Hiro Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in North Miami Beach

What happened to HIRO's ?!

Let me start by saying that Hiro's is our favorite place for Japanese food and sushi. My family and I have been going there since 2002 and have recommended it to everyone who comes to visit the area. I am soo sad to say that this establishment has gone DOWNHILL and at an alarming rate. We were just there 2 months ago and did not have the experience we had last night.

The only good thing about our visit last night is that we were seated quickly. Our server took over 15 minutes ( we flagged him down) to come to our table and take our drink order... no biggie. We decided to order the drinks, a miso soups and a seeweed salad at once to avoid delays. When we received the soups, we asked for an extra one and waited another 20 minutes but it never came so we cancelled it. We decided to order a green salad, 2 sushi rolls and fried rice for my kids. The green salad came out 20 minutes later but still not the original seaweed salad we ordered 35 minutes earlier. After waiting 45 minutes, our first sushi roll came out ( taste is still delicious as always ) but we didn't receive soy sauce and small plates (oh but we did received plastic to-go small cup to pour the soy sauce that was never received. When we asked why the tacky to go cup??? The waiter said because the ones they usually use were dirty and no one put them to wash...ok). So we just stared at the rolls for another 15 minutes until I got up to go get our own sauce and plates from the sushi bar. Still no fried rice for my kids and no second roll. We asked the waiter and he said the sushi roll we order always takes a long time, I would understand this if the restaurant was packed but it was not busy at all or even close to how busy we are used to seeing it and we've never had to wait over an hour for a sushi roll. After receiving the last of our order, we never saw our waiter again..... after a total of 2 hours of being there, my small kids started getting bored so my husband decided to leave to the car with them to not disrupt others. I asked the waiter for our check and sat there waiting another 20 minutes. I finally just decided to get up and walk towards the front door and stopped the manager to tell him about the horrible experience and how after 20 years of being customers we were so disappointed in the service received. The manager just proceeded to tell me that there was nothing he could do and he already had 3 other tables who just walked out and didn't pay for their meals. He did not even offer and apology and said there was nothing he could do. I proceed to pay and walked out. Truly a disappointment and sad to see this management and service is bringing...

As someone who comes to Hiro Sushi almost twice a week, I’ve always appreciated the great food and warm service. I usually order the lunch special with the salmon cream cheese roll and sashimi salad—one of my favorites. That’s why this experience was so upsetting—not because the salad was a bit stale, but because of how the issue was handled. I only had three bites of the lettuce to notice it was stale, and did not the rest of it.

I politely mentioned the sashimi salad tasted off. My server, Mateo, said he’d check with the kitchen. Instead of remaking the dish or offering a fair replacement, I was given a much smaller salad with no sashimi at all. Mateo mentioned the sashimi tray had been taken away and vaguely suggested swapping fish from the original plate—which had already been removed. The replacement was nowhere near the portion I paid for.

What really upset me was how dismissively the situation was handled. Mateo didn’t clearly explain the issue or make a real effort to fix it. He even said I was “giving him a hard time,” which was frustrating since I was respectful the entire time. I also asked to speak to a manager and was told the general manager was aware—but she never came by to speak with me. Whether she was busy or chose not to approach me, I’m not sure, but it felt dismissive.

I want to be clear: it’s not about the money—it’s about the principle. As a loyal customer who comes here weekly, I expected basic respect and care. Mistakes happen, but how they’re handled matters. I would have appreciated a fresh replacement or even a brief apology from management.

To be fair, other staff—like Rafel, Luis, and the Brazilian hostess—have always been fantastic. They’re part of why I’ve been such a loyal customer. But this visit left me feeling unheard and undervalued. I don’t want to leave a negative review, and I will happily remove this once someone from management reaches out. I’m only writing this because I don’t know how else to be heard, and contacted by management. Please have someone reach out to me, or provide an email, I will again remove this remove once it is properly handled. The way this was handled was extremely unprofessional and disrespectful especially as a loyal customer. This visit has left me uncertain if I want to return, please have management...

Our visit started off on a positive note with server Rafael. We ordered a lemonade, a wild mule (passion fruit), a wild margarita, and an order of calamary. For our main course, we had two dragon rolls (one with an eel add-on), two salmon rolls (one with cream cheese), a volcano roll, and a pork soy ramen.

Things began to go downhill with the sushi. Our server, Rafael, advised us to place the eel inside the volcano roll instead of on top due to the avocado on top. We agreed. However, when the rolls arrived, he mixed them up giving my friend the one with eel and my girlfriend, the one without. When we pointed it out, he attempted to swap their plates saying that the kitchen mixed them up, which we stopped. The mistake was his, and simply switching plates like that isn't acceptable.

He then claimed the manager suggested just placing the eel on top of the roll since my girlfriend had already eaten two or three pieces. She noticed that the roll didn't have eel at thay point. We asked to speak to the manager ourselves. He then came saying that the roll was being remade. When the roll was remade, it still came with eel on top not as originally requested or suggested by him, but at that point, we let it go.

We continued waiting for the pork soy ramen, which still hadn’t arrived after 30 minutes. When we asked Rafael about it, he acted surprised and asked if it was the pork soy ramen. It was clear he never sent the order. I asked him to cancel it after 40 minutes of waiting. He replied, “Everything comes from different kitchens,” but as someone who’s worked in Japanese restaurants, I know ramen doesn’t take that long. I told him honestly I would have appreciated him just admitting he forgot instead of having me waiting longer.

He brought the check almost immediately after, without asking if we wanted anything else. When I asked my friends if they wanted dessert, they said no. On the check, we noticed a $1 upcharge for the passion fruit wild mule, which wasn’t indicated on the menu.

In summary, the food itself was good, but the service and handling of mistakes turned the experience sour. A little honesty and better communication would have been greatly...