Hokkaido Japanese Steakhouse — Restaurant in Virginia

Very pleased with Hokkaido. We started off at Kanpai, but didn't even make it to the ordering phase there before walking out and heading over to Hokkaido. That is a whole other review, though. When arriving (around 8pm), we were greeted and taken to our seats at a grill. It wasn't all that busy; one full grill plus a few scattered people arriving sometime after us. Keep in mind this next part for any future visit: They do have non-grill seating up front, too. I originally ordered sushi and an additional fried rice while my husband ordered a full hibachi entree. The waitress came back to our table and asked me if I would like to order hibachi as well since she was informed that they would want us to move up front to a non-grill table given there was only one hibachi entree ordered for that grill. I totally get that; I was going to get fried rice anyway so went ahead and got the chicken entree in its place (we also went through quite an ordeal before arriving and just wanted to be stationary for more than 5 mintues). We got our soup, salad, AND sushi almost immediately. I was really impressed with how quick the sushi came out. I know I said that the location wasn't busy, but I've been elsewhere with no customers other than myself where the sushi took longer than Hokkaido. Not long after, the chef at the grill adjacent to us finished up, told us he'd be right back, then went to retrieve our meal ingredients. If he felt awkward with an audience of only two, he didn't show it. We had fun watching him prepare our meals and even had a nice chat with him for a few moments after he finished. Everything was delicious. We both got chicken plus my husband got filet. After my husband kept going on about how amazing his filet was, I tried a piece and found it extremely tender and buttery. I ended up with plenty of leftovers and had a nice lunch plus snacks the following two days. The hibachi entrees come with protein choice, two shrimp, soup, salad, vegetables, fried rice, AND noodles. We ordered one single protein hibachi entree, one combo hibachi entree, one specialty sushi roll, and two sweet teas. All of that ended up being around $30 per person. Again, I ended up eating on mine the next two days. I'd say it's well worth it. I definitely would recommend that people give this place a fair try. We'll be heading back in the...

Edit: Below the line farther down is my review from 5 years ago which was 4 stars, for reference. I'm just updating it to two stars today.

I have continued going here for years. I come in for lunch by myself and also for dinner, usually with a group. I feel the service has gotten to be pretty poor and the staff don't seem to know what is/isn't included with some menu item. Wait staff don't check back for refills frequently (I just ate a meal with a group where, after bringing our food, our table wasn't checked on for refills until everyone was basically done eating). Just to be clear, everyone that works there seems to be really nice. They just don't seem to do a good job with service skills. I worked in restaurants for a long time, and this is why it really bothers me.

Today, I decided I won't go back. This was the first time I've been there where the table was charged a service charge without any warning/heads up from the staff. We obviously still would have dined in, but on top of everything else, that was not a nice surprise. Then, we saw that the restaurants software calculates the recommended tips based on the full total, after tax and service charge are added. That is extremely disingenuous and misleading and is not (and should not be) normal. The recommended tip should be calculated on the pre-tax amount. But that is a choice the restaurant makes, not the wait staff. And it's crazy! Because you know that doesn't go to the waitstaff usually/fully. If the service charge wasn't there, we typically tip around 30-35%, which I think it generous. Alas, because we paid almost a 20% charge (on a large check) in addition to tax, we only tipped 20%. So our server received less, because of this as well.

Pretty disappointed overall.

I've been going here for a long time. I stick to sushi, so I can't speak to the hibachi. The rolls are simple, what you'd expect. My favorite is the mango salmon roll and the buddha roll, which has spicy peanuts. The chefs are fast and the food is filling. I just always wish the service was a tiny bit better. Whenever I go, I always either feel rushed or ignored, no inbetween. I still think it's a good spot for...

Beware of this place ! Used to love this place (everything good abt here has changed) but I pay extra to get what I want and How I want. That means here you may over by $4-7 incidentals without being told, frying you sushi(extra),asking for appropriate amount of tempura flakes(extra), and sauce extra including the teriyaki they put on rice extra. So today i got my regular volcano roll but added avocado (extra) and I received a roll on first bite no cucumber. Ate another no cucumber. I called and told them just refund what i paid extra for in avocado. She said ok. I open the gyoza only one was pan seared. So i had to wait an hr and half for reopening. Showed the owner which he knows im familiar. He push back and after he told me he would remake and replace. He comes out with only gyoza and said after my son(by his behest ) dug in for what he viewed as a piece of a piece of cucumber (3cmx1cm) didnt even span through the sushi. I said you can view my profile this has never happened where you deduct what I paid for because what i paid extra . He stood his ground. All that to say this the first time they mess dont purchase from them anymore and as I told him I tell other not to as well. He lied and mislead me for 2 hrs to do nothing. My parents stop going here years ago but i never really had an issue except with overcooking or no steak in my Shrimp& steak order(which they always foxed expeditiously) welp Kabuki Japanese Steak House in chester va here I come, they have new rules everytime you go, if you order hibachi you get half of half of the pint so there is not benefit of ordering hibachi and the salad , and you can ask to switch out the ginger sauce but they never do. You will never get medium cooked steak because they don’t know how to cook anything but burnt steak , you will never get extra teriyaki on the rice because they can customize they only cook how they want and what they want. The owner is aware and don’t care because he gets business regardless. I’m sure you know who order he make right and but not his brownie customers. This was...