Otani Japanese Steak and Seafood House — Restaurant in Virginia

Came here after my college graduation, they opened at 4:00 per their website. We arrived at 4:08 and I was still waiting on the rest of my party to arrive. However, my toddler had a bathroom emergency so I went to bring him in to use their restroom… the door was locked. I knocked on the door a few times,I started thinking maybe I had misread the website but 4:00pm opening was also posted on their front door. After 2-3 minutes of waiting at the door, someone came to the door, rolled their eyes, and unlocked it then rudely walked away. Upon entering the restaurant, the smell was horrendous and which I just associated with maybe cleaning the grills.. anyways, I ran to the bathroom with him & came back into the host area to inform them of how many people would be with us. Our table was sat, we were the first people in there seeing as though they had just opened within the last 30 minutes. Someone in my family has an extreme intolerance to Dairy. We informed the server of this, as you do any restaurant. They kinda just shook their head.. Fast forward to them bringing our salads, we asked to confirm if the dressing contains dairy or not. The server shook her head yes but didn’t seem like she was comprehending the question. My family member refrained from eating it until she could confirm with the Chef or manager. We asked the chef as he approached and he said ummmmmmmm yes.. we asked if maybe he could confirm with the manager and he said yes but nobody ever came back to clarify. We decided to just not take the chance since a clear answer was not provided. Once the chef started cooking, a few other customers had came in at this point and within minutes of our food starting to cook, the entire dining room was filled with smoke which does not seem right for a place that cooks in the dining room daily. Usually this is not an issue when eating at Hibachi restaurants, however must be a venting issue.. not sure but we mentioned it to our chef and were ignored. I had to step outside for a few minutes due to my 4 month old uncontrollably coughing.. when I came back in it was still very smoky. I decided to just grab my food to go since clearly the smoke wasn’t going anywhere. My food was pretty good, so no complaints there but this place has gone down hill expeditiously in the last few years, management and...

I took my daughter here for her 25th birthday. I called ahead to reserve a table for 7 people just in case it was busy. The restaurant was easy to find and had ample parking. When entering the restaurant, there is a sign stating masks required while waiting to be seated. Not everyone had masks in our party but the staff did not say anything since we were seated right away. There were about 4 other parties there so the restaurant was not crowded. Because the food is cooked right in front of you, it can get a little warm at the table. The staff provides fans in addition to the air conditioning so it was quite comfortable. The menu selection includes a good variety. I chose the shrimp, steak, and chicken with fried rice. While the chef is setting up, we were served drinks, soups and salad. The salad is very basic (lettuce and dressing) but tasty. The soup was good as well. Not too filling so I thought I would have plenty of room for the rice and main entree. The chef was very friendly and put on a great show. He asked if we were there for a special occasion and we let him know it was out daughter's 25th birthday. He had us all sing happy Birthday and gave special attention to our daughter which was a really nice touch on top of the great show and fabulous meal. Some of our party elected for noodles and the rest had fried rice. The chef cooked it right in front of us, giving a great show at the same time. I tried the noodles from my wife's plate and they tasted great. The fried rice was fantastic and the serving size was huge. Next came the shrimp and steak which both tasted fantastic. We each had a separate bowl of teriyaki sauce and yum yum sauce for dipping. The yum yum paired great with the shrimp and the teriyaki sesame sauce was great with the steak. Next came the chicken and it was cooked perfectly. All of the meat was chopped and cooked just right. I dont usually leave a restaurant with leftovers from my own plate but there was so much food, I couldn't eat it all, which was a good thing because it made a great meal the next day. Everyone was extremely satisfied with the service, quality of food, cleanliness of the establishment, and service provided by our server. I will definitely be returning again to try some other items on the menu. I highly recommend...

Sam Renfrew We spend a few hours at your restaurant this evening....and I must we .(all 9 of us) were disappointed in the service .We had a 6:30 reservation and after 8 o'clock. we still had no food. We were sharing a special dinner after some of had worked 12 hours. We understand sometimes things happen ,like call out...more customer than expected ...ect as we are in retail. But even with the 10 % you gave us...we were not happy.... Betty Renfrew December 26, 2014 Sam Renfrew 12/26, 8:46am Sam Renfrew We spend a few hours at your restaurant this evening....and I must we .(all 9 of us) were disappointed in the service .We had a 6:30 reservation and after 8 o'clock. we still had no food. We were sharing a special dinner after some of had worked 12 hours. We understand sometimes things happen ,like call out...more customer than expected ...ect as we are in retail. But even with the 10 % you gave us...we were not happy.... Betty Renfrew Wednesday Sam Renfrew 12/31, 11:02pm Sam Renfrew December 23rd, 10:33pm We spend a few hours at your restaurant this evening....and I must we .(all 9 of us) were disappointed in the service .We had a 6:30 reservation and after 8 o'clock. we still had no food. We were sharing a special dinner after some of had worked 12 hours. We understand sometimes things happen ,like call out...more customer than expected ...ect as we are in retail. But even with the 10 % you gave us...we were not happy.... Betty Renfrew Friday 8:46am We spend a few hours at your restaurant this evening....and I must we .(all 9 of us) were disappointed in the service .We had a 6:30 reservation and after 8 o'clock. we still had no food. We were sharing a special dinner after some of had worked 12 hours. We understand sometimes things happen ,like call out...more customer than expected ...ect as we are in retail. But even with the 10 % you gave us...we were not happy.... Betty Renfrew Sam Renfrew 12/31, 11:03pm Sam Renfrew Let us know you read our message Today Sam Renfrew 11:21pm Sam Renfrew I suppose if you cant answer an email, then its no wonder girls night only meant our...