Yakitori is the only Japanese dish where a single chicken is divided into twenty-plus different cuts and each one gets its own skewer, its own grilling time, and its own salt-versus-sauce decision. At the temples (Birdland Ginza, Torishiki Meguro) it’s an omakase progression as serious as kaiseki — one Michelin star each, eight to fifteen skewers across one bird, ¥10,000–¥15,000 per person, two months ahead to book. At the cheap chains (Torikizoku) it’s ¥328 per skewer, no reservation, eat with the salarymen on a Tuesday night. Both are real. Both are good. Tokyo’s yakitori scene runs the entire spectrum.
Below: five counters across that spectrum. The chicken-part vocabulary, the omakase order, and the salt-versus-sauce rule are in the practical section. For the wider izakaya scene where yakitori shows up as part of a longer meal, see Best Izakaya in Tokyo. For the rest of the Tokyo food map, the Where to Eat in Tokyo guide covers eight cuisines and five base neighbourhoods.
1. Birdland (バードランド) — the Ginza temple, 1 Michelin
★ Author's PickBirdland (バードランド)
Counter-only basement shop in Ginza, opened 1987. One Michelin star since the Tokyo Guide opened in 2007. Reservations 2 months ahead, evening seatings only. Closed Sundays + Mondays. The most famous yakitori counter in Japan.
Tsukamoto Sozan Bldg B1F, 4-2-15 Ginza, Chuo-ku — Ginza-itchome Stn 2 min walkView on Google Maps →Birdland is the yakitori counter the rest of Tokyo benchmarks itself against. Chef-owner Toshihiro Wada opened it in 1987, has held one Michelin star since the Tokyo Guide first appeared in 2007, and has built the menu around single Date-dori birds (one bird per service, taken apart at the counter, every cut threaded onto its own skewer). The omakase runs twenty courses — from the gentle thigh-and-shoulder skewers at the start, through the unusual cuts (heart, gizzard, soft-bone, tail), to the soup at the end — with raw chicken liver and a tiny serving of chicken sashimi included for those who want them. ¥15,000 per person, no a la carte at dinner.
It’s a counter-only basement shop in Ginza. Twelve seats. Reservations open two months ahead and the popular Friday/Saturday slots vanish within hours. The easiest way in is through a Ginza-area hotel concierge; the second easiest is to call directly first thing in the morning when reservations open. Walking up is impossible. Dress code is ‘clean and respectful’, no jacket required, but no shorts. Closed Sundays and Mondays.
2. Torishiki (鳥しき) — the Meguro Michelin counter
★ Author's PickTorishiki (鳥しき)
Counter-only shop near Meguro Station, opened 2007. One Michelin star since 2010. Chef Yoshiteru Ikegawa trained at Toriki (the next entry on this list). Reservations are notoriously hard — 3 months ahead, only by phone, often booked through concierge.
1-9-1 Kamiosaki, Shinagawa-ku — Meguro Stn 3 min walkView on Google Maps →Torishiki is the other side of the 1-Michelin yakitori coin and, in the view of many Tokyo food critics, the better of the two. Chef Yoshiteru Ikegawa trained at Toriki (the next shop on this list) before opening his own counter in Meguro in 2007. He got the Michelin star in 2010 and has held it since. The omakase is shorter than Birdland’s — around fifteen courses rather than twenty — but the technique is famously meticulous: each skewer is grilled to its own optimal point, the salt versus sauce choices are made for you, and the chef will explain each cut as it’s set down. The chicken is high-grade Tochigi prefecture stock.
Reservations are the hard part. Three months ahead, phone-only at first, often only available through concierge networks. The shop is small (eight counter seats), the price is around ¥15,000 per person at dinner, and the chef genuinely cooks every skewer himself. If you can get a seat, it’s the most precise yakitori in Tokyo. If you can’t, the next two entries are closer to walk-up territory.
3. Toriki (鳥㐂) — the master’s house in Meguro
Toriki (鳥㐂)
Counter shop near Meguro, ~¥12,000 per person for the full omakase. The teaching kitchen behind Torishiki, run by the chef who trained Ikegawa. Less famous internationally than Birdland but consistently top-ranked on Tabelog for Tokyo yakitori. Reservations 4–6 weeks ahead.
1-1-3 Kamiosaki, Shinagawa-ku — Meguro Stn 4 min walkView on Google Maps →Toriki is the master’s house — the kitchen Ikegawa (Torishiki) trained at before opening his own shop. It’s in the same Meguro neighbourhood as Torishiki, run by chef Toyoshima, and approaches the same level of yakitori without the Michelin star to drive up the demand. The full omakase is around ¥12,000 per person, the breakdown of the bird follows the same strict tare-and-shio progression, and the chef will adjust the order to whoever’s sitting at the counter. Less internationally famous than Birdland, consistently top-ranked on Tabelog, and substantially easier to book than Torishiki.
It’s the pick if you want the Meguro 1-Michelin tier without the three-month lead time. Reservations 4–6 weeks ahead, phone or via concierge. The counter is small but not as small as Torishiki’s. If you’re putting together a serious Tokyo food trip and Birdland and Torishiki are both booked, this is the answer.
4. Yakitori Imai (やきとり 今井) — modern personalised omakase
Yakitori Imai (やきとり 今井)
Counter-only modern yakitori shop in Aoyama / Gaiemmae. Higher-end ingredients, individualised omakase, less rigid than the classical houses. ~¥13,000 per person. Reservations 3–4 weeks ahead, phone preferred.
Aoyama / Gaiemmae area, Minato-ku — Gaiemmae Stn 4 min walkView on Google Maps →Yakitori Imai is the modern entry. It’s in Gaiemmae — the Aoyama side of central Tokyo, walking distance from the Meiji Jingu Stadium and the Aoyama design district — and runs a more flexible omakase than the classical Meguro houses. The chef adapts each course to who’s sitting at the counter that day: salt for a customer who likes clean flavours, tare for someone leaning heavier, lighter skewers if you’re drinking white wine instead of sake. The ingredients are top-tier (Tokyo’s farmers’-market chicken, seasonal soft-bone, premium uni for the surprise extra course) but the room is less ceremonial.
It’s the easiest of the omakase tier to book — three to four weeks ahead, often by phone, sometimes by concierge. Price around ¥13,000 per person. The pick when you want serious yakitori but also want to chat with the chef across the counter rather than be lectured at by him. Lunch service is occasionally available; check at booking.
5. Torikizoku (鳥貴族) — the ¥328 chain reality check
Torikizoku (鳥貴族)
Flat-price chain: ¥328 (¥360 with tax) per item — skewers, side dishes, even most cocktails. Group-friendly tables, no reservation needed for most weekday nights. Branches in every major Tokyo neighbourhood — Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Roppongi, Asakusa. Open until 02:00 at most central branches.
Nationwide chain. Shinjuku Sanchome, Shibuya Center-gai, Ikebukuro east exit branches are the easiest first-timer picks.View on Google Maps →Torikizoku is the chain that proves yakitori doesn’t need to be a ¥15,000 omakase to be enjoyable. Every item on the menu — every skewer, every side dish, most cocktails — is ¥328 plus tax (¥360 total). The format is group-friendly tables rather than counter-only, the orders go in via touchscreen or paper, and the food arrives fast enough that you don’t get hungry between rounds. The chicken is mass-produced rather than single-bird, the skewers are pre-marinated rather than grilled to order, and the room is loud — but for a Tuesday-night meal with three people on the way back from Shibuya, it’s the right answer.
Hundreds of branches across Tokyo — Shinjuku Sanchome, Shibuya Center-gai, Ikebukuro east exit are the easiest for first-timers. Most are open until 02:00. Reckon ¥2,500 per person for a satisfying meal with drinks. The chain that pairs with Ichiran on the ‘cheap and consistent and very Japanese’ list. Use it when the temples are booked, when you have non-foodie friends in town, or when you just want yakitori without the omakase ceremony.
How to order a yakitori omakase
At the high-end yakitori counters (1-4 on this list), the omakase isn’t something you order — it’s the only option. You sit down, the chef nods, and skewers start arriving in a deliberate sequence. The full vocabulary below; the rule is that you eat each skewer the moment it lands, in two or three bites, holding the bamboo stick.
- The breakdown of a bird. A single chicken yields roughly 18–25 yakitori cuts. The common ones you’ll see: momo (thigh), mune (breast), kawa (skin, crispy), tsukune (meatball), hatsu (heart), reba (liver), sunagimo (gizzard), tebasaki (wing), seseri (neck), bonjiri (tail), nankotsu (soft bone), shiro (intestine).
- Tare or shio. Each skewer is either glazed with tare (sweet soy-based sauce) or seasoned with shio (salt). At the omakase counters the chef decides which based on the cut — momo and tsukune go tare, mune and kawa go shio, etc. At Torikizoku you choose.
- Order of the omakase. Starts gentle (lean white-meat cuts) and builds richer (fattier dark meat, organs, bone) before ending with a soup or rice course. Don’t request ‘more momo’ or skip ahead — the order is the meal.
- Eat directly from the skewer. Hold the bamboo stick, slide the bites off with your teeth. Don’t pull the meat off with chopsticks (a small gesture of contempt for the chef’s plating). Eat each skewer in 2–3 bites maximum.
- Drink: beer first, then sake. Cold draught beer (‘nama biiru’) is the standard yakitori starter — it cuts the char and the fat. Switch to sake or shochu after the third skewer. Wine is fine at modern places (Yakitori Imai); it’s unusual at the classical houses.
- The chef will ask: any allergies? Anything you don’t eat? Answer briefly. Liver and intestine are the two most-common ‘skip these’ cuts for first-timers; nobody minds if you say so on arrival. The chef adjusts.
- Reservation policy is strict at the top tier. Birdland: 2 months ahead. Torishiki: 3 months ahead, often concierge-only. Toriki: 4–6 weeks. Yakitori Imai: 3–4 weeks. Torikizoku: walk-up. No-shows damage the chef’s ability to source the right bird for the night — cancel at least 48 hours ahead.
- No tipping. Yakitori counters in particular — the chef just cooked twenty skewers personally for you; the bill is the thank-you. Bow at the door on the way out.
Related reading
- Where to Eat in Tokyo — the full Tokyo food guide across 8 cuisines.
- Best Izakaya in Tokyo — yakitori’s casual cousin: drinking + skewers + small plates over hours.
- Best Ramen in Tokyo — the cheap-end Tokyo food, for balance.
- The 5 Cheapest Chain Restaurants in Japan — if Torikizoku worked for you, the broader chain guide is here.
- Japanese Food — interest hub with all our food articles.