with udon combo - Japanese Near Me - Buena Park, California

Good food but disappointed with the portion. It definitely became smaller and the price is higher.

If I could have Yoko for every meal of the day, every day of my life, I probably would. The food is bomb and in good portion. Trust me - I'm a big guy and I eat a lot but Yoko keeps me humble. The donkatsu is always crispy, well cooked and paired with a supa fresh salad, rice, jalepenos and miso soup. The udon is not greasy and tastes like the nectar of the gods. I usually don't write such raving reviews but this place is worth every single word. The servers are friendly, the atmosphere is nice, and the food is good. Yoko - you only katsu once - make sure it's at Yoko read more

Definitely my favorite katsu place. Good portion, good quality food, and good prices. Only downside is that sometimes there is a wait on weekends due to the small size of the restaurant. read more

My family has visited Yoko several times throughout the year. However, we were very disappointed when we got the to-go delivery today. Kimchi was very soggy and tasted like it was inside the fridge for like years. The Udon noodles were so bloated that they were separating into pieces. The donkatsu was also soggy and overall everything we ordered tasted like it was made hours beforehand. Hope the quality gets better because yoko is one of our favorite restaurants! read more

Food is great and the wait is not that long. The only reason I'm giving three stars is most of the male servers here have bad customer service skills. Usually I would point out which server it is, but actually I've been here about 5 times and every time I went the server was different, but still the same bad attitude and really bad sarcasm. Overall the food is delicious and I would highly recommend, but I would probably try to take it to go the next time I go. read more

first off im not korean nut eat here all the time. lately i will park in the parking lot and call it in. today when i called they told me they had already closed but were clearly open amd ywlp said they would be open for another 48min. i sat there looking on yelp for another place to eat while one asian customer after another went in to order/pick up food. i ihate to throw thw word racism around but i definitely felt descriminated for being a non korean. read more

Yoko - i called about 8:30. this pic is at 9.. doors still open and still allowing customers in and out. - Japanese Near Me - Buena Park, California

I love Yoko! Portions are big and everything is yummy! Great service and yummy food! I don't think you can beat that. read more

I ordered Donkatsu + Udon Combo for my lunch today. It was really good. Will be back again. read more

Yoko - Japanese Near Me - Buena Park, California

Recently came back to eat here and the quality hasn't changed one bit! I'm a huge fan of places with one specialt and if you're really feeling the itch for good katsu, I would definitely recommend eating here. I always get the regular pork katsu but there are other variations that I can't speak for, as I have not tried them. read more

I really wanted to like Yoko, and I really wanted to like the food at Yoko. I ordered the donkatsu with California roll combo. I was disappointed that the combo did not include a bowl of rice. I also ordered the soba noodles. The soba noodles were excellent. The donkatsu and the California rolls were just okay - edible but not outstanding. I paid 27 dollars for my meal. The food definitely was NOT worth 27 dollars. I did not bother to leave a tip. read more

The katsu here is amazing. It almost doesn't taste fried at all. It's light, airy, and crispy. Not overcooked despite being on the thin side. I can also eat a mountain of the shredded lettuce without feeling full. I highly recommend it here. read more

The MOST RUDE service I have ever experienced. I cannot even describe how unpleasant, rude, and disappointing the service was tonight. The guy sever gave us our bill before we even got our food. I do not know who trained this person, but he did not show any sign of hospitality. Who gives the customer the bill before they been receive any of the food?? Not to forget that he even THREW the bill on the table and walked away. He started to sweep right in front of us as we were eating, which is extremely unappetizing. We got there a good time before the kitchen closed, so I do not understand why he was being so impolite and rash. He even started stacking the chairs next to us and rushing us to leave, even though they were not closed. We arrived and left BEFORE the restaurant closed, so he should have been courteous and given us AT LEAST the bare minimum service. He made my family feel uncomfortable and disrespected. That was the WORST experience I have ever had in a restaurant. read more

I literally had the worst experience ever at YOKO just now. This place is usually my go-to restaurant for good tonkatsu but today, the service was horrendous. The guy threw the bill on the table and asked us to pay right away, started sweeping harshly by us AS WE WERE EATING, and stacked up the chairs on the table. He had a terrible attitude the entire time and made us feel like we were being a menace even though we were there by 9:17 and left way before they were scheduled to close. His attitude ruined my family dinner and my relatives, who were visiting from Kansas City, were shocked by his behavior. read more

Delicious! Always a winner with my kids! Their chicken katsu is always moist & delish. I like it better than their donkatsu. The one thing I'm not a big fan of is that they charge u more for take out cuz of the packaging kinda annoying.. read more

Love, love, love. The donkatsu is fresh and tasty. Small and limited seating but totally worth the wait! Eat here, you won't regret it!

You'll find some interesting katsu here like pizza katsu and kimchi cheese katsu. I just wanted to play it safe that day so I just ordered a chicken katsu while my bf picked the more adventurous choice of pizza katsu. There's a good amount of food along with the side dishes that come with the meal. I was pretty happy with my food, though I feel like the cutlet was a bit too oily for my tastes. Crispy, though. Pizza katsu was just okay, in my opinion. It's a katsu with melted cheese and other pizza toppings on top of it. I wasn't a fan of the combination, but my bf liked it. We got combos with some rolls which I thought were pretty good. I liked the spicy tuna (was pretty spicy!) and crunch roll was decent. Thumbs up for providing fresh sesame for us to grind for the katsu sauce. Try to contain your excitement and grind your sesame after your food's arrived. You'll probably get a stronger, even fresher taste out of them that way. A-OK in my book! read more

Wanted to try something new. We were not disappointed. Fluffy donkatsu So a done right and plenty of salad with delicious dressing. The best part for me was u get to crush your own sesame seeds. Fun and flavorful. read more

The food here is always great! It's a tiny establishment, so expect to wait a while during peak hours.

We came here for dinner 2 months ago. This place is small and gets packed quickly. I ended up ordering 2 combos and the crunch roll for our family of 4. When I placed our orders, I asked if rice was part of the meal since a lot of Yelpers said it wasn't. We ended up getting the rice for free. When we got our food, all I notice was how big the portions were. The salad (shredded cabbage) was very fresh and it came with dressing but I would prefer a little more dressing since the portions were huge. Customer service was ok. We got what we needed and was full when we walked out the door. read more

Overall good donkatsu, but I feel quality is different now. Doesn't taste as fresh as I remember, but I understand times are tough. I just miss the old Yoko! read more

On the last day of the visit in Cali after running the half marathon in Disneyland, I really wanted something hearty and indulgent. I am always a fan of tonkatsu. Yoko was the perfect spot. The place was packed when we arrived but the wait was minimal. I ordered the tonkatsu with soba and the bf got one with udon. We were quite entertained trying to ground the sesame seeds. The food came pretty quickly. The portions are huge and the tonkatsu came with a potato croquette and fried shrimp. Everything was fried well and placed upon a mini trivet so everything stayed nice and crispy. The dressing on the cabbage was also tasty. I wasn't a fan of the tonkatsu sauce but the bf liked it. Soba and udon were pretty average too. read more

Of all of the dong katsu places I've eaten at, this is by far one of the best ones. The katsu is cooked just perfectly so that it's crispy on the outside yet not dry as a bone on the inside. The inside has plenty of flavor on its own and with the fresh cabbage salad to compliment the katsu, it's amazing. I'm also a huge fan of their katsu sauce. And it's great that they let you grind up the sesame seeds in a small traditional mortar and pestle (bowl and stick). And the flavor of the sauce is just perfect. Thick and tasty. Most dong katsu places, their sauces are watered down and runny which is gross even if the katsu is cooked well. They also serve out some great banchan which is a nice Korean infusion of a Japanese dish. My favorite from Yoko being the kimchi. So good. The decor is retro modern (lots of iconic American pop culture references from the 60's-70's i.e. Warhol, Coke posters, etc) so it's not decked out in your traditional Korean style restaurant. Service has always been good here and they're quick to serve you with refills or extra orders. There's plenty of parking outside and seating inside is somewhat limited and during the meal hours, you might have to wait a little to get a table but it's worth the wait. The longest I've had to wait was 25 mins outside so if it's chilly outside and you're going around dinnertime on a weekend, you might want to take a coat with you while you wait outside. You'll leave full and sleepy. Parking: Large shared lot Price: $8+ per person Wait: 5 mins after ordering read more

I love this place. The food is good, the price is right. Theres a cute little coffee shop across the street. How can you go wrong with it?? read more

Definitely a fan. Love their jalapenos and the radish kimchi. I thought the mix of patriotism and Hawaiian culture was interesting; So weird that this is a Korean joint and the theme was American/Hawaiian. Its like you walk in the door and think "howdy"... anyways off topic. once you've ordered they give you a pestle and mortar filled with sesame seeds. what you do is grind up the seeds to release their oils. its honestly a good way for them to outsource labor. Just kidding. But it was fun and a good time killer. When you're done grinding the seeds up they poor bbq sauce and you mix it up. The oils of the sesame seed and the bbq sauce made an..... alright sauce.... i didn't really think it was awesome. I felt it was just whatever. It would have been way better if instead of bbq sauce they had peanut sauce or sum soy based sauce; all i know is shabu shabu sauces with katsu sounds awesome. Katsu was good and price is fair; food portions were generous. read more

Tonkatsu was too greasy. Maybe it's because they used the same oil all day long, and had a very busy day. My husband and i stopped for a late dinner during a week. It was 1 hour before it's closing time. My husband's rolls and udon were good. nothing special. just an average. Maybe I'll give it a try again next time, hopefully during the lunch hour. I wonder if they change the oil daily... read more

The chicken katsu is decent here. It's not as good as Wako, but the Wako Honey Pig in Buena Park doesn't serve katsu anymore after turning into some sake place. :( So, for now Yoko is the closest place in the area to get decent chicken katsu. The dressing for the cabbage salad is really good. And the dipping sauce for the katsu is also tasty. Yes, the decor of the place is a bit kitschy, but who cares. It's not like you're going to the place just for the sole reason of staring at the walls. You're going there to get some katsu in your belly. read more

Not sure what happened but the sauce has changed. It has turned into the more generic more sour sauce that feels store bought.

I got the shrimp prawns and they were huge! Very delicious! I have had the pork and fish. I like the prawn over the other selections. They get pretty packed but its fried food(call in orders) so immediate consumption is key! read more

Yoko - Japanese Near Me - Buena Park, California

I love yoko. I live in STL, but every time I visit OC, I eat here. The food is delicious and the service/price is great. With the people who posted the reviews about the restaurant being unfriendly about the babies... my party sat right behind them, and I saw them post the review, and I wanted to make sure the story was told straight (which is why I felt compelled to post here). The baby was throwing food everywhere, a lot of it hitting my cousins who were eating right behind them. The restaurant employee very courteously told them if they could just be a little more careful because the baby was throwing food at other customers. He also got on the floor and cleaned up the mess. I understand that it sucks to be told to be a little more careful especially when it comes to your children, but if your baby is throwing food at other people and you are unaware, I don't think it's wrong of the employees to ask to be a little more careful. It's important for a business to be courteous, but it's also important to be a polite customer too :) Also they took pics of our party (they were taken after the employee cleaned up). Wtf?!?! and they put in the review that my table was "full of korean." LOL. Yes I am korean, but why bring race into this? I don't think my korean heritage has anything to do with me not liking food being thrown at my family while we're enjoying a meal. read more

This is THE place to get your katsu. Very traditional and has a nice ambient setting. The pickled radish is amazing.

Always a great place to eat! Their katsu is HANDS DOWN the best! Ive tried all the katsu places in LA and nothing beats this place. I love their chicken katsu and pizza katsu. Thier combo is always a great deal. Everything served here is amazing and won't be a disappointment. Been going here since childhood! read more

I'm typically not a fan of Korean-owned "Japanese" restaurants, but I'd like to think of this place as being more Korean than Japanese... The udon is delicious. The broth has just the right flavor and the right amount of noodles. Their katsu is also breaded perfectly! The price isn't bad for dinner either. Note: The katsu/udon combo is way too much for one person, in my opinion. If you go with one other person, I recommend that 1 person order the combo, and the other person just order a soba/udon...you can share the katsu and not be stuffed to the brim when you leave! Everything was very tasty! read more

Hands down the best donkatsu I've ever had. Period. My friend brought me here when I had the hankering for some delicious katsu one day, and boy am I glad she helped me discover this place! I almost feel like I'm robbing this place for all the food they give me for my mere $9. I got the donkatsu, she got the fish, and both were amazing! The genius of this place is them putting their katsu on a little metal rack on your plate so both sides stay equally crispy, because it's such a bummer when the equality of your katsu's crispiness is off, at least I think it is... Now whenever I crave me some delish katsu, this is my go to place! read more

i love the udon and katsu combo. This place is just like wako in la. i must say that i like this place better than wako, however it might be biased because i have only been to wako once and i have been to yoko more then ten times in the past few years. The older woman waitress is pretty stingy. its not that she isnt nice, but she always seems like she doesnt want to work there. Also she treat people biasedly. I think its because she doesnt get tipped well from college students. I like how they put siracha (wrong spelling) sauce in the spicy tuna roll. They also give you miso soup and baan-chan along with your food. read more