Miyabi Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in South Carolina

We dined here during a vacation to the MB area. We seek out hibachi on vacation and this one was on the more disappointing end, for sure. There were a couple things to like: (1) food servings are absolutely massive - share if you can and be prepared to take most of the food to go, and (2) our chef "John" was a pro and super fun! We made the best of our visit but there was quite a bit to dislike. For starters, no reservations are taken. We made a first attempt early in our trip and arrived at 5:20 to be told it would be a 75 minute wait, which we could not do since we had plans later. Our second visit we planned ahead, showing up at 4:25 (5 minutes before opening) to get in the very long line. We have 3 young children so lines can be tough, but we expected it. Our first encounter with staff was the older asian woman at the host stand. She would be well served to take a refresher course in hospitality because the two interactions we had with her were negative (more on that later). Luckily the bar was open and Home Alone 2 was on the TV so the kids and adults were entertained during our 30 minute wait for a table. Although they take your phone number when you put your name on the list, and you are sent a confirmation of your waitlist status by text, we didn't receive a text when our table was ready. Instead, we were lucky to be paying attention to the hostess (same one) and heard our name called (faintly). We ordered drinks when we sat down and they were out of the first two selections my wife made (Sapporo Light and Angry Orchard cider). When we ordered food we were informed that they did not have any sushi because "the sushi chef moved to New York" LOL. This was a huge bummer because 2 of 3 kids really just wanted sushi. Sushi is available per their menu and nobody told us there would be no sushi until after we were seated and were ordering. The kids reluctantly ordered hibachi and of course nobody wanted to share because everyone wanted something different! So now we have a fridge absolutely stuffed with mediocre leftovers. The food was decent but they are mostly selling volume, it appears. The amount of rice served to one person - including children - could feed an entire family for days! The icing on the cake here was that after our meal my young son had to go to the bathroom. He had to go "#2" but discovered after he did his thing that there was no toilet paper in the stall. I went to the host desk and asked the same hostess for TP - she (clearly annoyed) pulled out 3 rolls but refused to give me any until she could find the person with the key to the dispenser. There was some back and forth and she was guarding the TP, looking for the person with the key (did they plan to enter the stall where my son was still finishing to replace the TP?). At this point I was getting upset and said "my son is freaking out in the stall with nothing to wipe himself with so you will be giving me the TP now, thank you." After this comment she very reluctantly handed over a roll and my son was able to finish up his business. We then left the roll on top of the dispenser and quickly left the restaurant. We will try another Japanese option in...

Disappointing Experience — Poor Customer Service and Questionable Policies

We visited Miyako Japanese Cuisine while traveling from North Carolina, excited for what we hoped would be a great dining experience. Unfortunately, it was anything but.

After waiting 45 minutes to be seated, we were immediately hit with a rigid “restaurant policy” that made no room for basic accommodation. I came with two young children who only wanted a bowl of rice — something simple — but was told I had to pay $8.50 for a “shared plate” just so they could eat. No à la carte options were allowed, and flexibility was not even considered.

To make matters worse, when my daughter didn’t want her salad, I asked if we could just give it to her mom. Instead of a simple swap or even offering something small like cucumbers for the child, we were told we had to swap the salad — again, because of policy. Frustrated, I decided one child would not eat there at all, and the server responded with a sarcastic remark:

“Okay, but just so you know, we’ll have to take his plate.”

This condescending tone set the stage for the rest of the meal, where we continued to receive attitude. I hadn’t even touched my food yet and was already upset.

Later, after noticing that the children’s menu actually states a $2 share charge for kids under 10, I brought this up. I was told by the server it was $8.50. When I asked for the manager, I explained everything — only to be told, “Well, your child doesn’t look 10.” That response was completely inappropriate. I’ve been in management for over a decade, and one rule stands strong: You never argue with the customer or make assumptions about their children. I wasn’t asking for a handout — I was ready to pay for a good meal and good service, but we received neither.

To top it off, the server tried to add gratuity to our bill — with a party of only three. Last I checked, automatic gratuity is for six or more. It felt like one added insult after another.

The food itself was actually good — I’ll give credit where it’s due — but service is everything, and this restaurant fell far short. Between the rude manager, inflexible policies, and disrespectful staff behavior, this was hands down the worst dining experience I’ve had in years.

I will never return, and I cannot recommend this place to anyone — especially families with...

We are locals and have been going to Miyabis for many, many years. Once we arrived this evening I was told the wait was 30 minutes . That was completely fine with us as would it have been if we were told 45 minutes or an hour.

But as we waited we saw families and parties coming in and be seated before us. I went to the host desk and questioned it. She made me feel like I was lying and wrong and told me we had 3 tables still ahead of use after wait 35 minutes. As much as I didn’t like that answer I was still okay with this, we waited. Then another family in my party wanted to ask the hostesses. As they asked approached one particular lady at the hostess desk (I am told is with the management/owner, which is even more disheartened) was rude and also said again for the second time we were wrong, she said they sat everyone as they come in, no reservations, no special placement. We were there long enough we saw people/families/groups come in after us and be seated, maybe they had a friend that works there, and snuck them in to be seated and that’s okay but as a hostess you still don’t lie to your customers.

Myself and the other family member that was with me both own our own business. We know how damaging the wrong words can be to a local business but I will say I have never been so upset, discouraged and down right mad with a business (let alone a local one) as I was tonight. My family will not ever be visiting this miyabis ever again. And they will hear from us again. (As I told them this when we left tonight). The behavior they exhibited tonight as a business was unacceptable. I would have been fine waiting an hour if need be but the manner in which we were treated as we questioned others being seated before us was completely and utterly just wrong.

We left without being seated, immediately drove to Odori’s in north Myrtle beach and had a wonderful dinner...