Tamaya Sushi — Restaurant in Gainesville

Follow-up Response:

I feel compelled to clarify several inaccuracies in the owner's response: Regarding visit frequency: This was only my second visit to your establishment, not "multiple times" as claimed. Both experiences were disappointing, which is why I felt it important to share honest feedback. Regarding the bill: During our lengthy wait, staff told us we were free to leave if we couldn't wait longer - there was no offer to waive our bill. We ultimately left without receiving our food or any service recovery gesture. Regarding communication: While I respect that you employ multilingual staff, expecting customers in a U.S. to communicate in Mandarin to resolve service issues seems unreasonable. Clear communication in English should be standard for customer service roles. Regarding tone: I approached staff politely at first when inquiring about our order status after waiting 40+ minutes. Characterizing legitimate customer concerns as "hostility" misrepresents the situation.

I originally wrote this review hoping to provide constructive feedback that might help improve operations. However, the response suggests a reluctance to acknowledge areas for improvement. I wish the restaurant success in finding its target audience and refining its service model.

I've visited this sushi restaurant twice and unfortunately had disappointing experiences both times, which I feel compelled to share constructively.

First Visit (Weekend afternoon): Despite the restaurant being relatively quiet with only 5-7 tables occupied, there were significant issues with order coordination. Our party of four placed orders simultaneously, but only one person received their food while the rest of us waited 10+ minutes for our meals. This created an awkward dining situation that could be particularly uncomfortable in professional or formal dining settings.

Second Visit (Busy weekend evening): Even though I don't wanna go there again, some of my friends haven't tried this spot so they wanted to try.The service challenges were magnified during peak hours. After being seated, we waited 10 minutes just to receive water - and only after flagging down a server to request it. Most concerning was the 40+ minute wait for our food, including simple items like miso soup. When we inquired about our order, the cashier's response was unprofessional, deflecting responsibility rather than addressing the issue collaboratively.

The restaurant appears to have significant management and communication issues between front-of-house and kitchen staff. We observed other tables receiving multiple courses while we waited, and when we decided to leave, staff attempted to serve us food that clearly belonged to another table (including items we hadn't ordered).

Food Quality Concerns: What makes my experience particularly disappointing is that authentic Japanese cuisine options are quite limited in Gainesville, so expectations were higher for this establishment. Unfortunately, the food quality didn't meet expectations - the ingredients lacked freshness and the flavors weren't particularly impressive, especially considering the premium pricing typical of sushi restaurants. I would recommend Hana and Dragonfly for Japanese food in Gainesville. They also have way better service.

Given the operational chaos and service issues combined with subpar food quality, the overall dining experience fell well short of what one would hope for from a Japanese restaurant. I believe this establishment has potential but would benefit greatly from improved order tracking systems, staff coordination training, fresher ingredients, and a more customer-focused approach to service recovery. I hope management will address these concerns to provide the authentic Japanese dining experience that Gainesville residents...

My friends and I came in today, and we we were excited to try out this restaurant’s AYCE sushi. We were told great things before going, so we felt optimistic. Unfortunately, what we were told did not align at all with our experience.

One of my friends had ordered before any of us, yet received their food wayyyyy later than the rest of us. We had to remind them about the order and clarify what it was, and they still received the wrong item. While ordering our first round, two of my items came out far before the rest of my table's food did (we shared the plate because of that so the plate was finished quite fast).

Surprisingly, when the waitress came back around and asked if I wanted to order more, I declined and was met with a scoff. So I had then ordered the beef noodles, and they simply weren’t what I was expecting. The flavor was severely lacking, so I ate the beef and left the noodles. I couldn't be compelled to finish the plate, so I just left it and was going to accept the extra cost of for unfinished food and absolutely not order anything similar again. Another waitress came to our table only to repeatedly tell me that if I'm not going to eat the food, then don't order it. Like, I absolutely get it if I left pieces of sushi, but all that remained was the bland, unsalted noodles with no taste at all. She ranted unceasingly that it's going to be extra for the noodles. I acknowledged her multiple times while saying okay, but she angrily repeated over and over that “extra food is going to cost extra” and i said that was fine and already put in another food order. She blatantly ignored me while continuously pointing back and forth between the ticket order and me, asking “am I going to eat it all” and repeating that “if anything is left over it’ll be extra.” I repeatedly answered yes a tiring number of times, yet she relentlessly asked the same exact question. Before leaving our table, she proceeded to laugh in all of our faces, finally taking the ticket away after over a minute from the beginning of her rant.

Despite her tactless overreaction to my unfinished noodles, my friend who left the bottom half of his handroll that he didn't enjoy the taste of had nothing said to him in reprimand. The foul mood and rude actions of our waitress soured our entire experience. I felt very uncomfortable and my appetite was completely lost. Server to server, this treatment was absolutely...

I just tried this spot for their $25 all-you-can-eat sushi and had a mixed but overall decent experience.

First round: I ordered the salmon roll, spicy yellowtail roll, and shrimp tempura roll. The salmon and shrimp tempura rolls were good, with a pretty generous size. The spicy yellowtail was just okay with only a hint of spice. They came out pretty quickly.

Second round: I went for eel and tuna nigiris, sweet potato roll, and a tuna hand roll. The eel tasted good, though the slice was pretty thin. The tuna was just okay; the smell and texture felt a little off, and it didn’t taste especially fresh. The sweet potato roll was tempura-fried with a nice crunch, and since it was my first time trying it, I was pleasantly surprised. The tuna hand roll took a long time to arrive like almost right before the check. I didn’t like the diced tuna texture but the crunchy hits mixed in was okay. I had been expecting sliced tuna like some places do. I didn’t finish it and was charged $1.50 for waste, which I didn’t mind.

Service was mostly quick, with the first round arriving all together, though the second round came out slower and in separate times. I almost thought they forgot about my hand roll.

The restaurant has a nice interior, and I loved all the maneki neko cat figurines throughout. Our server was great at explaining the menu and how the AYCE worked. I also liked that not everyone at the table has to do AYCE if one person doesn’t want to. Overall, for $25, the price was fair for the amount and variety, even if a few items weren’t...