Bay Hibachi Express — Restaurant in Vallejo

You know it's a good review when I'm leaving a review the moment I get home. This is the most important review you'll read about this place.

I walked in to this place and ordered a steak and shrimp plate for approx $30. Let me tell you it wasn't worth the wait or the money at all.

Firstly the shrimp literally tasted like it was boiled with some salt and pepper seasoning. Take a look at the picture it looks dry. Then take a look at the steak?? There's absolutely no seasoning no garlic soy butter. Look at the picture! Does it not scream DRY?!? Now let's get to the fried rice. Tell me that's not the cheapest looking fried rice with no seasoning or butter on it?! That rice quality is the cheapest looking rice available at Walmart and they had the audacity to not even fry it or season it.

I'm not even finished yet. This isn't the absolute worst part of this whole experience. Because it gets worse. I go to the owner his name is Romeo, and I ask him "is this really what you're charging people $30 a plate for??" And he began to apologize and said was very sorry for the ugly tasteless plate while he started caressing the shrimp and meat with his bare hands infront of me to make sure my complaint was valid. I told him exactly what I mentioned in this review and he apologized and said no wait "let us remake it for you. We want to make it right. We don't want you to feel this way about our food." So as a customer that would rather pay and leave I decided to take a chance and see if they can get it right. After all we all deserve a second chance right?... well the owners wife came up to me and was chatting with me leveling with me and I really appreciated it. She mentioned that next time I give more specific instructions on how I want my steak cooked. For example if I want my steak cooked medium rare I have to tell them to sear the outside like every restaurant does normally to every steak. Because who cooks their steaks grey like this?!!?

Last part (important)**

About 30mins passes by and I'm still waiting for the remade plate. I go up to Romeo's (owners) wife and say "hey I have to leave soon, not sure how long this is gonna take but I wanted to check in" at this point Romeo the owner looked like he just remembered I existed and he began to address me rudely saying that I spoke badly about his food and Im not getting a remade plate.

First of all I didn't want a remade plate. I was perfectly fine with paying for my food and leaving. You (ROMEO THE OWNER) insisted I stay and give you a chance to change my opinion on how TERRIBLE the food is here. And when you forgot and then remembered when you saw me the best you could do was be rude instead of owning up to your mistakes. There may be a lot of people that come here that think this is a good replacement for a place like Benihana. But the truth is, THE SHRIMP IS FROM FROZEN, NOT SEASONED, THE STEAK IS COOKED HORRIBLY, THE FRIED RICE IS LOW QUALITY NO SEASONING NO BUTTER. The best thing I ate on this plate was the vegetables. And the owner was 100% incompetent and unprofessional in handling the matter. I mean why say you're going to remake it and you want to give a better impression and make me wait that long. Then when I address you want to be act all upset cause I DIDNT LIKE THE FOOD? At this point I'm doin your business a favor cause if no one told you the food sucks. It's cause 1 they're your friends or 2 they don't have good taste. It really irks me cause I wasted my time here when I insisted to not even deal with this crap. Do better ROMEO. Your food and customer service is trash. I wish I could give this...

• Food: I ordered the clam chowder & a plate of fries. Both were very good. Highly recommend the clam chowder, which has a nice thickness & excellent flavor. The fries were what I call matchstick fries.. not thick steak fries, which I would have preferred, but nonetheless, they were the right crispiness. • Service: The owner/ cook is very friendly & welcomed you in like family. I really like that. It shows he values every customer that enters his establishment & he enjoys taking good care & feeding you. • Atmosphere: This little place sits right on the Mare Island Straights next door to the Vallejo Ferry. It has big panoramic windows that overlook the water & a view across to Mare Island. It has the typical "mariner" regalia/ decor throughout along with a warm, inviting fireplace. Although when we visited, it was not busy, that was just a bonus for my friends & I to truly enjoy the warm afternoon sun through the large windows on a breezy, cold day & enjoy a conversation on some Vallejo & Mare Island history as well each other's company. This little place may not seem like much, but it definitely was a wonderful surprise. Highly recommend for a solo lunch or a...

If you are looking for a surprisingly good meal in an AMAZING location, this is your place! And, let’s be honest; Vallejo may not have many gems, but this is definitely one of them.

My wife and I had lunch on a Saturday in early October 2025, and were surprised by the quality and the prices. Our lunch, with two mixed drinks came in at about $60.

My wife had the hibachi chicken while I got the short ribs and rice, with a fried egg on top. The hibachi chicken, with rice and fresh steamed veggies (which is a gluten free option!) was a bit smoky and garlicky … YUM-YUM! My short ribs and egg and rice were also very delicious, especially when I poured the rice vinegar on my rice which kicked up the flavor profile a notch or two. And the margarita and Mexican mule mixed drinks were the perfect accompaniment to wash down our scrumptious lunch.

The biggest bonus though, is that you can arrive by boat (no, that is not a typo!), tie up at the dock, and enjoy a great seat outside looking over Mare Island and the SF ferries, and the Napa River. There are not a lot of places around where you can arrive by car and/or on foot or by bike and by boat, but this is...