Minato Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Smyrna

Long story short: waited 40 minutes for sushi so lackluster that I felt it was a crime against the fish who died to be in the rolls. Genuinely curious about the generous cuts of fish I saw in others' experiences as all our rolls were small (think the size of a big toe for reference...)

I normally choose to not write a review if I have a poor first-time experience at a family restaurant and opt to visit again, but this visit was so disastrous that I cannot stomach the thought of round two.

Service: First dish (ton-katsu) came out after ~30 minutes after ordering. Rolls came out 45 minutes after order. The restaurant was not packed. We were notified ONCE by our server while she hastily dropped off the ton-katsu saying "your sushi is late but you know all of it is."

Food: Ton-katsu (3/5): The sides (potatoes, miso, and salad) were fine. The meat was intriguing. It was impossible to eat without it falling apart as there were evidently two different mystery cuts of meat (one dark, one white) packed together. The texture of the dark meat resembled that of stale hamburger patty and the white meat was probably pork tenderloin? Regardless, it was fried nicely, but was incredibly dry and overall meh (especially for the price).

-Georgia Roll (1.5/5): I love wasabi and spice in general, but this was not it. The wasabi mayo had way too much wasabi and it was inconsistently distributed throughout the roll. Almost inedible. The roll itself was not packed tightly and started falling apart before I started even eating it.

-Dynamatic Roll (2/5): Overall, it was fine as there were no glaring errors that pushed it to the inedible front. The amount of eel inside was negligible and there were pieces that didn't even have any towards one end. Roll was also packed poorly and fell apart before we touched it.

-Fried Scallop Roll (1/5): Wayyy too much eel sauce inside the roll. All I could taste was overly sweet teriyaki. 2 of the 8 of the pieces didn't even have a single scallop-- only tempura bits! Despite being fried, the scallops were cold inside, which was an odd experience. All I could taste was eel sauce...

Honestly not sure how this place has so many good reviews. Went here with my boyfriend for our anniversary, we called and made a reservation. After arriving, we waited 15 min before we had our order taken, and the 4 (four) rolls we ordered took another... wait for it... full hour. We ate those and waited another 10 minutes before anyone looked at or acknowledged us. I asked if it was possible to do some of the rolls gluten free (I.e. not fried) and the server suggested the Dynamite roll over the Tampa roll. We said what the heck, we’ll get them both. Took another 30 minutes for those 2 rolls to come out. Mind you, no one had come into the restaurant for the last hour we were there, so it’s not as if the server was just overwhelmed with people. I took a bite of the Dynamite and immediately regretted the decision. It was as if I had just eaten a spoonful of mayonnaise out of the jar. I took a bite of the other roll and had the same experience. I had my boyfriend try both to make sure that I wasn’t just being picky and he had the same response. It just tasted like mayo, rice, and a bit of fish. It took us another 10 minutes to flag down a server who wouldn’t run past us, and we asked her to take it away and take it off. Our main server came back with the bill with only one of the rolls taken off (which we had to figure out ourselves since the receipt was not itemized), then quickly ran away. Flash forward ANOTHER 5 minutes before we can find the guy again, and we asked him to take the other roll off. He refused, since he had “suggested the other one instead.” We explained that both of the rolls had the same issue (the mayo) and he still refused to take it off the bill.

TDLR; Terrible service, horribly long wait times, unapologetic staff, mediocre sushi, and suspicious non-itemized receipts. Will not be...

"it's been awhile...". When I moved to the Vining's area in '99 one of the first things I I did it was find a "Better than great" Japanese restaurant. Being from the coast I always crave Seafood as it was a the main food source, and now, living so far from any coast there is virtually none. In season, being a small vessel commercial fisherman, gave me the knowledge to know what is "Fresh" and growing up on the coast in a mixed family of Sicilian/Spanish surrounded by French Cajun, I was reared into knowing fantastic food. In that culture men did most of the cooking, so I started young and I still cook daily today, leaving my restaurant visits to only the best of the best, as is Minato.

The owners are the workers, in business for 31 years, and by watching the care they give all the customers, the hustle, the attentiveness, the kindness, and the overall pleasantness that I have experienced from my first visit in '99, I am still puzzled on the "How?" as their endurance is a form of love just as every dish ordered by every customer a representation of their love of the finest cuisine, their love of their customers, their love of America, and their love for and of their children. The "Why?" Is apparent in their love of each and every patron and proof evident to their beautiful children I remember as children whom are now adults.

This is a long way if saying Minato is one of the best restaurants in Georgia. From the fresh seafood, to the Bento box.

It's another hidden gem and it's known better locals and when it's open, it's slam full, expect to wait for table to open, get there earlier then the masses and wait kindly and patiently, this is what I do as the food...