I love this place. It's an anime-themed bar and (light menu) restaurant, done well. It's clean, very focused on its target audience, and the staff seem to have a good time being here.
PROS:
-Such a COOL atmosphere. If you love anime, Pokemon, or video games, this restaurant/bar is super awesome. The decor and the neon lights everywhere are A+ entirely. It's clean, it's fun to look at it, and it's pretty.
-Service is always so friendly, and I love that the restaurant lets them be them. Most are carrying keychains full of anime/cute plushies/etc., and their dress is very personal/unique to them. They all seem to be joking around and having fun with one another, and I really hope management treats them well here.
-Service has always been friendly and fantastic too.
-Bathrooms are clean. They're clearly older (not really redone from whatever restaurant used to be here like the rest of the bar was), but they work just fine and are clean.
-The pizzas are freakin' fantastic. They're in-between a Medium and Large size, and they're stretching the limits of what is comfortable for one person to eat on an empty stomach. They do have to-go boxes, branded with anime, for taking some of the pizza home.
-There are "pin-up" booby anime character statues on display at the bar. I'd like to request male-presenting ones if we're going to have anime statues in Playboy bunny suits. I want eye candy too.
-I'm not sure what Fairfield Commons is doing, but it appears Izakaya has become this odd flagship store for the whole mall. There are TONS of video game, Pokemon, and anime stores throughout this mall. The Round10 arcade nearby has an entire section of imported Japanese/anime arcade games. If you like anime or video games, you can easily make a whole time out of hitting up the mall for Izakaya.
-Variety of tables and seating options. They have bar seats, half-booth seats, pull-out, armless chairs with tables, and...I think that's it. It's a good variety to fit most people. Walkways are large, and if you used the Mall entrance to get in, I want to say that a wheelchair would fit into the space relatively easily. I'm unsure about navigating into the bathroom with a wheelchair, but I would check to see if the Mall's built-in restrooms have wheelchair access for visiting.
CONS:
-I'm not sure what it is about nerd spaces, but the cocktails or mocktails you get in any nerd space seem to be sugar-central. The same applies to Izakaya. Virtually all of their signature cocktails are surprisingly sugar-heavy. Some of them are still great flavors, but be prepared for very sweet drinks.
-Sometimes movies, with English speakers, is played over the bar's speakers. I am insanely distracted when there are conversations going on over the bar itself layering on top of the conversations I'm trying to have. I did not bring this up to the bar to ask them to change it, but it has happened a few times I've been here. read more