Hana Yori — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Hana Yori is a hidden gem I discovered all too late when I lived near UNF.... like literally a month before I moved from that side of Jacksonville out to Fleming Island. I've been craving a good hibachi (we have no such thing in Fleming) and so with errands near the Town Center, I didn't want a main stream restaurant there but to come to this place! Be warned, they're always busy. We've come for lunch, we've come for an early dinner, we've come mid-dinner time - more than likely there will be a wait or if you're lucky, you'll be the person sat before the wait for a table begins! There are seats in front of their tiny sushi bar area as well. The restaurant is split into two; a dining room and then another dining room with the sushi bar + hibachi grill. The walls are adorned with artwork by their patrons! Blocks, jenga sized, decorated with permanent markers. I drew on one over a year ago...no idea where it is! We started with the gyoza (duh, if offered on a menu, I'll order it) and you can get these fried or steamed as is tradition....or grilled! We opted for grilled because I like crunchy but without the frying aspect. Their soup is clear (scallions + mushrooms) and typical, nothing out of the norm. We all got ginger dressing and my daughter didn't like it. It didn't really look like ginger and it didn't really taste like the ginger dressing I was hoping for...but I was starving and it wasn't terrible. I've found that the best hibachi, or teppanyaki, is never at the restaurants that put on a show in front of you with "butter fly" and "egg roll", but where the entrée is made in the back. And I do believe Hana Yori has THE BEST hibachi in Jacksonville! I got the Steak & Shrimp. The steak was perfect - it was great quality for being "just steak" and not the filet and the portion seemed larger than most. Yet the shrimp were probably my favorite part! The shrimp were most definitely cooked perfectly with great flavor. My daughter got chicken and that's one meat I've never been impressed with at a hibachi restaurant, and I wasn't impressed with it here either. It was a bit too dry. The veggies were onions, zucchini, squash, and broccoli. I don't dis-like broccoli, but I feel I'm very neutral to it. It has to be cooked correctly. And because of that obviously grilled with a bit of grill-crunch not raw-crunch, I did eat all my broccoli! I mean, dipping it in Shrimp Sauce (Yum Yum Sauce) helped of course! The thought even crossed my mind that next time, I'll get double veggies sans rice. And just steal bites of rice from my hubs, ha! The fried rice had huge chunks of fried egg in it, which is my daughter's favorite part. She was "full" and "done eating" yet had set her chopsticks down and was digging out the chunks of egg with her fingers. I swear she has table manners... It's rare for me to have food left at a hibachi restaurant, but 1) I was starving and hadn't eaten lunch 2) I'm growing a human and 3) it's so so good I couldn't stop! I ate all my protein + veggies; I only had the rice left and didn't eat that because by then I was full and didn't want to become anymore bloated than I already was feeling. I would love to see Hana Yori expand to...

Hana Yori was described to me as a hole in the wall, it's anything but. The interior is comforting and homey with wall tiles filled in by customer art. It has a decent amount of seating and hibachi/sushi bar seats. The food was very well priced but the cheap price isn't a reflection of the food quality. Quick note they did not have miso when we went but the clear soup was a good substitute. I ordered salmon and yellow tail nigri expecting the normal size you get, but the fish on this nigri was very generous, you get your money's worth. The spicy tuna roll was exactly what you expect nothing special but it satisfies that craving. Our starters, fried and grilled dumpings were perfect and the dipping sauce exceptional. The other starter beef tataki was something I haven't tried before but it was great, grilled to rare perfection and it also had a great tasting salad on top and underneath. Back to the sushi, I couldn't tell if the fish was fresh but It was still firm and had a great clean flavor. All in all if you want a great Japanese meal with sushi look no further, with great food and prices, friendly staff, quick service and good atmosphere I can recommend Hana...

I would have given this restaurant a 5 star in the past but our last two visits have not been at that rate. Last visit 5 days ago we were there and the service was sub par to what it use to be. We had to ask for things multiple times such as gluten free soy, utensils, they forgot my wife's chicken part of her entree. The server also was trying to take my plate of sushi before I was finished. To top it all off they charged me for my wife's salad that actually came with the meal. The visit we had at the beginning of November was a total disaster they brought out all of the food for myself and the couple we were having dinner with and totally forgot to put in my wife's order then they said she had to wait because they had to go orders ahead of her. Not Good. I always get sushi hard to mess that up. My wife gets steak and chicken and she said the quality was terrible. Both times she did not eat much of her meal. My wife after the second time of this happening asked that we don't come back. The only reason I gave them 3 stars and not 2 is because it use...