How to find good Japanese Restaurants in the United States

As a person born and raised in Japan, Japanese food is something I miss even if I live abroad. There are so many Japanese restaurants in the United States, but especially in the countryside, most of them are run by Chinese and Koreans, and the taste is often "out of place".


* Of course, there are some Chinese and Korean-owned Japanese restaurants that have been trained and opened, and there are also delicious restaurants.

So, how can we find good Japanese restaurants?

By Restaurants’ Names

Mostly Good

Names include Owner’s Names

e.g. Masa, Morimoto

Masa Sushi & Grill
81 W Allendale Ave, Allendale, NJ 07401
(201) 934-6616
http://www.masasushiandgrill.com/

A Japanese restaurant in the northern part of New Jersey.
Lunch is very profitable at around $10.

Morimoto
88 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011
(212) 989-8883
https://morimotonyc.com/

Names come from Japanese using Roman letters

 e.g. Yakitori xxx, Hanamizuki

Yakitori 39
254 Degraw Ave, Teaneck, NJ 07666
(201) 692-0700
http://yakitori39.com/

Located in the city of Teaneck, New Jersey, this Yakitori 39 has very delicious yakitori and fresh sashimi. Furthermore, the tightened ramen (pork bones personally) is the best.

Hanamizuki Japanese Restaurant
8255 International Dr #136, Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 363-7200
http://www.hanamizuki.us/index.html

Hanamizuki is a name of flower dogwood. Hanamizuki restaurant is in Orlando, Florida, and I go there whenever I visit Orlando.
There is also a Japanese description on the website.

Mostly not good

Famous Japanese cities

e.g. Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka

Kobe is popularly used for Hibachi (Teppanyaki) and Japanese Steakhouse, probably because Kobe implies premium Kobe beef. There are also many restaurants called Kyoto and Osaka, however, I have never had good experience there.

Popular Japanese Names

 e.g. Sakura, Mikado

Why people love the name Sakura?
Also, there is a pattern that the Japanese of the store name is wrong.

From Menu

Multi-national food menu

 e.g. Sushi and Kimchi, Sushi and Sesami Chicken

You can check food menu on restaurants websites or Google Map. If Japanese foods are served with non-Japanese foods such as Kimchi, Sesami Chicken, or Orange Chicken, the owners misunderstand what Japanese foods are.

Sushi and Teriyaki Chicken by Little Tokyo

From Reviews

Good reviews from Japanese people?

The last tip may not sound special. Check reviews on Google Map or Yelp. If you see many Japanese people rating, the restaurants will most probably good ones.


I hope this article can help you to find good Japanese restaurants in the United States.

Yoshi https://twitter.com/yoshi_kotch_en was.

2 COMMENTS

今井昇一郎

もうアメリカに住み始めて25年たちますが、このガイドは本当に合っていると思います。「有名な地名ははずれが多い」という指摘は正しいと思いますが、「あまり有名ではない地名は大丈夫」という付け足しはいかがでしょうか。私はジャージーシティにすんでいますが、フォートリーの「Yamagata」がだいすきです。

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Yoshi

コメントありがとうございます。確かに「あまり有名ではない地名は大丈夫」というのもそうですよね。フォートリーにはよく行っていましたが、「Yamagata」は行ったことがありませんでした。次にアメリカを訪問する際には是非とも行ってみたいと思います!

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