Yakko Bistro

"What It Was: A Japanese restaurant in North Miami Beach that opened over 20 years ago, back when you couldn’t find Japanese food like this in Miami (it’s honestly still hard). Dishes like wafu pasta with angel hair, uni, and ikura were hits. And it was one of the few places you could find okonomiyaki. It was a true izakaya—a casual spot that served small plates and was popular with people looking to relax with a cold beer after work (especially those in the restaurant industry).  What It Is Now: Still—thank god—a true izakaya. It changed its name from Yakko-San to Yakko Bistro and reopened in 2023, but the restaurant also returned to its first location on West Dixie. The current menu is truer to the original, with less dishes and plenty of elusive ones like tsukune, okonomiyaki, and that uni pasta. It’s once again an affordable Japanese restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere and delicious, affordable food. " - virginia otazo, ryan pfeffer

"Open Until Midnight Mon-Thu, 1am Fri-Sat Yakko Bistro is the kind of casual, delicious Japanese izakaya you probably thought Miami didn’t have. But not only does Yakko Bistro have a menu that reads like our own personal list of Japanese dishes we’ve been trying to manifest more of in this city—they're open pretty late too. They have good sushi, but our favorite things here are the kushiyaki options—including the best tsukune skewers we've had in Miami. There's also a big plate of omurice and good okonomiyaki. Thanks to its hours (and the quality of the food) this place is a popular late night spot for restaurant industry folks, who may or may not be coming off a particularly hellish shift and need sake. " - ryan pfeffer, virginia otazo

"Miami has the kind of upscale Japanese restaurants where dinner will cost you the equivalent of a used 2001 Toyota RAV4. But we have painfully few options when it comes to the opposite. That’s why our love for Yakko Bistro runs deep. Food this delicious (and for less money than a tank of gas for that RAV4) is rare in our Japanese restaurant universe. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc The menu extends well beyond sushi—which is more than we can say for so many of those upscale options around town. We come here to eat through our own personal list of dishes we’ve been trying to manifest more of in Miami: tsukune, okonomiyaki, and omurice. But the Yakko originals, like the crispy pork salad and angel hair uni ikura, are also reason enough to come here. Yakko can work for a last-minute group dinner, or any night during the week when the thought of cooking feels like climbing an actual mountain barefoot. The dress code is who cares and the long menu allows you to order a single filling entree or so many kushiyaki skewers that your server will have to drag over another table. If the name Yakko sounds familiar, it’s because this place used to be called Yakko-San, and was located a couple miles away in a bigger space (and before that, it operated in the space that it's now reclaimed). When that closed, those who knew its value mourned the loss. But those people can celebrate now, because Yakko is back, still open late, and might be better than ever. Food Rundown photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Crispy Pork Onion Salad We love a salad that’s 75% pork. And this “salad” is mostly little pieces of pork fat and crispy skin that absorbs the salty, sour sauce it’s tossed in. Some raw onion and cherry tomato technically bump this in the salad category, but the pork is the main character of this dish. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Oyster Fry These oysters are covered in a breading that’s jagged and crisp. When you bite in, the oyster is practically melting. It’s a lovely blend of textures that only gets more lovely when you give these a quick tartar sauce dip. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Okonomiyaki To our delight, Yakko goes hard on the sauces (especially the Kewpie) with its okonomiyaki. The savory pancake is a good size to split with a friend, and you can get it filled with vegetables, shrimp, pork belly, or all of the above if you want to go absolutely wild. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Pork Belly Rice Dog This first caught our eye because we understandably wondered what the words “pork belly rice dog” meant. Then our server said it was her favorite thing on the menu, and the dam of our curiosity burst. It’s a log of rice wrapped in a thin strip of pork belly that gets crisped up on the grill—and it is now one of our favorite things on the menu, too. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Tsukune Along with the pork belly rice dog, this is another must-order from Yakko’s kushiyaki section. Each tsukune has a light crust that encases a chicken meatball absolutely packed with flavors we didn’t know a chicken was capable of. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Angel Hair Uni Ikura If you have an affection for buttered noodles and uni, you are going to love this so much. Every ingredient of this dish is in the name, and you’ve got to mix it up as soon as it hits the table so the uni and ikura melt into the sauce that coats the noodles. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Salmon Kama Miso If you are not yet acquainted with the joys of fish collars—the most delicious part of the fish—yakko’s fatty salmon collar is here to change that. If you’re already a collar convert, you’ve probably already ordered this. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Omurice If you’re a little sick of small plates and just want a single plate, go for the omurice. Yakko’s is a big portion with a rich sauce and chunks of chicken you can actually taste. It’s not one of those dramatic versions of omurice that flows like a waterfall when it’s sliced open, but it tastes great so who cares." - Ryan Pfeffer

"Yakko Bistro is the kind of casual, delicious Japanese restaurant you probably thought Miami didn’t have since Yakko San (the team’s old restaurant) closed. But that team is back together at Yakko Bistro with a menu that reads like our own personal list of Japanese dishes we’ve been trying to manifest more of in this city. It thankfully includes a lovely okonomiyaki. There are three filling options: assorted vegetables, shrimp, and pork belly. It’s saucey, crunchy, creamy, and a perfect starter before filling the table up with various skewers or their huge omurice. " - ryan pfeffer, virginia otazo

"At Yakko Bistro, you can crowd the table with slightly-too-many Japanese small plates and feast for as long as you’d like. This place is laidback and delicious—exactly what you want for a Friday night when you’re not feeling social, or a random weekday when you can’t get the word “omurice” out of your head. Yakko has a hearty version of that as well as good sushi and more excellent (and hard to find in Miami) Japanese dishes like tsukune skewers, tender salmon collars, and okonomiyaki." - Ryan Pfeffer