Mahzu Sushi & Grill — Restaurant in Gainesville

My boyfriend and I went to Mahzu yesterday for lunch and had the worst experience. The restaurant was dirty - even our table was dirty and had not been wiped down all the way so there were crumbs at the far end. We ordered our food and the waitress was very nice until there was a problem. The chicken teriyaki that my boyfriend ordered was white when it came out - it looked like a boiled chicken breast with teriyaki sauce on top. We both tasted it because it looked so odd. It was rubbery and bland, completely unpalatable. My sushi tasted alright, but I noticed that there was a dark red liquid on parts of my salmon that looked like blood. The waitress came by to check on us and I told her that we'd like to send the chicken teriyaki back and asked that it be removed from the bill. Instead of apologizing that we weren't happy with our food, she defended the pale chicken and said that it's what we ordered and we'd have to pay for it. I pressed her further, thinking that maybe I hadn't been forward enough and explained that there was something wrong with the dish. She seemed to think that he had just ordered it to "try" it - but I explained that my boyfriend likes chicken teriyaki normally but that this particular dish was not to his liking. I asked if there was a manager we could speak to and she didn't go get one, just went back and spoke to him herself. She came back and said we could get a different dish, but by then we had definitely lost our appetite and just wanted to leave. I asked for the check and paid even though we had both left the majority of our food on our plate and were thoroughly unsatisfied with the customer service. She looked like we had personally attacked her when we complained - politely - about the subpar food. It was something you'd expect to find if teriyaki chicken was listed on a public school lunch menu. I really hope that the cost of one chicken teriyaki lunch special was worth losing customers and whatever negative consequences this review causes. I could understand having a bad food experience - that is bound to happen anywhere - but it's how it is handled that makes all the difference. There was no sense that our satisfaction with our meal mattered whatsoever and for that we will never go back. I recommend going to Momoyaki or Bento over Mahzu - both places have great food and...

WOW! My Daughter and I stumbled across this place randomly and we are very happy we did! The service is excellent and the staff are extremely polite. The place is clean and well cared for in appearance. Now the Food...the food is Seriously Good Having spent time in Japan and having a basis for comparison....let me reiterate: The food is Seriously Good. We shared a plate of Pork Katsu - Basically perfect - it was thin, light, encrusted with breading and probably the best I have had in the state of Florida. We also ordered Sushi, but we didn't go crazy in our order since we had never eaten there before and it's best to be cautious. The only thing that disappointed us is that we didn't order More because we were so filled up on what we had already eaten!!! Spicy Kano - If they are using fake crab then they have found the Perfect fake crab! I swear it tasted like actual crab and the 'spicy' was definitely perfect. I don't think I have ever had better, anywhere. Other - My Daughter ordered a roll with Yellow Tail, Salmon and Tuna. This was really good. Everything tasted "did you just catch that fish Today?!" fresh. The Tuna and Salmon were immaculate. The Yellow Tail was excellent, but it could have been slightly chilled for more firmness - not a big issue, just a minor observation. I've had Slightly better in Florida for the Fish at two restaurants but both places were 2-4 times more expensive and did not match Mahzu for customer service (and one of those restaurants has since closed down due to multiple health code violations). Prices: Very Reasonable, especially when the amount and quality are considered!

Final Opinion: My Daughter says "Awesome", I say it's affordable, has excellent service and it's food is probably in the top 2% of such restaurants in Florida, not counting in the city of Miami because I never go there. But yes, it's That Good. Loved it and will be back for more!

Follow up: We went again and had The Williston Roll, the Snow Crab Roll and a Bento Box. Real Snow Crab in the roll! Rapidly becoming our...

I went a couple of weeks ago and it was really good. I ordered the chicken teriyaki bento box and my partner ordered the beef negimaki. We thought they could reproduce what they did last time so we went today and he ordered the beef negimaki and I ordered the beef teriyaki bento box. We also ordered the gyoza. The gyoza was so mushy and the inside of it tasted off and weird, but we didn't complain and ate it all. My partner got his beef negimaki and it was so chewy and the flavor was not good at all. We told the waiter and she told the chef and he argued that it wasn't chewy . They came back and asked if my partner wanted something else or they can remake it again. My partner wanted to it remade , then they came back and said it's going to be chewy again and asked if we wanted beef teriyaki instead. We told them never mind and wanted our checks and the chef laughed at us. I thought it was unprofessional and rude of him to laugh at us when they are slow and don't have any customers to begin with . They can't reproduce what they made last time and we won't be...