Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ — Restaurant in Torrance

I'll start with, make a reservation don't just walk in. People who came before us were waiting 35+ minutes trying to get sat. Not us! Lol we had a reservation. Also it's cold asl in the waiting area lol. And if you're seated closer to the door.

Food was off the charts, fresh, quality cuts of meat, and fresh produce.The portions that they bring every time you order are perfect too so that you don't waste any food. I had a good amount of the menu items. The service I had was pretty prompt. My wife said they came with a group of coworkers the day before and the service wasn't so prompt but it was good enough for her to bring me the following day lol. The spicy edamame was 🔥 couldn't stop eating it. The cucumbers were alright, but I did appreciate the freshness of the veggie, if only it had more of that lil sauce and pickled a bit. The angus beef ribs were my favorite, if you know what you're doing on those lil grills you can't go wrong with any cut of meat here. The cheesy butter corn was a suprising delight. It wasn't too cheesy (I thought it would be cuz of the pics) and that allowed the natural flavor and nuttiness and sweetness of the corn to still prevail with the cheese and butter complimenting it. I don't think the picture does it justice. No one at the table wanted it, but I'm always up for a lil food excursion so I tried it. Asked my wife and daughter to try and they both liked it. My daughter actually wanted me to order another lil skillet of it lol. The steamed spinach was nice too, with the garlic not too overpowering. My stomach is growling writing this review lol. My wife loved the yaki-shabu beef. It was very tender with a savory, sweet hint of spicy too. It was good. The basil chicken had a nice savoriness to it too, not too herbal and seasoned well. We had the Miso soup as well, my wife didn't care too much for it. She said it was bland, not what I experienced however lmao. The tofu I didn't care for but the seaweed (I think it was) was nice and fresh added a bit of texture to counter or balance the softness of the tofu the soy. It's an acquired taste kinda thing to me.

All in all, I'll be back! And soon! Me and the family. And I'll be telling others (already have actually lol) and they'll be joining in my good...

Update: I've come a few more times since my last review and lately the quality and value have dropped somewhat. The AYCE menus have increased in price which is understandable but they also moved some of our favorite options to the more expensive menus. I used to be able to dine with my wife for around $60-65/each with tax and tip but its now closer to $85+. The quality of the meats seem to have slipped somewhat but perhaps I was just unlucky with the cuts we received. I was hoping that paying higher prices was going to result in better quality but that has not been the case. The bathrooms are still not great and the dining room seems to be less clean as well. I'll give this place another shot or two but due to the cost it might be awhile considering other options in this price range.

Original Review: Great Japanese BBQ spot. You pick out your meats and they bring them out for you to grill at your table. The flavors and quality are solid and happy hour prices on beer and saki are great. Service could be a little bit more quick and we have had dirty utensils (cooking tongs) that we had to send back for replacement but otherwise we really enjoy this spot over and over.

One thing that is really concerning is that the bathrooms are a complete disaster. Filthy floors (5 minutes after restaurant had opened), sink and wall urinal separated from the wall, peeling caulk and water damage. One wonders if this is how the restaurant cleans what the customer can see, what are they doing behind the scenes where we can't see... I still eat here but if I get sick I won't have anyone to...

We went to Guy-Kanu Japanese BBQ at the Torrance location to celebrate a birthday. We were a large group of 15 plus a toddler. Restaurant is small and the floor was greasy. For a large group, only one waitress was assigned to our table. Service was extremely slow and unorganized. She never checked on our table and we had to flag her down to place our orders. Some of our orders such as corn cheese, cheese fondue, spicy cabbage salad, dumplings were never placed on our table. Meat plates were small and some only had fats with no meats. The beef Sukiyaki Bibimbap was a bowl of rice with teriyaki sauce, no vegetables and hardly any beef in the bowl. Spinach was swimming in garlic butter. Egg soup tasted like watered down Chinese soup. Steamed edamame had sprinkles of salt. In fact, everything they served was salted heavy handed that some of us hardly drink soda had to quench our thirst with coke soda. Most of their beef plates were of low quality as meats were chewy. We were disappointed at the meal pace as it was difficult to place our order as it was difficult to locate our server. At times, we didn’t have any meats to grill. Our grills were not changed out as they should. Food lacked of quality consistency. They were understaffed as the waiter had to take orders, delivered food and bused tables. Poor management at this location. We will not come back to this location and probably to this...