Saito's Japanese Steakhouse in Dania Pointe — Restaurant in Dania Beach

On the night of October 15, 2023, prior to our Jon Secada concert at the Dania Beach Casino, we unwisely chose to dine at the Saito's Japanese Steakhouse in Dania Pointe. My wife had previously dined at the Saito's Japanese Steakhouse in Coconut Creek, where she always had excellent experiences. Thus, we decided to give this new location a try, since it was close to the concert.

What took place was an absolute nightmare and easily the most horrible restaurant experience of my 71 years on this planet.

It started with the parking situation, as it took around 15 minutes to locate a parking space, and I must emphasize that I am disabled.

Upon entering the restaurant, and I must say the restaurant was beautiful, we were met with a pair of not caring hostesses engaged in chatting with each other, we were forced to wait for them to finish before we were seated.

Mind you, the restaurant was almost empty, with it being around 6 PM on a Saturday Night.

Our order was for the Steak and Shrimp Super Combination Dinner, which we shared, with a side of fried rice. Our waiter, however, started by bringing us soup and salad. The salad was chilled and tasted great, but the soup was shockingly cold. I informed the waiter of this issue, and he promised to return with a hot soup. When he did, it was, at best, warm not hot.

Next to our table, a female bartender and another employee engaged in a loud conversation that showed a utter disregard for us. Scattered throughout the restaurant, numerous employees were chatting in similar disruptive chats.

The climax of this dining nightmare occurred when our waiter presented us with the steak and shrimp dish, which was not just lukewarm, but downright cold. We sent it back, only for it to return still cold, and our medium-rare steak was now well-done.

At our wit's end, we requested to speak with the manager, who, to our surprise argued that the soup and food were hot and something was wrong with our taste buds. I could scarcely contain my rage and said that we were quite aware of the difference between hot and cold. Astonishingly, he made no effort to fix the situation. We only ate maybe 1/3 of the cold food.

Thus, we demanded the bill, and upon looking at it, we noticed an additional charge of $9 for reheating the food, which, as it turned out, came back cold, yet again. They removed the $9 from the check, and we left the restaurant.

En route to the Jon Secada concert at the Dania Beach Casino, we were compelled to make an unscheduled stop as my wife, in a state of distress, had to vomit 2 times out the car door.

Upon our arrival at the concert, both of us became sick , leaving no room for doubt that we had food poisoning from Saito's restaurant.

Before the concert even started, my wife went to the bathroom 4 times and vomited at least 25 times, I went to the restroom 2 and vomited 8 times. After Jon Secada sang 2 songs my wife was once again was forced to the restroom again another round of vomiting.

Before picking this restaurant I failed to check their 3-star rating reviews and the amount of complaints regarding both the quality of food and service. It is abundantly clear that this establishment hates their customers , as evidenced by the managers disregard for our situation.

If you do not want to get sick do not eat at the Saito's Restaurant at...

IF YOU ENJOY CRAPPY FOOD, THE RUDEST HOSTESSES ON THE PLANET, TERRIBLE SERVICE AND THE HIGHEST PRICED HIBACHI IN TOWN THEN THIS IS DEFINITELY THE PLACE FOR YOU!!!!!!!!! IT WAS SO BAD I HAD TO POST MY FIRST GOOGLE REVIEW

My family and I are kids at heart and we love going out for hibachi and we usually do it every couple of months. We went to Saito's based on a recommendation from a coworker. You should also know that I personally worked in restaurants for 10 years waiting tables and bartending so I am very understanding when things are not always perfect. Nor are we riffraff either. That being said, we went to Saito's for Dinner with another family. Two familys of 3 for a total of 6 guests. We arrived 1.5 hours before closing. There were lots of empty tables. I let my wife get out of the car to get us a table because the parking is terrible at Dania Pointe. I find a parking spot and walk into the restaurant, but my wife is not seated. I asked her why she didn't get a table. She said the hostess will not seat us until our WHOLE party is here. I explained to the waitress that the rest of our party was finding a parking spot. Then, the rest of our party arrived. OR SHOULD I SAY ALL BUT 1 PERSON. The hostess still REFUSED to seat us. I asked to speak to the manager and she refused to get the manager. The last person of our party arrives 2 minutes later and she finally seats us. We then proceed to order food and drinks. Dinner was a mixed bag for hibachi. I ordered Filet and Scallops. Scallops were GROSSLY overcooked. The fillet was actually cooked to a perfect medium rare. I tried my wife's chicken which was grossly overcooked. The waiter sure wasn't trying to increase his gratuity because he really never came back after we were finished with the soup and salad. I later found out why. Its because they add an 18% gratuity. I really don't care about that because I usually tip at least 20% for decent service and often times more. Rude staff that refuse to seat us Servers that don't give a shit because they know they are going to get 18% out of you Hibachi that is not up to par with other hibachi restaurants in town

• SPEND YOUR MONEY AT ANY OTHER HIBACHI RESTAURANT IN TOWN AND YOU WILL BE DOING...

Terrible Service & Unprofessional Management – Do Not Recommend!

I had an absolutely horrible experience at Saito’s Dania Pointe while trying to celebrate my child’s 10th birthday with a party of 25 guests.

When I called to make a reservation, I provided my name and number, but at no point was I informed that a deposit was required. I even called twice on the day of the event to confirm, and still, no mention of a deposit. Yet, when we arrived, the manager lied and claimed that we never made a deposit—something I was never even told was necessary. To make matters worse, when I spoke with the host, she had no knowledge of any deposit requirement either!

Instead of handling the situation professionally, the manager was rude, dismissive, and completely unwilling to listen. He raised his voice at me and had an unprofessional attitude the entire time. He then refused to seat us unless we could physically show all 25 guests, despite the fact that 21 of us were already there and others were on their way. Meanwhile, smaller parties arriving with 6-8 people were seated immediately, without having their entire group present. It was obvious we were being singled out and treated unfairly.

After waiting an entire hour from our original 7:00 PM reservation, we were finally seated at 8:00 PM—only for the waitress to take another 20 minutes to even acknowledge us! The overall service was unprofessional, disorganized, and completely unacceptable.

This experience ruined what was supposed to be a special celebration. I was argued with, ignored, and disrespected by the management and staff. To top it off, our food was shorted, and the overall service was slow and careless.

I will never be returning to this location, and I strongly advise others to avoid it until they properly train their staff and get new management. I will also be returning to speak with the owner because this level of service is completely unacceptable for any establishment that claims to value its customers.

Absolutely dissatisfied and...