Toyama Japanese Steak House — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

My family and I always go here or order carry out. At least 4-6times a month. We switched from our favorite place Mikados on Harding Place. Just because they have sushi here. Which my daughter loves. Tonight was just a bad experience to a point I walked out and i’m never going back. There are great places aside from here within reasonable distance. We tried overlooking the fact the hibachi hasn’t been the best tasting the past few times. We thought maybe it was the cook. Tonight our food was burnt! Scallops, steak, and shrimp. The cook did make it right and cooked a fresh batch of scallops. The lobster tail had no taste. To top it off our tab came with an automatic gratuity included. Which I didn’t notice until I realized our tab was almost $200 which didn’t make sense for what we ordered. I asked the waiter which was a female with long hair and glasses. Since when had they switched the process of charging tips. She said that they automatically charge gratuity on parties of 4 or more. I was so confused because it was only 3 adults who ordered food. My son is 1yr old and he slept through majority of the dinner. He obviously didn’t order a full hibachi dinner. He didn’t even eat at that. I asked another waiter who usually serves us, if I was being unreasonable. He said no, that it didn’t make sense. We always tip and we tip good, but the new waiter straight lied and made an unacceptable excuse for charging it automatically. Knowing half the food was burnt and we were cordial and understanding of it. Them counting my 1yr old as an adult makes no sense. They wanted to rerun the card to void the previous transactions, so I just ended up leaving. The $30 charged worth of tip wasn’t worth the headache of making an establishment understand the customer side. It was the principle of the situation bad food, bad service, and untrained employees trying to get over on customers. Don’t waste time going here as regular customers of this place for years. We finally give up on them Tokyo in Smyrna, TN has sushi and the service along with hibachi performance...

I’ve always loved the idea of hibachi—fresh food cooked right in front of you with a side of entertainment. Unfortunately, this experience was more like a chaotic circus act gone wrong.

The chef seemed to be in a rush from the moment he approached the grill, clanging his utensils with the subtlety of a jackhammer. Within seconds, he was tossing ingredients onto the grill as if auditioning for a cooking show titled “Fast and Furious: Hibachi Edition.” Chicken, shrimp, and vegetables were hurled around with reckless abandon, landing everywhere but where they were supposed to. He didn’t speak but only verify who had what food.

When it came time to serve, things went from bad to worse. The chef threw the chicken and shrimp onto our plates like a food fight was about to break out. My plat was loaded with burnt rice, while shrimp landed with splashes of grease that decorated my shirt. Juice and sauce splattered everywhere, turning the dining area into a battlefield.

As for the food? It was barely edible. The chicken I was afraid to eat, while the shrimp had the texture of rubber, terrible!!!!. Whatever seasoning he attempted was drowned out by the overwhelming taste of burnt on the rice. The veggies left half-raw, lucky for me I like mine that way…my mom was pissed.

To top it off, there was no charm or humor no performance. He seemed annoyed to even be there, moving so fast that he skipped over a greeting and the usual hibachi tricks. By the end, I felt less his speed was the entertainment. I asked for a Togo box while the man was cooking .

Hibachi is supposed to be a fun and interactive experience, but this was a disaster from start to finish. If you’re looking for great food and a good time, I recommend skipping this place. We had a large party so they automatically added 20%. Believe it or not non of us complained out loud about this foolish tip, they know what type of person they allowed to service us. We all just stated we would never go back.

Rating: 1/10 (Only because I didn’t leave hungry—barely.). If you have never...

If I could give this establishment zero stars, I would. The manager/owner (I'm not sure what position he holds) is extremely rude to every customer that walks in the door. He's an older man with glasses and a constant look on his face as if he hates his life and job. If you see him, be prepared for a world of rude and abrasive responses. On one occasion, we went in and were told it would be a 45 minute wait even though there were multiple tables (both hibachi and regular) open. While I have worked in food service as a manager much of my adult life, I understand there are circumstances that are often out of the managers' control in terms of who is working and how many tables a server may have. However, there is an appropriate and POLITE way to address the situation. Today I called the restaurant repeatedly to see what time they served lunch till. The phone rang and went to an answering machine each time. When we arrived at the restaurant, the man, who seemed more preoccupied with his laptop and sitting on his butt, was extremely rude to the guests in front of me as well as to myself and my family. He snapped as us and said they are closed at 2:30 - it was 2:15 when we walked in. If the restaurant closes prior to the posted time, they should probably lock the door or put a sign outside to avoid any customer interacting with this so-called manager. I will never recommend this restaurant to anyone and will never be back to be treated so poorly for over-priced, sub standard food. It is pity because we live so close and would probably be frequent guests at such an establishment. Between our group and the group in front of us, the restaurant lost out on hundreds of dollars of business. This has been a consistent experience and it is absolutely ridiculous. Do not come here, go anywhere else that deserves your hard earned money. The experience and cost are not worth the time and frustration. This place should be shut down or hire new managers to run...