Sunflower Cafe Inc — Restaurant in Brandon

This is one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in the area. Years ago, they took over the spot in Lithia Crossing that was formerly known as Pacific Grill. While I do miss the former restaurant, I must say that Sunflower Café is even more appealing and offers more of a variety of dishes. I've had quite a few menu items over the years. Everything has been fantastic! They have ramen, udon, hibachi, sushi, and even a few Korean dishes such as bibimbap. Their hibachi entrées are a favorite in this area. I've tried other hibachi in the area and the quality and quantity just doesn't compare to the one at Sunflower Café. Their house made yum yum sauce served with the hibachi is addicting. I'm also a big fan of the ramen as well as the sesame ball appetizer.

My most recent visit was for sushi. Savannah was so sweet & friendly. She took my order and was very helpful when I had questions. I went with one of the daily appetizer specials called Yummy Yummy Mussels. They were served warm & tasty! I was also super happy with the Pink Lady roll that is filled with a krab and squid mix. I always try to seek out unique Chef Specialty rolls, and this is what caught my attention. I love that it's served like a rainbow roll but with a pink soy paper wrap. The fish on top with the squid mixture was the perfect combination. The spicy mayo and masago brought it all together and made a nice presentation. It's a roll that I will definitely order again. The nigiri portions are also very generous. A very large portion of sushi.

The only negative is that the restaurant is somewhat small so it fills up quickly. I usually go there closer to opening time to ensure that I get booth seating. What keeps me coming back is the excellent food and friendly service. The owner always recognizes and acknowledges me even when it has been a while between visits. It's always a...

MY FAVORITE PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF MY LIFE!! I mean, my family and I have been eating here since the opening of their original restaurant down in Riverview- Tokyo- YEARS ago! It's my FAVORITE hibachi food HANDS DOWN! The BEST yum-yum sauce HANDS DOWN in my personal opinion. Both ginger sauces- for steak and the salad dressing- are actually BOMB! Soup - AMAZING AND FLAVORFUL Salad- FRESH AND YUMMY. EVEN THEIR NOODLLLEESSS Food AMAZING. Everything we've tried on this menu is a 10/10! I mean if I could give more than 5 stars, I would. The service is TOP! Our family has come to know many of their Servers past and present and they are just so kind and welcoming and it's like we have formed relationships just through eating at this restaurant. The owner is absolutely so sweet and LEGITIMATELY ONE OF THE HARDEST WORKERS OUT THERE The space is welcoming and quant and just makes me happy when I take my step in :) I have brought people from different stages of my life here to eat and take part of some of my childhood. I still have a vivid memory when I realized not all yum yum sauces were equal to Sunflowers. We had traveled to my home country Venezuela and went to eat some hibachi with our family to find out they didn't have yum yum sauce and didn't know what it was, I remember I cried the whole drive to our home down there missing Tokyo AKA Now Sunflower Cafe and then feeling so sad that that restaurant in Venezuela would never come to know fhe beauty of sunflower cafe on Lithia :,) . I mean, the owner of this restaurant is a huge part of my childhood, and still to this day, my family and I eat here! Sunflower cafe was never just a "restaurant" to us, but it is Family :) Anyways, I never thought I would write such a deep review for a restaurant on yelp in my life.....

Edit: Returned for a quick lunch. The experience was much better.

Really upsetting experience. We dined in on a busy weekend night. My wife and I ordered an entree each and a roll to share. After nearly an hour, we asked our waitress for an update on the food. She brought out our shared roll, but not the entrees. We looked over and noticed that another table who had been there before us, still didn't have their food. We decided to cut our losses, eat the shared roll, and cancel our entrees.

At this point, a person who we believe to be the owner, came over to our table to verify that we wanted to cancel. She then proceeded to yell back to the kitchen area from the dining room, asking the chefs how long until the food was ready. The chefs responded loudly, seemingly frustrated. By now, the restaurant was quiet and focused on us, which made us uncomfortable, so we wanted to leave regardless. We reiterated that we would like to leave, got our check, and left.

I understand that things get crazy, especially when they are taking to-go orders, but then they need to understand that we may not be willing to wait that long.

The owner could have been more hospitable and not made a scene. There was never an apology from the owner. Really disappointing experience.

I will end by saying that the waitress was kind and...