A yatai (屋台) is a small, mobile food stall in Japan typically selling ramen or other hot food. The name literally means "shop stand."
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. Menus are usually limited; Japanese cuisine is of course most common, but Western cuisine yatai are not unknown. 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.
Fukuoka is well-known within Japan for having many yatai.
Yatai are also set up temporarily for Japanese festivals, selling foods for spectators, such as yakisoba, kakigōri, takoyaki, and okonomiyaki.