Yakuza Lounge

Yakuza Lounge is a Japanese-inspired pub that features a kids happy hour menu, which is available Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday between... more

The BEST burgers in Portland, hands down. Little crunchy onion things-oh I dont' know what they do, and yes, I know this is a japanese restaurant. Throw all that out the window and get their burgers. Stylish interior, upscale crowd. more

On the time of our arrival, we literally waited for our food for an hour and 15 minutes. Well i guess the kitchen was busy, but come on, its Father's Day and they should have placed more cooks on the line to complete all 25 tickets. Although, we waited patiently, our wait staff did not feel any sincerity of apologizing. Food was great, especially the yakuza burger, but I must stress out that a group venturing to this place is not encouraged. Overall this place is a bar for couples only and if you have time to kill, go indulge yourselves. more

The burger is truly exceptional, spicy and sweet, crunchy yet succulent. Well made and addictive. The service takes a while, but that is because they are perfecting that perfect patty on the grill. Giving you more time to spend with your friends and family at the table over a line of fresh sushi rolls, bathed in real wasabi and light soy. The kitchen is also above standards in cleanliness- trust me on this one. I have returned and I would return again. If you want a medium rare burger, then this is the place to enjoy it... those who do not understand pink beef need not apply. One of my favorite burgers in the Portland metro area. more

I work in the neighborhood so stopped by after work for a nosh, but to my surprise was greeted with indifference to the point of neglect. The hostess looked at me disgruntled when I told her I'd like a bite to eat. ""Well, hmmmmph, I guess you could sit at the bar because we have reservations coming in...if you want...."" The bartender avoided my gaze for about ten minutes, so I changed my drink order in my mind from a cocktail to a glass of beer....another ten minutes go by...Do you want to eat too? Now I just wanted to order something to quell the hunger...seared Yellowfin sashimi (?)and a spicy tuna roll... I noticed that most of the fish had a spicy component ....why was that? Low grade fish? The yellowfin was done...stick a fork in it, Seared my ass... Spicy tuna, more like tuna'd spice.... All I can say is never again. That was a waste of an hour and a half of my life.... more

Very disappointed. It took over 40 min to get a simple order of 2 burgers, even though the restaurant was nearly empty. The worst part was the actual food. Ordered my burger ""medium"" and got a patty of virtually raw hamburger. Very, very disappointing, especially considering that they are supposed to have ""the best hamburgers in Portland."" Didn't bother sending it back, because didn't want to wait for another hour. Will not be back. more

This spot reminds us of NY a lot. It's super laid back, chill atmosphere and friendly servers. The food was delicious w/the exception of the octopus, it wasn't good. My only problem was the prices, since the dishes are small, we got 3 plus a beer and spent $45 w/tip and walked away hungry! Definitely just go to have a drink and lay back, eat before you go! more

We have been regulars at this restaurant since the day they opened, and have brought dozens of people to eat there. Mica used to give attention and care to the food, and seemed appreciative of his customers. Sadly, for the last two years, the food and service have been in a steady state of decline, i.e forgotten entrees, inattentive wait-staff, and declining food quality. We kept hoping they would regain the quality they had begun with. The last straw came recently when we had a reservation for a table of ten. We waited almost 2 HOURS before ANY food was brought to the table, and not a dime was comped off of an almost 500.00 bill! This is Portland people! I eat at PACKED restaurants in this town every week, and have NEVER had to wait more than 40 minutes for food, and NEVER that long for an order that included appetizers. Perhaps the chef/owner is too busy with new ventures to maintain the quality of what was once a fine establishment. What a shame. Pros: nice neighborhood Cons: Poor service, forgotten food items, no apology for long wait more

We went here only because Portland magazine said it had the best burger in town.\r \r On that front, it was AMAZING! The burger is top-notch, we each had one along with a scallop and dungeness entree. To that end their sushi is fresh and flavorful.\r \r HOWEVER- this is a big knock on the place. How can a trendy upscale restaurant completely drop the ball on the cocktail and wine service? This is Portland, last time I checked. If you do not come to play with wine and spirits in this city, you simply are not going to survive.\r \r I looked over the menu before going, the cocktails they did have looked awful. The only one that looked appetizing was their pomegranite, which, coincidentally enough, they did not have on their menu.\r \r I asked if they had something with Midori in it, you know, this being a Japanese restaurant and everything. Nope.\r \r So we settled on wine. They had a whopping 2 to choose from, and after we chose the Reisling, they ran out after the first bottle and we had to order cabernet for our second glass.\r \r This was on a SATURDAY NIGHT, and they ran out of wine? Are... you... kidding me?\r \r Anyway, the food was awesome, and as a local burger afficionado the burger absolutely lived up to hype! \r \r But if anyone involved with the restaurant happens to see this, be warned- your absolute disregard for providing patrons with an ample wine list or cockatils may cost you repeat business. Pros: The best burger I have had in awhile, lived up to hype Cons: Cocktail list is awful and limited, wine list was miniscule more

I was grumpy and was looking for something other than our usual standby's, yakuza is in the hood…I had been before, right after they opened and remembered it had been tasty-so we decided to give it a shot. Problem one, I was already grumpy, problem two-it was 8p and I was hungry. We ordered the burger, shrimp tempura roll, the squash, and the house roll. The squash, shrimp tempura and house roll came out first after 70 minutes. 70. I had heard that they had GIANT rolls; these were smaller than other places and mediocre. I was ravenous-trying to figure out if they had something-anything I could order quickly to nibble on, like edamame…Nope. The waiter did say he had comped my drink and asked if I wanted another-sure. 3 drinks no food. Awesome. I worked as a waitress for a thousand years and I can tell you it is not fun to have a dining room filled with hungry people who don’t have food and a slow kitchen, that is when I put on the charm and beg forgiveness-“”I am so sorry you are experiencing a wait- the kitchen is slammed I apologize…” Nothing from our guy. Just a comped drink. No explanation. No apology. After 90 minutes the burger came out. It was delicious. But I was still hungry. And irritated. I will never go back. The squash was completely bland and uninteresting, the shrimp tempura roll mediocre and the house roll okay. The burger was perfect. The service sub standard. If you are looking for a place to sit around and drink, and aren’t really hungry, this place may be for you. If you have a matter you need to discuss with a friend for several hours and want your food to trickle into your conversation every hour or so…But it is loud in there too…Nevermind. I say don’t go. We did get all of our drinks comped though. \r Pros: burger Cons: Sloooooooow and unapologetic service more

we waited almost 90 minutes for disappointing sushi. apparently we should have ordered the kobe burger but still no excuse for waiting that long. the table next to us was seated after us and got served before us, and their order was even lost before getting put in to the kitchen. at least our beers were comped. i've tried this place twice now, and i really do want to like it, but found it underwhelming and overpriced both times. i find their ""be prepared to wait 30+ minutes for your food"" disclaimer printed on their menu pretty pretentious. Pros: ambience Cons: slow, poor service more

Our visit to Yakuza was quite seredipitous. We had made reservations for the second seating at Beast next door and were told we could wait at Yakuza until called for dinner. Our first entry into Beast was at best bad so when we entered the light and casual atmosphere of Yakuza our spirits rose and we decided to cancel Beast and dine at Yakuza. The gracious host sat us at a quiet table on the patio and the friendly waitress brought the menus, took our drink orders and suggested several items for our meal. The simple one page menu belies the depth of flavors, textures and gastronomic subtilties that lie in the food. The first taste of almost evey dish brought out the ""Oh my God this is Sooo good!"" statement as we relished each new presentation. Since this was our first visit we relied primarlily on recommendations from the waitress with a few selections of our own. We ordered in stages to allow a better appreciation of the full range of dishes which included the Zucchini squash carpaccio, Kobe beef tartar (yum-yum), Hawaiian amberjack sashimi, Dungeness crab maki, Minced Hawaiian yellowtail maki and apple and avocado and sweet pepper maki. Our only disappointment was that they had sold out of all of the desserts due to our late arrival. Beast had done us in a second time but no matter, we now have another new dish to look forward to on our next visit. The beverage list was a bit low on wine but had a good selection of Sake, beer and ale. The staff was friendly, helpful, knowledgeable about the food and just plain nice. What started as a terrbile evening ended up wonderful. We look forward to our next visit. Pros: Fabulous food and service Cons: Desserts were sold out. more

I came here for my birthday dinner because I had heard fabulous reviews about the food. And for the most part, the food was pretty fabulous. I don't know if I would go as far as to call this the best burger in Portland, but it definitely ranks up there. And the beef tartare (or, really, the ""crispy poached egg"") that came with it was quite nearly spiritual, as was the scallop appetizer. But then, there were some misses, like both maki we ordered (Dungeness crab and hamachi), which were bland, unspired, and far below the standard set by the, well, less Japanese dishes on the menu. And the service was HORRENDOUS. And I'd like to make the disclaimer that I will usually forgive any degree of terrible service if the food is good enough. And the food here was nearly good enough--but the service was slow enough to ruin the meal. We sat for about 20 minutes before our waiter asked us for our orders, and it was another hour before our first dish arrived--and at least another 20 minutes before the next two. The food came in sporadic bursts, with unforgivable waits in between. And it wasn't just that they hated us--I often noticed times where hardly anyone in the restaurant had food. I blame the kitchen. They seemed understaffed, for one, and the two-then-three chefs seemed to only be able to work on one or two (SMALL!) dishes at a time. We spent at least two and a half hours here and probably only half an hour of that time actually eating. By the end of the night our waiter was apologizing profusely. In short, I am never coming back here. If you only order one or two dishes--and I would make it the burger and the scallops, probably--then you might be OK. And this might have been a bad night. But it was enough to keep me away from Yakuza forever. Amusingly, though, Naomi Pomeroy of next-door Beast kept wandering through the kitchen, either to gather herbs or to watch the degenerating spectacle, I couldn't tell... Pros: burger, scallops, beef tartare, al fresco atmosphere Cons: ABOMINABLE service--and the sushi was not great. more

The ONLY reason Yakuza gets less than 5 perfect stars is due to the occasionally pokey service. Otherwise, both the sushi and (especially!!!!) the sashimi are second to none. Carefully prepared and imaginative rolls, and delicate, luscious sashimi, make this THE go-to place in Portland. Highly, highly recommended. more

Food = excellent! Probably the best sushi I've had in Portland. Servers = pretty good, seemed friendly enough, fairly prompt. Why the one star then? They made a big mistake on my bill that showed up a couple of months later. They did refund me my money, but were very blase about it. If they just would have included a note of apology with the refund check I think I would have been fine. But the fact that they didn't feel the need to apologize just shows me that my business isn't important to them. If you go, my suggestion would be to pay cash! Pros: incredibly fresh sushi Cons: poor customer service more

The reviews which Yakuza received during the summer of 2008 do not do justice to the dining experience it offers now. I ate at Yakuza with Portland friends on October 12, 2008 while visiting from the East Coast. The experience was sublime! We ate slowly, took our time and enjoyed conversation while sampling nine or ten dishes. Four or five of them were among the best Asian/sushi/fusion dishes I have ever had. Don't go here for traditional sushi but do go for inventive Japanese fare. Each menu item was distinct in flavor from the next and each melted in our mouths. The Kobe beef strips with raisins and fresh figs were incredible. The salmon carpaccio was a subtle explosion of different tastes. The tempura fried chevre with caramelized onions was rich and flavorful. There was a squash dish which I could have eaten all night. We consumed the scallops in a citrus infused sauce/soup right to the very last drop. The cucumber and avocado with sesame seeds was a perfect traditional foil of taste to balance against more exotic menu items. The blends of fruits, ginger, other spices and fresh bits of greens were imaginative and perfectly blended to temp the taste buds. The service was prompt and our waiter was able explain all the ingredients of each dish with enthusiasm. I would readily return to Yakuza on another trip to Portland! Pros: As you sample different menu items, you wind up wanting to taste every dish on the menu! Cons: Had to leave for the airport. more

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The first time I went to Yakuza, I had an amazing aesthetic dining experience. The ambiance was stunning, the service fantastic and friendly, drinks were spectacular and the scallop tempura and pear avocado roll were simply to die for. My next visit was as equally splendid. Spider roll to die for and the honey basil drink was awesome.\r \r However, last night I brought a group of about 12 people to Yakuza, thinking this amazing restaurant would be an ideal place to celebrate my birthday, but I was thoroughly mistaken. The service was horrendously slow-a brand new server was throw into our group and had no idea about the food, drinks, or really how to wait tables at all. She was obviously flustered, but our sympathy and understanding only went so far. The other staff member started getting incredibly testy with us as well. It took us over 45 minutes to get our food and when we got it, it was NOTHING like the food I had experienced before. The spider roll in particular was simply horrendous and nearly inedible. The food simply tasted old and gross. After dinner, one by one, all 12 of us started complaining of stomach pain, which then lasted well into the next morning. It then took an hour to cash out, which was not pleasant considering all of us were suffering from severe sour stomachs.\r I have no idea what went wrong this last time, but luckily this was the last time I will be visiting Yakuza. It such a shame...this place was so AMAZING the first few times. The only thing that was constant were their drinks. They were still fabulous, however they were not able to make up for the horrific service and sickening food. more

Got rid of amazing sushi chef. Bartender clad in a grey t-shirt and ratty jeans. We sent back two undrinkable Cosmopolitans (pretty hard to mess up), and guess what? The bartender proceeded to taste, yes, with his mouth on our glass, BOTH drinks. You decide. more

Don't go here if you just want to get some sushi rolls- they cut rice from the menu, so more nigiri or rolls. That said, this place offers up some great dishes! Smaller plates, but not tapas small. My wife and i split 5 plates (3 appetizers and 2 small plates), had one specialty cocktail each and split a 22oz. Sapporo. All for about $68 and we were stuffed! Every plate was AMAZING! It was extremely hard to pick a favorite dish, but the grilled asparagus in orange pistachio pesto with manchego might be the winner.. Maybe a tie with the ""fish and chips""- raw salmon, yellowtail, and tuna piled onto crsipy lotus root...mmmmmmm.... It wasn't very busy when we went (on a friday around 9ish), so we didn't encounter any of the ""bad service"" some of the other reviews mentioned. In fact, our waitress was super nice. This place rules. more