Sakura Japanese Steakhouse — Restaurant in Elkhart

Honestly, I was so disappointed coming tonight ... Its my significant others birthday, so I called in and reserved 3 people for Hibachi (1 tab, easy payment). At first we arrived, they weren't sure about the reservation and proceeded to attempt to seat us in dining. We corrected them and they didn't seem pleased, resulting in our party joining another party. As this was our first experience, we didn't seem to mind. We've seen YouTube videos and TV shows, and it didn't seem to be uncommon to sit by others. It was very clear the other party did not agree... The servers were very inattentive as we had to wave them down for our drink orders, placing appetizer orders, etc The chef came out, and honestly the only reason we stayed. He put on an amazing show, doing some tricks I've seen online, impressively making our food. Tasted amazing!

When it was time to pay, after asking for the tab 3 different times, I went to the counter directly and asked for the tab. After receiving, I noticed I there was not the birthday discount for our party. After the manager double checked, the discount was finally applied.

Not to mention other factors: The menus are not updated, pricing being anywhere between $1 - $7 different than actually marked. All of our menus (3 menus) had separate pricing with stickers for same menu items Example: Menu 1: Seafood combo marked $33 Menu 2: Seafood combo marked $35 Menu 3: Seafood combo marked $42

I understand price updates, but why not update ALL of your menus??

Long story short, I would not recommend this place to literally anyone. The service was horrible, pricing completely unfair, and entirely exhausting doing the server's job for them. I genuinely hope they find better staffing, as I only came because someone said "they used to be all the hype".

Also, please answer your phones. I'm going to have nightmares from having to listen to it through the whole meal and watching you guys ignore it. From one retail worker to another, do better or find a...

Too many problems.

It was my husband’s birthday and we decided to do Teppanyaki. I called to make a reservation for 6:30, but got a reservation for 6:45 PM- which was fine.

We reached on time and were led to a table which was empty and we waited 1 hour for the chef to show up. HORRIBLY not ok.

The server who took our drinks order never showed up to check if we wanted to order an appetizer or check back on us for 30 min+. I had to wave and catch her attention to order some appetizer as we were really hungry.

Then another family arrived at the table and while she was taking their order, I was able to add my son’s main course order and a coke. (45 min since our arrival time).

My son’s sushi was plain and simple- horrible- overcooked rice- the roll not holding up and tasted yuck. He loves sushi and even the Martin’s Dept Store sushi are way better than these.

Community dining is one thing and understanding others’ culture and showing ways to make it a melting pot is another. This place HUGELY lacked on that. I have been to many hibachi restaurants before and since I am not a meat/egg eater, the chefs are always considerate to ask and cook my meals first before tossing meat on the grill. This chef tossed everything on the grill at the same time, used the same knife to saute the meat, the veggies, the eggs, the rice. For someone who is a vegetarian since birth and for the religious values we believe in, it was an absolute no no. Trust me a lot of other teppenyaki places have the basic understanding and respect for vegetarians. I was so grossed out that I had to close my eyes to get that spoon in my mouth.

The rice was wayyy to salty.

I would typically finish off a special evening with a dessert, but at this point after the wait, the service, the yucky sushi, the grossness, and the over salted dinner- I was-...

Again, this is another time where I wish Google allowed us to give 1/2 stars on ratings/reviews, because this experience was a 2.5-star experience.

We totally overwhelmed this restaurant! We had a huge party reserved for my wife's birthday while we were in Elkhart for a swim meet for my daughter. I made a reservation for 12, but I had to change it to 25. They warned me that they were limited in the amount of Hibachi chefs they had, but I was willing to do it. I thought people would stagger their attendance because of the time lapse between events, which they did, however, we still overwhelmed them.

They took forever to get water and drinks. I ordered a 300ml bottle or sake, but they poured the whole thing into one glass.

The food was mediocre at best...

The hibachi chef was actually the best thing about the meal. He was nice and funny, considering the work he had in front of him.

They didn't even do a thing for my wife's birthday...

Unfortunately, there are no other options for hibachi in Elkhart, you would need to drive to South Bend for any...