Osaka Express — Restaurant in Ruston

The food was good, restaurant was clean, and staff were kind, however, the layout is a bit strange and their order management is very clearly lacking. This is a half-service restaurant, but you may not realize at first as the counter to order at is hidden behind a wall. The front-of-house and sushi-bar staff seemed to be constantly scrambling to get orders straight, causing a backup and delays, clearly showing they need a better order management/queue process. The Hibachi came out quickly in 5-10 minutes or so, however the edamame (which had been intended as an appetizer) and sushi roll did not come out until after it was brought back up to the staff, probably about 30-40min after placing our order. Interestingly the hibachi and edamame came out in to-go style containers, while the sushi Roll was on a nice platter, which is fine, but a tad strange. If Osaka can improve in these areas, it really has the potential to help fill the void of asian-style cuisine left behind in Ruston from the several resturant closures in recent years. I do look forward to trying Osaka...

To start, lets look at the positives. This is one of the few Asian cuisine spots in this area, only Panda Express and Raw currently as competitors. The area where we ate was clean, however, the area looking like it was a in-between of the previous location and the new one. Staff was friendly, but we only saw them one time and that was when they were bringing our food.

Speaking of waiting for food, the Sushi took 45 mins to come out. It was just one roll, and we got there an hour before closing. The food, was ok at best. Stuff I could easily make at home. My Shrimp fried rice was a bit lacking in flavor and honestly reminded me of eating at Panda Express. Wife ordered Steak and Chicken hibachi, and it was good, chicken was a little dry, but still good none the less.

Honestly, this place is still new, but has A LOT to work on in my honest opinion. If they work on their issues, they could have a many years ahead of them here in our area, however, they need to get them worked out. We will probably not come back unless...

food was mid Not bad but not spectacular, and everything came in a to-go container or on a paper plate. And they don't have free water.

Service was horrible. We didn't get our meal till 50mins after ordering. Only two other couples where there. We had to go to the front and remind them they we still need part of our order.

Atmosphere was unwelcoming. No one welcome us in and honestly we were confused when we walked in because the place to order food was in the back.

They are still very new, I really hope...