Toki Hibachi &Sushi — Restaurant in Winder

We tried this new sushi place in Winder and overall the food was decent, but I left disappointed.

My husband had the Superman Roll and another salmon roll—both were good. My son had the Shrimp Tempura Lunch Box, which he liked, and I had a salmon roll along with the house ginger salad and soup. The sushi itself was good for the price. The fried rice, however, was just OK—not as good as you’d expect fried rice to be.

The restaurant is very clean and the interior is nice. However, two big issues really ruined the experience. First, when I asked for a club soda (my go-to drink), they said they don’t serve it, which was a letdown.

The biggest disappointment was the choice of music and videos being played. They had loud, techno-style Asian music with a huge TV showing Asian girls in extremely provocative clothing, dancing in a very sexualized way. This was disturbing, especially since I was there with my 10-year-old son, my husband, and friends from out of town. It made the restaurant feel cheap and not sophisticated at all. Instead of creating a relaxing atmosphere, it felt like being at a Asian teen concert.

This kind of content is not appropriate for families or for anyone trying to enjoy a decent meal. I did not like having to sit there eating while watching half-nude girls shaking on the screen. I even had to explain to my son to look away from the TV. It made me very uncomfortable, and honestly, it ruined what could have been a nice evening. Whoever owns this restaurant really needs to rethink the music and video choice—something more mellow and family-friendly would greatly improve the atmosphere.

Food: 3 stars Music/Video choice: 0 stars

We will not be coming back unless this is changed. Extremely...

I was disappointed. Very. The restaurant is nice. We wanted something different than our usual town of Athens. It’s wonderful how Winder has evolved lately and I like to support that growth.

About the experience there: Not enough booths. We were sat at one of the tables in the center. With the lights as bright as they were I felt like I was on display out in the center of the room. Booths that line the room were full so that wasn’t an option. We waited over an hour for our food. They never once asked if I wanted a refill. The waitress even picked up my empty bottle but did not ask if I wanted another. Before I could ask for one she was gone. The food FINALLY arrived. I had asked for my filet to be prepared medium RARE. Please see the picture below. There was nothing rare at all , not even close. I don’t like complaining. So I just didn’t eat it. When the waitress asked if everything was good when she left the check I told her no and showed her the steak. She offered to have the chef prepare me another serving to take home. Sure.. whatever.. just rare this time please, barely cooked. I’ll be damned if it didn’t end up being more cooked than the first portion. Language barrier is no excuse. A cook should know how to cook meat. Especially as much as it costs! The portions are tiny also. I wish now I would’ve gotten sushi because it looked wonderful. I won’t be returning. There’s too many great Japanese restaurants in my town to travel there again. The photo represents how big the DINNER portions are. Fine for lunch but not for...

Ordered the fancy roll- delicious! Had mild heat and sweetness. Filet hibachi-steak was incredibly tender and cooked perfectly, the vegetables crisp but too much pepper not enough other spices, fried rice really bland. The clear soup was incredibly pepper forward overpowered the onion/mushroom flavor. Salad dressing was mayo with a slight touch of ginger not good at all, didn’t eat. The hibachi sauce I believe was to be a sort of yum yum but was mayo with a touch more ginger than the salad dressing not good. Prices are great. Service was excellent. Overall the cookery was perfect, the balance of spice needs improvement. Suggestions: less pepper in soup, spice up dressing and sauce add more depth of flavor to the mayo, flavor the fried rice with some sesame oil, garlic and ginger. Cut back on pepper for spicing and add some other...