Sawa Japanese Steakhouse — Restaurant in Virginia

I was a big fan of this restaurant and would advise my friends and colleagues to check it out. The food was good and the price was a great value. Something changed recently. Either they got a new chef, the regular one was off the last time I visited, or something else, but we stopped in last weekend and the food was horrible. We order 3 entrees and appetizers. I ordered the filet and chicken and they brought me filet and shrimp. To their credit, when I alerted them of the mistake they brought me the chicken on the side. The filet was literally the worst steak I have ever tried to eat from a restaurant. Full of gristle and tasteless. Had the texture of being boiled or microwaved. I didn't eat the shrimp since I am not a fan of shrimp and didn't order it. The chicken was the only thing ordered that was edible out of everything. Vegetables that came with the filet were soggy and flavorless. My wife ordered a sushi roll that should could only eat one piece of. She told me it didn't contain any of the main ingredient a spider roll was described to have on the menu. Our daughter ordered udon with shrimp tempura, which was not correct when brought to our table. We also order the octopus balls and shumai for appetizers. The octopus pieces in the balls were so hard that it was like trying to chew a chicken gizzard. The part of our meal that made us come to the conclusion that something was truly wrong behind the scenes was the shumai. I don't know what they were thinking serving this. The shumai appeared to have been microwaved from frozen. The appearance was that it looked like raw warm dough and the pieces were all stuck together. Then they poured this weird sauce over it. Aside from the sauce, there appeared to be no seasoning on it or in it whatsoever. Just tasted like raw chewy dough covered in sauce. I honestly have never so quickly gone from being a fan of a restaurant to deciding I would never go there again. The entire meal for my wife and I was so bad that we barely ate any of the dishes and still felt slightly nauseous after we left the restaurant, with the idea that if everything was so off with all aspects of our meals, then was it even prepared in a safe manner? I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1 because at least the food is cheap and we didn't waste a ton of money on it. I really hope that this last time we went was just an anomaly (maybe the regular chef was sick and the person who filled in was not an experienced cook), but we won't know because we won't take a chance on this...

Today i visited Sawa with my husband and daughter. This was one of the best restaurant experiences I have ever had. When I first walked in, I was overwhelmed by the amazing smell of the food. Everything on the menu sounded so good, I wanted to eat everything. The food was delicious and filling, and was still well priced. The staff are extremely polite. They were helpful, friendly and making sure your every need was met. Every worker was smiling and cheerful. Our waitress, Glory, came almost immediately after she saw my daughter had finished her glass of water, to ask if she wanted a refill. The bubble tea we all had was absolutely delicious. My husband had the Taro Milk Tea, I had the Strawberry Milk Tea, and my daughter had the Peach Milk Tea. They were all amazingly good, but I really recommend the Strawberry Milk Tea to anyone who either loves boba or is trying it for the first time. We each had a Hibachi Dinner entrée. I highly recommend the Steak, Chicken & Shrimp entrée that comes with rice and vegetables. Their Mochi Ice Cream was also amazing. After my daughter took first bite, a smile immediately appeared on her face. For anybody who doesn't know what Mochi Ice Cream is, it is a small scoop of ice cream covered in sweet rice flour. The rice flour around is like a boba ball texture. The ice cream inside is of amazing quality. Another amazing part of the restaurant was how cheerful the decor was. There was a cilinder with living fish and there were a bunch of paintings, some artificial trees and a bunch of fancy Japanese umbrellas hanging. I have to say, this restaurant has the friendliest and most helpful staff out of all the restaurants I have been to. This is truly an exquisite restaurant. Anybody who wants to have a good time with amazing food should totally visit Sawa. Last, but not least, compliments...

The food is really good. We've been twice now and each time we have had a little variety. A sushi roll + a non-seafood meal.

The sushi is really good. Some of the best I have eaten. The rice it really nice, not too sweet and not too vinegary. Not too sticky, but sticky enough to hold together well. The rolls are made to order so the seaweed doesn't get soft and difficult to chew. The toppings are perfect. The fish is fresh and well seasoned. The sauces are delicious. The combinations work.

The other items we've tried have been really good too. The katsu was crispy, but not overcooked. The veggies were yummy. The curry sauce was nice, though a little sweeter than we prefer. That's personal preference and they offer sriracha. The dumplings and dipping sauce were delicious and the ramen was super fun. Very good broth, especially the spicy pork. The yum yum sauce is indeed yummy.

Service the first time we went was 5/5. This time we were greeted by a new employee learning the ropes. And while today's service started at a 3, the rest of the staff quickly stepped in to support their new team member and brought it up to a 4.5. I was really impressed that the staff took the time to coach the new person through the challenges and praise what they did right. I suspect, that while like everywhere else it is hard to find workers, this place probably has...