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The food here is amazing. The yakitori is delicious, the kimchi noodles are perfect, and the fries are yummy! It is extremely crowded in here. With limited seating, you've got to be patient and wait for 10-15 minutes if it's super busy. The only downside to this place is the atmosphere. It gets extremely hot in the summer!

One of my favorite places in NYC. You don't go for the service and the atmosphere is cramped.... but my husband lived in Japan for years and swears this is the closest to Japanese food he's had in the city. Also, I'm not particularly fond of Japanese food (Pizza and Cheeseburger kinda gal) but I am obsessed with this place. That's it. Have fun. Enjoy. I'm gonna go eat there now.

The only real complaint that I have about this place is the service is bad.. and when I mean bad, it is bad.. great place, ok food but just fix up your service..

If you know yakitori in nyc you know the places in Midtown. While you can't compare the quality of the ingredients at this place i will tell you this: You get inexpensive tasty fare on a menu that includes my favorites from varous restaurants in the city. The atmosphere is fun, upbeat, and predominately japanese staff and patrons. Some of the meats were slightly overcooked, but the array of appetizers are satisfying. Rock shrimp is a must try. Gyoza looks/tastes premade, that was slightly disappointing. But overall a great place to get a japanese spread at a decent price to chill with some friends.

I'm a little confused as to why people think this place is great- i went based on good reviews. I don't know if maybe these people have never had good japanese food before, or maybe i'm just biased from having homecooked meals from a japanese mother, but this yakiniku to me was very disappointing. Not to mentionI sat at the bar, and witnessed the cooks extracting the gyoza and takoyaki my friend and I ordered from a frozen plastic package. Any Japanese restaurant that can't even make its own gyoza or takoyaki should not claim to be authentic, no matter how Japanese their staff is. And I understand they hired a hip, mainly japanese staff to reinforce their image of authenticity, but that doesn't mean they have to be mediocre - we waited twenty minutes before the waitress acknowledged our existance, and that was only after we practically grabbed her by the collar. Anyway, I don't understand how they could make meat so dry, or why they felt the need to sprinkle pepper excessively on everything. A few good yakiniku places uptown are absolutely delicious, and make Taisho look absolutely mediocre. I ordered a beef skewer, and seriously, the meat was so dry that it was a struggle to get it off the skewer, and it took five minutes to chew. The grilled green onion i had was not tender or fresh-tasting at all, and the green pepper i had was covered in pepper. Basically, it's cheap or whatever, but you could probably go to the grocery store, buy some chicken and teriyaki sauce and make your own yakitori that tastes better for the same price.

I mainly use this place to bring new friends or old friends who never came to NYC. The triple threat of decently priced macrobrew beer (60oz Kirin pitcher for $12) along with Japanese style BBQ in a cramped, cozy environment can make for a very long night of shootin breeze with new friends, old friends, and the people next to you! The service use to be friendlier, but for the past two yrs or so, the waitresses seem to want you out earlier than later.

I have been to Taisho a few times before and have always thought the food was great. Except the last time I was there I decided to sit at the bar. I was able to see the food preparation. I was disappointed to see that the food preparation process could be cleaner. Other than that it is a very charming place, but please try to be more clean!!