UMI JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE — Restaurant in Jacksonville Beach

The atmosphere was pleasant and the chef was entertaining. I would Not recommend this place for vegetarians. While they do have vegetarian options, they do not take care to prevent cross contamination. Most Japanese restaurants will cook and serve the vegetarian dishes first and then do the meat. These guys not only cooked the meat first but then threw the veggies right on top of the grease from the meat. It became a whole "thing" when we tried to explain that we could no longer eat the food and they had to remake our dishes in the back kitchen, which is not the experience we paid for. They also have no vegetarian options for kids and refused to allow us to order the chicken hibachi but sub tofu for the chicken. We even asked them to just make the chicken dish but hold the chicken and we'd order a side of tofu. We were told that it "wouldn't be worth it for them to do that." We had to order the adult plate for our child, which was way too much food for her. I guess making sure your customers feel welcomed isn't worth it. The final nail came when they (halfway through cooking our meal) came out to tell us their teriyaki sauce has beef broth in it so they'd have to use just soy sauce. Also not what we paid for. It was basically Chinese take out at twice the price. We were with a group so we didn't want to say anything but did leave a note...

Me and my friends went there today for birthday dinner total of 6 people. We were ignored by the host at first. After standing there for few minutes, They told us there was a wait even when 5 habachi tables were empty. Finally after 20 minutes they gave us a table and sat us down. After about 10 minutes the server came over and asked what we wanted to drink. We ordered drinks and she came back after about 15 minutes. Then she got our order. After that she brought our soup and salads which were not very good. The salad was not fresh and the soup had what looked like rice. Then after about 20 minutes the chef came. The chef was not very entertaining. He looked like he didn’t wanna be there. He barely talked to us. The food was ready and when we tried it was very bland and oily. The vegetables and meat were overcooked. The fried rice was really bad as well. The place looks okay from outside but inside it’s really worn down and old. We had heard the restaurant was taken over by new people but they only changed the name raised the price of everything. I will definitely avoid this place from now on. There is another restaurant right across the street from there which has way better food...

Amazing!! What a fantastic lunch experience!! This was our first visit here and we were very impressed - we were the only table that wanted hibachi so I was half expecting to be told we couldn't sit there. But I was pleasantly surprised that they sat us at our own hibachi table with a smile. And it wasn't a half- you know what experience either - it was the full-blown hibachi show for just the 3 of us! Shooting lemonade and saki from the squirt bottles, the volcano / choo choo onion, our chef pulled out all the stops! My 9 year old daughter loved it The food was outstanding - we both had the filet and kiddo had the shrimp. All cooked perfectly and paired well with the sides of noodles, fried rice and veggies. We all left full and happy, and their lunch prices are barely more than what we would have paid for fast food! And talk about fast - we were in and out in under an hour, for lunch and the hibachi show! Our waitress was super sweet and the restaurant is clean and welcoming. Definitely an easy 5 stars- we will be...