Sakura Hibachi — Restaurant in Cleveland

Atmosphere is probably the best aspect of being here. The service isn’t horrible, and honestly since I went by myself I expected to not be as served on compared to the larger parties that came in shortly after me. I work hospitality so I get it, and honestly I was fine being left on my own 😂 but they don’t clear used plates from the table until you’ve had them stacked for over an hour and you have to actively ask for a refill (honestly I’m fine asking for a refill but clearing tables of finished plates as needed is a big part of FOH responsibilities). The sushi is not kept in any kind of temperature controlled environment, instead being left out in front of the station on plates. There are only 2 tongs available to pick up the sushi with. This presents 2 major issues with allergies and time temperature abuse, as several rolls included raw fish and no one knows how long the sushi has been sitting there (food safety and sanitation laws demand food be thrown out after being in the danger zone for 2 hours, 41-140 degrees). The hibachi station was mainly abandoned. I saw multiple staff members refilling food on the hot buffet line and salad bar without putting on gloves first. The food was honestly just not good, and was bland at best (I tried pretty much a bite of everything except for the southern staple area that had Mac n cheese/meatloaf/etc). I think the best thing I ate was a salad off the cold side and one of the premade cream puff looking desserts that they got from the store. Not worth the $14 unless your desperate for some quick food, have a large family to feed on a budget, or prefer your food on the...

This restaurant used to be the best value in the area. Good food, decent prices. However, tonight's visit was the proverbial straw. Dinner buffet on a Friday is now $11.49. The menu says something like $8.49. Nothing is more aggravating than walking into a place, getting food, and then getting a bill much more expensive than you were expecting. The food, which used to be pretty good was mostly dry and stiff from sitting out on the buffet so long. The rice on the sushi I got was hard. The new prices would still be okay if I knew about the increase beforehand and the food wasn't so bad. Despite the poor operation, the staff are very nice and the restaurant is very clean, probably due to low traffic for the above reasons.

Maybe instead of offering a free beer with dinner, they should work on revamping the buffet. Cook food in smaller amounts so that it doesn't sit out so long, and replace food that has sat out too long (stop mixing old food and fresh). Start removing dishes from the buffet that aren't popular to save on costs, maybe have a 'specials' or 'international' section of the buffet where you can try out new dishes. What new dishes? They could provide a suggestions slip of paper with the bill, look at what people want, and evaluate what might be cost effective to try. Is the restaurant struggling financially? Some buffet restaurants only offer buffet during heavy traffic times (or have a smaller buffet selection at slow hours) and cook to order at other times to ensure the...

As someone who's health conscious and dining out is on occassion only, when getting the broccoli from the buffet, I did not expect it to have been cooked in butter, all other chinese food restaurants i've frequented just steamed their veggies in water, of which sakura should adopt the same when cooking for the public....based on their notice of whats expected of patrons with regards to the meaning of "All You Can Eat" Not Waste" I felt like with my plate, i fell in the waste category..lol...I couldn't eat all the broccoli i had on my plate because of the butter, cant believe they ever had the audacity to charge people a $1 for leaving food on their plate....like really people...glad they at some point realized the error... what i find also disturbing is that i asked for a to go cup for my unfinished Tea, my Aunt asked for a to go cup of water...waitress said the water in the to go cup was free, there was a charge if i want a to go cup to put my left over tea in it... so much for waste...they actually charged you for wasting food, but if its ok to waste your drink, however if you dont finish it and want to take the remainder you must pay a fee....needless to say, i wont be going back to such an establishment...every restaurant i've ever been to allowed you to take your drink to go at no...