Yanagi Sushi & Grill — Restaurant in Pismo Beach

I will never eat at this location again. It wasn't pleasant, it wasn't worth it, and we won't be back. I didn't feel like we had servers as much as we had sharks circling us, wanting us to leave quickly, rushing us so we didn't enjoy our dinner. We didn't feel like guests but unwanted squatters.

We have been here many times, though not for the past few years, and previously we loved the atmosphere, the service, and the food. At our most recent visit, I have never felt so unwelcome and rushed at a restaurant in my life.

They seated us before our whole party arrived even though we told them we didn't mind waiting for the others.

Thus began a high-pressure dining experience. They kept asking us to order even though our party was incomplete. They told us to take a picture of the menu, text it to our friends, and have them text their order so the waitstaff could put it in.

We said no, and that we would prefer to go back to the waiting area and wait for our friends rather than order without them. Looking back, I wish at this point that we had said no thanks, paid for our drinks, and left the restaurant.

When our friends came, (please note, this was only about 20 minutes after we were seated), the waitstaff began pressuring them to order immediately. They pressured us again to order our food before our friends were ready. We were polite but we refused firmly.

The server stared the guests down till they ordered drinks, and pressured them to order their food immediately. They had never been to this restaurant before and needed to look at the menu. The server did not explain the menu to the new guests, they just stood off to the side less than ten feet from our table and right in front of us, and stared at us as our friends looked at the menu for a few minutes. The server was visibly tense and kept clicking their pen almost nonstop.

Once we ordered, the two servers who had pressured us the most brought us drinks and refills but mostly just stood off to the side doing nothing.

The chef who cooked our meal at the grill was friendly and nice and our food was very good. We finally started to relax and we enjoyed our food. (If this was a rating just for him and the food, it would be 4 stars.)

The minute we were done eating the last bite from a plate or dish, they would come to take it. Then they promptly dropped our check. We paid it and thought they would finally leave us alone and let us visit with our friends, who we hadn't seen for awhile.

I had planned to stop by the host stand and tell the manager about the poor experience with two of the servers in particular. But after we had sat and visited for a little while with our friends, the manager came up and asked us to leave! She said that they had other guests to serve. I looked around at all the empty tables and empty grills and asked if they could use the other tables.

She said no. They were not going to use those tables. Nobody was in the waiting area. Only three or four tables were seated in the whole restaurant, and two or three people were coming in as we left. But they asked us to leave to "make room for more customers".

The food itself was good, although the prices have nearly doubled in the last few years. The service, though, is some of the worst I have ever received at a sit-down restaurant.

This restaurant is permanently off my list of places I want...

I am truly disappointed at Yanagi sushi and grill. My party had a reservation at 7:00pm and unfortunately, we arrived just six minutes late. Upon arrival, we were told that our table had already been given away, without any prior notice or courtesy call.

I understand that punctuality is important, but given that we were only slightly delayed, it was extremely frustrating to be turned away without so much as a warning. A simple phone call would have allowed us to adjust our plans accordingly rather than arriving just to be dismissed. We were 9 in the party and it felt uncomfortable to have to adjust our plans for such a slight delay.

What made the situation even more frustrating was that the owner did not communicate with us directly. Instead, the host was simply instructed to pass on the message that our table was no longer available. This lack of direct communication felt dismissive and unprofessional, especially considering we were only slightly delayed. A simple courtesy call would have made a significant difference in our experience.

We were looking forward to dining at your establishment, and this experience has left us feeling undervalued as customers. I hope you will reconsider how you handle situations like this in the future to ensure better customer service.

I am writing to inform you that if you arrive a few minutes late for your reservation, your table may be canceled and given to another party without prior notice or a...

SORRY for this review my fellow Pismo friends. I would'nt even give this restaurant any star but must give 1 star to even get my message across. WHAT happened to this restaurant since Jay sold it is beyond us ? NO more warm welcome by all employee's. 3-26-19 We decided to hit the Sushi bar for an evening of "fun" and have a great sushi meal. Well that didn't happen! The last meal we shared was the worst experience we've ever had at this sushi bar. I'm not complaining about the cost, it's all part of the sushi order~ I'm talking about the Atmosphere. Way back when it was booming with business. All the sushi chef's would normally greet you, make each guest feel like part of the "adventure" while they were cutting away creating beautiful dishes which would encourage us to remain seated and even spend more money just to stay and enjoy ourselves with a great meal - not this time. - no conversation among sushi chefs to the people sitting in front of them. COLD just cut, serve and move on. Our "fun" filled evening sitting at the bar was just eat and leave. That will be the last time we will be spending our time and money at this restaurant. Yamato's here...