Sakura

a typical japanese steakhouse, i used a coupon that theyhave online to get a discount
service: theatrical parts were fun of course, i had no issues with the service
food: we got shrimp hibachi and volcano roll, all were great
ambiance: clean, nice, no issues, some of the other guests were a bit stand offish
parking: free, lot
overall: great, no major issues

I had lunch at Sakura for Mother’s Day. The food was good. I had steak and shrimp with mixed vegetables, stir-​fry and a couple of daiquiri’s. :) Can’t remember what mom had but I venture to say we got the same thing. Our service was a bit slow, but I chalked it up to eating out on a holiday. Overall, we had a great experience and will be dining out there again.

Was staying overnight after a wedding and wanted something the whole family could enjoy. So being a regular of our Sakura’s in Laurel MD we decided to try out the one in Charlottesville. Our waiter Matt was nothing short of AMAZING!!! His customer service skills were PERFECT. We never had to ask for a drink refill. He without even asking brought my son and nephew chopsticks that had the guide on it for kids or beginners. Food was fabulous. Thank you Matt for making our evening enjoyable.

Service us very slow. A thirty minute wait when export tables exist. An hour to food once seated. Food is just okay. Good portion size.

We love hibachi! The food is excellent, meals are very generous. Kids love it! Been going here for years, and never had to wait for a table, and there’s 5 of us. The kids eat everything from the soup to the shrimp! I will say that for the family it is pricey, but come on. Worth every penny and then some! Staff knows us by name, very friendly!

Food is pretty yummy, and portion sizes are good, BUTTTT the last time my husband and I came in I stuffed my mouth, with what I thought to be salad, only to discover that it was actually a huge piece of dirty plastic. I was disgusted. When we notified the manager she simply offered us a different salad rather than a discount on our meal or some sort of complimentary dish as any upscale restaurant generally would do as a way to apologize for this huge mistake. Only after asking did we receive a 10% discount off of our meal. We are sad because we miss our beloved hibachi style meals in LA but we won’t be back to Sakura.

I live near Sakura and frequent there every now and then. The last couple of times I have visited has progressively deteriorated each time. Which is a shame because it’s a fun time to have with the kids, but when eggs go flying and smash all over your wife the evening starts to take a drastic turn for the worse. Our negative experience is primarily due to one chef in particular who has no clue what he is doing and just lacks the over all desire to be there and basic cooking skills.
Our last visit was the final straw when he threw the egg in the air missed his hat and went fly and smashed all over my wife. Could not get the «volcano» lit so when it did light the oil had seeped all over the table creating one hell of a flame. Now on to the food, when you ask for medium rare and you literally cook it to a burnt piece of leather and you don’t know how to cook fried rice; you probably should not be in the profession for long. I did raise my concerns to the owners who did have someone prepare a whole new plate for me
And the table which was nice. I would not be giving this place such a hard time of it was a one time thing, but this is now the 4^th time in a row with the same Chef who has been «new» for over 9 months.
I wish I could give more then 2 stars but until the chef learns what he is doing and can demonstrate basic cooking skills I keep my rating at a strong 2 stars.
Please watch for fly eggs!

Great sushi! Most people come for the hibachi grill and the sushi is overlooked but it is excellent! The hibachi is excellent as well. Love the shrimp, chicken and the steak. My only complaint would be the high sodium content, but it is to be expected. Lots of flavor and always very fresh. Their hibachi chefs always put on a good show and are very personable as well. Highly recommend!

Disappointing which means I don’t know where to take the kids for a fun special meal. First danger sign should have been the fact the online menu did not inc. prices. Compared to other places I experienced considerable sticker shock when I did see the real menu. Seeing the menu took a while. Only ½ the restaurant was in use and we were about to decamp for Bonefish Grill. Wish we had. Took a long while to get soup and salad which should be brought out quickly to get you going. Then we barely had time to eat them before the chef began his prep. Cooked all the shrimp — appetizers and main together so I ended up eating them before I had any rice or veggies. Veggies were so over seasoned I would not eat them. And I’m a gal who likes her spice. Rice was OK. The filet was delicious. So bottom line is meal was OK but way overpriced. If it was more affordable I’d be back for the fun of it but not at those prices.

I’ve been going to Sakura type restaurants for 35 years and this was absolutely the most disappointing experience I’ve ever had and it was solely because my wife and I were served the WORST ribeyes ever. Full of fat and gristle. For what we paid to eat dinner… we were ripped off. Try somewhere else where they respect their customers.

Sakura offers standard hibachi fare and experience. If you have never been to a Japanese steakhouse before, sure, it’s worth a visit and the food really is tasty; however, once you’ve been to one, they are all kind of the same.
The reason for the low rating is because the wait to get seated and the wait to get food is ridiculous. I called ahead to try to make reservations for a party of two and she said it would be no problem to seat us, so she didn’t take our reservation. When we got there, she then told us it would be a 30 – 40 minute wait. Normally, this would be fine, but the fact that she told me over the phone that I wouldn’t have to wait was frustrating. Once we got seated, we waited another 30 minutes just for the chef to show up at our table.
Long story short, I’ll go to Sakura if somebody else really wants to, but I’m not going to suggest it on my own.

This review is for the sushi side only; we didn’t try the hibachi although we likely will if we go back.
This place has great reviews so we thought we’d give it a try. We wanted to go to the hibachi side but there was quite a wait. The sushi side was deserted so we opted for that instead. Now I see why it was deserted.
The sushi itself was okay. Nothing amazing. Definitely overpriced. I can’t really recommend any particular roll although we tried about half a dozen. Nothing really stood out as great.
We also had a few drinks. The cocktails were okay. They were very simple (a mix + a liquor) but the ratio was fine. The beer was extremely overpriced. We got a few domestics and they were about $ 8 per bottle (this is the same beer you can get at a gas station for a quarter of that). So avoid the beer.
The service wasn’t great. I understand how they get away with this since most of their customers seem to be at the hibachi side, but it was pretty glaring oh the sushi side.
The biggest minus were the kids, although that’s not the restaurant’s fault so I didn’t take off any stars for it. But seriously, there were children running around everywhere and giant people standing around after their meals finished letting their kids scream and throw things and carry on. It was ridiculous. Apparently some people think that if it’s not a traditional restaurant it must be a Chuck-E-Cheese’s. Learn some courtesy, folks.
Anyway, 3 stars because the sushi wasn’t offensive and my cocktails were pretty good. Expensive for what we got though and we probably won’t go back.

I have never been anywhere like this in my life. Classy, beautiful interior, authentic, best sautéed mushrooms I have ever had. It’s like dinner and a show, they cook the food on a grill built into the table. It’s a little pricey but it’s so worth it.

A fun date night out, as long as you don’t balk at entrees over $ 20, lots of children, and long waits before, during, and after your meal.
As a rule, I don’t take off stars for a place being popular. Sakura is certainly popular, with up to an hour wait on a typical Saturday night. Located in a new shopping center just outside of Charlottesville off Route 29, Sakura features numerous Hibachi grills, a bar, and some side seating if you want food without the show. After being told over the phone that the wait is only 20 minutes, my group was surprised to find out that it was suddenly up to 45 minutes. That’s fine — customers come in ebbs and flows. The problem was this place is criminally understaffed. Our bartender/​waiter/​greeter/​sushi chef was running all over the restaurant as we waited to be served at the bar.
After 45 minutes we were seated at a Hibachi grill… only to wait another 40 minutes for the hibachi chef to come out. In the mean time we were served miso soup (too salty) and salad (too much watery dressing that was overly bitter). Once the chef arrived, he was very funny and extremely talented, and my main dish of scallops ($ 25) was very well prepared with a large serving size (they also forgot our steamed rice until the very end). However, the rest of the experience left a bad taste in my mouth.
Overall, don’t come on a weekend, as the crowds quickly overwhelm the skeleton staff they have there. From coming to the restaurant to leaving we were there for over two hours. The food is good to above average and the chefs are extremely talented. However, there are speedier and better places to eat.

Expensive sushi beware! The Angel’s something roll was delicious though. Hibachi is expensive but is basically 2 – 3 meals worth of food so splitsies or bring home leftovers!

This is a review only on their sushi. AMAZING! Since the first time I ate their, the owner and sushi chef have been nothing but kind to me and my husband. The owner already recognized us the second time, and now sees us as regulars. Their seafood is fresh and the chef knows what he’s doing. And the best part is, I don’t have to drive into downtown for sushi. This place is nothing but delicious!

Well, I don’t know if you’ll agree with me or not but this was really amazing Japanese Hibachi. I’ve eaten a lot of Hibachi in my day. This was without a doubt the tastiest. The chef was outstanding. He was engaging, entertaining and just was great for the kids. More importantly he cooked my filet mignon and my scallops perfectly. That’s a big deal when you pay the kind of price these dishes call for. The filet just melted in my mouth. It was so worth it. We also ordered sushi. And while I’ve seen prettier sushi, this sushi tasted fantastic. The crispy, spicy crab roll was awesome. The wait staff was great. The beer was cold. The place was clean, we didn’t have to wait at all. I can’t say enough good things about Sakura. I don’t know if its because I hadn’t had hibachi or filet in a while but I was elated the whole meal. Great place, oh and plenty of food! You will not leave hungry.

Huge portions, large variety of options, cool chef skills (flipping eggs, fire, etc). Great for groups as well.
Downsides: generally long waits and food is good but not GREAT (they sometimes over cook the meat and the sauce is overly sweat on the salmon)
Overall, best sushi, hibachi in the charlottesville area and I would definitely recommend it.

For my wife and I, it doesn’t get much better than Sakura. We regularly go here for special occasion and/​or if we’re just feeling like some good ol’ hibachi-​cooked goodness!
Meals are about $ 20-​$ 30/​head, but come with a soup, salad, rice and vegetables, an appetizer, and then your actual main course — and it’s all cooked right in front of you, save the soup and salad. Bottom line is that although the $ 30 may seem like quite a bit, you get absolutely massive amounts of food and it’s well worth it.
The more important portion of the meal for me is just the fun atmosphere. There’s about 12 seats per table I believe — you may be seated with other parties together in order to not have just a few people alone with their own cook. The cook will involve you, may throw some pieces of chicken for you to catch in your mouth, and are just overall a good time! Although their skill/​mood varies depending on which cook you get, we are yet to get a «bad» one. I have taken my kiddos here, and the cooks take special care to ensure that they’re well entertained and have a good time!
Bottom line is that the food is delicious, the portions are sizable, the price is decent for what you get (albeit somewhat pricey), and the atmosphere is great! What more can you ask for? Highly recommended!

Come hungry, leave happy!
I can only review on the hibachi portion as I did not have sushi. The chef was great, friendly, and very entertaining. This is one of the best hibachi grills I’ve ever been to because you can get lobster. I got the filet mignon and lobster to try it. I was very impressed with both.
You get a ton of food: soup, salad, appetizer, vegetables, rice, entreé, and noodles.
Love it!