Hananoki Japanese Steak House & Sushi

Sonny was funny amazing at his job and had us a cracking up and the food was the best.

Been here several times and never had a complaint. Delicious food and friendly service!

Went with big party. Not enough servers. Rest rooms dirty. Food was just ok. All tasted the same. Too many other places to eat. Server was nice enough.

We ended up finding a fly in the soy sauce, come on guys… clean up a little.

The hibachi food/​show was one of the worst I’ve experienced (maybe it was just our guy?), but the sushi is to die for. If you’re smart skip the show and just fill up on multiple rolls of sushi.

This place gave me an awesome experience in hibachi — definitely go there!
Tyler was our hibachi master the other night and tossed a shrimp at my date, who was amazed she caught it! Thank you for the great presentation of this Japanese art!
We will back to enjoy another dinner there soon

It is without a doubt the best hibachi in Lexington. I’ve been to all of them in Lexington and they simply have the best. The difference is the fried rice, they use sushi rice and they use the sesame mustard sauce to give it a boost in flavor and to keep it soft, moist, and sticky enough to use chopsticks with. Portion sizes are large and rarely have I ever been able to eat everything on my plate.
Their sushi isn’t anything special. It’s fresh so I can’t complain, I’ve only eaten the sushi at Hananoki a few times and it’s nothing to write home about.
My only complaint about the restaurant and reason I gave it a ⁴⁄₅ is because it is very dated. The décor looks like it hasn’t been updated in 20 years. All the polaroid pictures littering the walls, although charming and a source of memories for a few people, have started spreading to every wall and it looks terrible. At what point do you say enough with the pictures? They need to do a major remodel/​paint job to breathe some new life into the restaurant.

Ate here for the first time today and it was great! The staff were very friendly and the food was incredible. The atmosphere is nice and the restaurant has pictures of customers who celebrated their birthdays all over the walls. It really has a very nice feeling to the restaurant. It’s not the fanciest place in Lexington but it has a nice hometown restaurant feel that you don’t get many places anymore. I will definitely be going there again! I recommend the teriyaki chicken with steamed rice. It’s great!

Sushi was ok but not great. The fried shrimp looked and tasted horrible. Use to be a fan of this place but not so much anymore.

I have eaten here several times… ALWAYS felt I was being over charged for the sushi selection… This time I marked the selection on a second sushi order form.
LOW AND BEHOLD was charged for $ 30 of sushi I did not receive. .I brought it to the waiters attention problem was corrected easily. .
SO THAT BEING SAID! KEEP CLOSE EYE ON YOUR BILL HERE

This is Japanese steak house is okay. The staff are friendly. The yum yum sauce could use some improvement compared to other HIbachi places I’ve been. I think some of the chefs need a little more training on interacting and entertaining if they are the hibachi chef. That’s what normally keeps people coming back even if the food isn’t a WOW factor. I don’t do sushi so I can’t speak to those other dishes. My norm is the chicken and steak with fried rice.

In the entire 30 years of my life, I have never walked out of a restaurant… until I went to hananoki. I took my 3 year old son to hananoki on Thursday evening. He had never been to hibachi, so I was really excited for him to experience this for the first time. But as soon as we walked through the door, things were not ok. The older, oriental woman who seemed to be the hostess, was very cold and standoffish towards us. I tried to be really nice, told her this was my son’s first time to a restaurant like this, we’re excited, and so on. Suprisingly, she responded with «we no cook for just you». I asked her to please clarify and she very coldly responded by saying again «we no cook for you.» I assumed she was confused, or maybe I was confused, so we went ahead and sat down. There were 2 other people in the room, who had obviously just been cooked for, finishing their meal. Our waiter came out, he was a very nice young man. He took our order, Was kind to my son and I began to feel a little more comfortable. While waiting on our drinks, my son told me he needed to potty, so we got up and walked to the front if the restaurant where we encountered the not so friendly hostess again. I asked her several times where the bathroom was and she kept rolling her eyes whike trying to ignore us. I couldn’t believe it, so I tried to tell myself I was wrong. Finally, the huffed and made a gesture towards the direction of the bathroom. SHE WOULDN’T EVEN RESPOND VERBALLY! As we got closer to the restroom, I realized we probably didn’t need to ask for directions, because we probably could have just followed the stench. Both doors to the restrooms were propped open and the smell of sewage gas was so strong, I literally started gagging and my son kept asking «what’s that smell mommy?». No exaggeration, it was terrible! I wasn’t really in the mood to eat after that, but my son was so excited to see them cook on the «big stove». When we got back to the table, the lady came over and started picking up the plates around us, spraying chemicals and «cleaning». But no one had been there. The place was dead. I’m not sure what she was doing, but it just seemed weird. While she was «cleaning», our waiter came out with my salad and told me the chef was preparing to come out to cook for us. That’s when the lady abandoned her cleaning, and hurried to the kitchen. I actually heard her saying to (I’m assuming the chef) «you no cook for her! No no, you no cook for her». I looked at my waiter and he looked very embarrassed. I asked him what was going on and he told me that she was just confused. That she thought I was with a bigger party and was waiting on my other guests to arrive. He said he would go talk to her. Of course, I could hear the whole thing. The lady kept saying they weren’t to cook for us. The waiter came back out and assured me it was just a mix up and the chef was coming out. I asked him what was going on and told him I wasn’t comfortable with the way that lady was treating us. She heard me, and rushed over to tell me, yet again, that they wouldn’t serve me. That if I wanted to eat. That I had to wait on more people to come because they weren’t going to let the chef cook for just me and my son! I guess I should also mention that during the 10 to 15 minutes we were there, several people had come in and decided to go elsewhere (probably because of the smell). That’s when I said «this is reduculous, we’re leaving». My son started crying and we walked out. I have no idea what it was about me, that made that lady dislike me so much. I’ve never been treated that way before. I was dressed nicely, my son was well behaved, and I’m a good tipper! The only thing I can think of, is maybe this woman was judging me because I have a lot of tattoos. But that seems crazy. I’m deeply hurt by my experience at this restaurant and I hope no one else is treated this way. I really hope that my son’s first hibachi experience doesn’t turn out to be his last, based on the treatment of one small minded, judgmental, nasty old woman.

Dinner and a show-​with fire! This was my first time at a hibachi grill since senior prom (at the now closed Nagasaki Inn) and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. When my family arrived the restaurant was fairly empty, but that isn’t surprising for a Wednesday night. Three of us had the shrimp hibachi meal and one had the steak hibachi meal. This meal comes with a chicken broth soup, small side salad, and steamed rice along with the shrimp or steak on the hibachi grill and mixed vegetables (onions, zucchini, zucchini squash, and broccoli). I recommend getting a regular portion instead of the light portion. The regular portion was enough food, but I think any less wouldn’t have filled us up.
Our hibachi chef did a great job of entertaining us with fire, and the typical onion volcano. He wasn’t super enthusiastic, but it was a Wednesday night, so I will cut him some slack. Our food turned out well. I really liked the vegetables. They had a great texture.
To make this place a little classier they should consider removing the polaroid pictures (of people celebrating their birthdays here) from the wall and invest in new menus. The current menus are warped and old.

This is the most inexpensive, non fancy Japanese restaurant that I’ve ever been to. Do keep in mind that I’ve not been to many Japanese restaurants, but each experience is similar. We always sit at the hibachi and the hibachi area at every Japanese restaurant that I’ve been to doesn’t seem very clean. Maybe it’s because the chefs mess it up so much while they’re putting on their cooking show as they cook the meals ordered at each table. Who knows? There was dried food stuck in the seam of the table directly on front of me. If you’re on the opposite end of that seam, it’s something you’ll never notice, but I did and it was hard not to stare. The menus were a bit old and tattered too. And another random observation was the Polaroid photos plastered on every wall displaying shots of patrons who have celebrated birthdays and anniversaries. Dang there is a lot. It almost gives you more of a pub feel than a steakhouse. Had I not observed all of that, I would consider it a 5 star restaurant. So if you don’t care about any of that, then run to this place.
We were the last to be seated at the table. Score! Because I hate being the first to sit down at the table, they make you wait until the other spots fills up until they take your order. They sat me next to a baby. Why the parents didn’t seat their kids in the middle of them, is beyond me, as was the fact that they let the baby «play» with the forks. She was literally banging it against the plate as entertainment. The mom would tell her to stop once every minute or so but she continued at it, testing my good mood. If you don’t converse well with others or if you don’t want kids assigned to your table, for that matter, seat alone.
I ordered the California roll sushi and an order of spring rolls. The spring rolls came in an order of three, even though the picture in the menu was of four spring rolls. I told you the menu was old. Even though I didn’t order the hibachi, the waitress still brought me out the miso should and ginger dressed salad, without even charging me. Both were similar to every other Japanese restaurant. Pepsi products are served here, so I opted for a water.
If you’ve never tried a Japanese restaurant because the prices are too expensive, or if minor visual observation doesn’t bother you at all, this is your place.

This place is disappointing.
First the place seems dark and it was slow on a Monday lunch time. They only had like 1 table.
We were sitting by the dining area. The tables were not properly cleaned, and the menu looks old.
We ordered a salmon bento box and lunch Hitachi filet mignon.
The miso soup that comes with the bento was way too salty, the salad is meh, the lettuce are not crisp and I’m not impressed by the dressing either.
The bento box comes with 2 gyozas, some tempura and a California roll and 2 small pieces of salmon.
All the food seems to be low quality, the California roll taste like its from the grocery store or Chinese buffet.
The teriyaki sauce is a bit overwhelming and a bit too salty for my salmon to be drowned in it.
My partners hibachi entrees didn’t arrive until, I was almost done with my bento box, and I’m a slow eater.
According to him, the filet mignon taste like regular steak, and the veggies were inedible because it was too salty.
Over all, I hate to say this but I think it was a waste of money. Poor low quality of food and the service wasn’t really great.

I eat sushi here when I visit, I am allergic to shellfish and they have a fairly large selection of sushi without shellfish. It is not my favorite place in town for sushi but I ordered 5 rolls and white tuna sashimi and all were delicious.

Good hibachi and sushi! I’ve come here in the past and thought it was just okay, but it has been better every additional time that I’ve gone there. I had the vegetable hibachi, which comes with rice, salad, and soup. It was all really tasty. The only thing that is better at other hibachi restaurants I’ve been to is the entertainment factor, although I have to admit I was chatting a lot this visit so I might’ve missed some of the entertainment at the table.

I went for the first time last week. The lunch special at the sushi bar is reasonable — $ 8.95 for soup, salad, and two rolls. The rolls, however, are plain Jane and uninspiring. When I’m craving sushi, I want sushi and don’t care about soup and salad. I chose the special roll, Fire and Ice. It was tuna on tuna and certainly large enough. It was OK, but I wasn’t overly impressed. Still a bit hungry, I considered another of the special rolls, but opted out. Frankly, the prices for these are high. A $ 15. tab for one rolls — just plain disappointed!

I absolutely love the sushi here. There are so many choices and everything I’ve had has been delicious. My favorite is probably the Wildcat Roll.
On the hibachi side, the food is prepared like all other Japanese restaurants I’ve visited. It’s full of flavor and cooked just right. The yum yum sauce is amazing!
There are also saki specials that run, if you’re into that. So, eat & drink up because you’ll have a good time while you’re here.

Lunch with little flare and no fire…
By Parham P Baker
I went to Hananoki today for lunch as it was nasty cold and I wanted something tasty, warm with some fun entertainment.
As I entered I could go to a full bar, the sushi bar, or the room with the teppanyaki tables. The walls are crammed with photos of folks who have celebrated special days at Hananoki which I guess is special. To me, distracting. I chose the teppanyaki side.
After looking at a fairly robust lunch menu offering, I elected the special with chicken and shrimp and chose the salad over the soup. $ 12.95 without a beverage. The server that took my order was very polite and did ask if I wanted fried rice… of course! Usually they charge $ 1.00 more for fried rice but one of the specials was free fried rice upgrade from steamed white rice.
The salad was fresh and the dressing nice but does not measure up to Nagasaki Inn’s or even to Benihana’s. I had to ask for chop stick to get started eating as they don’t provide them at the table unless you ask.
Then our chef rolled his cart in and he began preparing our lunch. None of the usual «performance» with the spatula and fork, he just went right to it. Dump the rice on the grill, then the chicken then the shrimp. Wait… he did tap on the grill with his fork as he seasoned everything. Almost forgot that. No shrimp tails flying, no egg trick, no flaming volcanoes, no special knifery… and not even fire. No fire??? C’mon… how simple would that have been to at least provide a smidgen of the wow factor.
I guess I expected at least some bit of the entertainment I’ve enjoyed at probably 50 or more different teppanyaki restaurants I’ve been to, but really… nothing. Even a smile would have been in order. The couple at the table with me was there for a special birthday. I could tell they felt disappointed. Their picture won’t be on the walls.
All that aside, the chicken, shrimp and veggies were perfectly cooked and very tasty. The fried rice was a bit under-​flavored so I did kick it up a bit with the dipping sauce (they only provided one) to bring it up.
I finally got a refill on my water AFTER I’d almost finished my lunch. Pretty amazing given 9 total there for lunch.
FOOD — 4, AMBIANCE — 2 ½, SERVICE — 2,
This place has potential that is being squandered, or perhaps they just don’t care anymore. I think I’ll go down the street and try Myako’s next time.
(NB… this style of cooking is NOT hibachi. Hibachi is an open grated grill. This cooking is on a solid griddle heated usually by gas. Teppan (鉄板), which means iron plate, and yaki (焼き), which means grilled, broiled, or pan-​fried. Credits to Wikipedia for the definition and clarification.)