Neo Japan Express

First Unilocal review ever… that’s how atrocious this place is. It’s summer… go empty the contents of your mower bag and eat that instead. You have been warned.

Absolutely terrible. The worst hibachi joint ever. Looks nice and clean but the food is the worst. Hibachi chicken was like fatty foam chicken nuggets grilled on the flat top. Zero flavor. Veggies were cooked to point where you coulndt tell the difference between the onions or the zucchini. The fried rice never saw a grill it was just steamed rice tossed in soy-​sauce. And now on to the teriyaki chicken. The absolute worst lowest quality chicken thighs with mostly fat. Smothered and I mean smothered in lumpy slimy teriyaki sauce that tasted like teriyaki sauce but had the consistency of Grandma’s gravy after it sat on the counter for an hour. It was so slimy every time you took a piece of chicken there was a string of teriyaki from the plate to your mouth that you had to shake off. Soba noodles were over cooked and tasted of nothing. Oh and tempura shrimp is a specific kind of batter thats very light. Not the same corn meal breading that goes on a frozen onion ring. My daughter and I couldnt even finish eating it. Super cheap though! So cheap i didnt even bother to ask for our money back. The guy preparing the food as we left kept digging up his nose while he was cooking. We will never set foot in that place again.

I am not even sure I can get to reviewing the food, as the rudeness level of the employees working here are off the charts. The first time I visited, I ordered the steak and chicken hibachi, and a side order of lomein. The lomein was much greasier than you would even get at a food court. Yuck. Tasteless and greasy. The steak and chicken were of such poor quality– I couldn’t tell which was which. I am guessing the steak was the darker chunks that resembled horse meat. The rice was fine– oversalted fried rice– topped with overcooked onions. But oh the service– just not acceptable. The woman sat at the cash register, ignoring me and seemed glued to Facebook or something on her computer. The man said my food would take ten minutes. He walked away to cook it. I told the lady– «I’ll be right back, ok?» She ignored me. I said again «uh– helloooooo?» About three times– then she looked up and grunted. I kid you not. She GRUNTED. Anyhow, fast forward ten minutes, I picked up the food– no «thank yous» (at their end) and I was on my merry way.
The second time I visited (don’t even ask how there came to be a second time– I was in the area?) Anyhow, it was literally three days after our big «snow» storm and everything was back to «normal» so to speak with traffic and retail businesses being open. I walked in at 7:30pm and he shouted «close!» I said «excuse me?» And he shouted again «close!» I asked «why are you closed? Anything wrong? Or is it because of the snow?» And he pointed his finger at the door and said «get out!!!»
Wow. Listen– not to flash «the card» here– but my Mom emigrated to the States in 1965 from Japan (as an ethnic Korean), and I am biracial. Even my Mom said «these folks have to realize that we are in America now and you don’t treat customers that way. Maybe in their country, this is okay, but here it is not. They will have to learn the hard way– and the only way they’ll realize this, is if we don’t keep throwing away our hard earned money at their business. They have to learn the American way.»
I have a lot of respect for my Mom, coming over to the States decades ago, when virtually there were NO Koreans in Virginia. She became a Citizen and happily assimilated because she loves this Country, as do I (of course), and I place a LOT of merit in her advice. Lesson learned– we will not be returning. Let us know if their customer service improves, and perhaps we’ll overlook their greasy noodles and overcooked onions for another shot.

The only thing that saved this place, was the cleanliness. The food was terrible… even for a takeout express place. I ordered the hibachi chicken which came with «fried» rice and a vegetable blend. Veggies were steamed broccoli and over cooked onions. The chicken itself was fatty, and kind of fried? It had zero seasoning. Typical hibachi has some sort of sauce so the chicken and veggies have an ounce of taste. Nope. Not here. Fried rice was steamed rice and some soy sauce. Nothing crispy about that.
I wanted to like this place since it’s so close to work. It’s cheap for the portion, but at the end of the day, cheap doesn’t win over flavor (or lack-​there-​of).

NEO Japan is definitely the typical express hibachi joint. You get what you pay for, though it is a TON of food! I can eat it for 3 meals. Being vegetarian, I can’t vouch for the meat dishes. But the vegetable hibachi is great for lunch (you can’t go wrong with cooking up some vegetables with light seasoning). They do cook the main dish in front of you (rice is pre-​made but looks pretty fresh and hot).
I have not tried the soups, appetizers or sushi but am assuming it would be of equal «fast food» type quality.

Yep. All those low star reviews are correct. Was hoping to have better news. Zucchini and onions was mostly onions and a few slivers of zucchini, the same color as the onions. I got the hibachi chicken and shrimp. The shrimp was fine, the chicken was less than good. Just blah. The soba noodles… Why did I get those? Lots of plain. Just a blah, plain meal.

Great Asian food for lunch. It’s cheap and the store is clean. The service is good. They have a long waiting line for lunch but if you order ahead online, you can come and pick it up in no time. It’s convenient. Parking lot is big and always space available. the portion is huge for the price also.

Don’t eat at this place. The sanitation grade just bumped to a 94. The lady at the counter is super rude. She never said one word to me outside of calling out my order. No total, no thank you and didn’t advise how long it would be until I asked. Once my food was done she also asked «white sauce?» I said yes thank you. She grabbed two and slid them towards me on the counter as she walked by. Rude rude rude. The food was a 5 on a 1 to 10 basis. There is Fortune Asian Bistro on the other side of the shopping ctr. Go there. They have great food, bogo free sushi and lunch specials.

If you’ve ever been to any other fast-​food hibachi place (probably also had «express» in the name), you know what to expect here: various combinations of vegetables (onions, zucchini, mushrooms, broccoli), steak, chicken, and shrimp cooked hibachi-​style and served with rice or noodles, and a small selection of other items (soups, a very basic sushi menu, etc.).
I’ve only been once, but my first trip hasn’t inspired confidence. I ordered hibachi chicken and steak with soba noodles, to go. What I received was hibachi chicken and steak with rice. Getting the order right is probably the most basic rule of food service, so already I’m an unhappy camper. That said, the rice is fairly flavorless, though it may have gotten the soy sauce treatment, based on the fact that it is slightly brown and salty, though clearly not fried. I definitely would have preferred the noodles that I ordered. The chicken and steak were relatively fatty, and the steak was tough; I can’t say for sure whether this was just a poor cut of meat or if it was overcooked.
The sort-​of-​good news is that my order came up very quickly. I waited for maybe a minute before the cashier was bagging my order, which was surprising, because that basically means that there’s no way that they prepared my meal to order. I’m guessing that they have all of the ingredients precooked and kept warm, and are just assembling the components when an order is placed. This would go a long way toward explaining the toughness of the steak.
They have the typical quick-​hibachi sauces available (a ginger-​based sauce and the mysterious «white» sauce), but they are both far sweeter than I’m accustomed to.
I’ll go again at some point, in order to give them a chance to at least prove that they can get my order right, but as it is, I’d proceed with caution.

I came here for my lunch break since in the past it has been pretty quick and the food is freshly made and priced well. $ 4 for sushi and $ 6 for hibachi veggies and rice. The issue I had today was the 30 minute wait to order and get my food. Only 2 people were working (including the chefs). They looked so stressed. Apparently they offer on line ordering and there were multiple orders and customers waiting 30 minutes with me waiting for their orders. This is a small, clean restaurant close to other restaurants and shopping. I’ll go back again unless it’s busy.

Just DONT GO!
This place is all around terrible. The only good thing is how clean it is.
The cashier is unique blend of should be in a back closet not customer facing…
Food is all the same color.
Taste is bland.
Steak and chicken are both super fatty.
Rice is smothered in soy sauce.(white sauce made it edible, otherwise just blah)
We should’ve listened to the other reviewers…

So gross. I’ve lived in Japan, and this does not compare. The food does not taste fresh.

I gave this place a shot. I am here in North Carolina on business and decided to walk to Neo Japan from my hotel. This type of business model is common in California, where they offer pseudo Japanese food products at a low cost, seemingly cooked in a «fresh» manner. What is the result? Bland, soy-​sauce based, plain food. I took one for the team!
What I Had: Hibachi steak, vegetables, fried rice
The Good:
Hardworking employees
Low cost
Clean facility
The Bad:
Salt burnout, food is heavy on sodium and your taste buds shrivel
Took roughly 20 – 30 minutes for the food
Vegetables are plain
Plates are not interesting at all
Fried rice contained no eggs, vegetables, or meat
Steak did not taste good, hardened fat, likely flank
I can not recommend this place until a few items under my bad section have been addressed. If this place used fresh locally grown items and put some care into their food, then perhaps this restaurant would be worth trying.

Great little place for some quick low priced japanese. My husband and I call in a to go order frequently and it always tastes great. I’ve only had a few items from the menu since I’m a vegetarian but still love it every time. My husband has gotten multiple items from the menu and has never had a complaint. We’ll be sad when we move to the other side of town and have to try to find a «replacement».