Lil Tokyo — Restaurant in Myrtle Beach

I visited Lil Tokyo for the first time on 12/18/2024. Here were my thoughts:

Entrance: Upon entering I was greeted by Angela, who would also be my server. She was friendly, and the atmosphere of the restaurant was inviting. She asked if we wanted regular seating or the entertainment seats at the tables where they cook in front of you. We chose regular and she seated my party of 4.

Seating: We were comfortably seated in a booth and Angela returned to take our drink orders. They had tea, lemonade, soda, cocktails, etc. We all opted for iced water however.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere of the restaurant was very nice, upscale. It was quiet, despite being seated next to others. The restaurant was very clean.

Menu & Price: They have an early bird menu (before 5pm) that is excellent in my opinion. I recommend this as an option for those who want a cheaper experience. I ordered the NY Strip and chicken hibachi early bird special ($24.99), which came with soup or salad. My group ordered hibachi off the early bird special menu, with the exception of one who opted for the specialty sushi roll. One person ordered an appetizer, and another group member also ordered sushi to try. An 18% tip is automatically added to your bill, so keep this in mind.

Food: The soup arrived first. Three of us ordered clear soup, along with the appetizer, and it was delicious. Very flavorful. The entrees arrived after about another 15 minutes. The portion sizes were good (3 of us got to-go boxes), the steak and chicken were succulent and flavorful. The hibachi comes with the following vegetables: carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini, and onions. The vegetables were very good. I really liked that the hibachi was not drenched in teriyaki sauce or the like to make up for lack of flavor like some restaurants do. None of the food was greasy like at some hibachi places. The rice was good as well and had eggs in it. The sushi was good (my first time!) and my friend who ordered sushi for her main dish also really enjoyed it. All of the food looked, and tasted, fresh.

Service: Our waitress, Angela, was one of the best servers I have ever had. She was so kind and thought to ask us consistently if there was anything she could get us, sometimes naming off specifics. She never let our drinks get low. It wasn’t busy, but I was still impressed by how punctual she was with refills. She seems to take her job seriously and I appreciate that she does because she does a wonderful job.

Bill: Me and my significant other shared our bill, which contained 2 orders of hibachi chicken and steak ($24.99 ea) and some sort of salmon sushi ($10.99 I believe). Our total came out to be $78 and some change. This was totally fine with me and was expected, considering the 18% gratuity charge. I think it was worth the price and would most certainly return.

I hope this review sways someone to go eat here. It really is a great hibachi place, one of the best ones that I...

We felt unwanted at this restaurant. A complete reversal of our previous experiences here.

I met the person who would be my future wife here 3yrs ago, so near our anniversary I thought it would be romantic to come back again as a wed couple.

The two of us arrived on a Friday at about 8:30p and were seated relatively quickly. We had 2 minutes to look over the menus before our server arrived, and asked if we knew what we wanted. We felt a little rushed by this, but smiled and asked for a bit more time. Our server agreed and came back about 3 minutes later.

My wife asked our server if her favorite sushi was available, as neither of us could find it on her menu. Our server snapped at her, pointing at the open menu, saying "yes, of course. The sushi menu is right there." My wife and I looked at where he pointed and didn't see any sushi. Our server became more impatient, took the menu from my wife and flipped through the pages, only to discover her menu didn't have the sushi options. They left and returned with a new menu (instead of checking mine) and showed her the sushi options. We hoped that things would improve after that, but they didn't.

Feeling the pressure, we placed our app and food orders together. Our food arrived reasonably quickly, and looked delicious, except we weren't given and utensils to eat with. Upon another return of our server with more plates, we asked, and received utensils, so all was good. The server couldn't remember who ordered which plate for our party of 2, but that wasn't a huge deal for us.

We ate for about 30 minutes, and hadn't finished half of our food, when our server returned again with to-go boxes and a check, neither of which we asked for. The time was around 9:15p, and there were other regular dining, and three hibachi grills seated. This restaurant closes at 10pm on Fridays.

These little issues were starting to become annoying, so when our server came back in 5min to see if we'd paid, I kindly asked if they were leaving early. They responded by saying "Well, I was supposed to leave when you guys came in, but they gave me your table." I responded by saying that I was curious because we noticed the check and boxes arrived without us being asked if we wanted refills or anything else. The server apologized after I brought this up, however.

We ordered and received refills, along with a reprinted check. I then discovered an automatic 18% gratutity for our party of two. Understanding that this area usually adds gratutity for parties of 5 or more (restaurant depending), and with the lackluster service, felt like a slap.

Gratuity is the customer's opportunity to reflect on the servcies provided. When it's automatically included (especially for a party of 2), it's basically a tax.

This experience took much of the fun out of our anniversary date. We hope that management can see the faults we experienced and take...

DO NOT GO HERE!! Shouldn't even be given one star. This restaurant is overall terrible. I was visiting Myrtle Beach on vacation and had chosen this restaurant for it's listing as a gluten-free restaurant. I suffer from Celiac Disease where I am unable to consume any type of food containing gluten. I get extremely ill from consuming the smallest amount. For this reason, I chose restaurants in the area that are sensitive to this disease. I went to several websites that classified Lil' Tokyo as a gluten-free dining establishment as well as they listed themselves on Google as such. To ensure I would be receiving a gluten-free meal before ever going, my father and I made a phone call to the establishment regarding their gluten-free options. They told us both that they used gluten-free soy sauce, they had the ability to cook my food separately and they would be very happy to accommodate any of my needs that I had. So, we went on the understanding that it was a safe place for me to eat. Once we arrived, we received minimal service in which the quality was poor. This is where, for those of you without a special diet, should stay away as well - the service is awful. The waitress was extremely unknowledgeable about the menu and the options available. She was unaware about any gluten-free options or that it was even a possibility. When I asked her to find out, she had already brought the first round of food before informing me she forgot to ask but she would go find out "real quick" It took her another 15 minutes to come. The place was practically empty, waitresses were standing around just watching. Once the chef came out to cook the food, I informed him of my needs and he replied with a flat "no, he would not cook that way for me." He was rude, unhelpful, unprofessional, unsympathetic and un-interactive as a Hibachi chef should be. After some arguing with the chef, my meal was prepared without soy sauce; however, in the same area as all the other food. The staff was unaware of anything having to do with gluten-free and frankly unwilling to accommodate my needs. As a result, I was sick immediately after eating, we left the restaurant and went straight to Walmart to purchase medicine to alleviate my sickness. I woke up this morning with mouth blisters and stomach issues as a result of their carelessness and desire to get us in the door with false...