Rintaro

I booked Rintaro two months in advance because everyone told me it was amazing, and the hype had me convinced I needed to try everything on their expansive menu. Big mistake. This place is all about grilled skewers and drinks, but the menu doesn't make that obvious — it's actually designed to let you order poorly.

We went aggressive and sampled across sections because we didn't want to miss anything. The yakitori and mushroom grilled skewers were absolutely incredible — this was the best part of our meal and we demolished it all immediately. The drinks were equally solid: a non-alcoholic ginger cocktail that was so good we ordered a second, and one of their rotating cocktails that lived up to the reputation. They were out of the matcha cocktail I'd seen in photos, but what we had confirmed the bar program is legit.

Everything else was fine to mediocre. The udon was okay but we left most of it. We got a couple of the sashimis — one was actually quite good, so that could be a good starter with a larger group. But we're talking about a place where the yakitori disappeared in minutes while we picked at leftovers from other sections.

As we left, I saw groups just drinking beer and eating grilled skewers, and I thought: they figured it out. Come here for skewers and drinks, not a wide variety of Japanese food. As far as date night goes, this can be a fun, elevated but casual feel date night. It's not optimal for a first, second, or third date, but is great for a random fun night drinking with your significant other. That said, I think it's ideal for groups.