Depending on the place, you may be sitting on chairs around a large table or kneeling on tatami mats, dining around a low table being the traditional style.  Counter seats are also often available and sometimes there are even dug out seats in the floor (although this later style is somewhat rare).

Ordering Food

In larger chains, Izakaya`s will generally have a picture menu so figuring out what you want shouldn`t be too difficult.  Sometimes there will even be a small English description.  Smaller chains or stand alone ones however, typically only display their menu in Japanese and without the aid of a picture.

Food and drinks are ordered throughout the session by pushing a small buzzer on the table or counter. Everything is brought to your table by the staff and unlike a normal restaurant, all food items are shared amongst everyone.  The bill at the end is almost always divided up equally amongst everyone so you might as well eat your fair share.

Instead of ordering each drink or food item separately, Izakaya`s usually offer tabehoudai (all you can eat) and nomihoudai (all you can drink) deals, allowing you to order as much food and / or drink as you wish with a usual time limit of 90 minutes.