Gozen Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Visalia

Came here on a Thursday before Valentine's Day weekend with my girlfriend. Everything is fine outdoor under the canopy looking structures similar to what many other restaurants are doing. With COVID and everything going on the menu is limited but Tepanyaki is still going on the flat top grills that are a bit smaller than what is inside the restaurant. So think of outdoor Tepanyaki on a Blackstone Style grill. We had ordered the Filet Mignon along with the shrimp and chicken combo, all plates are served with their house salad with house vinaigrette along with Miso Soup, two potstickers (i can't remember if it was pork or chicken) and with your choice of steamed rice, fried rice or for $1 more garlic fried rice. We also ordered sushi called the "Gozen Roll" along with the tempura combo as appetizers. Included we had two beers as well which are comparable to 40oz's for those of you who are wondering. Out the door for the two of us we spent a bit over $130 not including tips for our waitress and cook as well. If you don't get any sushi or other appetizers then you can spend close to $100 easily. We enjoyed our meal and the staff was very friendly. We both felt too much butter was used to cook the food but to each their own I say. Flavor wise everything tasted good but the fried rice you could definitely tell it had a lot of butter in it. The sushi is your average non raw sushi roll with the spicy mayo and unagi sauce; nothing special but it was good. The tempura came out pretty good too, it was average in my opinion but the portion was good. Overall I would come back again, if I was in the mood but I would prefer Sakanaya in Fresno or even Benihana's back home in the Bay over Gozen here in Visalia. But they do a good job with COVID going on so I will be back to give them another try when or actually if everything goes back to normal. Definitely a place to try for that special occasion but in my opinion the food here just didn't really knock...

Went out for a birthday party for our 12 year old. Dinner was amazing, the service was great, right up until our interaction with the buss boy. Our 12 year old son yelled at pointed to our 6 year old son who was choking on a piece of steak. He appeared to be looking down at something on the ground, but was actually trying to breathe when his brother was tapping him trying to get his attention. When he looked up he was blueish grey and had his mouth open and his eyes were watering and red. I had to pick him up and attempt the heimlich, the piece of steak flew out and as I was checking his airway, he threw up. I asked for rags and cleaner because I believe it is my job to clean up after my child. The buss boy snapped "it's fine! I got it!" rolling his eyes. He looked down at the floor "oh Jesus" let's out a loud sigh. I'm sorry my child almost died and you were inconvenienced by that.This is not a negative reflection of Gozen as a restaurant, the waitress and cook were amazing. Your buss boy needs to learn that a 6 year old being able to breathe was the priority, not making sure he wasn't inconvenienced with work. I hope no other parents have to feel like prioritizing the cleanliness of your restaurant over the life of their child, is a decision they were supposed to make. Every time I asked him to give me something to help he'd shake his head and huff and puff like a teenager. Shaking his head all the way to the back to get more rags, then all the way back out.

Thank you to the waitress who repeatedly asked if she could help or if we needed anything, and the other patrons who showed concern and cared about HIS condition rather than the condition of the restaurant. Thank you to the other mother who was at our booth who also had a young child. She repeatedly told my wife and I it was ok, and was just thankful he...

Coming from the east coast where Hibachi restaurants are abundant and Kobe's rules the scene, I had to find a restaurant to give me that great experience I was accustomed to. That is until I finally had Teppenyaki at Gozen. While they don't have our famed white sauce, they do have something great they put together at the table. It was a mix of spicy mustard and Sriracha I believe. It was pretty tasty! The chef we had was awesome. The others sitting at our grill were pretty quiet. At Kobe's and other hibachi spots in Florida, everyone is laughing and chatting with the chef while he makes dirty jokes and flips food at kids. It's always a blast and in the end you eat like Kings and Queens. Here, not so much but we still engaged with him and he was pretty awesome. So, while Gozen doesn't have the white sauce or the loud and hilarious chefs, it has charm and great food. The sushi on the other hand leaves a little to be desired but I don't go to hibachi restaurants for sushi. I leave that to the experts. In Orlando we have incredible sushi restaurants, maybe because we have fresh seafood come in daily? Not sure. But, over all Gozen was a great experience and I am enthusiastic about going back for someone else's birthday or take out on nights my fiance is...