These Yakitoriya reviews are wild. Either 5* or 1*.
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itâs a mix of your ordinary yelp people expecting their shoes kissed and being bowed down to by hospitality workers and the people that have actually been to the restaurant and understand how good the food is & thatâs its run by husband and wife only.
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But calling at 1:00am? to ask for bigger tip? If true, not stellar behavior, even if the Yelper is egregiously cheap.
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I think this place is like Fathers Office in that some people will never âget itâ. It survives on ex-pats and referrals
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If itâs surviving on ex-pats and referrals, than the number of people who will never âget itâ seems pretty high.
Itâs true
I have never had an issue with either of the owners. Never been asked about my tip, etc.
I am a âregularâ though so that makes sense. People strolling in for the first time after casually walking on Sawtelle will probably not be happy most times.
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All I know of the place is what I read on this thread, and from what I read on this thread, neither diner nor owner comes off particularly well.
Seems like they should either add a service charge or raise the prices and remove the tip line.
thatâs the yelp consensus
They have some pretty aggressive service charges, like 5 skewer min. per person, even if you bring your 3 month old child), must purchase a drink, etc.
That was never an issue because I order food there as if its the last meal Iâll ever eat 
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Those are some aggressive minimums, but service charges are an alternative to tipping.
It may be an alternative, but I think theyâre implementing both service charge and tipping, which is why so many of the yelp reviews are negative
No mention of a service charge on Yelp. Lots of complaints about hidden charges, though per photos most if not all lof those are actually on the menu.
their âmandatory tippingâ is pretty much a service charge. Thereâs no difference between them requiring 18+% tip vs a 18+ service charge other than how theyâre conveying it to their customers.
One is written in fine print on the bottom of a menu and the other is calling you at 1 a.m. trying to convince you to tip more
In California, service charges are part of the bill, subject to sales tax, and may be used by the restaurant for any purpose, while tips are voluntarily added by the customer, not subject to sales tax, and must be distributed to non-management personnel in the chain of service.
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By what youâre writing, I donât think youâve been to this restaurant. No one other than âmanagementâ
works there. Anyone who goes there and is a regular knows that tipping 20%+ is pretty much mandatory if you want good service. Regardless of California regulations, some small ma and pa shops operate how they want. You like their rules and going there, great! If you donât like it, youâll be ignored and hopefully wonât be coming back.
Iâm just saying the guy would surely avoid some upset customers and get fewer one-start Yelp reviews if he switched to a service charge rather than trying to bully people into tipping a certain percentage. Seems like probably heâs not aware that thatâs an option.
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Sounds like tax evasion to me.
Unlikely. In California, if they donât report the tip income to the IRS, they have to include it in gross receipts.