Hayashi Japanese Steakhouse

What a wonderful meal!

This was our first trip to Hayashi Japanese Steakhouse, and I expected it to be good. It was. In fact, it's surpassed our expectations. It was surprisingly delicious!

As usual, I got a Bento Box. That's my favorite go to for Japanese restaurants. This one was a great deal better than the others I've had around town.

We also got hibachi shrimp. That too was simply delicious.

Take a look at the photos.

Can be a long wait to be seated. Took approximately 45 minutes to get a seat at the grill. Short staffing issues led to that and a wait for chef at the grill. Soup and salad were brought out quickly. Server was fast and friendly.

Love coming here for an early dinner. Couldn't honestly tell you for how many years but I prefer the bar top unless we are in a group big enough to take an entire hibachi table. From full dishes to sushi the food is very consistent. I appreciate that when I comes to bigger restaurants that have a large amout of customers daily. They are also one of the only places that serve Black and Gold Sake.
From the greeters to owners the staff is very friendly. The atmosphere is great for all types of occasions. Will continue visiting as I have through out the years.
I appreciate the good food and friendly faces

We had a mixed experience. It was a mid day Tuesday and mildly busy. A few people at maybe 4 grills and 1 occupied table. They asked us if we wanted a hibachi table or a side table, explaining it as loud or quiet. We went quiet.

For a new spot for us, we were pretty happy with the food. The fish was in good balance with the roll. Some of the eel rolls were more fall apart-y but they tasted really good so that's fine. The sweet potato roll was done more intentionally thinner and curled around the inside to prevent the undercooked nature that roll can have. It was still pretty hard though. The gyoza was good, hubby loved his hibachi food. This miso didn't hit for him.

I hovered between a 3 and 4 because the service was truly awful. We couldn't fix order errors, get what we ordered, get our sauces, get refills, etc. The few times we did see him it was extremely rushed. He had a habit of addressing the other table and expecting us to ear drop. We put it together after he rushed out that he said the restaurant won't schedule enough people so he's running between hibachi and the quiet area and he tends to 'neglect it back here'.

I actually prefer lowkey, no worries-type service, but the balance between that and the rushed, surface smile, 'Hurry it up, I got work ta do!' energy as soon as he walked in had me very bothered by the end of it. It had me feeling like I needed to clock in. I wouldn't take it out on the tip around the holidays, but I don't think I'd come back unless we did the grill or takeout.

The sushi 🍣 was good. We were seated fast at the grill for a Friday night. The chefs are funny and entertaining. Wait staff was great.