Okinawa Sushi & Hibachi Steak House — Restaurant in Homewood

Oh man. I was really really hoping to leave a much better review than this. It was mine and my husbands first time visiting & we had high hopes! It was a quiet afternoon, maybe 4 others diners in the whole place. Our work paid for our food so we ordered a little more than normal & the waitress made several (maybe 4-5) comments about how much food we ordered.

The avocado salad is quite literally iceberg lettuce, sliced avocado with sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Very underwhelming. I ate one bite and that was enough for me. The fried calamari was pretty okay. But, we ordered 5 different sushi rolls and a sashimi deluxe and was mostly disappointed. We had plans to mix and match and just take home whatever leftover we had. We did, he tried my sushi and I tried his. Nothing spectacular or so delicious that I’d want to come back. My husband loves cheesecake and ordered the tempura cheese cake, just to be let down when he took a bite and it was still frozen.

The waitress was also not very attentive unlike what most have said. We were seated and already knew what appetizers we wanted to order by the time we got our drinks but she never asked. Then I saw her and another waitress prance around the floor cleaning tables as we’re sitting here, menus closed, waiting to order our appetizer. Eventually she came around and we went ahead and ordered everything we wanted out of fear of lack of service.

This place comes highly recommended on Reddit and I’m not really sure why. I guess, if you’re like us and cook most of the time and just go out very occasionally, this place might...

We arrived about 8:40 and they close at 9:30. They were already dead and I thought they might have been closed actually. I picked this location because of the reviews, pictures, and menu. But, when we got there there were no hibachi grills and we almost left because of it. We did decide to stay and eat. We ordered two hibachi chicken meals with no vegetables and double rice and got a side order of hibachi noodles to split. The soup and salad came out first and the soup was very good but fairly different than most hibachi places, it tasted more beef based and had a little tang almost like spicy. The salad dressing was awful. When our food came out I instantly noticed the portions were smaller than most actual hibachi restaurants. The chicken was decent but didn’t have the texture of chicken when cooked on the hibachi grills and didn’t have nearly enough teriyaki on it. The rice was ok but had a weird smoky flavor. The noodles were actually really good. Service was kind of awful but I figure it’s because it was so late and it seems as though they get mostly to go orders later in the evening so they didn’t really wanna deal with a dine in customer 🤷🏼‍♀️ it wasn’t the worst hibachi place I’ve been to but it was no where near the best. I probably wouldn’t come back unless we just absolutely can not find a real hibachi place around this side of town that...

I have eaten here at least 20 times and the sushi is EXCELLENT. My particular favorite is the Tuna Amazing. The service is friendly and attentive. Very pleasant dining room and also an outdoor dining area. It is just to the right of the Old Navy store shopping center.

11/2/2016 Update - I still eat here every time I come to work in Birmingham. As of tonight, with my current project, I've eaten here 11 weeks in a row.

The Old Navy store closed a few years ago and a fitness center opened in its place.

The sushi is delicious every time. They can accommodate larger groups if needed. I see groups of 6 and 8 sometimes. Come for a nice meal and not "fast food" dining.

October 2017 Update - Tonight I selected the Steak Hibachi dinner with steak cooked Medium.

Served with rice, vegetables and 2 shrimp. Salad with ginger dressing and a simple broth-type soup.

The salad and soup are simple appetizers and more or less kept me occupied until my entree arrived.

The Steak Hibachi was really good. The steak is served already cut into bite-sized pieces and was tender and delicious. I prefer lean steak and couldn't detect any fat.

With water to drink my meal was $19.79 with tax, plus tip.

I thought this was a great meal for a cool, fall evening. I usually get Sushi but was really happy with my...