Hiro Bar Izakaya

Really great experience! we were trying to figure out where to go after our other reservation fell through due to the rain. There was a res available in 5 mins and we ran over — best decision of the night. We got 6 dishes for three people and all of them were great, especially the short rib noodles, brussel sprouts salad, and pan fried gyoza. Drinks and desserts (lychee creme brulee! trio tres leches w black sesame!) were standout, and our server at the bar Gehrig was awesome too! Would recommend, had a great time sitting at the bar and enjoying the vibes.

Perfect eating experience. I am a self-proclaimed foodie and can be a bit picky, so when I find somewhere I love, I like to share my experience. I went to Hiro Bar Izakaya last night with a group to celebrate a birthday and had a complete experience. Can't wait to go back. From the outside, you aren't sure what to expect, but once you enter, you know you are in for a unique experience. The decor was gorgeous (if you are seated up front, make sure u check out the back room). I love restaurants where all of the staff support your needs. The gentleman waiting on us was so knowledgeable. All of his recommendations were on point. Last but not least, the COCKTAILS and FOOD!! Both were OUTSTANDING!! Period. Everything was so good my family kept diving in before I could get good pics. But you get the point.

I will say this was a 3.5/4 out of 5. I’m rounding up my overall rating to a 4. It’s a very nice ambience inside with various seating options (bar, high stool, regular seating). When we went around 7pm it was practically empty and not sure if because it’s a new restaurant or it was a week day but I recommend going on a weekend when it is a bit more lively. Despite it not being packed, service was a bit slow. Food wise - the food tasted really good however the portions were tiny for the price. We ordered the cucumber salad, mushroom skewers, and chicken sandwich. All were really good. Mushroom skewers were seasoned very well but were a bit dry (no sauce or anything). Also, chicken sandwich was very good but the chicken was a bit dry. We asked for more honey mustard because it was so dry and then saw that they charged us for the additional mustard which was a bit penny pinching. The sandwich is very flavorful and chicken was thoroughly cooked. There’s also not a lot of vegetarian options. All in all the food was good in my opinion however do have these few suggestions.

While the old Porto restaurant will be missed, Hiro comes in hot with an impeccable vibe and a delicious shareable menu that will delight both dates and groups. The cocktail menu was the standout for us - we will be coming back for the drinks alone since we were wowed by basically every cocktail we ordered, especially the Sesame Martini. Service was amazing and overall cannot recommend this place enough.

Was so excited to try this place, and it did not disappoint! Everything was portioned to share and absolutely delicious. Don’t skip out on drinks or dessert either! Service was great— making for an even better experience. Can’t wait to return

Food was tasty but portions were small for the price. We spent over $300 for 3 people and left slightly hungry. Ambiance and service was great.

Looks can be deceptive! From outside what looks like a shady spot, changes completely when you enter the restaurant. Hip and funk interiors with house music in the background. Everything from the food to service was amazing. We ordered a bunch of small plates, some of our favourites being the robata beef and chicken. Also a must try in shrimp tempura and of-course the hamachi which reeks of truffle and the Torro hand roll Definitely get the cocktails, we got gold &black sake and espresso martini which again is unique with the sweet potato adding the extra kick. Lastly must try on Tres leche! An amazing blend of flavours with black sesame and hibiki whiskey. Special shoutout to our server Doug for his extreme knowledge and passion towards the Japanese food which showed in the experience we received.

Vegetable tempura with shrimp 4/5 It was nice and crisp. Portion size was good. Spicy tuna crispy rice 4/5 Was spicy, and tasty. Portion size was okay. Chicken yakitori 3/5 Nothing bad about the taste. Nothing great too. Okonomiyaki 5/5 Pancakes are crispier than the original ones. But loved them!! Would definitely recommend Toki tres leches 5/5 Absolutely delicious!!! loved this unique combination. Would definitely recommend All the cocktails we ordered were 5/5 . Very beautiful ambience as well.

The vibe of the place was amazing. Service was on point. And food was spectacular. Highly recommend the bao and the burger (the onion aioli is amazing).

Why haven't I heard of this spot before? It's GORGEOUS interior the front room I was blown away by how cool and beautiful it was. We sat in the back room. Servers were really good and fun. We had the Brussel sprout salad, shishito peppers, shortrib noodles, crispy rice spicy tuna and salmon, shortrib skewers, and toro handroll. All of this was easily shared by 3! my favorite was toro handroll just the best and salty savory and toro was so fresh and had wasabi I can't wait to go back and have another!! Then my next fav was the shortrib noodles it was so creamy and good I will def be back, the only bummer was we were seated next to a food influencer (all respect) BUT used a very bright light that was on and off for most of our meal so a bit uncomfortable and distracting Otherwise all good things!

ambiance: 10/10 food: 6/10(?) nothing was extraordinary, the noodles were a bit bland for our taste. the skewers were a bit dry. the lychee cocktail was good, but the presentation was kinda lacking, I expected there to be actual lychee fruit as decor in the drink but there were none.

This place was great for a sharing-plates experience. My fiance and I went for dinner and had a variety of dishes: pork belly bao (rich and delicious), gyoza (the weakest thing we ate; not bad but everything else was excellent), chicken yakitori and beef yakiniku (the latter two grilled on the charcoal robata grill -- wonderful!) For drinks we both had the sudachi mocktail, very tart but it helped to cut some of the fattiness of things like the pork belly. The dessert of lychee creme brulee with miso whipped cream was a perfect ending to the meal, and a balance of fruity, creamy and savory accords. Our server Ethan was on the ball, but our busser was an absolute machine! Great job. Be aware if you're in the back room: the ceiling is some sort of corrugated plastic, so if it starts pouring rain (as it did when we were here) there can apparently be leaks! Overall, awesome food and great service. Hiro is one to remember.

The ambiance here is cool--a thoughtfully designed space with perfect mood lighting. Unfortunately, the kitchen doesn't live up to the decor. The food was uninspired, lacking any real depth of flavor, and felt unjustifiably expensive. Our main course cuts were parched and chewy, making the entire meal a letdown. With so many stellar izakaya restaurants available in Chicago, you can easily find better value and execution elsewhere.

Phenomenal!! Great service and ambiance with elevated dishes and presentation. A group of 6 of us shared a bunch of appetizers, chicken sando and noodle dishes. Everything was delicious and our server Gary kept checking on us and made our dinner wonderful.

I ordered: Ribeye Kushiyaki - prime ribeye, yakiniku sauce Chicken Yakitori - chicken, tare, braised leeks Toki Tres Leches - black sesame dark chocolate cake, toki whiskey soak, miso whipped cream, black sesame tahini cajeta Butter Burger - 8 oz tri-blend patty, miso butter shokopan, Japanese honey mustard, black garlic onion jam, arugula, heirloom tomato, sweet pickles, American cheese, onion aioli Ghost Orchid - Sipsmith Gin, Elevate Vodka, Lychee Eau De Vie, White Tea Cordial, Lemon, Lychee Pearls Ghost orchid was refreshing. Skewers were sizeable, tender, and tasty. Butter Burger was perfect medium rare, decadent, and fresh. Tres leches was the weakest part of the meal. It was basically a wet dark chocolate cake; not bad but nothing more complex than that and I couldn't taste the black sesame. Service was very nice and engaging. I liked the ambience of the restaurant.

Everything was a little underwhelming and in my opinion overpriced for what you get. Portions are small and many of the dishes we tried lacked the flavor you would expect. It's not what you would expect if you've visited several Izakayas before.

Honestly, such good vibes??? Everything was solid all around in the standouts were definitely the brussels sprout salad, the desserts and the edamame. Truly immaculate service- We were celebrating three birthdays, and they gave us a complementary dessert and glasses of Prosecco. The atmosphere was really cool and it was just a fun spot. I would definitely come back for drinks or shareable again!

They must be paying people for the good reviews. Do not come here. It sucks. The Noble Umami and the Sea and Smoke cocktails were average, nothing spectacular. The most disappointing part was the spicy tuna crispy rice, which had a distinct marinara (I know, bizarre) taste. The Brussels sprouts salad was dry and lacked flavor overall. The chicken yakitori was fine, but putting chicken on a skewer and grilling is hard to mess up. The shortrib noodles were the best dish, but even those were forgettable. The ambience really aggravated me too. It screamed "west loop's younger, uglier, less cool half sibling." Everything felt performative. I don't see this place staying open and have no idea why so many people have already left good reviews. TL;DR: bad do not go and if you do go do not order the spicy tuna crispy rice it tastes like meatballs

Fun vibes and great service/recommendations by staff! Got the butter burger- the patty was a tad on the drier side, but all the toppings like the black garlic onion jam made it such a cohesive and solid burger. The toro hand roll was packed, fresh, and equally delicious. The salmon crispy rice was actually crispy and the tare glaze and gochujang aioli enhanced the dish overall. The bananas foster dessert was light and not overly sweet; great way to end the meal. For drinks got the noble umami and kiwi chu highball- was not a fan of the kiwi chu highball/it tasted a bit off, but the noble umami was clean and smooth.

Very chic, dark lit interior. Trendy with many photo ops. I absolutely love the food. The service is great and everyone is welcoming. I can't wait to come back and try more food items.

Went there for my birthday dinner and I was bored. The place is beautiful - much of it are remnants of the previous resident, Porto. Service was good. We started with the shishito peppers. It was a total failure. The peppers were overcooked and unrecognizable. Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice. Rice is not crispy. Tuna had too much mayo. Overall it is edible. Al Pastor Hand Roll. Did not work. Better served with corn tortilla. Too much mayo. Toro Hand Roll. Too much mayo. Japanese food should never be this heavy. Mushroom Robata - the mushrooms were cut too small (almost minced) but it was tasty. It's OK. Chicken Yakitori - this was actually really good! The chicken was cooked properly and tasted great. Togarashi Fries - nicely fried, a little too salty but they were good. Came out minutes before the restaurant had to close. Cucumber Salad - good, prepared as expected and was a good side dish to calm down all the crazy unexpected flavors of the other dishes. Noodles - we got a vegetarian version instead of the ribeye because we have someone who is allergic to beef. The noodles were really good. The way it was prepared is boring. Okonomiyaki - they ran out of batter, so I did not get to try it. I was really looking forward to having this dish. I guess I'll go to Gaijin instead. Overall, the place is promising but the flavors are confused and not good. It can use some simplification and focus. They are definitely suffering from "fusion" confusion. Trying too hard to be different and the results are sadly not good.

We had a pleasant but unremarkable dinner at this new spot last night. The atmosphere was nice (the decor from the previous restaurant, Porto, is still pretty much untouched, just some Japanese touches added). Service was spotty; our waitress was pretty much useless and mia most of the evening but a gentleman (manager?) helped out and saved the day. The tuna handroll was nice, the Al Pastor was a gimmick that didn't work. Corn ribs were decent, as was the chicken sando and the brussel sprout salad. Oddly enough, the best thing we ate was the edamame - it had been charred, which made it super tasty. I loved the "ghost orchid", a take on a lychee martini and my wife enjoyed the sake that the gentleman recommended. Over all I think it was a bit overpriced and wasn't special enough to make us want to return anytime soon.

I was having a hard time choosing a rating for this spot, still am. The service is excellent. Our server was lovely and helpful, super quick and friendly. The manager, Alex, also very nice and amiable. If this review was gonna be for service alone, it'd be a 5. But the food left something to be desired. We started w the tempura, which was nice. I've never had tempura'd grape tomatoes and they were so good! Then we had spicy tuna crispy rice and salmon crispy rice, I liked the tuna one more than the salmon, which was surprising bc i tend to like salmon more. Problem was that I couldn't even really taste the salmon somehow? We also had toro hand rolls and it oddly didn't taste like toro, it tasted like maguro. I had an issue with mine as well, but the manager really did a great job of making up for this problem, took it off the bill, sent out 2 free al pastor hand rolls for free on top of that. We appreciated how he handled this so much, but the Al pastor hand rolls weren't my favorite either. The hamachi tartare was actually really good! Packed w great flavor. The short rib noodles were probably my fave dish. The pork belly in the pork belly bao buns were HUGE! I wish they used the fluffy bao buns instead of whatever pita type baos they used. Those buns were just alright. Now I realize that this spot seems more like a cocktail lounge that happens to sell Izakaya food, but we don't really drink anymore so I can't say much about the drinks. But if I had to describe this restaurant, I'd say it's a nice cocktail lounge with a vibey interior, huge bar right in the middle, with a small, unique menu for tastings when you get buzzed and wanna try some fusion food. So if you like cool cocktails and drinks and want to try some new food, I'd suggest coming here. Service is really great, decor is cool. There's easy pay to park street parking right outside.

Hiro Izakaya is West Town's gem hidden in plain sight. When you step afoot through their door, you are immediately transported to hip trendy spot you'd find in West Loop but without the crowed to follow. Both the innermost dining space and bar are stunning. Absolutely beautiful with hip music to boot! No reservations were needed the two times I've been, but I do recommend you make one just in case as this spot is picking up in popularity. I highly recommend you try their truffle hamachi carpaccio, burger and bluefin tuna hand roll. I'd definitely skip on the karaage because the salad was overly drenched in spicy dressing that overpowered everything. I'd also skip on the overcooked shishito peppers as they were yellow and soft for my personal liking.

I will say this was a 3.5/4 out of 5. I'm rounding up my overall rating to a 4. It's a very nice ambience inside with various seating options (bar, high stool, regular seating). When we went around 7pm it was practically empty and not sure if because it's a new restaurant or it was a week day but I recommend going on a weekend when it is a bit more lively. Despite it not being packed, service was a bit slow. Food wise - the food tasted really good however the portions were tiny for the price. We ordered the cucumber salad, mushroom skewers, and chicken sandwich. All were really good. Mushroom robata were seasoned very well but were a bit dry (no sauce or anything). Also, Chicken Sando was very good but the chicken was a bit dry. We asked for more honey mustard because it was so dry and then saw that they charged us for the additional mustard which was a bit penny pinching. The sandwich is very flavorful and chicken was thoroughly cooked. There's also not a lot of vegetarian options. All in all the food was good in my opinion however do have these few suggestions.

Ambiance is super sexy retro modern vibes. Staff are super friendly and gave great recommendations. We got the Brussel sprout salad, spicy tuna crispy rice and the short rib noodles. All were fantastic. We would definitely come back for it. The drinks were phenomenal we recommend the ghost orchid, sea & smoke and for dessert get the espresso martini. Also don't forget a candy from the cat mouth and the hostess stand!

More vibe than taste. We got shishito peppers, fries, hand rolls, hamachi carpaccio, trumpet mushrooms, Yakitori chicken, and short rib noodles. Only the six dollar fries and yakitori chicken were any good. Not sure what to make of it. I'd stick with the Cooked foods if going but would also not go again.

Absolutely lovely staff, amazing ambiance, and not to mention the delicious and complex menu at an amazing price! Went for my boyfriend's Birthday and we were blown away by the quality and taste of the dishes. We started with the shishito peppers and cucumber salad which were perfectly season ed and fresh, then we got the tuna crispy rice green tea noodles, which were equalky delicious. What blew us away though was the burger. Whatever best burger list us out there needs to put it up for consideration. We ended the night with the tres leches and the blood Orange mochi. Quite literally one of my new favorite meals.

The space is stunning, the service is quick, attentive and so friendly (shout out to Gary!), and the food is insanely delicious. Incredible addition to West Town!

It was okay. That's pretty much how I would describe it. Ribeye robata and chicken robata were tasty. Tres leches was just "good". Cucumber salad was very tasty. The cocktails were inventive and tasty. Now the bad. Gyoza had 0 flavor and seasoning. Tasted like boiled meat in some dough. The soba noodles desperately needed salt. The bao bun was different temperatures throughout. I would give it another try!

Ahh! This used to be Beatnik. Remember that! This is by the Celeste Group, which is behind Celeste, Good Funk, Vela and etc. I had their fries. The staff and service are hiroriffic.

Not great- the $10 bottle of sake I buy at H-Mart goes for $75 here to put things into perspective. Also the point of an izakaya is that it's cheap, but offers tasty comfort dishes. I had neither of these experiences here; every dish was woefully under-seasoned, or just bad... (soba noodles so undercooked that they were crunchy.) Our server seemed keen on upselling and balked, even us the dessert menu twice when we told him we don't need like, ten dishes to feel full. + 1 for great cocktails and a rotating staff that was informative and attentive when our server wasn't around. (To be fair it got busy, but I'm at an izakaya, I want another drink!)

Short rib noodle is awesome, flavor & texture. It is definitely a kool date nite vibe in here. I sat at the bar, the bar tender was friendly. I had the ghost orchid cocktail and i can appreciate i can actually taste the lychee so refreshing and delicious. This place is worth checking out.

My new favorite spot! I have been twice since opening and BOTH times were phenomenal. Excellent service, beautiful restaurant, and the food is so crave-able. Special mention to the shortrib noodles, butter burger, and bao buns. Will be back again and again!

It was very mid. Kinda slow service. Lyche pearl drink was good. Gyoza tasted like boiled burger meat. Noodles were meh. Ribeye Robota needed some tang. Tempura veggies were good. Crispy tuna wasn't the freshest tuna I've ever had. But the ambiance was great and the servers were very nice.

Ka- Ozra is so nice and attentive! She immediately got us going with drinks while we waited for a table. Drinks were delicious and she was overall good vibes!! When we got to the table our server was extremely nice as well!! We came with no reservation on friday 9/5.

Everything I had at Hiro was great and the space has an awesome vibe! It's definitely the best take on izakaya I've experienced in Chicago, and the service and cocktails are on point as well!!

Tried a bunch of dishes and almost everything was great - standouts were the spicy tuna crispy rice and rock shrimp tempura. The only things we weren't fans of was the filling of the gyoza and the flavor of the tres leches dessert, all the other dessert options were great (really liked the strawberry mochi). The ambience is nice for a night out and service was fantastic. Would definitely come back.

Great spot. Tre's leches is fantastic. Definitely talk to your waiter about portions/ the way to order since it is more of a sharables type thing.