An extension of the Vancouver-based chain of the same name, Guu Izakaya is a Japanese restaurant that focuses on tapas, or small plates of appetizers, and alcohol.  The izakaya, which refers to a Japanese bar that also serves food, is located in Downtown Toronto, Canada, close to the Garden District and Ryerson University.  The enthusiastic tone of the staff creates what the Globe and Mail call "chaotic energy" that "feel[s] like a lecture hall doing Nietzsche."http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/restaurant-review-guu-izakaya/article1440913/singlepage/#articlecontent 

Customers can sit at one of several dining areas such as the bar, counter, patio or main dining room (featuring large, communal tables).http://www.guu-izakaya.com/toronto.html   Menu items include maguro tataki, or lightly seared sliced tuna; kakimayo, or grilled oysters; hotate carpaccio, which are scallops; or eel and rice baked with cheese and green bean tempura with matcha salt.http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/10/1496904/restaurant/Downtown-University-of-Toronto/Guu-Izakaya-Toronto   For drinks, Guu Izakaya has Sapporo on tap, wine, sake and a selection of "Guu's original cacktails."http://www.guu-izakaya.com/toronto.html 

Using votes from over 300 visitors, Urbanspoon listed Guu Izakaya as having an 83% approval rating.http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/10/1496904/restaurant/Downtown-University-of-Toronto/Guu-Izakaya-Toronto   Yelp users agreed, giving the location four of five stars with the majority of reviewers rating the restaurant either a four or five.http://www.yelp.ca/biz/guu-izakaya-toronto 

In a January 2010 review, the Toronto Star gave the restaurant three stars with restaurant critic Amy Pataki citing the "relaxed service" as part of the charm.  She described the drinks as "inventive... and sometime self-serve," noting that her waitress brought a juicer and half grapefruit with instructions on how to create a $5.50 vodka-and-soda cocktail.  Pataki thought the pacing of the restaurant was its weak spot, adding that a two-hour dining limit was enforced, but it took 30 minutes for the staff to take her order.http://www.thestar.com/living/article/749876--japanese-food-that-s-the-real-deal