No.. Daikokuya does not take reservations. Our locations are small and often have a line of people waiting. We feel it is being respectful to those waiting in line to keep it as a first-come, first-served policy. This helps us to keep our flow of tables going for less waiting time.

Costa Mesa DK accepts take-out orders now.. but the other Daikokuya restaurants do not offer To-Go orders, much for the same reason as not taking reservations. Often Dine-In customers are waiting to be seated or served. Taking a To-Go order would essentially be cutting in line in front of customers who have been waiting.. and takes just as long to prepare the to-go order as a dine-in order.. which would slow down everyone waiting. Again, this policy is for respect of the customer. That said.. occassionally some locations may randomly decide to accept to-go orders in person if they are not presently busy.

No.. Currently we do not have the nutritional info for our food. It is something we will do in the future, but it is an involved process, and probably costly. Right now we are a small restaurant chain of 4 locations.. The California law requires restaurant chains of 20 or more locations to provide nutritional info.. so we still have time lol. Alternatively, you could look up general item's nutritional info such as 'gyoza' etc.. and find a possible ball-park idea of what it might be. Of course, our recipes are not necessarily the same, so it would not be entirely accurate. Eventually we will have the analysis done. Thanks for your patience.

This is sort of a trick question, a bit controversial, and not a simple answer. Technically, Daikokuya does not intentionally add any MSG to the food. Yet some of our food suppliers may have it in some products already. Some restaurants may claim 'No MSG', but this is not always accurate. MSG is also widely used in most fast-food chains, processed food, snack food, etc. Potato chips, tortilla chips, bbq sauce, jerky, etc. There is also natural glutamate that is in some meats and vegetables. We are not condoning MSG, the fact is, It's pretty difficult to avoid 100%. Some studies have concluded that only certain people who are allergic, would be the ones to have any reaction. Like the 'peanut free' zone on an airplane, some just can't eat it. On the other end of the spectrum are those saying that it is poisoning the world. If you've never had a reaction to it before, chances are you won't. Of course it is your personal choice whether you avoid it or not. We feel it is important to be honest about it. We don't add it, but there is no guarantee that something might already have MSG to begin with. So we can't really make any claims one way or the other.

MSG - Wikipedia

A Big Crazy List of MSG Products

I think the original idea was that each location might have a little different personality and offer some different things. The intention was good, but we realize now some customers miss some items from the Little Tokyo menu. Although this is also partly because the location's kitchen may not have enough room to make everything. We are sort of new at being a 'chain restaurant', and are learning, and sometime make mistakes, or try ideas that may not always work. Yet we are always looking for ways to improve or correct things. Hopefully at some point we will have a standardized menu for all locations. Still some locations may offer extra items that others may not have. Chefs will be chefs. They like to be creative.

Each location has different chefs and cooks. It is not an easy task to get them to make everything exactly the same. As any restaurant, one meal could be good.. and next time you visit may not taste the same or cooked the way you had it last time. The ramen broth is a long complex process.. and easy to have a variation in taste from one day to the next, depending on who is making it. Some of our items, such as the Gyoza, are hand-made, which can vary from one chef to another. New locations with new chefs take time to perfect our recipes as well. That is why we are often nervous when first opening a new store. We are working on ways to make all locations taste consistent with each other, but I'm sure there will be times when it still might seem different. Occassionally the chefs might be trying to improve the recipe, which may or may not always work. We are still learning the 'ins and outs' of being a chain restaurant.

As in the previous answer, the broth is a very long complex process. The original idea was to make one kind of ramen, and make it really good. It is not canned soup, so it takes time and space to create it. Since our kitchens are generally small, we don't have a factory space to make many soups. So we decided to just focus on one kind. I think it would be interesting in the future as we grow, to try to offer other options.. or special soups that come and go like the McRib Sandwich.. but whether customers would order it or not is another question.. since many have become attached to the original. Who knows.. eventually it could expand.. but for now.. we have the one.

Originally I think the menu did not have in mind any actual vegetarian options. You are welcome to browse our menu online, and you may find some items that are suitable for you. This is not meant to sound insensative.. just we have no specific vegetarian section of the menu. Maybe in the future we could think about that, but as it is now.. we have meat, fish, vegetables, noodles, etc in different variations of dishes. Everyone has their specific likes and dislikes.. so it's sort of up to you to decide whether our menu would agree with you or not. Of course if you have any suggestions that you would like to see, we are always open to ideas.. and you are welcome to email us your thoughts.

Some locations might have the old-fashioned paper gift certifcates. We know this is an out-dated way of doing it.. so we will be looking into offering gift cards in the near future. We have the ability to do it with our touch screen registers, it is just a matter of setting it up and having the cards made. Another idea that has been suggested to us is a loyalty card system.. which I think is good. Sort of like your grocery store club cards, or airline mileage cards.. where you can acquire points with purchases to earn discounts or free stuff etc on future visits. We know some customers visit us frequently, and it would be a nice way to show apprecriation to you, rather than just a coupon etc. Plus you can carry around yet another neat card! lol! Hopefully we can do this as well once we work it all out.

Right now, technically the shirts have not been for sale, and were meant for employees only. Although we are planning to open an online store on our website in the near future, and we will design some shirts, and possibly some other items that you can purchase. Employees at our locations currently have no instruction on what to charge for shirts, and also they have no access to the shirts, so they wouldn't be able to sell one to you at this time. If you really want one.. please just be a little patient.. and we will make them available once it is ready to go.

It is true that we want to continue expanding new stores.. but it is still a bit random on when. Where is always a good question too. We have found many wish for us to open in lots of areas. I suppose it all comes down to the financial ability, and acquiring a suitable property. Of course we will announce the coming of any new store at the appropriate time when we are sure it will happen. Your support and the stability of our current locations will help us to open more as we go, once we are able to do so. You can vote on our poll to let us know where you would like us to open a store. Hopefully we'll get there! Follow our Facebook page or Twitter to get the latest updates when things happen.

No. Currently Daikokuya is not offering a franchise opportunity. We are interested to do so, and have had numerous inquiries of interest.. but we understand at the same time we also need to take this process slow to develop a system for it to work properly. In the meantime we are making sure our own chain is viable enough to be a worthwhile franchise-type establishment. There are many details to consider.. so this is something that may or may not happen.. but it is a possibility at some point. Until then, we will be working on building our own chain.