3 Must-Try Teriyaki Spots In Seattle | On the Road
Travel alongside Cook's Country's Editorial Director Bryan Roof as he explores the communities and cuisines that make up the great American dinner table. In this episode, he travels to Washington and stops by Toshi's Teriyaki Grill, Grillbird with J. Kenji López-Alt and Ta Joia Bothell to try teriyaki chicken.
Get our Seattle Chicken Teriyaki recipe: cooks.io/3vkRtR2
Learn more about our visit: cooks.io/4cESKTZ
Follow Toshi's Grill on Instagram: / toshisgrill
Follow Ta Joia Bothell on Instagram: / tajoiabothell
Follow J. Kenji Lopez-Alt on Instagram: / kenjilopezalt
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Great to see Ta Joia getting the recognition. The food is amazing and the family that runs it makes it even better.
One of my favorite spots
They’re outstanding
I've been following Kenji's teriyaki tour, this is amazing as well
Me, too.
Ditto!
He said a while ago that he would be on one of these episodes, I have been waiting not so patiently.
Same
And he wasn't a fan of Toshi's at all
As a Seattle native, I honestly had no idea how much teriyaki was a Seattle/PNW thing until I moved to LA, then Nashville. This made me yearn for thin, umami teriyaki sauce with charred chicken and a side of slightly crispy gyoza. Time to make some at home.
Do you have any favorite places in Nashville? I’m up in Madison.
@@CalebPerez I don't know of any that serve anything like what we're used to in Seattle. I've checked ramen and sushi joints and there really just isn't anything.
@@CalebPerez Hey there! To be honest, I am struggling to find favorites in Nashville. Every time I visit an “amazing” recommendation, I find myself perplexed. Naturally, I am spoiled by all of the great hole in the wall ethnic and American food option in LA and I miss deep, rich espresso pulls, PNW halibut and chips, teriyaki, and the tangy frozen yogurt spots of my youth (what happened to those places?). After talking with fellow transplants here to Nashville, seasoning and flavorful produce (except tomatoes-they are nirvana here) seem to be the thing we’re missing. And great coffee. Only one place in Spring Hill has coffee I will drive a full hour to enjoy. To be absolutely fair, there are “meh” food operations in Seattle and LA and plenty of them. But I was hoping to find 5-10 places to love and cheer on here in Nashville. I haven’t given up hope, I know I will find them, but it’s proven far more difficult than I imagined. There is, however, I have found two gems. Maiz de La Vida in East Nashville. They own a food truck, a handmade tortilla store, and are about to open a brick and mortar. My other favorite is in White Bluff, TN called Fat Tiger. It is Korean - I LOVE Asian food - and most certainly not lacking in flavor or seasoning. I love their spicy pork, hangover stew, shrimp burger, Fat Tiger sauce, and so on. It’s good, satisfying food that makes me feel happy and at home and it’s served by really good people. How about you, Caleb? Any recommendations that I must check out? I could use some help!
Did not know it was a thing until a moved to Seattle. I have since left, and I miss the teriyaki there so much. Any corner joint will have better teriyaki than any place outside of Seattle/PNW
Do you enjoy working with your daughters? No.😂🤣Classic Korean mom response.
Toshi is king, and really set up the culture in the state to ensure great teriyaki everywhere. As a local you really get spoiled that teriyaki is everywhere and man is it good pretty much everywhere. Never realize how teriyaki is outside of WA. Really hit the nail on the head the best Teriyaki is anyone making it next door. Every corner resturant place usually has teriyaki on the menu in seattle. Shout out to all the SE asians and South asians randomly making teriyaki in their delis
Have you been to Toshios on Rainier Ave? Believe it or not its better!
@@dannytv12 rainer food tends to always have surprise ringers. Yeah Toshios on rainer is undebateable prob the best. Im a west seattle kid so nikkos has been my go to.
Ta Joia is the best hands down. Their katsu is phenomenal too. With the cilantro jalepeno sauce.....man. 🔥
Seriously underrated place. Too bad they are an hour away :(
@@BR-wc7nh Ahh dang. :/ I'm lucky, I'm 15 minutes away from them.
wow i just passed by this place tonight--whodathunkit?
Ta Joia is awesome
I’ve lived in WA my whole life, and I never knew that teriyaki was so specific to us until a few years ago. Kenji is right about your favorite being what is closest to. My favorite ever spot was Tri Teriyaki in West Richland WA, and I could walk there from my house as a kid. It closed down ten or so years ago, and I will miss it forever.
its NOT don't believe someone you don't know.
@@tj-kv6vr It def is, I found that out when I moved out of the area and tried finding a seattle style teriyaki spot in California and Texas.
@@tj-kv6vr Where does it come from?
I can't wait for Kenji's tour to get to Ta Joia
John Hinterberger was a Seattle institution. He went everywhere in this town and found the best places to eat. I’ve been here for almost 30 years and have tried LOTS of Teriyaki, but I still go back to Toshi’s. The original and the best.
I grew up near Seattle and teriyaki is my comfort food. I love how this showed how teriyaki can really mix up and incorporate different influences. One of my favorite spots growing up was Toshi's in downtown Redmond. It was run by the Bhagas, who added some South Asian influences. Seriously, it was one of the best spicy chicken teriyakis I have ever had. It was definitely different but fit perfectly with teriyaki sauce. You could also get kheema and samosas there. The place they were located in is now an apartment building. So many good meals out there, and the couple were always so friendly.
Came for the food, but got bowled over by the story of the family behind Ta Joia. More power to them!
Tan Vihn is an amazingly great food writer; it's awesome to see him helping highlight our insane love of teriyaki around here.
Vinh*
Best place was scaryaki at 2nd and pike. Homicides out front, selling stolen electronics on the side, closed for health code violations, $5 for the best yaki you could ask for. Plus the "secret menu item" of getting white sauce on the chicken was chefs kiss. If you know, you know.
The food at Ta Joia is our favorite! The sauces too 🤤🥰
The food scene in Seattle is one of the hidden culinary gems of America. We have such a diverse population that you get a bit of everything depending on the part of town you're in, with African and Asian being the two standouts. I love this city and it's food scene
Ta Joia is the best!
Thanks for blowing up our favorite restaurant, Ta Joia. 😂
I grew up in Seattle. When I moved to Madison Wisconsin in 2000, I discovered that there are zero teriyaki restaurants in this part of the world. Seattle has as many teriyaki places as there are Starbucks, possibly more! When I visit home every year, I try to make it a priority to have at least a couple times to eat at a different location every time. The best teriyaki sauce available at every grocery store, simply can’t be found in the Midwest! Yoshis. I finally had to learn to make it myself.
I was born and raised in Washington and had no idea Chicken Teriyaki was so unique to the area, until I moved away. I sure miss a good plate of teriyaki from Toshi’s, and that great side salad!
Is the Ta Joia family's biggest secret their teriyaki recipe or their anti aging??
I want to try the Brazilian teriyaki. I lived in Brazil for 4 years. People have no idea how good their food is. More power to them … best of luck to them …
It's literally the best.
I didn’t go to Seattle often, but when I was stationed at Fort Lewis we had House of Teriyaki and Teriyaki House just outside the gate in Tillicum. If I was in the mood for chicken, then I’d hit the former. Pork or beef from the latter. Either way, I would get a large to go plate with white rice and a salad, and it would be overflowing with food. I could get one of those for around $6, and it would be lunch and dinner for the whole weekend. Breakfast was beer, typically. Barracks life was wild.
I live in Kent, and my go-to is Bucks Teriyaki and Wok on East Hill. Great food, and the guy behind the counter's as friendly as they come, just a great person running a great local business. Can't say enough nice things about them.
My parents opened a teriyaki (and tempura) shop in Orange County in... the late 1980s? They converted what was a hoagie shop that likely served cheesesteak sandwiches because there was a big ol' carbon steel griddle, which was perfect for cooking big batches of teriyaki. Different flavor than a grill, but it still served up tasty food. My dad had experience working for a sushi restaurant in Japan, he had crazy good knife skills. I remember their chicken being so popular among the Latino worker community, they "donated" bottles of Tapatio and Sriracha sauce to give the sweet teriyaki a kick. My dad's teriyaki marinade for chicken is soy sauce and rice wine. Also works great for _kara-age,_ although they never chose to offer it at the restaurant. I'm sure they would have had a lot of customers for that, but they also only had 1 deep fryer and 1 pot of oil for frying tempura, and managing the spent oil for chicken would be... yeah that's probably why.
We love Ta Joiaaaaaaaaa!!!
Toshi used to work with one of best friends at Miyako restaurant. He would always talk about the restaurant he was going to open. He quit and opened his first shop and never looked back. The reason his teriyaki sauce is so good is because he is from Japan and the flavor is how Japanese people make teriyaki sauce. Balanced, not overly sweet or salty. The majority of the teriyaki restaurants in the Seattle are owned by Koreans, which is their version of the sauce. I prefer Toshi's since it tastes like my mother's recipe.
My wife and I are going to be visiting Seattle for a few days later this summer and I had no idea that teriyaki was such a big part of the city's food scene, so we'll be sure to check these places out.
It's something that people growing up here really do take for granted, because like he said, there's multiple in every neighborhood/suburb no matter how small. There's literally like a dozen w/in 2-3 miles of me and I live 20 miles north of the downtown Toshi's.
It's kind of under the radar. You see teriyaki shops in lots of neighborhoods but it's more a comfort food than avant garde at this point so you aren't going to see foodie blog post about teriyaki etc. It's just a thing that locals do.
You haven't been to Seattle until you've had the teriyaki. It's like going to New York and not eating any pizza.
@@BrotherCheng So true, ha. 'Teriyaki night' is just a normal thing here
I'm a regular at Grillbird. it's only a block away from home, and I can smell the grill smoke at my place. ❤Love the chicken teriyaki!!!
Here b/c of Kenji's teriyaki tour. Teriyaki is simple, but that's why there is so much variation in quality. People assume that "simple" means they can cheap out in ingredients or take shortcuts w/ technique. Nope. When u do that w/ a simple dish, u REALLY notice, as there's not much to cover those things up. Seattle is a beautiful city.
Cf. the perfect baguette, the perfect blonde omelette, the perfect roast chicken, the perfect tamago nigiri. So many cultures use conceptually simple but technically demanding dishes as the yardstick of a restaurant's quality.
I absolutely love Bryan's On the Road series!
I saw a driver on the freeway eating teriyaki while driving. She had the container in her lap and looked down just to scoop up get next bite. That was about 20 years ago when I had just moved to Seattle and realized that Teriyaki was the #1 fast food in the area! 😂😂😂
I live just North of Seattle so we have eaten Toshi's since about 1979 LOL! I and am so excited to try these other places! Bryan your road trips are my absolute favorite, thanks a million and thanks to coming to the PNW our home town!!!
❤🌸💕
Buck's Teriyaki in Kent, my hands down favorite. Great food and value, with friendly, smiling folks behind the counter.
I was born in the mid 60's just north of Seattle and toshi's is the best teriyaki I have ever had. I have been living in Phoenix for over 20 years and nothing compares to the teriyaki in Seattle area. Can't wait to get back up there.
Grillbird is so freaking good!!!
I grew up on Toshis❤ it was a treat for my dad to bring it home for dinner❤
I have lived in Seattle since 2010 and I used to live a block from this place. It is legit is one of the best Teriyaki places in town.
Thank you Brian, what a great vid, and i loved the collab with JKLA! I know I need to book a trip to Seattle soon 😁 and also New Mexico!
Ta Joia is the best! Spicy Chicken with Pico + Cilantro sauce is my go-to lunch! The staff is awesome and extremely friendly. Can't recommend it more!
Their pico is so good that rice with pico is delicious without anything else. But yeah, their spicy chicken is my go-to as well.
Thanks Brian! ❤
Perfect timing. I'll be in Seattle soon and I'm going to stuff myself with teriyaki chicken and try the different flavor profiles to learn.
Happy Teriyaki off of 288th and Military Rd in Federal Way was the closest. This mom and pop shop was always a go to for my family for 20+ years.
Great 👍🏿 video, born and raised west Seattleite and I used to live right across the street from GrillBird. Used to be a Pizza Hut in High Point. Teriyaki is definitely Seattle’s signature dish that non locals don’t know
those all looked soooo good! it's gonna be the next few places to try when we visit Seattle some time later this year!
Grillbird's salmon teriyaki is divine
Okinawa on Western Ave is great!
I love all these teriyaki videos. There’s also a great video on the Thrillist channel about the history of Seattle teriyaki and it’s cultural impact. Now I have two videos to watch while I eat teriyaki lol
I've lived in Western WA all my life and there definitely is a teriyaki joint in every town. Never really had a "bad" order of your standard teriyaki chicken meal. The best parts are the speed of service and the price. It takes about the same amount of time as a fast food joint to get your food, but it's healthier than your typical fast food meal imo (chicken, rice and salad vs ground meat, fries and soda). I'll usually eat about half one day, then half the next day because it's usually a ridiculous amount of chicken and rice. Always been a good deal!
Note that the Toshi's they're at is in Mill Creek. That's the only one Toshi owns and runs with his wife. The others are all franchises with different ingredients and menus. The one in Mill Creek is by far the best Teriyaki in the region.
Kenji 10% understands the area, simply the fact that he knows "Your favorite teriyaki place is the one closest to you" As someone who grew up here, I've always said, you can tell where someone grew up based on their favorite teriyaki spot.
More episodes like this, please!
Yasuko's hands down best teriyaki in Seattle!
This teriyaki has me drooling!!
I had no idea teriyaki was brought up largely by and in Seattle. Really interesting. Now I have the urge to start experimenting and figuring out my own teriyaki marinade/recipe for some chicken thighs.
Nice to see Seattle teriyaki getting the attention it deserves. It really is a local thing and I would definitely equate it to someone's favorite taco truck
Go Dawgs!!!! Great video! Wish we had a U district spot here.
I love Yoo-Mi so much 🥺
We were just in Seattle this last weekend. I wish I saw this video before we went.
Fascinating--Seattle is on my bucket list!=
Going to check out some of these restaurants when I go to Seattle this summer
Chicken and rice is such a simple idea but there are so many amazing variations on it. I love a good teriyaki, where the sauce is not so sweet it might as well just be syrup. One I wish was more common in the US is Hainanese chicken and rice, which goes by a bunch of different names based in the various other countries where it has been adopted.
I love Hainanese chicken rice so much! I think the only part that westerners aren’t comfortable with is the soft skin, they find it slimy and an odd texture to them.
@@kelvin3103 It's not my favorite part TBH. Depending on precisely how it is I sometimes leave it. But the rice, sauce and soup make up for it.
Thanks for this overview. I live in North Seattle. I just went to Toshi's near U Village for lunch on a whim. To me the chicken ($13) was too charred -- that became the overly predominant flavor, even when I added quite a bit more Teriyaki sauce to try to balance it out. And then today I was in the Bothell neighborhood so stopped by Ta Joia. Outstanding! Balanced flavors of tender chicken ($15). They serve it with options of their signature pico di gallo and a creamy cilantro sauce. Yes please! The fusion was great.
Damn all these looked so good! Great video!
Living in Seattle I didn't know Teriyaki started in Seattle! I have to check out Toshi's Teriyaki
Toshi's has a been a fave for a long time! I'm glad he's not in Seattle but in Mill Creek. A bit closer to me. lol
One of many, many reasons I miss Seattle.
I had the best Yakitori ever in Seattle, I'll have to do the teriyaki tour next time.
Did Kenji say "cheap"?? Lord have mercy! 😱
for the first time ever, I would really like to visit Seattle
I MISS Seattle Teriyaki SO bad! Having lived there for 15 years, it's one thing I crave over and over. My favorite was the joint down on 2nd and Pine lovingly dubbed "Scaryaki" because of the less than desirable location. However, it was THE best Teriyaki in the whole city!
I love that spot. They'd drizzle ranch on it if you wanted which sounds crazy but was good 😂
My local spot Sunny Teriyaki (Magnolia, not Ballard) is the best I've had in my 30 years in Seattle. It's been the same couple running it since I was a kid and the wife works the counter while the husband works the grill. They had to raise their prices to stay afloat in a gentrified neighborhood which hurts their business. If you want super authentic teriyaki, I guarantee there is nowhere better and no one who deserves your business more!
The problem with Toshi’s is that he franchised it without enforcing standards. Each one is so different from the next.
Agreed! I had it at a farmers market in Walnut Creek, CA. I was so excited as a Seattle kid, but was so disappointed.
Tower deli spicy chicken was my Thursday go to for the 2000's. Yasukos has always been good as well.
The food is what I miss about the Seattle area the most.
Grillbird is more or less down the street from me, but I still haven't eaten there. I need to try it. And Toshi's is an institution. I miss Scary Teriyaki (Osaka) on 2nd & Pike and Int'l Teriyaki on Stewart near 6th. Both shut down. Both great and big portions. And the I Luv Teriyaki on 4th Ave S that burnt down last year. Said they were going to rebuild but haven't heard anything from them since.
Oh Bryan, I miss seeing your handsome face. I'm glad you have a new video.
I live in the PNW and noticed the teriyaki chicken here is pretty damn good. Was just looking for some recipes!
Nikko’s Teriyaki in West Seattle is the best.
Here in Seattle, there is a Sarbuck's on every corner. And on every other corner is a teriyake place! Toshi's has multiple locations, but most are mom n' pop places.
Yasuko's Teriyaki in interbay is my favorite, it's been around since at least the 80s
And they still do the half chicken that I remember all the Teriyaki joints used to do back in the day!
Solid choice. Janky yet great with that cabbage and very fluid teriyaki sauce.
Yep. I was sad when the location by Seattle U closed. ❤
@@markmalcolm8512Yes! and the bit of rice just under the chicken that kinda steams and soaks up the sauce and drippings from the chicken on the drive home. Perfection.
Going back to his question at 8:56 about if Teriyaki has evolved anymore; I think a lot of it has been the huge influx on people coming into Seattle (maybe esp Tech?) who weren't here for the peak of Teriyaki, when teriyaki was all the rage - new people brought in new trends/cravings and have moved away from Teriyaki, while longer-term Seattlites are unchanged with this timeless classic of Teriyaki (especially Your neighborhoods teriyaki)
Nasai is my goto spot here in Washington State.
Hey ATK, we NEED more Kenji. ❤
amazing stuff it all looks so delicious! and a very important conversation about who decides which foods should be be priced how high. thank you!
Dang it now I want toshi's
Yasuko's must be included in this tour......As someone who is in their 34th year of a committed relationship with Seattle Teriyaki...Please look into the history of Yasuko's Teriyaki. At one point there were 5, yet only the location between Ballard and Downtown remains. When I first discovered "Teriyaki" in the spring of 1990, Toshi's was too high-class....Yasuko's was the spot....the worst "salad" (cabbage they grabbed from a bucket of water...no dressing) but the amount of rice and chicken (or if you were in the know...the pork)...but it was all about the sauce...thin and a lot of it. I don't think there in another person in the world who has said "No Salad, Extra Rice" more than I have....if there is, I'd like to meet them.
Buxx Teriyaki 🎉❤🎉 best teriyaki
Can't believe they missed Buxx
My Everett-based brother uses whole chicken thigh-legs for teriyaki.🤤👍
It does sting a little now that terriaki is usually $18 a plate, when it was $10 not so long ago.
even in WA, once you leave the Cascades, there is NO good teriyaki shop. puget sounders are so blessed.
shout out ichiro's teriyaki in magnolia!
Funny how in Japan chicken thighs are expensive and breast is the cheap cut.
Toshi's, you said he marinates the chicken in the sauce with garlic and ginger, but it shows a yellow sauce. Is that something different? By the way, I'll probably never make it to Seattle, but I think I'd like their chicken more, mainly by the way they cooked it.
the edit was showing chicken curry which is a house special on their menu.
@@berzerkrobot Thanks.
Man who ever was cooking on 2nd and pike during the 2000's -2012 was the best $5-6 bucks you could spend.
Kenji looks more Kenji again with his longer hair again it’s more Kenji if you know what I mean he should keep it like that 😊
Kings in Kent WA is the best
everyone and they moms in west seattle knows nikkos reigns king in the neighborhood.
Em album release is going to break the internet. 100
ATK and the GOAT Kenji!!
11:26 hahahahahah
It was brilliantly delivered. So funny