Hapa Izakaya Yaletown

I had a great time at Hapa Izakaya for happy hour. I've been a few times and each time I am impressed with the consistency of the food and how tasty it is! Thank you

Justin and his team at Hapa have created a wonderful community gathering place with Hapa, it's hard to reccomend a resturant more. Great food, a cool environment, but it's the service and welcomeness that keeps us coming back. Been dining at Hapa for over a decade and we're going there more than ever now as we've realized how special it is. Thanks Hapa!

Love this place. It's a staple. Whether I'm going for happy hour, dinner for 2, or a large group/friends/family - it's always been great. The menu is fantastic, and I find I can get a consensus between folks who want a Sushi night & those who don't. I prefer their wine over their cocktails (that's the only critique I have of the spot - their cocktails could be just a tad bit better) ; however, sitting at the bar & their bartenders are awesome! Service here is fast and attentive, the vibe inside is always good (and they have their own vibe - much less pretentious than the others places in the neighbourhood). And the food - it's excellent! Well priced, lots of options and satisfies most people. It's on my go-to list for anytime someone is visiting.

Come for Hapa Hour and leave at closing time, best Izakaya in Vancouver and our go-to spot in Yaletown! Shoutout to @mattwong for introducing us to Hapa all those years ago!

Wonderful. Staff is so welcoming and warm. Great food with nominal price. Will be back soon.

Made a reservation online for my birthday dinner. They called me to confirm my reservation (while I was at work), and also emailed. I confirmed via email. I arrived with my group 7 minutes past the reservation, and was met with so much attitude from the host (though I have a feeling he was a manager considering his outfit and demeanour?) saying they’ve been trying to get ahold of me to confirm my reservation, and because it’s not confirmed they’ll “try to find a table but might be tough with a group of 4. ” HUH? Why would I make a reservation just for you to TRY and find a table for my group? As someone who was a host herself and understands the bull you need to put up with, I struggle to see what I did to get that attitude right off the bat? Sure, I was 7 minutes past the reservation time but there’s usually a 15 minute grace period, maybe 10. I said I confirmed via email and he doubted me but said he’ll check to make sure I did. Sure enough, I did confirm, so he ran off to put together a table for us. Foods fine, service from the server is fine, just unhappy with how I was greeted by a host/potential manager on my birthday.

The small plates are beautifully presented and delicious. You must try the stone bowls too. The food is great. The cold sake was good value and is served in an ice cold unique carafe. My husband enjoyed the wine. Lots of interesting cocktails as well. The room has a friendly fun atmosphere and the service was excellent. It is dimly lit with tables and booths good for a date night too.

Absolutely adore this chic classy Japanese twist restaurant. Definitely need to go there. Their paper bag prawns are seasoned perfectly and are the best in the city hands down. Their miso sable fish is deliciously flavored and cooked to perfection. They have hot stone bowls that the servers mix at your table for a fresh bowl of food. Sushi is delightful. Service is as always, impeccable. I frequent this venue and could not be any happier with the service and food that is provided. Each dish isn't too expensive as they are served in minimal portions which is a great call. I'd rather less food and to be able to order more instead of expensive food that is quite substantial in size with waste.

We came here for dinner and noticed most people are mainly here to drink. But the food portion was perfect enough for us, almost like street foods

I love the food at this restaurant. Been visiting this place for many years and consistency is always there. Love the ribs. Loooove.

Like most places in Yaletown. Its really loud. Hard to even hear the people at your table. Food was ok but given the price range i would say value is low. Be aware that if you go in a group they will charge 20% gratuity on everything including on the tax. Gratuity is supposed to be for Gratitude and i had none for the service we received. We were not forewarned of their 20% policy for groups and i encourage people to refuse to pay it.

Hapa is my favorite restaurant in Vancouver! Amazing food and lovely staff. Justin, the owner is one of the most professional and friendliest business owners I know! Thank you very much!

Service is very pushy and rush.keeping checking if we are ready when it is our first time to eat (it takes a bit of time to check and decide what to eat). Keep asking few times if we finish our meal and try to rush us out asap.

Staring our payment machine and make sure we click the minimum 18% tips. It was suppose to be fun and relaxing dinner with my friend. However, the whole experience didn't worth 18% tips at all. Disappointed to get this service from Japanese food.
I chose the custom amount and move on.

Food was sub-par, small portions for ridiculous prices, for 4 people my dad paid 160 dollars, it’s good but not worth it:/

Great food, loved the different cocktails and the service was excellent. We will definitely be back.

Energetic, welcoming atmosphere.
Wonderful, knowledgable staff.
The atmosphere, of the room, in my mind, is a mixture of Tokyo and New York. Very cutting edge in a room that captures the warmth of wood decor, and the modern feel of Yaletown.
The food is designed, and prepared in full view of the room. This alone can fascinate as we watch the expertise of the amazing kitchen staff.
Lots of fun. Can't give it all away, as I would not want to ruin any of the pleasant surprises that happen when you are there!
A must experience!

Last night I ordered a Chipotle beef at this restaurant, and believe me I could only find this piece of the beef in my bowl. The beef was the second item in the ingredients but probably they need to move it to the last item.

It was my first time trying their happy hour and I definitely will be going again! Got five of their happy hour dishes & their sake sangria (which is a must!) Nice atmosphere too ️

One of my favorite izakaya place in town and awesome service by the bartender - David. Knowledgeable not only on drinks but also on food recommendation. I don’t think I’ve had anything bad from the menu. All if their sashimi and sushi are really fresh.

If you’ve not been here, I recommend you check it out. It gets busy, so either you go early, make a reservation or be ready to wait in line.

Best chicken wings in town, Special on Wednesday. Bartender Devo is funny and not bad looking too! Great atmosphere and service

Food is excellent! The stone rice bowl is one of my all time favourites. Atmosphere is great and staff are friendly and attentive.

Also, if you're looking for a great, lively atmosphere and a good time, it's a perfect place on weekends to hang with friends for dinner and drinks.

Great service, great atmosphere and the food will make any foodie happy. Justin the owner always makes you feel like family!

What a hidden gem!
We had kinoko Ishiyaki, beef curry ishiyaki, ika, hapa roll, and we LOVE IT!
The owner and our server is super nice, inviting, friendly and made the experience extra magical!

Excellent service. David was just the best- we went to celebrate and he went above and beyond to make it special for us. Food was excellent as were the drinks!

Sweet and sour cocktails. Food was awesome. Skip the squid and just go for the sushi. You won’t regret it

We went there on Tuesday 9pm. The food is amaaaaaaaaazing and the price is very cheap. The service is the Beeeeeest! Thank you Hapa Izakaya!

Hapa in English means partially Asian. Tapas are from the Spanish culture.so therefore you'll expect a fusion of cultures in the type of food they serve here.
The Toronto location has the same seductive and sexy vibe the only difference is this venue is a lot smaller in size.if it wasn't for Dan Park from Toronto I would've never known about this classy joint.so thanks to him I was able to remember this sweet but small local independently owned restaurant.
Great food, good vibes.the mackerel (saba), and calamari was the definitley the highlight of the evening.

Hapa Izakaya is way over rated. Been there before, but I will never go back. The food was terrible. The beef to be really chewy and was way over cooked. Not worth the money!

Love their current soju sangria. Must try! Their happy hour is great for hanging out with friends!

Moderb vibe and service was quick! Justin (manager?) was super friendly accommodating on our first visit. Its a different dine-in experience and the specialy sushi is awesome!

Attentive serving staff but the food takes its time coming out. The food is also mediocre and portions are incredibly small for the price. I get cost of everything is going up but a simple sushi roll averages at $17 - and they're comparably smaller than what you get at most sushi places across the city. Forget the sashimi, sockeye salmon was $15 for 5 thinly sliced pieces. Yaki udon was the highlight; even with the noodles being overcooked and a few bits of chicken sprinkled in it. Didn't have the sake but cocktails tend to be more on the sour end for my taste.

Dark and classy Japanese joint with super friendly staff and a great selection of Izakaya dishes, everything from sushi to spiced prawns in a paper bag. Slightly pricey if you want to eat to your heart's content, but worth it if you go with a bunch of friends because the place creates a vibe. You gotta try their sake in bamboo to her the party started. Their edamame is a good starter, and do is their ahi tuna sashimi avocado salsa dip served with plantain chips. For main courses, I really liked the karaage, their hapa rolls and their yaletown rolls. Tried a few other players too, and everything was good. I'd go again.

I do know it was Friday evening and I was a bit late only by 15-20 minutes looking for a parking spot, but never had heard of only hour and a half seating only. We swallowed the food, no time for a second drink. And time starts from your reservation time not from when you sit. And very loud and crowded.

Made a reservation, we were a few mins late, they couldn’t seat us right away which felt fair. I thought they were going to check our ID/vaccination status inside but they never did. We were offered the option of 3 different tables. One was right under a speaker and the music was extremely loud, another was next to a group of very rowdy 20-somethings, and the other was likely the one we should have taken. The tables are very close together, and a few minutes after sitting down I started to feel poorly, likely due to the atmosphere. We went at 9pm, if you’re there to drink that may be for you (so take it with a grain of salt I guess). This review may make me seem quite old but I am late 20s and just like to hear my dinner companions when they talk to me lol. We’ve heard the food is good here but weren’t able to make it to that stage before we left instead.

It was such an amazing experience. Great service, wonderful food and nice vibe. If I ever go to Vancouver again, I will definitely go to this restaurant.

Very disappointed. This is first time to go to Hapa Izakaya since covid19.
Food portions got a lot smaller than before especially smoke salmon sushi. And the sushi rice was dry and paper thin smoke salmon on the top. I can't believe it is 17 dollars sushi. Quality and portions both weren't good.

I'm not sure how this restaurant gets rated with more than two stars, maximum.

From the abrasive bartender to the careless and confrontational manager/owner and food that's subpar in every way, your money could be far better spent elsewhere.

Have had Izikaya many times in Vancouver and this experience at Hapa was by far the worst.

Amazing food and drinks. We had chicken and it tastes unforgettable, the lobster roll also so great. We loved the way they served suki. Their super friendly and energetic staff also got the big point

Busy, great atmosphere, great music!

The food was excellent, service was very efficient!

5/5 Thank you!

Nice Japanese tapas bar with great food and drinks. The tako wasa, takoyaki, and Crispy calamari are all amazing and very fresh. The drinks are interesting mixes and are presented beautifully. Came here rather late in the evening so they could accommodate our bigger table on the patio. Service was good.

Interesting fresh ideas, always something new to try. Fun environment, good food, try the saki! If you get it cold it is served in bamboo- super fun.

Food was delicious and ambiance is really nice. Entrance was slightly confusing (went to the wrong place first) but otherwise enjoyed our experience here.

This is always been a great restaurant and I have had many great experiences dining out… I really enjoy bringing my friends and family and trying all of the great dishes that they offer. I highly recommend that you take some time out of your busy schedule to have lunch or dinner at this great local establishment the staff is great and everyone treats the customers very well.

Great vibes and great food! Loved the drink menu it was very fun and had cool drinks. My favourite food item was the Ebi Mayo and the Yaletown roll.

I love going to a place when they take the time to get to know you even though they have hundreds of customers. I don't know if it's a good thing that they know me by first name.but the management team is incredible. Their owner is very proactive and you will often see him visiting his locations to make sure his customers are happy.

For newbies, make sure you order their ishiyakis', chicken karaage and paper bag prawns with a side of red dragons ;) and don't worry, if you come late, they have a late night menu with a portion of the menu to order from.

After coming here religiously to all their locations for over 15+ years, I can confidently say they aren't just a restaurant to me, they are family.

#Arigato

This place was amazing. Food was exceptional, huge bar! Staff went above and beyond. Atmosphere is top notch will be back 100%

The food and service was good.
I had a server named Mio. She was good until we got our bill. We split it 5 ways and some of us paid tip layer to realize grat was added automatically without our knowledge. One of us asked if grat was added on and she stayed quiet.

Everyone eating here. The food and experience is great but be careful with the bill they are trying to pull more out of you than what it should be.
Later she told me she was 16 years old. I dont understand how a 16 year old can be serving alcohol and drinks.

Once again, food was good but the serves are out to get some.

This is a nice spot for unusual Japanese and fusion dishes you wouldn't normally see at a garden-variety Japanese restaurant. Tako wasabi and pork belly lettuce wrap is what is pictured. The Tako wasabi is raw octopus cut into tiny pieces in a wasabi tasting sauce. Also I usually get the 750 ml sake to share with a friend. Modern atmosphere.

Very nice ambiance. Food is great, friendly staff. Great place for sushi and beer. Will definitely be back!

The service here was really good. The dishes were okay some dishes were really good others were missing another layer of citrus or flavour. But it’s a solid place. Worth a visit.

I dined here recently after a long break from this place. I stopped coming here because the service and manager were horrible before. Well to my pleasant surprise, it looks like there’s been a full revamp of staff. The hostess/manager was hilarious and very accommodating. Treated us like we’d known her for years (it was our first time meeting her). She mentioned that she used to work here a long time ago and that she only came back in June. Our waitresses were great too.

It was quite apparent that all the waitresses along with the manager enjoyed working together and that positive energy emanated to the guests.

The food was as good as we remembered - if not better.

To the owner: you’ve done a great job hiring the staff that you have. Now that we know that Hapa’s back to being the Hapa that we loved before, we will definitely start coming back again. And recommending to our friends as well.

I am surprised that they took my 1 person reservation for dinner
Their foods are tasty. Specially recommend the sake lychee cooktail.

Location and food were great. I would definitely go back but would like to see more vegetarian and chicken dishes on the menu

Poor quality food. Small portions and incredibly expensive for what recieve. Hapa Izakaya has lost what it used to be.

Happy hour is totally worth every dollar! Everything here was delicious. The edamame went down so smooth; it was the best I had in my life yet. The tempura tasted fresh. They even mix the ishi-yaki’s runny egg and veggies with the rice at your table.

It’s quite cozy and intimate in the last hour of happy hour, between 5 and 6. I am so planning on coming back.

Went with a group of friends. We all had a great experience
Friendly staff, tasty food, nice environment, clean washrooms very fair price for the area and the type of restaurant. I'll definitely go back soon.

Good food, good atmosphere. Definitely plan to share dishes, it’s the best way to experience the food. And have a round of sake bombs for fun!

I always come for the Hapa Hour as it's a great bang for your buck. You're able to sample some of their best dishes for a phenomenal price. I recommend the ishi-yaki, tataki, and ebi mayo. The setting is clean and modern and service is always friendly and quick. Definitely one of the best places for Izakaya.

One of my fave Japanese Restaurants. Their Sake especially the cold one is pretty good. The restaurant in general has a fun atmosphere.

Best Japanese restaurant in Yaletown. Great food, great drinks and amazing service with fair pricing.

You will leave happy.

An interesting modernized fusion of ikazaya with alot of West coast and other Asian influences. Come for the chic decor, and nibbles, don't look to indepth for the drink selection (though they seem to be stocking Sake One now? Amongst other bottles) good for the quick happy hour, but lacking in the fun that comes from traditional ikazaya that you might know from elsewhere. This is Ikazaya upstreamed and overly done, and they charge for it.

Love this place! Haha Izakaya is a great spot to relax, eat a fantastic mural and enjoy a few cocktails. The paper bag prawns are my personal favourite.absolutely delicious and bursting with flavour!

Top drawer, first class Japanese experience. Flavorful and plenty. You will not go wrong by eating there. Superb service, as well. Sake list is impressive with much selection, too. Recommended.

Amazing place. I just wish the opening hours were for longer.
The food.is just amazing.
Try whatever you see! You wont be disappointed.
Its a bit pricier but you’d know why as soon as you have the first bite.
Not biggest fan of the cocktails as they are mostly too sweet for my taste.

Little gem in Yaletown. Tasty, busy, serving was fast. Angus sushi was super tasty, bento was amazing, tempura udon was good. Recommended.

Service was ok. Lots of people but I wouldn’t say it’s worth the hype. Portion is quite small and expensive. Some foods were either tasteless or too salty. Ambient is good though.

My ex took me here for dinner. It was so loud we could barely hear each other shouting; in the slightly quieter side seats, we ended up with people leaning into us and our table as they left. The saba was fresher than at my favourite sushi places. Lobster roll was delicious. Octopus was overseasoned. Portions are tiny and prices are very Yaletown, I guess. Staff are friendly enough. We filled up on normal Vancouver-priced dessert elsewhere.

The food was excellent, but very poor value. Its very expensive for what it is; perhaps because its in Yaletown?

There used to be three of these gems down town. Sadly we are down to one.
It’s a jewel of Japanese tapas.
Knowable staff that have worked there for years. I think that says a lot about the ownership.
I enjoy the cool upbeat decor. Very dry clean inside and out take town location.right beside cactus club.so skip the chain and go next door and eat something amazing!

My meal, mackerel, squid, and the eel rice down.

Soooooo delicious.

Great service and a wonderful vibe. I love the food every. Single. Time. The tuna tataki is phenomenal!

Slow service. Only had one drink and were there over an hour. Overpriced food was food but the portions were small and service terrible. Would have had two drinks but the servers were not very helpful or attentive. Would not go back.

Meh. Was there for a birthday and ordered many items off the menu to share. Nothing really stood out as being great. Best thing of the night was the Sake Sangria. Decent place, but nothing good enough to get me to return.