Hibachi & Company — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

First let me begin by saying that this is the first and only review I have EVER left for a business. I've had my fair share of negative restaurant experiences, but my experience here on 04/27/2020 was by far one of the worst. Attached I have pictures of the "teriyaki chicken" I received from this restaurant and a picture of what teriyaki chicken is SUPPOSED to look like.

I stopped into this place yesterday to pick up some dinner. My partner and I are in the process of moving to Winston-Salem and wanted to grab one last meal down Franklin Street. I was greeted by a young, white guy and woman at the front counter. I inquired about the difference between their hibachi and teriyaki chicken, and the woman told me that the teriyaki chicken is cooked in and comes covered in a "thick, sweet sauce". I ordered the teriyaki chicken with double the meat and extra zucchini.

After receiving my order, I went home to eat. When I opened the to-go container, I was very surprised to see plain, white, fatty chunks of chicken with no sauce on them. I tasted the food and the chicken tasted just like it had been boiled with no seasoning whatsoever added. On top of that, the vegetables also tasted boiled and bland with no sign of sear on them. The rice was mushy and overcooked.

I decided to go back to the restaurant, explain what happened, and politely ask for my meal to be re-made, because I did not receive what I paid for. Let me add that hibachi-style Japanese food is my favorite genre of food and this restaurant was a place that I frequented often during my time at UNC.

When I got to the restaurant, I explained what happened to the young, white guy at the counter who seemed apologetic and told me to speak to the young woman I had spoken to before and she could help me. I assumed she held some sort of managerial position in the restaurant.

I explained what happened again to the young woman and described to her how my food was not only unseasoned, but also tasted mushy and overall unappetizing. She just stood there, looked at me like I was stupid, and said, "Okay?". Taken aback by her obvious lack of care, I asked her if I could just have my food remade or have the cook add teriyaki sauce since what I had received was obviously NOT teriyaki chicken. She replied nonchalantly and told me that the food was most likely mushy because I had left it in the to-go container too long (which I had NOT) and that they would be unable to remake the food because it was prepared correctly the first time. I tried reasoning with her and I reminded her that she told me earlier that the chicken would be in a "thick, sweet sauce". She refuted this statement and insisted that the chicken, in fact was, cooked in the thick, sweet sauce. I told her that I can show her what my chicken looked like and it was obvious there was no sauce present on the chicken. She, once again, ignored this and told me that there was nothing she could do and that she knows my chicken was cooked correctly in the teriyaki sauce. I tried explaining to her that this was impossible, because the chicken tasted boiled with no trace of seasoning or sauce at all. She basically looked at me like I was stupid AGAIN, shrugged her shoulders, and said, "Yeah, I know the chicken was cooked correctly so there's nothing I can do." I asked her, at the very least, for a container of the teriyaki sauce to put on my food myself and she handed me a small container of extremely cold, coagulated brown sauce. This sauce was thick and dark brown and there was NO WAY my chicken had been cooked in this.

I left, tried eating my meal with the cold teriyaki sauce, and couldn't finish eating it because it was simply disgusting. I had to throw the whole meal away, as my partner Victor wouldn't touch it either.

Overall, I am extremely disappointed in the food I wasted my money on and highly disgusted and disturbed with the POOR customer service I received from the young, brown-haired, white woman at the counter. Very disappointed that a restaurant I once loved would employ such a rude and...

I ordered the gluten free hibachi chicken this evening around 8pm and was very clear while ordering that I have a life threatening wheat allergy that results in anaphylaxis. The person working at the counter asked in response whether it was an allergy which was confusing given what I had said. I took that to mean that she was distinguishing between a gluten intolerance and a life threatening allergy. Additionally, I indicated that I wanted white rice to confirm the safety of the food I was ordering. I briefly glanced over the order before leaving the store and it initially appeared to be correct. When I got home and began to mix up the food before eating it, there was quite clearly a scoop of white rice on the left of the tray and what looked identical to the fried rice on my friend's order of hibachi with tofu and vegetables. He tasted the food I had been given and confirmed that it tasted exactly the same. The container I was given was labeled "GF" which is particularly egregious given the complete lack of care used when preparing my order. Had I trusted what the employees had told me, I would currently be in the hospital experiencing a life threatening allergic reaction. In retrospect, the employee attempting to distinguish between an intolerance and an allergy implies a startling lack of proper training by management to teach employees to understand and respect both food intolerances and food allergies. The only conclusion I can draw as to what happened is that the employee first added fried rice to the tray, realized the mistake, and continued to prepare the order with white rice, vegetables, and chicken followed by labeling the tray as gluten free. My intention is not to criticize the employees who took and prepared my order but rather the management that failed to properly train them. I will be contacting the store tomorrow by phone...

Let’s just start by saying I don’t do these kinds of reviews very often. However, this establishment was perhaps one of the worst I’ve ever been to, in addition to being extremely disgusting, so it is necessary. I first walked in expecting to find some good food and a good experience (like any normal person at a restaurant), but this was far from that. The menu was very long and so confusing, and none of the options sounded good. I ordered the chicken teriyaki with vegetables and fried rice. The food comes out, and immediately I’m hit with the disgusting smell of grease and not fresh vegetables. It was like walking into a gas tank with rotten flowers on you. So disgusting I wanted to throw up! However, I am still open-minded. Well maybe not after this restaurant. The immediate first bite of the chicken was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted. Very dry and disgusting! It felt like I was chewing on a lizard’s tail! Disgusting! The rice was also disgusting. It felt like I was eating wet paper towels. And the sauce wasn’t helping either. Very salty and had a disgusting aftertaste. The vegetables were somewhat edible but still too watery and disgusting. The strawberry lemonade I got was also just pure sugar. Overall 0/10 would not go again and it was...