You know how you know a new restaurant is a thing? When, on its third night open in Fishtown, the entire dining room is already buzzing on a Tuesday. Izakaya by Yanaga opens the kitchen at 1320 Frankford Avenue with sushi-sashimi whisperer Executive Chef Kevin Yanaga at the pass, backed by the GLU Hospitality team.

Yanaga’s arrival on Frankford Avenue isn’t a quiet debut. The Izakaya by Yanaga concept anchors the chef’s return to a neighborhood that has been steadily building its Japanese culinary identity — a position the restaurant has held since opening, even as Fishtown’s dining scene has matured around it.

Izakaya by Yanaga Brings Executive Chef Kevin Yanaga to Frankford Avenue

“What a whirlwind it has been, “Yanaga told me about his new partnership. “I really have enjoyed my new partners at GLU Hospitality, Derek Gibbons and Tim Lu, they are like my new family and friends rolled into one. I have gotten to know them and they are part of each and every day moving forward. So I gained not just a new restaurant but also new friends in the process. I also look forward to getting to know other business owners and of course our new neighbors in Fishtown. I want us to be active in the community and it’s such an exciting neighborhood to be in.”

Yanaga is renowned as something of a sushi-sashimi whisperer from his totemic time at Morimoto, POD and Double Knot, and has been very careful and considerate in his choice of introductory spaces with his name on top. And Izakaya by Yanaga is his chill, serious casual dining space with its building’s sister space, the higher end Omakase by Yanaga 12-seat tasting room opening around Halloween.

For now, Izakaya by Yanaga is much in which to contend, with every morsel sweeter than the one before it.

Inside the Izakaya by Yanaga Menu

Along with a gentle “Dance of the Celestial Maiden” sake to start, my dining partner and I ran through large and small dishes and hot and cold upscale bar-food-and-beyond dishes with comfort.

The Sushi and Sashimi Program at Izakaya by Yanaga

There was the zesty Oishi Shrimp Tacos with spicy aioli cleverly served in a light wonton shell and a surprisingly subtle pork gyoza with kimchi and red pepper mustard (the thick and meaty curried short rib bao was also a shockingly subtle taste… a must). The karaage chicken in sriracha-Buffalo sauce held a nice swift kick to the rubber parts.

There was a dense, but amazingly light and tasty Duck Onigiri with duck confit in a sort of ball configuration. Not much to look at but great to taste. A Tantan Mazeman soup-less ramen? Yup. Odd, yes, at first. Then you tuck into its hearty spicy noodles and its doubly spiced meat topping, and its soft-boiled egg swimming atop the entire width of the bowl.

The real treat for the raw fish fanatic such as myself was the sushi, sashimi and chirashi spice rice bowls to which you can add avocado – which to me is blasphemous but still fun.

Izakaya by Yanaga has held its position on Frankford Avenue as part of the neighborhood’s Japanese dining identity — a culinary territory that has continued to expand with restaurants like Hiroki’s Michelin-recognized omakase counter further into Fishtown. Yanaga’s arrival in 2021 helped establish that identity. The bar-food-and-beyond range, the sushi program, the playful but disciplined approach to izakaya hospitality — all of it makes Izakaya by Yanaga a foundational entry in Frankford’s Japanese dining canon.

Izakaya by Yanaga in Fishtown’s Broader Japanese Dining Identity

The soft-shell crab special roll; and the snow crab maki rolls with tobiko mayo and avocado were fantastic, as was the heavenly light and tangy Hamachi with peach, and ponzu vinaigrette. The chirashi bowls, however, I had the salmon bowl, was out of this world and filling in and of itself. So filling, in fact, neither I nor my dining partner could fit a fried ice cream dessert. But rest assured, I’ll be back to check on Yanaga, no matter what he is doing.

Images: Eddy Marenco

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A.D. Amorosi

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