Furaibo Izakaya - Santa Ana

I was really excited that there was a new Izakaya restaurant in OC. It is kind of near the mall in a Target parking lot. The furniture up front makes you feel like you are in a fast food diner, but there is a wall of booths in the back that look cool and homey. The servers were awesome, but they do seem understaffed. The food was just okay, just maybe 20% off of good. The wings were of course good, but the yakitori and other dishes just needed something more. I feel they need Japanese management to come from Japan and work on the food flavor and redo the inside for a cozier feel and vibe.

I used to go to the original restaurant in Gardena back in the day, so I had to try this one. I ordered the chicken katsu, good but not great, I've had better, also ordered the butter asparagus which was phenomenal. We also tried the 1/2 lb of chicken wings which was unbelievable! Definitely a come back place, the wait staff was amazing!

Scrolling thru Yelp to figure out what 's for dinner tonight, I was shocked to see that I hadn 't rated this (favorite) restaurant. I 've been to this location about 3 times, when in the area, and have, of course, been to the OG in Gardena since I grew up there! Furaibo is definitely a go to when the craving hits. The DOUBLE TEBA SAKI course is my ultimate favorite! Those wangs! The flavor is AMAZING. A very light soy and some secret seasonings add to make this an all time favorite for chicken wings IMO plus you can dust them with your spice level of white pepper, which is another seasoning that sets these wings apart.Yes, similar to Korean wings, but different. After all, these are Japanese which originated in Nagoya, JAPAN.There is just enough rice, perfectly cooked, may I add, to the lunch box, and who doesn 't like the perfectly shredded Japanese version of cabbage slaw, with the delicious lighter version of an Asian thousand island type soy dressing and just a few edamame which again, are perfectly cooked and seasoned well.I always want to try their tonkatsu, but just can 't get past these wings!! My mouth is watering rn. Time for another trip.

The wings are so good. Let me start off by saying that I love wings. These were so good. I got the double something but they were basically wings. Comes with soup, rice and a little salad with choice of dressing.Service was good, I know they were running a little slow since there's only 1 lady outside and 1 guy in the kitchen. Big ups to him because as we were near the end of our meal, it was pretty crowded.Tons of parking.Cant wait to be back.

Chicken katsu salty afChicken wings so skinny thought it was a doveSalad house dressing was disgusting