Hinotez

Let me let you in on a local secret...If you want a down-to-earth izakaya experience, go to the bar seating on the right of the entrance located behind a door that blends in with the wall. It's not exactly a secret, but you'd never know it was there unless you saw someone walk in and out of the bar. For sometime I've been gate keeping this spot because the seating is limited. Sure, the food is alright. But the drinks? Amazing. I'm very fond of restaurants with an equal focus and variety on food and drinks. This spot, however, has better drinks than food. If you're into a late night stop for Japanese whisky, sake, and beer this spot may be for you. It's the perfect casual stop with chill music, traditional Japanese art, and a dark ambiance.

Love this Japanese restaurant where you find your cravings fulfilled . Whether it be sushi, ramen , yakitori , curry , they have it allMy personal favorite ( only when the grill master is in ) is a few skewers of yakitori. My 3 go to's are;Chicken momo ( thigh ) try it with sauce Beef yakitori - plz pay the animal respect and choose the salt option Last but not least the pork shiso - the ume paste on top just explodes the bite with flavor

After seeing family and friends coming here so often especially for late night eats, finally got a chance to try this place. Came for happy hour (M-Th, 5-7pm) with a friend and was pleasantly impressed. They have plentiful parking in the back. Huge booths and an iPad with seran wrap for items not included on the happy hour or weekly deal menus. I hope they change the wrap after every table because that'd be superior in my books.They have a small section for happy hour of appetizers, drinks, and basic sushi rolls. Of course wanting to try a lot of things at once, I over order. We ordered the avocado tempura, a Philadelphia roll, seaweed salad, another fresh roll I forgot the name of that's not on happy hour, and an assortment of yakitoris such as bacon wrapped asparagus, chicken thighs, squid, scallops, beef, pork belly, and some other pork with basil wrap.I brought home leftovers and my son loved the yakitoris. Will definitely be going back for some late night eats whenever I'm in the area.

We were seated promptly and the restaurant wasn't too busy on a Tuesday around 6pm. We tried a variety of foods here and each one was its own delight. I loved the seaweed salad as a starter. It was dressed in a great sauce and I liked that it had a variety of seaweed types. We also got bacon and asparagus yakitori as well as the garlic yakitori. This restaurant seems to be known for its yakitori. Both were delicious! We ended our dinner experience with spicy konkotsu ramen and black garlic ramen. The noodles were fresh and the broth was incredible!

I really love this spot and am shocked that they don't have higher reviews. Everything we have here is amazing. Some of our favorites:* Spicy jellyfish salad* Gizzard Yakitori * Chicken Heart Yakitori * Spicy Miso Ramen Although, everything we tried was really good. Love the dark ambiance. Fast service. They no longer do ordering through the tablets. I wish they did yakitori to-go! They even gave us free ice cream and mochi for a birthday celebration, and that exceeded our expectations. The matcha with the syrup on top -- 10/10

Food was good. Can't go wrong with hot sake. But we had waited awhile for our food, like 20 mins after we ordered we finally got the calamari and fried gyoza(so good). Then another 25 mins or so for the hamachi Serrano (chef's kiss) and the Balboa roll( meh). Super slow service.

This is one of those places IYKYK. I don't understand the 3.5 rating. Maybe you are all just bougie. We come here generally for the yakitori. Pork shiso is the move...maybe these 3.5 star reviews eating the basic b*tch menu items you normally get at Japanese joints. Cmon manThe staff are always accommodating. First time we had cocktails and the sake flight was legit. Come here...enjoy yourself and the great Japanese food

I'm not really a big fan of other ramen shops because the broth is too "porky" or has that gamey taste. However that is not the case with the ramen here at Hinotez which makes this place my go to place for ramen. The craziest part is that they aren't even a ramen restaurant. The yakitori are all good my fav being the chicken gizzard or sausage even though I feel bad for the old japanese guy at the grill. If you're lucky they won't be out of omurice which is one of my favorites. Not really sure where the 3star ratings are coming from as this is an authentic Japanese izakaya with great food, drinks, and service.

I love how this is such a chill place to go out with friends! Unlike most places in this area, they have a a parking lot available on the side. I also really enjoyed the drinks, my personal favorite was the Southside. Anytime I have someone visit me in San Diego I like to take them here since it's such a lowkey vibe.

Twenty minute wait for a Saturday night, not bad. We had three different servers all apparently had a good memory since they brought everything we asked for. *impressive* Had ramen, edamame, fried gyoza, some chesse balls (not a fan of octopus so I opted out), the sushi was really good, forgot the name of it but it's the only baked roll and it's spicy 10/10. I was thrown off by the iPads with the menus on every table covered in plastic wrap. Aside from that inside is cute and cozy, would come again.