Pocket 8’s Sushi and Grill

My only experience was last week when I was ignored by three employees at the front desk. I understand that it was very busy but no one made eye contact with me the whole time I stood there!
After a few minutes it was obvious they didn’t need my patronage! Had a great meal elsewhere!

I don’t usually ever write reviews unless I have a wonderful or terrible experience but the last 3 times my husband and I have tried to make reservations at this restaurant they either don’t have enough chefs so you can’t get in or its a 3 hour wait for honestly just mediocre teppanyaki in my opinion. Horrible telephone etiquette from the hostess to top it all off.

Come here almost every Wednesday with a buddy and I always get good food. Sushi is delicious and the service is almost always good. They must be doing something right to keep me coming back.

Came here last month for lunch. I don’t know if it’s me or what but it seems the price went up but the food quality went down

Definitely going to be a regular spot to hit up in this small town. Good sushi and a great grill at affordable prices!

The teppanyaki is good but it’s pretty overpriced. I would come here more often if it was cheaper. For two people expect to pay $ 50 – 60 for teppanyaki (and that’s getting the cheapest entrée on the menu). If they lowered their prices they’d probably get more business.

Came here to eat for my sister in laws birthday with my boyfriend and the family it was so yummy I had lobster sushi rolls with crab and they make ur food right in front of you excellent service entertaining and fun!

Not sure I’ve ever been here where I didn’t have to wait forever to be seated at a table. It’s not a good idea to attempt to go here during 6 – 8 pm. We have waited all the way up to an hour. But the wait is consistently worth it. Very good food and staff has always been friendly. Get the fried rice.?totally worth coming here for it.

1star after my second time coming here. Bad service!!! Bad sea food! I walked in around 630 on a Thursday, asked how long it would be to sit at a grill and the host basically told me NO, not gonna happen she actually said «it’s gonna be a really long time!» how long? «700−730.» I agreed to just sit at a regular table cause I was hungry. I thought the food would be at least as good as last time but i just had some very old scallops! I will never come back

This place is a major stand out for the community of Merced. As we sat here it was easy to forget where we were. The décor is well laid out in Asian restaurant theme. Yet, night clubs /​Vegas spin. The staff was quick to take care of us as well as friendly & attentive to our food, drinks questions. Excellent selection of rice beer, wine & sake. We really liked the recommend cold unfiltered sake. Both of us had bento boxes. So much food ! Tasty & unique. Looks forward to returning.

This is my favorite teppanyaki around. Their service is ok but their food is A1. I’ve been to teppanyaki up and down the valley and Pocket 8’s is the best hands down. The fried rice is a must and asked to add spicy sauce too, you won’t regret it.

This review is only for the sushi & not teppanyaki. Came in for my first time with my boyfriend & a friend on a Saturday night. We were seated without a long wait but it took so long for a waiter/​waitress to acknowledge us & to take our order. We probably waited at least 30 mins until someone came.
We ordered the UC Roll, the Rolls Royce Roll, a Dinner Bento with Chicken Teriyaki & I had a 8 piece Tuna Sashimi plate. The rolls were extremely overpriced especially for the quality & the result we got. As soon as we picked up the rolls with our chopsticks, it was falling apart & making a mess which shows how poorly they were made. As for the Dinner Bento, the Tempura was cold & the Chicken Teriyaki was terrible. It didn’t taste like Chicken Teriyaki because the sauce wasn’t teriyaki, the meat tasted old, & it was overall just gross. I don’t understand how you can mess up something so simple as Chicken Teriyaki. As for the 8 piece Tuna Sashimi, it was not fresh at all & the cuts were completely butchered. The overall quality of the food was less than mediocre.
However, the worst part was the customer service. It took very long for the waitress to take our order & it took unreasonably long to get our food. We literally waited almost 2 hours for our food & asked the waitress continuously & she just kept saying it was almost done. We watched as people who arrived after us, get their food, finish, & leave. We were near the sushi bar & we watched as the chefs walked back & forth, not even preparing food. Looking back now, I don’t know why we didn’t just get up & leave. We definitely would’ve been better off at even a McDonald’s. It was a complete waste of time & money. Absolutely the worst dining experience I’ve ever had in terms of both customer service & food at any restaurant, not just sushi restaurants. I would give 0 stars if I could.

I really wish this wasn’t the only teppanyaki place in Merced (where my boyfriend lives), but sadly it is. The last time we dined here (Dec-​2014 around my birthday), we had such a bad experience (food/​price/​service), I swore I’d never go back. Unfortunately, I was craving teppanyaki recently and went back. A regrettable mistake. We walked in around 7:30 pm last Sun 8÷23÷15. There was no one waiting when we walked up to the hostess desk, so I was a bit surprised when we were asked if we had reservations. I said no, do we need them? She said no and informed us the wait time would be approximately 10 – 20 minutes. Presumably they were waiting for more customers to fill a table. Understandable.
While we waited, we made the mistake of sitting at the bar. After several minutes, a female server (Maiker) finally came by and took our order. We explained to the «bartender» that the other teppanyaki place we frequent (Edo Ya in Fresno) has a popular drink on their menu called, «Purple Haze» (large sake mixed with Chambord Liqueur). Of course, she had no idea what we were talking about. So, we proceeded to order a Nigori sake (cold) in a small bottle and 2 shots of Chambord in an attempt to make our own Purple Haze. All was fine until the «bartender» asked if we wouldn’t mind closing out our bar tab before being seated for dinner. No problem… until she handed me the check. I just about fell of my bar stool! To recreate an $ 8 purple haze drink cost us $ 35.59? I should have known better and just left at this point, but I was still craving the food. So, I reluctantly paid the check and moved to the teppanyaki area.
We were sat at a table with another couple on the other end opposite from us, and a family of 4 (w/​2 small children) in the middle. Since my boyfriend is left handed, he sat at the end/​corner. Unfortunately for him, one of the small children sat next to him and proceeded to kick him throughout the entire meal. Despite my boyfriend’s obvious discomfort, the oblivious mother ignored her daughter’s behavior and continued to pay more attention to her cell phone. Keep it classy Merced! :p
When our server asked us if we wanted anything to drink, we told her no, we’ll just take ice water with lemon… SINCE WE JUST GOT *RAPED* AT THE BAR!
I ordered seared tuna from the sushi menu which stated 10 pieces for $ 14.99. When it was brought to us, it only had 8 pieces. I pointed this out to our server who took it back. Another female server came out and rudely explained that the menu was wrong and that it’s only supposed to be 8 pieces… but that she would go ahead and bring out 2 more pieces and mention the (typo?) to «Jerry» the owner. Gee, thanks rude lady.
Unlike most other teppanyaki restaurants, the dinners here do NOT include soup AND salad. It’s a choice between soup OR salad. They also do not include ice cream for dessert. Everything here seems to be a la carte, and/​or an extra charge. Fail.
My boyfriend ordered the New York Steak (rare) & Calamari, while I ordered the Filet Mignon (medium) & Shrimp. The chef never asked how my boyfriend wanted his Calamari cooked. One would assume if we order raw tuna for an appetizer, and he ordered his steak raw… that it was a safe assumption that we don’t like our food overcooked.
Most other teppanyaki restaurants cook the seafood first, chicken and steak second, and vegetables last. This place does everything backward. The seafood was put on the grill and set to the side until the very end. So, no surprise my boyfriend’s calamari was overcooked and «chewy» like rubber. The last time we were here, I splurged and ordered the lobster for my birthday. What a disappointment. Again, overcooked, tasteless, and chewy… and lest we forget, OVERPRICED!
As for the steaks, the cuts are poor and fatty. I didn’t see much of a difference (visually or taste wise) between my boyfriend’s New York steak, and my Filet Mignon steak. Even the best cut steak they serve here (Filet Mignon) is not as impressive looking/​tasting as other teppanyaki restaurants.
They didn’t offer chopsticks. I had to ask for them. If you want sauces, you have to ask, as they weren’t offered either. Frankly, I’m surprised we weren’t charged extra for them.
The fried rice is nothing more than white steamed rice with a bag of defrosted mixed veggies (that looked like they came from a frozen bag at the dollar store) dumped on top, mixed with some butter and a smidgen of soy sauce. No sesame seeds or garlic butter. When I asked if the chef had sesame seeds on his cart, he said no and referred us to our server. That’s a first. Sesame seeds are always supposed to be on a teppanyaki Chef’s cart. Oh wait, that’s right… this isn’t your normal/​typical teppanyaki restaurant.
If this restaurant had to compete with ALL the superior teppanyaki restaurants in my town (Fresno/​Clovis)… they would have been shut down and gone out of business a long time ago!

This is absolutely one of my favorite places to eat. Sushi is out of this world and repentant is fun. The fried rice is soooo yummy! Highly recommend. If you don’t want to wait go on the weekday

Wow, what a wait! We were seated right away but waited 30 minutes for the Teppanyaki table to fill up with two more parties. It was awkward but once my mouth tasted the filet mignon, spicy chicken, and fried rice I realized I was in heaven! OMG– such a wonderful place with top quality food. I will for sure go back again and again.

We love the food here and it’s the main reason we keep coming back. Service is hit or miss but the past few times it’s been really good. My husband and I think they have the best sushi in town. Also their bar has been closed, not sure why.

I’ve worked at pocket 8 for about three years now and I can honestly say the food has been great since the day I tried it! The food doesn’t change just the employees. I will continue to come in and eat as long as we are open! The only thing I would suggest to customers would be to experiment if you eat sushi. Feel free to ask our staff to make something off the menu! Some of the best rolls I’ve had aren’t even on the menu. Anyways tepp is great but personally dine in and sushi are my favorites
P.s IF YOU PLAN TO EAT WITH A LARGE GROUP MAKE RESERVATIONS BECAUSE YOU WONT GET IN AND WILL WAIT A LONG TIME… So don’t complain when your party can’t eat because YOU HAVE TO MANY PEOPLE. they take reservations lol… And don’t go in to eat on teppanyaki 20 minutes before they close because they stop serving it lol

Had dinner hear with my family for Father’s Day. I had never been here before, and was a little concerned over the reviews about bad service.
I have to say my concerns were for nothing. We were greeted right away and seated. The waitress quickly took our drink order and answered our questions about the menu in a friendly manner. The chef was funny and entertaining. We ordered different items such as chicken, steak, shrimp, and scallops. All were good with the shrimp and steak my favorite. I recommend the spicy flavoring. Was really good. The fried rice was seriously good too.
Overall the food, service, and experience was right on. I deducted a star for the prices being a little high, but I suppose for the overall experience it was worth a little more. I will return.

The place isn’t so bad when you walk in, smells good, looks clean. After sitting down it takes forever for a waitress to even address us at the table. Actually I had to call someone over after waiting for 20 minutes. After they take our orders, it becomes the waiting game. We get our food one person at a time in intervals. Someone will be half way done with their meal and the second person finally gets their food. When third person gets their food person one finishes. This all happening with in an hour and a half. The restaurant is half empty, waitresses are walking around looking busy doing nothing. Tell me, why does it take an hour plus to make me raw food? You ain’t even gotta cook it. Lol. I’ll also have to add this, the fish was slightly discolored. Not lookin too fresh but still tastes okay.
I will… Not return, unless a good friend is having a birthday or something important. This restaurant can do better like they use to. I’ll give it time.

This place is ok for the sushi bar, ok for sit down, but awesome for the teppanyaki! They make the best fried rice, and their mushroom soup is number one! It’s very pricy, but the environment should be your first clue as to why. The only issue I have is how compact the teppanyaki tables are. You have no room to eat when the table is full.
I only go here for celebrations and special occasions.