• Issian
• Boom Noodle
• Wann
• Kaname
• Maekawa
• Kushi Bar
• Umi Sake House

By Bruce Rutledge

Photos by Margarita Vanegas

Sushi may be the food of the gods, but the fare at a local izakaya has been the food of the common man in Japan for several centuries. The izakaya is an informal drinking and dining establishment that often has a red lantern out front. It’s akin to an English tavern, but with a food selection more like a Spanish tapas bar and a convivial atmosphere that can border on the rowdy.

Sake labels on the wall attest to the impressive lineup of sake brands at Umi Sake House

Kaname spent two months with an expert from Japan refining its popular tonkotsu ramen

Maekawa’s football-shaped pork cutlets

Kushibar offers a modern riff on streetside dining from yatai carts in Japa

The roots of the izakaya are firmly planted in an egalitarian chapter in Japan’s history. As mass culture started flourishing in the late 1700s, these little eateries began sprouting up. This was a time when the middle class was flourishing: about 70% of the children went to community owned schools and people bathed together nightly in public baths, for example. Middle-class people began dining out more. First they would frequent teahouses, but when the teahouses,

known as chaya, began serving sake,they became known as izakaya (the Chinese characters that make up izakaya are “remaining sake shop,” which would be written on the large red lanterns to tell patrons that this is a shop where you can remain on the premises while you drink and eat).

While the spirit of these drinking spots was egalitarian, the clientele was largely single and male in the early days. However, over time, the izakaya culture evolved and adapted, and today, you’ll find families and groups of women dining there.

Izakaya serve a wide array of plates that are shared among fellow diners. A typical table for a group will be covered in small plates of grilled meats on skewers, slices of raw fish, tofu dishes, edamame soybean pods, fried chicken and all sorts of house specialties. This is food to drink with – the Japanese snack while they drink; they don’t eat a meal then head to the bar like American drinkers often do. The typical libations at an izakaya are sake, shochu and beer, but many also serve wine and other spirits these days.

Izakaya is a term that encompasses a wide range of eateries, from the sprawling izakaya near Japanese universities that draw crowds of hungry and thirsty college students – these places can have the atmosphere of a frat party at times – to quiet bars with tatami-mat floors tucked away in residential neighborhoods that cater to their regular customers.

While izakaya have evolved to become more egalitarian and all-embracing in both the food they serve and the clientele they welcome, they’ve also followed their sister the sushi shop overseas. Innovative restaurateurs in the US have taken the izakaya model and either replicated it with a few tweaks for the American diner – Maekawa’s football-shaped pork cutlets, anyone? -- or riffed on it, creating a new hybrid restaurant that embodies the izakaya’s egalitarianism while offering something completely new (like edamame puree with sweet potato crisps at Boom Noodles).

Seattle residents should know that their city is a hotbed of izakaya innovations thanks to the chefs and restaurateurs who are experimenting here. Perhaps it’s the city’s relative proximity to Japan, its growing expat community or the city’s love of seafood – or a combination of all three – that makes Seattle the right place to trot out new twists on the old Japanese theme. On the following pages, we’ll introduce you to some of Seattle’s leading izakaya innovators and evangelists who have at least one thing in common: they all offer delicious healthy food at affordable prices, just like the izakaya back in Japan.