Where to Find Okonomiyaki Restaurants in the Bay Area

This petite pancake has got to be the most gourmet version of okonomiyaki we've ever tried. PABU's "Monterey Squid Okonomiyaki" is comprised of a thick cabbage cake, chewy squid bites and tender porkbelly strips topped with okonomi sauce, tart ginger, spicy wasabi mayonnaise, bonito flakes, aonori and a sunny-side-up egg with a bright yolk.

Kui Shin Bo has two locations in San Francisco; one in the Peace Plaza of Japantown and one on Lombard Street, the "crookedest street in the world." Here you'll find large pancakes featuring a variety of veggies such as carrots, corn, mushrooms, cabbage, ginger and zuchini and either pork, chicken, beef, seafood or tofu as a protein

Nestled inside the Japantown Peace Plaza, you'll find Mifune Don offering a large pork and egg okonomiyaki on its menu. Of all the okonomiyaki we tried, this one tasted the most like okonomiyaki you'd find in a street vendor stall. Okonomi sauce, mayo, aonori flakes and pickled ginger round out the traditional Kansai-style pancake and made it one of the most recognizable dishes in town.

So named because it sits on the bridge between the two buildings that make up the Miyako Mall, On The Bridge features a wholely unique take on okonomiyaki - as a literal pizza. Cheese, okonomi sauce, mayonnaise, green onion and pickled ginger all sit atop a soft, chewy pizza crust. The cacophony of ingredients is a bit startling when you first taste them, but they soon settle into a harmonious medley of savory flavors.

Just a few steps away from On the Bridge, Izumiya offers two types of okonomiyaki on its menu - traditional Kansai style and modanyaki. The Kansai-style okonomiyaki is your friendly neighborhood cabbage and carrot pancake topped with okonomi sauce and mayo, bonito and aonori. The modanyaki is similar to Hiroshima-style with its oodles of noodles and egg. More unique ingredients include corn, carrots, chicken and a hint of horseradish.

You may wait a little longer at this trendy izakaya for your okonomiyaki to cook, but the thick cake and sunny-side-up egg make it worth the wait. Carrots, onion, zucchini strips and bits of pork belly are all baked into a large pancake and smothered with okonomi sauce, mayo and bonito flakes and then graced with golden, runny yolk on top.

Fancy a late night bite? New Oyaji has you covered - if you're not looking to eat a full pancake, they have crispy, deep-fried okonomiyaki triangles on a stick so you don't have to bother with chopsticks or a fork. The bites are small and covered in okonomi sauce, mayo and bonito with a generous helping of cabbage and ginger on the side.

If you're looking to get your kimchi fix, look no further than Namu Gaji's take on okonomiyaki. Served hot off the grill in a large skillet, this deep-dish version of Japanese pancakes has kimchi-infused cabbage, with green onions, bonito flakes, sauce and mayo piled on top. You can also choose to add one or two sunny-side-up eggs as an additional option.

Check in with Izakaya Roku for a traditional Kansai-style pancake, even late at night. The small cake comes topped with all the usual standards of ginger, sauce, mayo and bonito, and includes pork belly and octopus bites as its protein.

Come to Izakaya Yoki for a seafood medley worthy of the Bay Area. This large, flat pancake incorporates shrimp slices and octopus bites as well as egg, onion, sauce, mayo, and a heaping helping of bonito flakes.

If you thought the name sounded familiar, you were right. Namu Gaji has a booth at the Ferry Building farmer's market. From 10am - 2pm on Thursdays and 8am - 2pm on Saturdays, you find visit their pop-up table and try a miniature version of their kimchi-infused okonomiyaki. This pancake is chewier and more similar to American flapjacks in texture than their mainstay restaurant's cake, but it has the same traditional toppings. Add extras like egg for an additional price.

Another contender in our kimchi okonomiyaki lineup, Kazan's pancake is also oozing with cheese, which makes for a strange yet pleasing combination.This pancake comes with egg, bonito flakes, sauce, mayo and a deeply crispy (due to the cheese?) bottom crust.

Genki Ramen offers a plethora of options for okonomiyaki, including beef, veggie, seafood and chicken. Their fluffy cakes are served with cabbage, carrots, onion, aonori, mayo, okonomi sauce and thinly-shaved bonito flakes.

This cozy Beatles-themed izakaya will have you literally rubbing elbows with other music lovers. Their okonomiyaki takes a bit of time to come out of the kitchen, but you'll be treated with a crispy cabbage pancake grilled with ginger, onion, carrots, ground beef, okonomi sauce, mayo and aonori on top.

Tucked away in Silicon Valley, you'll find Bushido, a trendy izakaya that offers both Kansai and Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, as well as a variety of sauces and toppings. The Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki looks deceptively like Kansai-style but has the noodles and egg baked inside. You can choose between traditional okonomiyaki sauce or their shiodare, a soybean oil flavored with lemon, salt and green onions.

Dan's unique okonomiyaki omits the pancake entirely and goes full omelet. Bean sprouts, pot-roast style beef, mushrooms, carrots, onions and cabbage are all baked into an eggy shell and topped with okonomi sauce and mayo. This okonomiyaki feels less heavy than its floury siblings but you'll still feel satisfied afterward.

Fugetsu is a well-known okonomiyaki restaurant chain with over 70 locations in Japan, and their first restaurant in the USA just happens to be right here in the Bay Area. During lunchtime they offer three varieties of okonomiyaki, but you can find up to 10 different varieties at dinner. Their okonomiyaki is served already cooked and placed on a mini teppan built right into your table. Okonomiyaki varieties include pork, seafood, kimchi and the dangerously cheesy cheetama pork modan.

Kenta Ramen offers four varieties of Kansai-style okonomiyaki; two vegetarian and two with meat. They even have a pumpkin and corn version of okonomiyaki, which is perfect for getting into the fall spirit. Generous helpings of bonito flakes, okonomi sauce, mayo and aonori round out the savory dish.

Mori Kitchen is perhaps best known for their 5 lb. Ramen Challenge, but their okonomiyaki is noteworthy as well. The flat, deep-fried pancake tastes slightly sweet like cornbread and is topped with savory morsels of bacon, okonomi sauce, aonori, mayo and a generous helping of bonito flakes.

Just in time for fall, we found another restaurant serving pumpkin okonomiyaki! Majikku Ramen offers several varieties of okonomiyaki and modanyaki, including beef, seafood and vegetarian (pumpkin). Modanyaki includes a fried egg on top and pan-fried noodles.Okonomi sauce, ginger, nori and mayo accompany a large stack of bonito to round out the pancake.