Yatai

A yatai (屋台^?) is a small, mobile food stall in Japan typically selling ramen or other food. The name literally means "shop stand."^[2][3]

The stall is set up in the early evening on pedestrian walkways and removed late at night or in the early morning hours before commuters begin to fill the streets.^{[citation needed]}

Menus are usually limited; Japanese cuisine is most common, but Chinese and Western cuisine yatai are not unknown.^{[citation needed]} Beer, sake and shōchū are usually available.

A salaryman might relax with colleagues over dinner and drinks at a yatai on his way home from work.^{[citation needed]}

Fukuoka is well-known within Japan for having many yatai.^{[citation needed]}

Yatai are also set up temporarily for Matsuri (Japanese festivals), selling foods for spectators, such as yakisoba, kakigōri, takoyaki, and okonomiyaki.

A reference to yatai in the modern sense is found as early as 1710.