An izakaya is a casual Japanese drinking establishment built around small, shareable dishes rather than individual full-sized meals — closer in spirit to a gastropub or tapas bar than a restaurant, and genuinely one of the best ways to eat well and casually in Kyoto in the evening.
How ordering actually works
Order a drink first, then a handful of small dishes to start — rather than ordering everything at once, the norm is to order in waves as the table finishes what's in front of it, adding more dishes and drinks as the evening goes on. This is closer to how a group grazes over several hours than how a Western restaurant meal is typically paced.
Otoshi: the starter you didn't order
Most izakaya automatically serve a small starter dish (otoshi, sometimes called tsukidashi) shortly after you sit down, whether you ordered it or not — functioning as a cover charge rather than a genuine menu item, and it will appear on your bill. This surprises a lot of first-time visitors; it's standard practice, not a mistake or an attempt to upsell you.
Nomihoudai
Many izakaya offer nomihoudai — an all-you-can-drink option for a fixed time window, typically 90 minutes to two hours — usually as an add-on to a food course rather than a standalone option. Worth it for a group planning to drink steadily through the evening; less worth it for a quieter, food-focused visit.
Getting the staff's attention
Calling out "sumimasen" to get a server's attention is completely normal practice at an izakaya, not rude or impatient — tables are rarely actively monitored the way they might be at a more formal restaurant, and waiting silently for someone to notice you is more likely to mean a longer wait, not better manners.