Hibachi Express New Port Richey — Restaurant in River Ridge

I live nearby this restaurant so I figured I’d give it a try for a quick take out meal. Overall, it was a middle of the road experience. There was nothing really bad, but nothing great either. Inside it seemed clean, was busy and the staff were pretty friendly and helpful. The wait was about 10 minutes longer than it showed when ordering online but not a huge deal. I ordered chicken fried rice, shrimp yakisoba noodles and a California roll. The prices weren’t awful, but I was expecting a bit more along the lines of Chinese take out than the relatively small bowl sizes I got especially when my wife and I were sharing. If you’re expecting Chinese place sized stuff where it’s packed in the cartons and you usually end up with leftovers you’ll be disappointed. I can’t say they were really worth what I paid for either especially when you don’t get any sides. It was also kind of odd that both the noodles and fried rice had no vegetables. Just plain fried rice with some chicken, which was an ok amount given the size, and noodles with 6 shrimp that seemed fairly fresh but were over cooked and a tad rubbery. Maybe you can pay to add some vegetables but if so that would make this stuff nowhere worth it price wise as, for what you get, it’s already kind of meh. The fried rice was just ok and the noodles tasted better, but again with no veggies it’s just very plain. I tried a California roll just to get a gauge on the sushi side as it’s hard to mess up. I’d say it was disappointing and I’ve had better from a grocery store honestly. It wasn’t bad and the size for cost was ok, but the avocado was mushy and the size of the crab stick was about the diameter of a pencil. I honestly couldn’t taste much other than rice and over ripe avocado so I’d definitely pass on it again. Outside of maybe the sushi I feel like what we got was kinda like kids meals lol. Sounds weird, but when you get bowls of plain fried rice and plain noodles, both lightly sauced/flavored with a single protein each and no vegetables I just looked at it that way. So I guess it’s just ok. I won’t be craving it, but would do in a pinch I guess, but then I’d maybe just get Chinese take out. I would’ve felt better if you got more for the price and they at least added a dash of some veggies. This place is kind of an American fast food version of Japanese food. It’s just not really a great value for what you get...

Eaten here for years now, I still love it, but I notice management is proactive on here so I'd like to address a few concerns: One of the only places in town with many of the rolls being 6 piece instead of 8. It can be a bummer to forget and realize the portion is a bit small. In-town competition is almost always 8 or even 10 piece rolls by using larger nori paper. I get it though, it is an express. Just important to note, I mostly come here exclusively for the lunch special price because it's way more affordable. I get it, too: inflation affects us all, but this is why we as consumers are hunting for the best bang for our buck as well, especially since it's a counter service restaurant and not one with full table service. There's usually something wrong with my order, half the time. Almost always something minor, usually something like I will order a "salmon & avocado roll" and the cashier rings it up as one salmon roll and one avocado roll. Often I will ask for NO ZUCCHINI in a to go meal and they almost always ignore, I feel like we get extra zucchini when I ask for none. Frustrating to have it be so often The staff just doesn't seem happy most of the time I'm in there. They always seem timid or scared or will scowl, or I ask for a yum sauce and I just get a silent turn and they come back without saying anything and plop the sauce on the table. I'm not looking for the royal treatment but I don't want awkward interactions where I am being more polite to the employee than the employee is being to me.

I won't lie, I feel kind of dumb coming back so often with these consistency issues, but the (lunch hours) price is right and the service is fairly quick enough most days. Sushi is getting more saturated in Pasco and competition is going to overtake in all of these areas and often times already has. Please respectfully address the points of this review with the staff...

Another disappointing meal at a local restaurant. Ordered take-out for a last minute Mothers day dinner around 8:30pm. I ordered the Steak & Scallops Hibachi meal with spicy tuna and spicy crab rolls. It wasn't inedible, but close. My gums are still sore from chewing the extremely overcooked dry pieces of steak. Scallops were ok, but overcooked and chewy. The rice was grossly under seasoned and dry. The salad, I didn't even know was a salad. I asked why I had burger toppings in a container and my husband had to tell me it was my salad. Literally whole pieces of lettuce and a slice of tomato with a side of dressing. The sushi, well, maybe we are spoiled with the amazing sushi we have had at other places, but this doesn't even come close to being as good as grocery store sushi. We literally ate 1 piece each and was done with it. It was just not good. The best part of the meal were the vegetables and even those were undercooked. Husband and Son ordered the Steak and shrimp hibachi, and they said the same things. Overall, we ate about half of our meal and tossed the rest. Went to bed hungry. It was fairly affordable, at $65 for 3 hibachi meals and 4 sushi rolls, but with throwing half of it away, I was still left disappointed. Needless to say, we will not be back. I just don't understand how some of these restaurants stay in business selling...