Torikizoku Review: Tokyo's 390-Yen Yakitori

Torikizoku in Tokyo was one of the most fun meals Cream and I had in Japan. We kept tapping in orders, and the food kept coming: cheese meatballs, chicken hearts, crispy skin, round after round of skewers, until we were laughing at how fast the table filled. Two giant mega highballs in, Cream raised his and said, "We're going to have fun tonight." He was right.

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In this guide 9 sections

Before Japan, ramen and sushi were about all we knew. Then we watched a Japan YouTuber spend a night eating yakitori, and it looked like so much fun that we had to try it. We'd walked past the Torikizoku on Kabukicho's Central Road in Shinjuku plenty of times, so we booked a table for opening time. We liked it so much that we returned a few times.

It helps that everything on the menu is 390 yen, so you never have to do math before the next round. This is our full Torikizoku Tokyo review from our month living in the city: how it works, what to order, what to skip, and what we paid.

Watch Our Torikizoku Yakitori Feast

Here's the whole feast on video, round by round, ending with a wooden cup stuffed full of empty sticks:

Is Torikizoku Tokyo Worth It? My Quick Answer

Yes. Torikizoku is one of our favorite experiences in Japan, and we score it 10 out of 10. The chicken came off the grill juicy and spot on, skewer after skewer, the drinks are huge, and the flat price means you can keep ordering without a second thought. Book a table for opening time, order the rice first, and come hungry: the two of us paid about $57 for a long late lunch, and we were happy to come back for more.

How Torikizoku Works: The 390-Yen Menu

Torikizoku is a Japanese yakitori chain. Yakitori means grilled chicken on skewers, and each skewer typically comes either salted (shio) or brushed with a sweet soy-based sauce (tare).

The whole menu has one price: 390 yen per item, including tax.¹ That's about $2.50. It covers every skewer, the sides, the rice, and the drinks, and the chain has kept a single price for everything since it started.² The chicken is Japanese, and the skewers are threaded by hand in each restaurant.²

Ordering happens on a tablet at your table. It's in English and shows a photo of every item, so there's no language barrier. Most skewer orders come as two skewers, the plates arrive in rounds as they come off the grill, and a little wooden cup sits on the table for your empty sticks.

Getting a Table at Torikizoku

We didn't wait at all. We made a reservation for opening time, which at our branch was around 3 PM, and turned it into a late lunch that rolled into an early dinner. At opening, the room was mostly locals and pretty empty, and it wasn't loud or smoky at all.

Hours change from branch to branch, and some Torikizoku restaurants also open at lunchtime, so look up your branch on Torikizoku's official store search before you go.⁵ The same site takes online seat reservations.

Ours, Torikizoku Shinjuku Kabukicho Central Road, is on the sixth floor of a building on Central Road, the street in Kabukicho with the giant Godzilla head looking down over it. Plenty of Tokyo restaurants sit upstairs like this, so once you get in the habit of reading the signs stacked up the side of a building, finding dinner gets a lot easier.

What We Ordered at Torikizoku

The plan, as far as we had one, was drinks, chicken, and a lot of food. So we went for it, and the plates landed faster than we could clear them. Here's everything we ordered, in the order I'd rank it.

1. Cheese Meatball // Our Favorite Skewer

The chicken meatball (tsukune) topped with melted cheese was our first skewer, and it ended up being my favorite of the whole meal. It was so juicy, and the cheese on top made it. We knew right away we were off to a strong start.

2. Mega Highball // The Drink to Order

A highball is whisky and soda, and Torikizoku's mega highball is made with Jim Beam and served in a giant frosted mug.³ It's strong. Cream fell for the oversized mugs on the first sip.

Later we switched to the Toriki Sour, a lemon sour, which Cream liked too. These skewers are made for drinking with, so budget a couple of rounds.

3. Sauced Chicken Thigh with Leek // The Classic

This is the skewer Torikizoku is known for: thigh meat grilled between pieces of leek and dripping with sauce. It was incredibly tender, and the sauce reminded Cream of teriyaki chicken at a hibachi grill. Order this first if you only try one thing.

4. Chicken Hearts // Salted or Sauced, Get Both

I would never have guessed I liked hearts this much, but they were a winner. Cream loves chicken hearts, and the sauced ones were so good that we ordered the salted version too. They're split open and skewered flat, so they come off the grill perfectly cooked. "If you're not a fan of heart, this might change your mind," Cream said. Between the two, he couldn't pick a favorite.

Hearts can sell out. Torikizoku's own menu notes that it limits how many heart skewers each branch serves because of short supply, so order them early.¹

5. Salted Chicken with Wasabi // The Surprise

This is a lean, salted chicken skewer served with grated wasabi. Cream was worried the wasabi would get him. It didn't, and by the end of the meal he was a convert: "I finally realize how I've been missing out on wasabi chicken."

6. Salted Chicken Breast with Leek // Light and Juicy

The salted version of the chicken and leek skewer, made with breast meat. It was cooked perfectly, with a light salt taste, and the leek kept every bite juicy. If you think chicken breast is always dry, this skewer will change your mind.

7. Chicken Skin and Wings // For the Crispy Bits

The sauced chicken skin is exactly what it sounds like, literally just skin, and we couldn't stop laughing about it. It's grilled crispy on the outside, fatty in the middle, and big on flavor. The wings came nicely charred and went well with the sauce.

8. Yuzu Pepper Chicken // The One We Misidentified

Cream thought this was another wasabi skewer. It wasn't: it's seasoned with yuzu citrus and pepper (yuzu kosho), and pepper turned out to be a perfect match for the chicken. We also tried a seasoned skewer with leeks, and it was the same story. Every bite was so juicy we had trouble believing it.

9. Liver, Gizzard, and Beef // For Organ Fans

The liver was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, a great pick for anyone who loves organ meats. The salted gizzard had a nice bite and was less chewy than Cream expected. It was good, but in his words, "it doesn't live up to my mom's gizzards." And no, the organs weren't just Cream's job: I ate all of it too.

Torikizoku serves a little more than chicken, so we also tried the beef skewer. It reminded Cream of a garlicky hibachi steak.

10. Chicken Kamameshi // Order It the Moment You Sit Down

Torikizoku's signature rice dish, the chicken kamameshi, is rice cooked in chicken stock in a small iron pot.⁴ The staff brought the pot to our table, got it going over a small burner, and we set a timer for 30 minutes.

When the timer went off, we found steaming rice with carrots and other vegetables. It was lightly salted and lightly smoky, a mild flavor that was enjoyable but hard to pin down. It's not the star of the meal, so think of it as the side that keeps you full between rounds of skewers. Just order it early, or you'll be waiting on it at the end.

What We Didn't Love

The one dish that threw us was the grated yam with quail egg, mayonnaise, and seaweed. You mix it at the table while it's steaming hot, and it tasted nothing like we expected: the seaweed flavor is strong, and the texture is mushy and creamy. It's an interesting try, but skip it if you're not into seaweed.

The kamameshi is a 30-minute wait for a mild rice dish, and the gizzard was fine rather than great. Everything else, we'd order again.

Who Should Go to Torikizoku (and Who Shouldn't)

Go if you want a fun night of drinks and grilled chicken in Tokyo without worrying about the bill, you're nervous about ordering in Japanese, or you love organ meats. It's fun with friends, on a date, or with family. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Skip it if you want a quiet, upscale yakitori counter where a chef serves you one skewer at a time, or if you don't eat chicken. Torikizoku is casual, fast, and built around drinking.

Prices, Hours, and Getting There

• Price: 390 yen per item, including tax, for food and drinks (official menu, checked October 2026).¹
• What we paid: about $57 for both of us in May 2026, for a long late lunch with mega highballs, sours, about a dozen kinds of skewers, the kamameshi, and the yam side. We paid by card.
• Hours: vary by branch; ours opened around 3 PM. Check the branch first.⁵
• Reservations: recommended; book online through Torikizoku's official website.
• Where: we went to Torikizoku Shinjuku Kabukicho Central Road, on the sixth floor of a building on Central Road in Kabukicho, the street with the Godzilla head. Torikizoku has several other branches in Shinjuku and many more across Tokyo.

Our Verdict on Torikizoku Tokyo

A cheap chain, a flat price, and a tablet sound like a compromise, but Torikizoku turned into one of our favorite meals in Tokyo, and one we went back for. The chicken was juicy, the mugs were enormous, and the plates landed so fast that the whole afternoon felt like a party. Cream summed it up at the end, holding a cup packed with empty skewers: "You really can't beat it."

Next Steps for Your Tokyo Trip

• You'll need data to book a table, find the right building, and get home afterward. Get an Airalo eSIM before you land.
• Look up the nearest branch and its hours on Torikizoku's official store search.
• Base yourself in Shinjuku, like we did for a month: it has several Torikizoku branches, and you can walk to dinner most nights.
• Monjayaki, Tokyo's griddle dish, cooked at your table
• Shogun Burger, and whether wagyu in a bun is worth it
• Matsuya, the $3 beef bowl we kept going back to
• Where to stay: an izakaya night ends late, so being able to walk home matters. Look at Tokyo areas before you book