Yamato Steak House & Sushi Resturant

We enjoyed our dinner at Yamato. We arrived when they opened at 4:30 and were greeted and seated immediately. I ordered the scallops and shrimp combo and they were glad to give me extra veggies instead of the fried white rice. (I usually eat brown rice but did get a taste of others rice and it was good). The scallops were cooked perfectly as was the shrimp. My friends got the teriyaki chicken and they were pleased as well. The serving size is great and each meal came with a soup and salad with ginger dressing. We enjoyed these as well. The atmosphere is fun and engaging. I recommend for groups and special celebrations.. Happy hour 4:30 — 6:30. $ 3.00 house wines and certain beer.
We will return

Great place! Food was delicious and Chef was very entertaining. We went with some good friends to celebrate his wife’s birthday. Wonderful!

It’s pretty good. Except don’t get take out. Only did one time and my boyfriend and I had insane food poisoning. He was throwing up literally all night. And everyone that gets the chicken seems to get diarrhea so I usually stay away from that. The steak is good though.

The flavor of the hibachi is far and beyond the best I’ve had. The experience is always fun and festive, the food is great, the restaurant is clean. Great with kids and large parties. I would highly recommend coming here for special occasions or a night out.

We have been eating here for years. The owners and staff are very friendly and make sure you are well taken care of. The food is typically awesome although there have been an occasion or two where it could have used a little less teriyaki but it’s really good.
Went last night and one person asked the chef to not to include any egg in the rice and and that was no problem for him to handle her request even though he had a full table.
I highly recommend Yamato for dining even with the kids it’s a fun experience.

Went here for the first time last night. Nothing to write home about. Did not like the soup. Bland. The fried rice was awful. The Chef used a thick teriyaki sauce on the rice so it was gummy and sweet. No peas or corn. Just rice. Blech! The vegetables were boring. Mostly broccoli. The only thing I liked was the filet mignon out of the whole meal. I think they sprinkled something on it that looked like MSG though. Not sure. Also the pitcher of water they initially used to pour onto the grill had black stuff on it. The pitcher looked really old and beat up. Looked like mold or mildew. It definitely needed to be thrown out. Disgusting. Guys — c’mon – spring for a new pitcher. Also they don’t clean the top edges and the front of the grill so they’re covered in spills and have gunk on it.
The food show was good, but they need to ease up on the blast of fire. I had to turn my face away from the blast. Way too much.
They had one waiter on. Everything was a wait from getting lemon to chopsticks.
One and done. Won’t be going back.

Came here with the family and was put on a table with another 5 people. It was so tight we could hardly eat. We waited 30 minutes for the chef. He was young and looked totally bored.
The ‘show’ was sub par and the chef was totally not interested. The vegetables were barely warm in the middle. The rice was not hot all the way through. In the past, they have severed most of the food together but there was a long time between vegetables, rice, beef, chicken and then shrimp.
We did not get the white sauce until near the end. Someone asked about it at one point and chef said ok and then continued to cook for 2 – 3 more minutes before serving the sauce. Woman in the other party had asked for a side of broccoli and she thought the chef had forgotten. Chef ended up cooking it at the very end and ask ‘thought I had forgotten’ and the woman apologetically said yes. Under his breath, the chef said ‘I see racism is alive and well’. I have no idea what racism has to do with thinking someone had forgotten a side order.
There was no reason to cook the broccoli at the end or even leave the shrimp until everyone had almost eaten the rest of the other food. Any good chef should be able to cook so that the meat is ready within 2 minutes of each other.
I truly got a sense that the chef hated to be there and thought cooking for us was beneath him.
The server was great by the way.

A great hibachi grill. The food was great and the chef is entertaining. What more could you want?

I come here every year for my birthday, Oct 7^th, and tonight was no exception. I never have anything bad to say about this place. It is clean and the staff are friendly. The food is always great and they of course give you enough to save for later. I ordered the Samurai which Is the filet, chicken and shrimp hibachi combo. I ordered my filet medium rare and it was cooked to perfection, melt in your mouth delicious. Everything else tasted great too but the steak was amaaazing. Our hibachi chef was great, very charismatic and funny and did tricks different from other ones I had seen. I give him 5 stars just for himself. Hibachi places get a little pricey though which is why we tend to only go on birthdays and Holidays but it was great. Do recommend.

We were pleasantly surprised with our experience here. Our party filled the table and the wait before we were seated was not too bad for a busy Saturday night (15 mins). Although after being seated, the wait for the «cook» was lengthy. The waiter was fantastic and when the cook finally made it over to us, he was great and funny.
We ordered sushi, the Akai roll which consisted of tempura shrimp inside the roll with spicy tuna on top, was off the chain. Shockingly the place had the best sushi I’ve ever had. We ordered another roll that I can not remember the name of but consisted of tuna, avocado and was wrapped by cucumber (no rice) was difficult to pick up because it fell apart. Tasted pretty good but the akai roll was the highlight of the night.
We had a hilarious and very personable cook. Everything off the hibachi tasted good (too salty for my taste but still good).
I’ve not had a lot of experience with hibachi restaurants but based on my limited experience, this place is definitely worth it. Two of my kids have made this place their favorite restaurant.

Our service was horrible. I called ahead and made a reservation for 6:30. When I asked her where they were located she said next to Bonefish. So here we are driving in the dark and pouring rain looking for it by Bonefish. It is not next to Bonefish not even on the same side of the road. We arrive and there is no one to greet us. We were waiting almost 10 minutes before we were even acknowledged. She told us they were getting our table ready. We waited another 15 minutes. They finally sat us. We watched the whole grill show of the table next to us before we even got drinks. Finally it was our turn for food. It was probably 7:30 by this point. The chef rushed it because he knew how behind they were. We did not get a show which is part of what you are paying for. The chef asked for rice for the table numerous times. All of our food was done way before rice came out. The chef ended up going in the back and getting it himself. He kept apologizing. The only reason I’m giving this two stars is because the food was good. Other than that it was a terrible experience. One of the worst I’ve ever had.

Had a very good experience at Yamato. Our waitress was really good and very attentive. The food was really good and very filling. I had the steak and chicken and the shrimp that was included was really tasty. We were a party of four and everyone had a great experience and enjoyed their food and we will be back! The only negative and not a big deal to me is that the chef we had was very quiet and really no entertainment or what you would expect from a Japenese Steak House, this was more than offset by our waitress and the quality and speed of the food that was served. Would definitely recommend!

Let me just start off by saying that I am being rather generous with a two star review. The filet was super good tonight though, so that’s why there’s two stars instead of one. But unfortunately, the filet was the ONLY thing I enjoyed. First off, let me also preface by saying that this is our 3^rd visit to Yamato Hibachi. We have been there twice before and were not impressed with the food either time, but haven’t been in a while, and decided to give it one more shot tonight.
The filets were tough and chewy previously. But tonight, I will admit that they were tender and juicy, yum. HOWEVER that is where the good comes to and end, because the service and cleanliness are still not up to par at all. Seriously, as someone with both business AND hospitality experience, Yamato is a pretty good lesson in how NOT to run a restaurant.
To start, we waited an hour and half before our chef came, for goodness sakes! That is unreal!!! Especially since we arrived at 4:30, right when they open. BTW, that’s way too late to open, IMO. Especially for a Saturday. And I saw lots of wait staff just showing up, what’s up with that? The waiting area in the front was already full of people too. The staff seemed like they were rushing to get organized so people could be seated.
Anyway, we were seated within a couple minutes, and after taking our order, the waitress informed us that she would not be able to accommodate our a la carte request for an additional filet mignon. We have been to countless hibachi establishments and have never once been told we could not pay for an extra steak. Why would any business owner decline the sale of a high profit a la carte item like a premium cut steak? It makes zero financial sense. Forcing us to buy extra rice and noodles when we already had them was absurd, especially from a customer service standpoint.
Not only did we not spend that extra money at Yamato, thanks to their ridiculous policy, but I am glad we didn’t, because we will NEVER go back there again after what came next. Thanks to the hour and a half wait for our meal, I had time to walk around with my feisty and not so patient one year old. Oh gosh! I saw a very dirty dining room. There were eggshells still under a few of the hibachi stoves from the previous night. There was also grease and grime caked onto every hibachi station.
I remember that the chairs were sticky the first time we went there, but they were not as much tonight, thankfully. BUT all of the corners and trim work, and especially around the hibachi tables themselves, were all grimy and gross. I found myself wondering when the last time they wiped it all down must have been, blech. I almost asked to see the kitchen, but the management was subpar, so I was almost afraid of what I may find.
When we inquired about the a la carte steak with the manager, my husband actually had to get up and go wait for the her at the sushi bar. He waited a few minutes and she tended to him at her convenience. She explained that the owners do not allow a la carte items of any kind, and that there are no exceptions. That’s really cute. The owners act like we want this item for free or something.
Generally, a la carte items are highly profitable, so I’m not understanding the logic here, I have to admit. I would have asked the owners myself, but they were not there on a Saturday evening dinner service. Maybe that’s why the experience was so poor, if the owners don’t care, the staff won’t either. Overall, I definitely would not recommend this hibachi restaurant. The service is poor, and the dining room needs a good scrubbing (preferrably with bleach) along with a couple coats of paint.
****Please note that this review is from the beginning of 2013. I had written it on my phone, and forgotten that I could not publish it through the app. Hence, the late posting now having had just come across it in the «unfinished» folder I was unaware existed until today. Anyway, we have not been, and will not go, back to this dirty and poorly run establishment again since our last dreadful experience.

Overall, just fair.
Our chef guy was SUPER boring. I thought the point was the excitement of all the fun tricks. He tossed one egg into his pocket, made the obligatory onion volcano and that was it. He never once cracked a smile.
The food was ok. I got some sushi and it was better than average, but not great.
I ordered the scallops. I will say the scallops were cooked perfectly and tasted delicious.
The rice was alright, but had too much sauce. Almost all of my dinner companions complained the sauce was too heavy on their chicken.
The veggies were good.
Overall, probably wouldn’t go back. Two sushi rolls, one beer, and two dinners? $ 80. And no cool tricks.

Been here a dozen times. I also think it is dirty. Are you supposed to stick to the table and seats? The wife and kids love it for the «show». I feel sick about an hour later and am determined I will not go back.

Yamato’s is an average Japanese steak house. I love the rice they have, but I have to ask them to go light on the sauce for my chicken dishes. I don’t like heavy sauce. The sushi is OK, it’s not amazing, but it’s not bad either. I frequently order one hibachi chicken for myself and boyfriend to split because the portions are huge! When you order out, just make sure you plan ahead. It takes at least an hour to get your food.

This place is good, not great. My kids love it and its healthier than a lot of other restaurants they like because they eat the veggies, but its much to $$ to come too often. Dinner for 4 is $ 100.

Issues: Service (slow + inaccurate), Quantity (too little), and Quality (fat and flavor).
On my visit a few months ago the rating would have been 3 or 4. I wanted to give this restaurant a 4 but I also wanted them to serve me a meal deserving a 4 and not one deserving a 2.
The evening started with a search for parking that wouldn’t have us towed. Four people had parked on the grassy hill. Lot is always crammed.
Service:
1) Slow.
I had made a reservation for Valentine’s day and the place was packed. I showed up on time and I had to wait 15 minutes to be seated. I would have waited longer but a party ahead of me had a reservation and they weren’t there on time so I was given that party’s time slot. Yamato is like a doctor’s office in that you wait to go into an exam room (grill/​table) and you wait in that room for a while to see a nurse (waitress), then you wait some more for the doctor (cook).
All this waiting makes the 15 minute wait to wait some more unacceptable with a reservation — even on a busy night. They also make reservations in 15 minute increments so save for the late party ahead of me I would have already been in another reservation time slot. My general rule is you get at most one reservation interval to seat a party otherwise they are in fact on a later reservation.
2) Inattentive.
My water glass frequently sat empty and I kept nudging it towards the edge of the table to make it more obvious I wanted more water. The glass was packed full of ice and until that melts you have very little water per glass. I understand the place was busy but I was seated for an hour and the waitress came by twice to refill water the entire time.
3) Inaccurate.
My wife ordered extra-​rice and they didn’t put it on the order. They didn’t charge it for us (how could they for not delivering on it). This is especially bad because my wife asked if extra rice was an option and the waitress said yes you can get extra rice. She heard my wife but she didn’t write it down or didn’t understand that when my wife said «great» in response to extra rice being an option that it meant she was ordering it.
The waitress was friendly enough but she didn’t perform her duties well. She also didn’t know how many ounces the steak or the filet were. I don’t expect someone to know how many ounces a chicken or shrimp entrée are, but steak is commonly listed with its weight and if that isn’t listed the wait staff should know. There are only two steak items to memorize — and the teppanyaki is extremely limited. I don’t tip at McDonalds and I don’t tip a waitress that doesn’t know a menu that is as complex as the McDonalds lunch menu.
Quantity:
I ate everything and had room for more. I usually can’t finish my entire meal. I consume all the soup and salad. When it comes to the teppanyaki I usually finish about 75% of it and have to take the rest home. This time my wife gave me some of her vegetables and a little bit of her steak because she didn’t think I got enough — this was before I started eating any of it and I hadn’t said a word to her. She gets a 5 for service btw. I had just over 1 mushroom, 4 pieces of the zucchini, two pieces of broccoli, and a modest portion of onions. I am a bit OCD when I counted everything but I got so little I wanted to make a mental note for this review and my complaint to the restaurant.
What makes this even worse is that I had ordered an appetizer and split it with my wife — I never order an appetizer and still I usually can’t finish my meal let alone have room for more as I did this time.
The place was packed — it may be that since my table was full and usually it has 6 out of 8 seats filled that they used the same serving size of rice and vegetables and had to split it up and I am used to a 33% surplus.
I paid $ 6 for the steamed dumplings. They were the diameter of a quarter and you get 6 of them. The fried dumplings were much larger at about 3 times the size of the steamed ones. I expected something much larger or more numerous.
Quality:
1) Steamed dumplings.
No flavor at all. Another reviewer said as much and I knew this going in. My wife wanted to try them and I did too. Big mistake. They lacked any flavor and it was the same as eating a steamed ball of dough. No flavor — no flavor — no flavor.
2) Shogun Steak.
The steak was cooked perfectly — it was the highlight of the entire meal. There were four bite sized pieces of gristle — two of which had a pea sized meat chunk attached. I tried to eat that meat chunk because I was so hungry — see quantity above. Cooking the steak so well helps but giving me pieces of gristle and near pure gristle with sinews holding them together like a stringy sauce splatter inducing spring wasn’t good. My wife didn’t get any gristle — too bad for Yamato she isn’t the one rating the place.
3) Onion Soup.
Broth only. Miso with more trimmings is preferable.

I can’t speak to the quality of the teppanyaki, but the maki was only average and the gyoza were molten hot but very bland. The miso soup was strange (is it possible they had forgotten the miso paste?), but not unpleasant.
I would have given Yamato three stars, if the meal was priced appropriately. I don’t intend to give this place another chance until I’ve first tried a few other Japanese restaurants in the area — it’s possible my expectations might have been set too high.

Just when I thought Midlothian was going to disappoint me in the food department, I found Yamato Steak House. This place exceeded my expectations for dining in this strange suburban city outside of Richmond, VA.
It helped that we were starving after a long day of work with no lunch break, BUT I don’t think that helped their cause too much. Admittedly, our hibachi «show» was not nearly as impressive as the next table’s, but the food still turned out pretty darn amazing. I found this place to be incredibly affordable for the amount of food you receive — $ 15 got me onion soup, a ginger dressing salad, fried rice, vegetables, two grilled shrimp (yum!), and a generous helping of teriyaki hibachi chicken (covered in a sweet glaze and sesame seeds). I was stuffed by the end and had to take leftovers. My crew seemed equally pleased with their sushi, scallops, steak, etc.
Also worth mentioning was our great waitress. I wish I could’ve gotten her name because I would give her a shout-​out! That’s how impressed I was. We came in during the VCU game, which I guess was a big deal to the wait staff because I heard some scores being shouted out from the back, but our waitress was as professional and prompt as could be. Before I even noticed my drink was almost empty, she would be back with a new refill. She was sweet, enthusiastic, and incredibly conscientious (which are actually traits I noticed when dining at other Midlothian restaurants this week. our service was always by college-​aged kids who were great at their jobs. Weird.).
Other than the teenage couple at our table offering PDA for all (to see, not participate in), my hibachi experience was excellent, and I will definitely be back for more.