There’s no rule AFAIK. If you go alone and the izakaya has a bar it’s better to sit there than at a table if you don’t plan to eat, although you’ll probably be served unsolicited snacks that you’ll be charged for. If you go with a group of Japanese people everyone will be expected to eat and drink together and then split the bill at the end of the party.
As far as my experience goes, depends on the shop. Some have a rule, for example every guest has to order at least 1-2 things from food menu. Some don’t have a rule but may expect it anyways and might ask you to leave after a certain time if you don’t order some food. Some it is totally okay.
Only way to find out is to ask before committing I guess.
No problem at all as long as you are ordering something. They might ask you, ‘Aren’t you ordering food?’ if the Izakaya chef is talkative, but they are just asking out of curiosity. Drinks are often more profitable than food, so they will never get mad just for ordering drinks.
No but I’ll get mad if you don’t order nama!
If you go there as a group, I think it’s OK even if just 1 or 2 in the group does not eat.
We did the opposite and didn’t drink anything, just ordered a lot of food 🤣 the bartender got mad and complained to my Japanese colleague (who’s a regular there) the next day.
Why would you want to limit yourself to only drinking in a place that primarily exists to serve food and smells of food?
Well you might get a small dish/otoshi and table charge, so it’s reasonable to expect that.
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It’s about as OK as not reading this sub’s posts before submitting. This thread is only three hours old. https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/17fytfo/how_to_find_places_for_drinks_only/
There’s no rule AFAIK. If you go alone and the izakaya has a bar it’s better to sit there than at a table if you don’t plan to eat, although you’ll probably be served unsolicited snacks that you’ll be charged for. If you go with a group of Japanese people everyone will be expected to eat and drink together and then split the bill at the end of the party.
As far as my experience goes, depends on the shop.
Some have a rule, for example every guest has to order at least 1-2 things from food menu.
Some don’t have a rule but may expect it anyways and might ask you to leave after a certain time if you don’t order some food.
Some it is totally okay.
Only way to find out is to ask before committing I guess.
No problem at all as long as you are ordering something. They might ask you, ‘Aren’t you ordering food?’ if the Izakaya chef is talkative, but they are just asking out of curiosity. Drinks are often more profitable than food, so they will never get mad just for ordering drinks.
No but I’ll get mad if you don’t order nama!
If you go there as a group, I think it’s OK even if just 1 or 2 in the group does not eat.
We did the opposite and didn’t drink anything, just ordered a lot of food 🤣 the bartender got mad and complained to my Japanese colleague (who’s a regular there) the next day.
Why would you want to limit yourself to only drinking in a place that primarily exists to serve food and smells of food?
Well you might get a small dish/otoshi and table charge, so it’s reasonable to expect that.