Maki Yaki

I’m very pleased with how this restaurant has evolved over the years; before last year, it was a place I would never have thought of going to. However, with the recent addition of its Korean menu, it is worthwhile to stop by Maki Yaki.
I would not recommend the Japanese food served here but the Korean food instead. However, the food here is slightly overpriced.
Also, the employees are very nice. I ordered delivery before, and the driver actually took a lower tip than I offered. I genuinely appreciate the staff here and would recommend the restaurant to a friend.

Every time I order from here, they screw it up. The last time was the last straw. I ordered the lunch special… two rolls and soup. They showed up with one. When I called they said it was their mistake and would deliver the other one. Im waiting, im waiting. l call back and they said they misunderstood and now it was my fault. I re explained and they said it was their error, again, but would need an hour to deliver it and would need my credit card number again. Huh?! I will never order from Make-​it-​yucky again. By the way, the only reason I gave them several chances is that my coworker liked them. Ill stick with Tadashi!

Great food (shrimp teriyaki was flavorful and really hit the spot and the salmon avocado roll was fresh and tasty; both were made-​to-​order), great people, and friendly service. An all around great experience (dined-​in) and an interesting mixture of asian cuisines. Sushi is the best I’ve had in downtown State College thus far. I will definitely try some other options (I’m looking at you, Sweet Chili Sriracha Chicken).

I really love this restaurant food is nice and affordable in the same time. The staff is friendly

WHY does this place have only 3 stars?! This is my favorite sushi place in state college.
I have been going here since 2011 as a little freshman. I’ve had their teriyaki and sushi convo dish, which is a lot of food and full of flavor.
I’ve ordered take out sushi and dine in sushi countless times, as well.
Their philly roll, salmon roll, and Cali rolls are great. By far, my favorite is their Hawaiian roll. You can have a sushi combo for about 13 $. Compared to the 3 rolls for $ 12 in Brooklyn, it’s expensive, but for state college it is on par.
Their food is always fresh and prepared in a timely manner. The best sushi in SC.

This place is horrible. I ordered two Teriyaki and Sushi dinners tonight. The delivery guy did not bring our sushi, so I called back to ask for it. They said it would arrive shortly.
But after opening what food I did get, I found a delicious meal of warm beef teriyaki with a cold batch of sauce covered chicken sitting next to rice. When I called to complain, I had to explain this three times to the manager, and twice to the girl who answered the phone. Then had the owner tell me I can get a refund but will not receive my full order because, to him, it is «irrational» to give customers the food that they ordered.
He called this trash his «signature dish», that only makes me depressed for him. Though, cold chicken and dried up rice is pretty equal to the service he offers, so I can see how this is his best dish.
He hung up on me not once, but twice as I tried to get this order sent to my house. He was rude, spoke over me, and was a basic jerk. When I asked why he doesn’t care about keeping customers, he laughed and told me to have a good night.
I got neither my order nor a refund and deplorable customer service.
Do not order from here.

Amazing food and great atmosphere. Very friendly, helpful staff! We ordered the chicken teriyaki noodles and they were delicious! The sushi is great too and all the food is made to order. Will definitely eat here again. It’s really worth the drive :)

This place is great! I came here with some friends the other day to get sushi, and it was fresh and delicious. Super nice staff and the chef even came out to ask us how our food was. If you’re ever in state college looking for Japanese food, this is where to go.

The best mix of various Asian food in State College, in one friendly family-​run shop.
1.) Food is excellent! I usually get a Bento box, but I love their sweet potato fries and pork dumplings. My wife always gets their Shrimp Teriyaki. We’ve dined in and have taken out numerous times, but I’ve never done delivery. They include a good brand of Japanese soy sauce packets for take-​out, but I’ve only ever needed it for the sweet potato fries, as their sauces are flavorful.
2.) Staff is very friendly and easy going. A husband and wife team bought this place from the previous owners, so the food and service is even better. They’ll make substitutions if you ask. And they’re happy to chat with you about the food, the business, or just about anything else.
3.) Location is great, with parking right in front of the door. They have both booths and tables for dining in. You’ll have no trouble getting in and out quickly, especially when the students are gone in the summer and on holidays. Right next door is Insomnia Cookies, DP Dough, and Starbucks.
I think I’m getting addicted to this place. Bento boxes are a little expensive, but it’s a lot of food, and still a bargain if you’re getting sushi with it. And now my wife is completely addicted to their house dressing (it’s pineapple based).
Kudos for keeping this place afloat in our seasonal college town.

New ownership is the
! :) Everything from the food to the staff to the interior is so pleasant.
Finally satisfying my tonkatsu craving! Ordered for take out when I got there and the food came out in a matter of minutes. Definitely coming here again soon!

It’s good enough. If you’ve ever had whole foods sushi in a major city this is like 90% of the way there to that quality.

Not even close to the best sushi in the State College. The sushi was bland and stale. Terrible service; the guy on the phone was leagues less than pleasant. AND, the icing on the cake? I was overcharged. I would not waste my time or money with these people again!

I ordered a ramen and got instant ramen — the kind that comes in a styrofoam bowl and which you add water to and eat 5 minutes later. I’ve eaten enough instant ramen to know when it’s instant. They just took it out of the package, heated it up in a pot, and served it in a plastic bowl. I was shocked that a restaurant would have the nerve to serve instant noodles.

The chicken Teriyaki here is delicious! Although the restaurant has it’s days, some days chicken is over cooked, it always hits the spot when you’re low on money and you want a quick meal. The sushi can be better but it’s still pretty yummy.

I should know better than ordering sushi for delivery. It’s never good, raw fish really isn’t meant to be sitting at room temperature for an hour. Maki Yaki has found away around that however. They just don’t put fish any in your rolls. Brilliant when you think about it.
We ordered from them once, never again. It took forever, and then when it did arrive we were so pissed about what we got I really did want a refund. You could barely see the fish and couldn’t taste it all. It was like a bland ball of rice. Any other place in town will give you about 4 or 5 times the fish in each roll for the same price. Spend your money there instead.

I don’t know why I love Maki-​Yaki so much but I really do love their Spicy Chicken Bento Box. For $ 11.99 you get chicken, rice, french fries, two pieces of mandoo, small side salad & 4 california rolls. it’s a FULL meal.
I would not order any of their sushi however. My girlfriend from NYC had a bad experience with them. (She complained saying it wasn’t fresh)
The best thing here is the Chicken Teriyaki or their Soba.

Definitely doesn’t compare to Wegman’s, but it will do for downtown State College.
Definitely more Korean than Japanese (they don’t have sashimi or edamame, for instance). However, they do have your standard sushi rolls (shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, California, cucumber and avocado) and they will do brown rice. Also terikyaki (as the name suggests) and Udon and Soba noodles. They also do bento boxes with shumai, a california roll, your choice of entrée, french fries, noodles and salad. They also have Korean standbys like Bulgogi and Kimchi.
The miso soup, however, is REALLY good. It’s nice and salty and has just enough seaweed and tofu. The mandoo and sweet potato french fries always hit the spot too. It is a bit pricey for State College, but they do have a bit of the upper hand being that they are right between Sowers and Garner, near Uncle Chen’s and DP Dough.
Definitely worth a try, though not quite worth the repeat order.

This is definitely the best place in State College to get great sushi plus a great chicken combo. I always get the Chicken Bowl, or the Chicken Soba Bowl. The only thing stopping me from more frequent visits to Maki Yaki is the price. It’s a bit expensive for a few small pieces of sushi, rice, lettuce, dumplings, rice and chicken. BUT it is definitely worth the money whenever I do decide to have some sushi/​chicken bowl. You can play Wii while waiting for your food, and the leather chairs are really nice and comfortable. Great place to sit down relax and eat. Wish they included a drink in the combo bowls though…

Well, really should be 2.5 stars, but can’t do that. Having lived in middle-​of-​nowhere, PA for 12 years now, I’m giving this place the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, can’t apply urban standards to State College. However, SC really doesn’t have the food culture of many other similarly-​sized university towns.
Ditto to the other more critical reviews for the mediocre service and the grocery-​store quality of the sushi. The hot food is a little better, although is really Korean, despite the Japanese-​sounding names (teriyaki, etc…). The «bento» come with a main dish like teriyaki (which is really a stir-​fry) on rice or on noodles, accompanied by salad, 4 small pieces of CA roll, fried gyoza and? french fries? The noodle dishes aren’t worth getting, served in a plastic take-​out container and not especially good. The food is much more expensive than what it should cost, given the quality and setting. Bento cost about $ 12, but as fast food, are really worth maybe $ 8. For what it costs to feed 2 – 4 people, you could do much better at the full-​service Korean restaurants on Locust or N. Atherton.

When I first moved to State College from Boston, my most frequent gripe was (and still is) the area’s dearth of authentic non-​chain ethnic cheap eats. Where’s my Anna’s Taqueria? My Xinh Xinh? My Snappy Sushi? While some wonderful places slowly filled the void, I still feel palpably the lack of a decent sushi place. When word spread around the English department last fall that a new place, Maki Yaki, had opened downtown, four of us made a trip to check it out for dinner.
Our food took a very long time to prepare despite what looked like an empty restaurant, punctuated by bored undergrad girls in Hard Tail spandex coming in for takeout. I ordered spicy tuna maki, which came out smothered in «mayo» and weirdly chewy. My friends seemed pleased with their meal boxes, but as none of us have returned, the place definitely didn’t stick as a go-​to for us, as places like India Pavilion and Cozy Thai have. I’ve had better, more authentic sushi and service at the Wegman’s on N. Atherton.
If you make sushi and want to open a restaurant in State College, call me once you open PLEASE!