Kauboi Izakaya

This place is ridiculously good. Great vibes, service, and food. Most dishes are small. Great place to order lots of different things and share. Will be coming back any time i come to Reno.

My partner and I have been coming here for several years, and its one of our favorite restaurants in town. I love just exploring the menu, trying everything they have. Most restaurants in reno are so boring, not Kauboi!

The food was tasty (though a bit overpriced). I am giving this place only one star for ATMOSPHERE because inside it was way too loud. There were four of us for dinner. From the outside we thought, "this place looks fun". The problem was the music they were playing through the speakers...super loud and stinky...none of us could talk. All four of us agreed that the food was tasty, but the loud music sucked, and made for an unpleasant experience. We will not be back.

This is my favorite restaurant for their technical ability. Service can be slow, but oh boy is it worth it, it is a tapas restaurant after all. Come with friends share everything. Alternatively chill at the bar alone and gorge on skewers, you really cant go wrong with any menu item.

The food and drinks were good. The blaring music & service were not. I would like to return and try some of the other menu items, but will pass as I didn't care for the ambience or service. The music went from tolerable to driving us out of there by the end of the meal. Not sure how that helps w/ gratuity but maybe it helps them flip tables quicker. I would arrive near opening if you want your dishes served promptly - otherwise it could be 30+ minutes between dishes. I would say its like eating good food in a loud (blaring) night club w/ inadequate service - that about sums up my first & last visit.

We came in around 7:20pm and they were packed! I have heard their food is really good so I had to try even though the wait time was 45 minutes. We were out on the waitlist by a staff member very soon after entering. The interior has dimmed lighting with a large bar seating on the left and about 7 tables on the right. The middle section has stairs I believe goes down to their kitchen. It was a lot smaller than I expected coming here. For parking, I parked across the street and there was a fair amount of street parking since it's a Thursday night. We waited next to the windows and were seated in just over an hour at 8:30pm. We were a group of 3 and there were 2 tables open, but 2 other groups were seated before us. Not too sure if the waitlist was checked. After we sat down, our waters came in about 5-10 minutes and we started ordering because they stop taking orders at 9pm. We ordered: - Giant Squid: soft, not too chewy, comes with yuzu mayo, 5/5 - Charred Broccoli: great flavorful, crunchy and not overcooked, 5/5, definitely recommend! - Wild Shrimp Gyoza: spicy, warm filling, the wrap is thicker than expected, 5/5 - Spicy Soba Noodles: not too spicy, refreshing noodles, comes with perilla leaves, avocado, tomatos, 5/5 - Okinomiyaki: crunchy noodles on bottom, bean sprouts, cabbage, savory pancake, and fried egg on top, 4/5 - Ten Layer Port Tonkatsu: mustard wasabi is very strong, black garlic sauce, moist meat, crunchy outside layer, 5/5, definitely recommend! - Yakitori (Meatball): warm tender meatballs, raw egg yolk as a sauce, 5/5, definitely recommend out of the Yakitoris - Yakitori (Thigh): soft, warm, meat is dryer compared to the meatballs, 3/5 - Battership Curry Fries: thin fries in a bed of warm curry, comes with very tender meat and cubes of mozzarella cheese, crispy fries, 5/5 Overall, the food was great! The music is very loud and it's hard to have a conversation, but I believe that's their theme. When the check came, it was $190 for 9 dishes, 4 beers and 1 old fashioned. We were not entirely full, but they were closing soon and it is quite pricey. Service and food was good. The only downside was the wait for a table. Each of the dishes came out fairly quickly and we always had something at the table. I think it would definitely help their business to expand to the businesses next door because I watched a lot of people leave after hearing the average wait time was 45 minutes.

Way too loud music at this place. Don’t go there if you want to talk to your friends.

Great service. Food was different, but tasty. The music was so loud I couldn't talk to the person I was dining with!