Octobachi

Worst sushi place in charleston! Paid over 100 $ for sushi that was mediocre to say the least and waited for 90 minutes to get my take out order! The owner kept on talking about smoking marijuana with his sushi chef who I have to say was the best one out of the bunch but lacked sushi making skills! They messed up my order and kept on asking me what I ordered again and again!!! The owner started helping make the sushi but didn’t even wash his hands after touching dirty dishes, rubbing the server girls neck and pouring drinks for other customers! He is a joke and I would love to say that to his face, but he best thing I can do is never to go back and warning others about it! Don’t believe me?! Check it out and make your own judgement!

What used to be a cool place to eat has quickly gone downhill. The staff has completely changed and the food was not right. The miso soup I ordered was too spicy to even taste, and the only other thing I ordered –white rice– was not white rice and did not come until my friends had received their checks. They were out of every sake but one and had also ran out of most beers. I don’t know what happened, but there obviously was something going wrong at the establishment. Will not go back.

I love asian food and have been wanting to try this place for a while. However, after eating there last night I wish I hadn’t. I got the phở which was tasteless and they didn’t have any cilantro or basil for me to give it flavor. They serve the ingredients raw and pour broth over top. I thought that was neat except that the broth wasn’t hot enough to cook the ingredients so it became raw beef and hard noodles floating in warm water. I sent it back (I’ve never sent food back before) and got hibachi which wasn’t ready until everyone I was with was finished. I never spoke with a manager or anyone except for the server. One of the other servers was obviously inebriated and saying obscene things which was inappropriate since there were families in the restaurant. All in all, I spent over $ 20 when I could’ve eaten better food and had better service for $ 8. With all the great new restaurants around Charleston, it’s a shame this place is still open.

Really loud place and were out of most of the beer I asked for. The pad Thai was really sweet and goopy. I may give it another shot.

Went here the other night… They were out of a couple of things that we asked for at first but then we got sangria saki and that was pretty interesting. Sushi is fresh and yum too. Oh and the bartender bought everyone in the bar shots, so that was nice. The music that they play is awesome. The wait was a bit much. Overall not a bad time :)

This was very overpriced for a strange spin-​off of phở. It was really just steak soup with cardboardy tasting noodles. Meh to the max.

So if you’re writing a bad review about Octobachi, chances are you’re a little uptight. Things go wrong on occasion, it’s a small spot with no reservations and a pretty busy following. I LOVE Octobachi, and have a super fun and delicious experience each and every time I duck into their little gastropub.
This asian/​sushi spot makes chillaxation, creative menu-​change ups, and a good-​times only vibe the priorities of their restaurant. I visit Octo on a near-​weekly basis for its walkable location, their MUSC discount (for the bf), and the fact that their chefs are always down to roll me up something custom. Sushi. I’m talking about custom sushi rolls, y’all! Octobachi consistently has local beer specials on deck, as well as a pretty enthusiastic crew of server-​bartenders that regularly dish out free sake shots and beer samples. I’ve tried nearly everything on the Octo menu: hibachi, sushi, noodles all great; fried dumplings not so much.
All in all, my favorite affordable eat-​drink-​linger destination on this side of downtown. Octo, hurry up and know me as a regular already!
***EDIT: Octo has closed down, and their future seems uncertain. I wish them the best and hope they come back to life somewhere else nearby! ***

As others have wrote — not too fancy inside. But I didn’t mind it. It was clean and that’s all that matters. Service was alittle slow but kinda expected that too from previous reviews. Now to the food! They had some good happy hour specials on alcohol and food. Had some local beer for $ 1.00 off. And sushi rolls that I ordered were also $ 1.00 off. Had the spicy tuna roll and Alaskan roll. Oh and the fresh spring rolls! Very tasty food! Good deals. Parking was not that bad but we got there early. It’s a small restaurant/​bar so get there early because it filled up pretty fast. I would go back again!

Love this little place. They have great food and it’s in a great location. The inside is kind of hipster-​esq but well decorated. Can get loud and crowded. Parking is limited but there is usually plenty on the streets. I have had the sushi and it’s always been fresh and well made. My favorite is the hibachi which they execute flawlessly. They have a good bar with a nice variety of craft beers. They have a good happy hour with rotating specials depending on the day. They also do delivery which is nice. My only complaint is it’s a bit costly for what you get.

I love these new restaurants popping up around Spring and Bogard. I used to live in this area 7 years ago and never thought these great global restaurants would be across the street.
Anywho…
Love the restaurant and its vibezzz. Their ‘nachos’ were delish, I had some Phở, that was phabulous. The rest of the table had a variety from there menu and everyone was equally pleased.
Definitely going back!

Out

My husband and I came for a couple of drinks and an afternoon snack. The sushi was good, the staff was friendly and chatted us up while they folded napkins and enthusiastically offering samples of beer and ideas on sights to see around town. Our experience there was really great I would highly recommend stopping by.

Been there at least 5 times and it’s the same everytime. This was the last time. Twice I was given a to go bag w/​o saying I wanted to go. I’m in my 40s and guess they don’t want my money. They are more interested in hanging with beer swilling hipsters and college girls and dont seem interested in building a business.
They try so hard to be cool, they forget they’re a restaurant.
Mediocre, overpriced food and terrible, pretentious service.

OK, I have to start this by saying I had a Living Social Coupon and almost did not go because of the multitude of bad reviews this establishment had. After the following hopefully some of you will think about giving it a try.
We got there and it was full. Our group of 3 waited only about 5 minutes before getting a tall table and John, who I do not know if owner, manager, or what, helped us. I told him we had Living Social and he was very courteous. We got a bottle of wine which was called Arge & Tina that was from Argentina. We really thought it was very good for the free bottle with our deal and I loved the name. We got hot edamame which was pretty good. He suggested a few items and allowed us to get Sushi instead of an entrée for one of our meals. The Sushi Chef was relatively new and was very imaginative. We tried one of his creations that was absolutely fantastic! OMG. Beautiful display and lots of food. Our other entrée was the Chicken Lo Mein. I have to say that it was excellent as well. Our entire group shared this as well and it was lots of food and delicious. I actually normally don’t like Lo mein so was pleasantly surprised. My family really enjoyed the music. Enough to ask who it was and get the name. Jazzy, techno, funk, etc. It was on Pandora. Pretty loud. We ended the meal with the tempura bananas. Hot as heck and pretty good. No money paid and we tipped well. We could not think of how it would have been better for us.
Now, looking at the reviews, I admit, not the cleanest of places, and if you saw my photo I posted, it is as much a bar as it is a restaurant. But good beer, wine, and Sushi options, but ambience is loud and sometimes bar like. Eclectic staff and patrons. John was no exception and shared a shot of Saki with us. It was fantastic. We loved it and can’t wait to go back. But not for a romantic evening. Despite the reviews, it still gets decent business because it knows its clientele and Unilocal reviewers are probably not the norm for this place.
We will be back! Thanks for the good time. For a relaxed, good casual time, Try Octobachi!

This place gets one star and one star only because of a good beer selection and good sake. But I have had TIME AFTER TIME terrible experiences there. Slow and downright bad service, bad food, and a number of other factors make this place a must miss. Their only redeeming menu item is the duck sliders which they never have duck for. Tonight they told me my takeout order would be twenty minutes and I literally timed it to see– 56min. Unreal. Not to mention they got my order wrong, overcooked everything and it tasted like crap. After a few bites of each of the entrees I literally pitched it all in the trash can rather than eating it. It was that bad. I have tried and tried to go there and have a good experience bc I want to like it– convenient and cool space perfect for a bite to eat and a quick drink after work, but I just can’t actually give this place any more money. Don’t bother spending yours here. I hope management gets it together and hires a chef who is CLEAN!!! And knows how to cook!!! And figures out their food stocking issues, AND hires some waitstaff who are polite, efficient and not high/​drunk/​both all the time (on managements dime). Their poor staffing is a result of negligent management. Get it together Octo.

I held off on trying this place due to the low reviews. I finally couldn’t resist due to the convenience of it being downtown. I was glad to be pleasantly surprised! I had the chicken and broccoli hibachi. The chicken was very tasty and good quality meat. Not that sketchy mystery chicken meat that many cheap hibachi places dish out. Vegetables were also great and plentiful and the rice, while not the best fried rice, was still very good.
I don’t give 5 stars because for ten dollars the portions are a bit small. I’m used to eating hibachi until I’m stuffed and still having leftovers. Not the case here, but still a great, quick meal. Perfect for take out and they deliver. Also have MUSC discounts.

My girlfriend and I loved this place the first few times we went. They had cool beers and sake cocktails, and the décor was pretty rad. The food was pretty good too. The wait staff wasn’t terrible, there was one dude we had a couple times that was kind of spacey, but thats fine. But today as well as the last two times we’ve tried to go eat lunch at the place, there is no one there! The doors are locked, but the sign on the door says «11 am-​11pm, Monday-​Saturday.» What’s the deal?!! If you’re not going to be open for lunch, just take the freaking sticker off the door! It’s annoying enough trying to find parking for the place, so walking up to an empty restaurant that’s supposed to be open isn’t very cool at all.
Octobachi, I like you. I thought you were cool. But now you won’t talk to me anymore, and that makes me sad.

LOL. Let me explain how our experience at Octononsense started off…
Sunday: We walk by and decide to check it out. Unfortunately, they are closed to the public. However, their doors are unlocked and the bar area is full of ‘frat boys’/employees/friends of employees?, TRASHED, and watching sports. We asked about the menu and one of the employees didn’t even know what kanpyo was…
Monday: They supposedly open at 11am. We arrived at 1:30pm and the doors are locked… no employee to be found. Lights off. No sign of them opening soon.
Monday later: we arrive around 7pm and they are finally open. WOW! People work here?
Now, let’s get onto my list of what’s wrong with this place, piece by piece:
1.) Frat boys on a Sunday partying it up in the bar area during the off hours.
2.) Not open when they were supposed to be (11am was the opening time). Guess all the employees were still hungover from the day before?
3.) When we did get to eat here, the ONE main waitstaff seemed to be drunk or high. He was also doubling as a waiter and bartender. When he finally came over to take our order, he just stared at us until we spoke to him.
4.) Poor knowledge of Japanese cuisine. If you’re running a sushi bar… know what kanpyo is at least!
5.) Unprofessional employees. The waiter took our order and then didn’t remove our menus.
6.) The bartender didn’t ask for my ID. I had to hand it to him. PS: I get told that I look like I’m 14 on a daily basis. I’m 23 though.
7.) Filthy bathroom with a dirty toilet and cracked/​nasty caulking.
…FINALLY, the only «okay» thing I can say about Octobachi is that their vegetable roll was pretty tasty. However, the wasabi seemed like it was pressed into form and put into a freezer. Hard as a rock!
Perhaps the owners of this place should take a trip to Japan (I’m part Japanese, btw) OR they could even venture up to New York for some great transplant authentic Japanese cuisine.

One should not have to wait nearly an hour after ordering in a nearly empty restaurant to discover that their food is overpriced and bland.
Just because you raise the prices and take forever to make a (basically unmemorable) dish does not win you «gastropub» status… Drinks are fine, but if you are going to drink somewhere, you might as well walk across the street or around the corner to all the other food establishments capable of providing good food, drinks, and ambience. without breaking your wallet.
Go home, Octobachi. You’re drunk.

This place had a lot of potential in my mind. An up and coming neighborhood that has been beaten down for years and a trendy sushi, sake, wine bar that is cozy and intimate. First for sushi prepared fresh on the spot, it was average for this area. They offer a make your own sushi option but I wasn’t impressed with the set of ingredients I provided and the end result. The place is casual but almost too casual. It was more of a hole in the wall bar feel than a sushi restaurant. Finally for to go orders, a tip or delivery fee is added in even though I picked it up. It was a 23% fee.
For all that, I cannot recommend this establishment.