OK YAKI

"Ok Yaki started as a pop up serving street foods from Osaka. The popularity of their crispy cabbage-based pancake, okonomiyaki, led to a brick and mortar in EAV. Now it’s served alongside delicious cocktails that have boba at the bottom—another reason why this Japanese restaurant is one of our favorite relaxed environments for any occasion. The open kitchen runs the length of the one-room dining area, so you can watch as the cooks make okonomiyaki on repeat all night. For a change of scenery, head outside to their surprisingly large patio and enjoy a shochu, which we like to order as a highball. " - juli horsford

"The East Atlanta Japanese-influenced restaurant, known for its okonomiyaki and yakisoba, typically lists a take on the martini on the cocktail menu. A recent adaptation featured Japanese vodka, dry vermouth, orange bitters, and coriander." - Beth McKibben

"This pop-up transformed into an East Atlanta restaurant at the end of 2020, but it continues to draw crowds to its dining room and outdoor patio seeking Corban Irby’s takes on okonomiyaki and Japanese street food. Look for stellar cocktails and glasses of natural wine here to pair with comforting noodle dishes, karaage chicken, and Japanese pub standards. Eater Atlanta contributor Kris Martins says OK Yaki serves “some of the best cocktails in town — elevated and precise yet always approachable.” Readers also named the restaurant a favorite East Atlanta spot." - Beth McKibben

"Ok Yaki started as a pop up serving street foods from Osaka. The popularity of their crispy cabbage-based pancake, okonomiyaki, led to a brick and mortar in EAV. Now it’s served alongside delicious cocktails that have boba at the bottom—another reason why this Japanese restaurant is one of our favorite relaxed environments for any occasion. The open kitchen runs the length of the one-room dining area, so you can watch as the cooks make okonomiyaki on repeat all night. For a change of scenery, head outside to their surprisingly large patio and enjoy a shochu, which we like to order as a highball." - Juli Horsford

"I've been following Corban Irby and his okonomiyaki and Japanese street food pop-up OK Yaki since its days at Ria's Bluebird and Sun in My Belly and was stoked when he finally opened the pop-up as a restaurant next door to Hodgepodge Coffeehouse in East Atlanta two years ago. OK Yaki hasn't skipped a beat since its pop-up days, as evidenced by the often packed patio and dining room, especially on the weekends. One of my favorite things to order here is a bowl of yakisoba, which I often top with pork belly, OK Yaki's spicy kimchi, and a sunny egg. I add some chili oil, too. This noodle dish that also includes flakes of bonito (akin to tuna and an ingredient in dashi) oozes umami and is just pure comfort to me paired with whatever bubbles the bar is serving or a medium-bodied red like a gamay." - Beth McKibben