WaBa Grill

Simply delicious! Been here numerous times and I feel like I need to take the time today to write a review. The food is consistently good, fast and friendly service, and overall kept very CLEAN. I often order the half/​half bowl, which is grilled teriyaki chicken and beef over rice and add avocado on top. They even sell kimchi for $ 1.50 extra. It’s a great place to go when I’m in the mood for something filling, but still a healthier option than many other quick food restaurants.

My kids love this place. It’s fast, clean bathroom, good portions, yummy food and reasonably priced. It will be my go to place for healthy dinners or lunch on the go.

Great prices, filling, the staff was welcoming, the food was fresh and healthy too! We arrived around 8 pm. It was around closing it seemed but they were very kind. They give generous portions and it comes at a reasonable price. Clean and good atmosphere.

The portions huge and the price is great. With lunch and dinner specials. Going back today. Only wish they had ice tea. Unless I didn’t see it. Healthy eating without ice tea is unusual for restaurant.

10x better version of Flamebroiler. The food was really good and I love that the menu is basically a mix of all the main Asian dishes. The service was extra nice. They didn’t have to, but they brought my order to my table. I would recommend this place to anyone!

I moved to the area a couple of months ago. Since then I’ve been to this location five or six times. I’ve taken my food to go every time. Each time I’ve eaten the food it has been plenty good, which is why I’ve been there probably more than any other restaurant in the last two months or so.
I recall from previous experiences with this location that one of the cashiers is somewhat cold in personality. Nothing to get upset over but noticeable nonetheless. When I called in my order tonight, she answered. I ordered my beef bowl and we hung up.
I arrived at the restaurant. I couldn’t find my wallet. I had about $ 3 in change in my car. After sitting in my car a few minutes trying to come up with a solution, I realized I didn’t have one so I decided to go inside. I figured I would inform them of the situation… I figured they ought to know if I’m not going to be able to pick up my food. I told the previously mentioned cashier about the situation. I said, «Hi, I ordered the beef bowl, but I can’t find my wallet.»
She looked at me with a blank stare. I continued, «I can just leave the food behind or I could come back tomorrow and buy another bowl and pay for both.»
She said, «Okay,» expression unchanging.
I stood there for a moment, unsure what to do. From her seemingly affirmative response I was at this point expecting her to hand me my loner food and be done with it. She didn’t do anything though so I clarified, «So do you want me to leave the food or take it?»
I’m not sure what exactly she said in response to that but she let me know that the restaurant wasn’t going to be loaning me any dinner. Now, it’s not what I would have done in her situation, but I have no problem with her choice to keep the food. My issue is with her coldness and accusatory tone. Even if she secretly thought that I was trying to pull a fast one, it’s probably advisable to keep those feelings to yourself. It was fairly obvious the she either didn’t care about the negative vibe she was putting out or actually thought that I was trying to steal a beef bowl. I guess they have a problem with repeat customers trying to scam them out of a dinner?
If you’re wondering, I don’t look like someone who would steal a $ 7 dinner. I was on my way home from work, dressed business casual in slacks and a button down shirt.
All that being said, the food here is tasty, seems to be healthy, and is priced reasonably. If I had gone inside and was informed politely that I wasn’t going to be borrowing any dinner, I would happily return. However I left with a feeling of, «This person thinks I’m trying to steal a beef bowl,» which makes me feel reluctant to see this person again. Now that I’ve written this review it’s fairly certain I won’t feel comfortable returning. If it weren’t for this event I imagine I would have returned dozens of times or more. All because the cashier apparently thought her return customer was trying to steal a beef bowl.

I always loved waba grill, but when i started to come to thos location I fell in love all over again! Portions are point (the waba grill on katella in orange is terrible at it) and i like the fact they push for avocado on youre order, it opened my eyes to a whole new experience!

Waba grill is an awesome place to stop by at if you are on a diet and want something healthy. I ordered a bowl without rice. All vegetables and chicken. Tasted alright but really nothing special. You’re better off making that one for yourself but of course when you’re on the go, this a great restaurant to try.

Honestly, i have tried waba grill a few times in the LA area, but was very disappointed. A friend of mine recently moved here and asked me to meet me here for a meal. I was hesitant due to previous experiences but once I got here I was very surprised how different this location was to the previous ones I had eaten at. Maybe because this location is brand new but the place was extremely clean and staff was friendly. Now for me it really comes down to the taste/​quality/​value of what I am paying for. First off, rice was very well prepared (brown rice). Second, veggies were perfectly steamed, and the amount was just enough. Third, I ordered the half beef and half chicken bowl. Chicken was not dry and beef was tasty and well marinated. I usually ask for sauce on the side so I can add accordingly to my taste so thats really up to you. overall taste, 5 stars. overall quality 5 stars. now value wise the reason why I gave 5 stars was because how well everything was prepared. Ive tried flamebroiler, yogis, yoshinoya, and with price being in the same range, the end product beat all of the other places by far (8 bucks and some change w/​o drink, i cut out soda out of my life) If all waba grill locations prepared and provided the same I think I would frequent waba grill
often. Today, being a holiday I think the owners were running the show since i didnt see any other employees, but overall very nice people. Bathrooms were clean and dining hall was clean as well. If im in the foothill ranch area I am definitely coming back here. Other waba grill locations need to learn from this location. I see a lot of potential for this location and I would definitely recommend you try it.

I will never go back to Flame Broiler again. We’ve eaten here about 3 times now and it’s been great every time. I love the sliced avocado option and the hot sauce has really nice flavor.

Been coming here regularly, usually after a hike nearby. I have come to the conclusion the food here is much better than Flame Broiler. I wish they were still open on Sunday but they are still new in this area and probably don’t have the customer base yet.

WaBa might be my new favorite go-​to when I don’t have time to pack lunch for work.
The short version: very friendly staff, great food, uncomplicated menu, fresh ingredients and modest price.
Their beef is excellent — tastes fresh and the portion is larger than what you’d get at another similar restaurant. They’ve got a decent menu and let you substitute veggies for rice.

This place is great for what it is. Very comparable to Flame Broiler but I like that they have more options and they offer fresh avocado with almost everything. This location is never busy when I go on my way home from work so I’m usually in and out in very quickly. I’m sure it’s busier during lunch since there’s a lot of businesses in the area. The food is very tasty and it tastes fresh. If you don’t load on the teriyaki sauce I’m sure it’s pretty healthy too. I recommend the plates because they come with a small salad and freshly cut orange slices on top of the rice and whatever protein you chose. I’ve tried their salads too but I wasn’t a fan. There was way too much iceberg lettuce so it didn’t have enough flavor. If you want a chicken salad go to the chick fil a across the street. Other than the not so good salad I’ve enjoyed everything else I’ve tried. I haven’t had their shrimp or salmon yet so I’m not sure how those are. Price wise Waba Grill is reasonable so I’m sure I’ll be back for take out in the near future.

Wow, enjoyed my combination meal with brown rice, enough for two days.
Healthy Eating!!!

Searching for a quick carryout lunch on my lunch break, I stumbled across WaBa Grill off Portola. Apparently it’s a chain, however I’d never seen one. Unilocal reviewers seemed relatively happy with the food, and since Unilocal has been my food benchmark since moving to a new locale, I decided to give it a whirl.
It’s an «order at the counter and your food is up in a about five minutes» kinda place. Not sure why other reviewers complain about service, the girl at the register was friendly, efficient and took it upon herself to pack up my container with the additional sauces I’d poured for myself. (They offer sriracha, teriyaki and other condiments at the counter with to-​go ramekins)
I ordered the teriyaki salmon over steamed white rice. Avocado is offered for an extra $ 1.50 (half an avocado, sliced) which I ordered. It complimented the salmon nicely. The container also comes with a little salad and half an orange (odd).
The salad had an unoriginal Italian-​type dressing, which was disappointing considering WaBa bills itself Asian. A ginger dressing would have been more appropriate.
That being said, I was DELIGHTED that I found a replacement for the teriyaki salmon lunch I used to go get from Whole Foods around the corner from my workplace in Illinois. It was just as satisfying. Great portion size, too!
WaBa offered different options, steak, chicken, shrimp, salmon — some with rice, some with just veggies. I noticed while I was waiting that they offer kids portions of teriyaki chicken or beef. Seeing as I was unable to finish the «big kid» portion, I’m tempted to see if they’ll sell me a kid lunch next time I visit them.
I’ll keep you updated, Unilocalers ;)

This was my first visit to a WaBa Grill and it was really very good! I first heard about the location from a friend who complained to me about the service he received and figured I’d review the restaurant myself… I was totally amazed!
I got the steak bowl with onions for lunch and it was huge, a great value, and the meat was very fresh and hot; unlike other flame broiled teriyaki bowl places that are located around Foothill Ranch.
Although the cashiers seemed relatively new, the service was top notch… Following up on my friend who received the poor service, he actually emailed the store and received an apology and a generous invitation back. He is now a weekly customer, so they are commited to the very best in customer service and food quality.
Pros: Big dining room and the owner is the cook.
Cons: Closed on Sunday.
This is my new favorite teriyaki meat bowl stop. Great place for a quick, local weekday lunch outing.

I come here at least twice a week because the food is usually very good, and it’s close to work. But today my salad was off. All the lettuce was old and wilted, and they even gave me the whole bottom stem part of the lettuce head!

This place doesn’t skimp on the meat like Flame Broiler. I always get a chicken veggie bowl and at flame broiler they give me one piece of broccoli, LOTS of cabbage, and then a little chicken and lots of rice. Waba Grill actually gives me equal chicken and veggies and rice. They have good tasting meat too!

The menu is very pricey compared to the other restaurant options at this shopping center.
I love big portions but sometimes I feel they skimp on the meats. They’ll pack on the rice and veggies but the meats they’ll really set back on. I have to say that the staff is great and customer orientated.
This place has so much potential but they need to reduce prices and offer better specials. For example, Flame Broiler just a few minutes away used to have a great offer. Chicken Bowl + Drink for $ 4.99 they’ve since changed this special but it drew the customer base they needed.
I would love to see this Waba Grill offer a similar deal and not to be so restrictive on the meats.

I was going to stop in at Subway which is two doors down and noticed this place recently opened so decided to give it a try. The type of food and menu is like Flame Broiler where you can essentially get a teriyaki plate or bowl with rice and your choice of meat, with or without veggies, with or without green onions. They offered the standard fare of beef, chicken, and short ribs but I also saw the had salmon too which Flame Broiler doesn’t have.
So I ordered a basic chicken and veggie bowl with white rice and green onions which cost me $ 6.53 with tax. Not bad and priced about the same as Flame Broiler. Although it was all prepared well, it was just okay for me. I thought the chicken was less flavorful than FB and the hot sauce that you can get as a side was maybe a bit more vinegary than I like (or maybe just used to). The teriyaki sauce wasn’t bad and maybe less sweet than the one at FB.
For now, giving this place 3 stars just because what I had wouldn’t be something I would necessarily crave and need to get again. I’ll probably give them another try though and compare the short ribs and see how well the salmon comes out. I’m thinking FB has a slight edge for now.