Yummy Tokyo — Restaurant in Palmetto

I so want to like Yummy Tokyo, but alas, it is bad. I live very close by, and we needed a great asian takeout place here for a long time. Yummy Tokyo is not that place. As background, I have gotten takeout here three times since it opened. It has been the same cycle each time. I order food, am disappointed by it, and wait a year or so to try it again in the hopes that it has substantially improved. It never does, in my experience.

The food is nearly as bad as it can be. The first time I ordered General Tso’s, the sauce was purple (!?) lumpy, and clumped (best way I can describe it) on top of the chicken. It was nothing close to the taste of General Tso’s. There are numerous bad reviews of this dish on Yelp. In fact, three of the four reviews Yelp displayed for me on the first page were terrible reviews of General Tso’s chicken. There are numerous two and three star reviews of this dish on Google.

The fried rice is nearly flavorless. The only way I can describe the taste is akin to watered down broth. Again, there are numerous negative reviews of the fried rice.

The decor, as others have mentioned, is dingy and purposeless. The proprietors can make excuses, but nothing they say will change the fact that WE FIRST EAT WITH OUR EYES. This applies to the look of the establishment and the food.

I could go on with other examples, but more important than that is the question: Why have they apparently not changed anything in the face of all these terrible reviews? How many more one-star General Tso’s reviews will it take for them to make good General Tso’s? Why can’t they put a little sesame oil or some more light soy sauce in their fried rice? Why not use more and better ingredients to make their dishes taste better? It’s a real head scratcher. The only reasons I can think of are that 1) They are happy to make bad food and take more in profit; or 2) they just don’t care enough about the food to change it.

Yummy Tokyo has an average of 3.7 stars on Google and 2.8 on Yelp (7 Sep 2023). They have no stars on Trip Advisor due to lack of reviews. Do you know that fully 33% of Americans will not even consider going to restaurants with less than 4 stars on Google? Why wallow in mediocrity and miss out on one third of your potential market? Ensuring 33% of people won’t even consider your restaurant is statistically equivalent to putting up a sign reading “No blue- or green-eyed people allowed.”

The proprietor often responds to negative reviews by saying “call us and we can help better your experience.” Why not just make the food better before you give it to me? Wouldn’t that be simpler?

I really hope for change. As I said, we need good Chinese food in our neck of the woods. I wish Yummy Tokyo would be that place. In my opinion, the Asian fusion thing is not working out. It translates to doing a lot of things poorly. There’s a reason why nearly every strip-mall Asian restaurant is “NY style” Chinese. Because It’s what people want. It’s what works. Yummy Tokyo just doesn’t work. It’s bad food.

UPDATE: I am responding to the restaurant’s comment below. I can assure you I am reviewing the correct restaurant, I live barely a mile away. My comments about eye color were a statistical comparison. 33% of people have blue and green eyes, just like 33% of people won’t go to this restaurant because of their 3...

I never write reviews but I’m honestly so baffled at this place’s service. I get service work sucks, I do it too, but good lord.

I used to love this place for its convenience. It’s in an area that doesn’t have a lot of Asian food. But the most recent experiences I’ve had will make me never go back there again. I place online orders because I don’t like making phone calls, and apparently people have been placing orders and not picking them up (I wonder why, you could maybe check other reviews though). They have resorted to calling people who place online orders to confirm that they are actually picking up, but that’s not my issue, it’s theirs.

They called me twice at work, I couldn’t pick up. I arrived at my scheduled time to pick up my order and the woman behind the counter SCOLDED me for not picking up my phone. Apparently if you don’t pick up your phone, your online order doesn’t count because they simply decided not to make it. I had to wait, and while I wasn’t happy, I tried to move on. Like I said, convenience.

I ordered 2 bags of rangoons a week or two later. I had to write in the notes of my online order that if they call me, I will not answer, and that I am actually coming. They didn’t call, thankfully. I arrived, told them my name, and they initially couldn’t find my order. I gave them my phone number, and they eventually found it (my order was sitting 2 feet away on the counter). The same lady from last time who scolded me was behind the counter, and she held out her hand to take my card without saying anything. I told her that the card is old, apologized, and said if she needed a different one I’d give it to her. She didn’t respond or look at me and instead started having a completely separate conversation behind the counter while trying to run the card. She held it out to return to me, and I asked if it went through. Again, she didn’t look at me or respond at all, and continues to do so for the rest of the conversation (interaction? It was pretty one-sided). Instead she left her outstretched hand out, and at this point I realized the answer was no, it hadn’t. I honestly wanted to get out of there ASAP so I just got out my other card which I handed to her, she tapped, and slid the receipt at me.

I honestly wanted to leave the order behind on principle (and maybe for a little cosmic justice) and I wish I did, because the rangoons weren’t even that good :(((( just drive 20 minutes/DoorDash another store, Migi off 64...

Horrible service. I waited for 10 minutes to be greeted. Nobody came by. There was only 1 other customer. After yelling hello to get someone's attention in the back. A lady came out, looked at me. Checked her other table and went in the back. Without even acknowledging me. I left. Didn't order anything but seems like a dirty little place. Avoid it.

Update. To owner, I was definitely there. An older man was prepping sushi when I first came in. He looked at me and went back into kitchen. A younger man came out of the restroom and went into kitchen ignoring me. After awhile I yelled hello a couple times. An older Asian lady with a short haircut with gray hair walked out wearing gloves. She had a stack of bags being prepped for to go behind her. I could see into the kitchen when door opened. She looked at me and the only 1 other customer who was there eating. And without a word or a smile or even letting me know she would be back. She walked back into kitchen. I walked out of your restaurant at 1:18 today. Don't try to call me a liar to cover the fact 3 of your employees ignored me. The service there sucks. And from what little I could see of your kitchen it looked messy and unorganized which often...