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Taisho is a cramped, dingy subterranean space lined with tin foil, old calendars, and smoke stains. It is also so insanely cool that local Japanese kids (themselves insanely cool) will wait 45 minutes for a table here rather than walk down the street for an easy seat at any of the other yakitori copycats on St. Marks Place. Of course, it's not just a manically friendly atmosphere or semi-secret slice of Tokyo they're after—the food rocks, too. Yakitori —grilled skewers of anything from mushrooms and chicken to quail eggs and gizzards —arrive hot, juicy, and eminently snackable, but the menu also features heartier dishes, such as yaki soba (stir-fried noodles). — Matt Gross