Tokyo Garden | Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Visalia

A little back story... when my friend's daughter was getting ready to move away for college, she organized a going away dinner at Tokyo Garden. The manager told her a $100 deposit was required for a large party, which she paid in cash. Never having been asked for a deposit at a restaurant before, she thought that once the deposit was paid, all she had to do was show up with her group on the night of the dinner. That evening, the same manager who took her $100, informed her that since she didn't have a receipt for said deposit, they would not be serving her party. Again, she had never been asked for a deposit, nor did the manager offer a receipt... but he sure took that cash from her when she paid. My friend, her husband, and the owner all got involved, and luckily they were able to accommodate her daughter's group, but not before her daughter was left embarrassed and in tears by the attitude of the manager. Skip ahead to this evening: That same friend and I decide to take our daughters to dinner. My friend makes a reservation for 5 people for tepanyaki. When we are seated, there is already a couple (NOT members of our party) seated at the tepanyaki table. My friend then points out the "manager" who had taken the $100 from her daughter. I'm shocked that he would still be employed here, but I soon find out that incompetence trickles down. The food and the service are mediocre... the steak was overcooked, we had to ask multiple times for drinks and water refills, as well as boxes at the end of the meal. Once the bills were paid (we did split the check between families), we went to leave. Our server followed my friend outside and informed her that she had shorted the payment on her bill. My friend looked at the new bill and told the server it was a completely different total than the bill she was initially given. The server explained that she was being charged a "large party fee", and that "the girls" told her to add it to our bill. I'm assuming she meant the other waitresses. My friend paid the difference, but she let our server know how unprofessional it was to follow someone outside and give them a completely different bill than the one they paid at the table. When we stepped outside again, one of our daughters pointed out that on the menu it states that a large party is considered 6 or more, so my friend and I went back inside and asked why she was paying a large party fee when there were only 5 of us. The "manager" was called over, and the server explained that she thought the couple who was seated at the table were part of our group. It took the "manager" quite a bit of time and brain power to get my friend's bill in order, and her money returned to her. Needless to say, when you employ a dishonest, inept person, the rest of your staff is bound to...

This place is a disaster. Jose, who I've been informed is a manager at the establishment, has previously stolen money from a close friend of mine. She made a $100 deposit for a party she was having, and when it came time for her celebration, the deposit mysteriously disappeared, and she was not given a receipt to prove that she had paid ahead of time. However, he does still work at this restaurant, and he is still in a management position. That situation was cleared up at the time that it happened. Tonight (August 3, 2024) a server who claimed she was in training, even though I have seen her working here before - followed my party and I out the door, saying that we hadn't paid one of the bills in full. Whoever was responsible for printing out my party's bills, changed one of them after it had been paid, claiming that we needed to pay a "large party fee". On the menus, it states that a party of 6 or more people will have a "large party fee" added to their bill. We were a party of 5. We had been sat next to a couple, who we did make friendly conversation with, but we did not know them when we entered the restaurant. We had told the staff before we placed our orders that we'd be paying separately, and that they were not part of our party. Unfortunately, this information wasn't relayed or taken into account, because the waitress charged us the "large party fee" when we did not meet the criteria to be charged. There aren't many Japanese food places in Visalia, but for the sake of your wallet and your time, go anywhere...

I'm not a fan of sushi. My 7 yr old daughter Yolie is a regular customer of this place and only has the nicest things to say about the atmosphere, the food ,and the people. Joe the owner makes his rounds meeting and greeting and seems to enjoy pulling quarters from her ears. LOL. I have only been here a handful of times but she and her father visit this place upto 1-2 times monthly. I enjoyed a glass or 3 of the PLUM WINE from the bar area. We reserved a private room to celebrate her holy communion with a party total of 20 people. We had a relaxed time as all our needs were catered to by the staff . From 12 noon til 4:30 pm we wandered between the bar area &back out to our seats so we can taste samples of their most popular dishes. It was enjoyable to watch our chef prepare our food in our presence. I can honestly say that in the 5 years that we have been common here NEVER HAVE WE GOTTEN SICK FROM THE FOOD. I say this because there are many sushi bars and high priced steak houses that getting sick after eating there is "hit...