Sakura Chaya

We love this place. It’s absolutely fantastic. My best friend took me here a few years ago for my birthday and my experience was so amazing! I have now celebrated three birthdays there, with all of my friends, and my husband and my sister!
I have brought so many people here, and all of their experiences have been great. We have sat in the bar, in the main dining area, and even in the back, and the service has always been great from beginning to end. The food is delicious, oh my goodness, we always leave so stuffed! Our favorite part are the chefs, they put on quite a show and truly make the dinner so memorable. We even get the birthday treat!
We will continue to go, and my birthday is coming up so can’t wait!

My awesome husband took me and several of my friends for my birthday a couple weeks ago. We had an awesome dinner and an awesome show. The food was out of this world. We’re going back for Valentine’s Day.

I don’t get here often enough because it’s a bit of a drive for us, plus it’s rare that we find ourselves on that side of town without the kids, so this last Friday when we were thankfully able to drop off our older two for a birthday party at John’s Incredible, we decided to do an evening of tepenyaki at Sakura Chaya.
Before kids, my wife and I would come here about once a month, and it was always good. Our first apartment together wasn’t too far, so it was one of our «go-​to» places. This trip, I can honestly say the food quality is still really, really good! I got my sushi, we got our tepan meals and it’s nice to see that they bring ice cream with the check now (a huge plus since we had our two year old with us…)
First off, my sushi. I got the ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ roll which is spicy tuna with salmon and orange roe. For the price, this one is a meal into and of itself! When they delivered it to the table, I instantly regretted ordering the extra side of fried rice (no I didn’t…) Seriously though, they are generous on their rolls compared to other places. Not just that, but the rice is perfectly cooked, the roll is beautifully presented and the seafood was all very fresh. For the price, this was one of the best rolls I’ve experienced recently in this town.
Now onto the meal. The miso soup was expected. Nothing out of the ordinary, but a flavorful broth that welcomed dinner. The salad greens were crisp and fresh, and the dressing was okay, but not exactly memorable. However, that one sin can be forgiven by the fact that I was still enjoying the incredible ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ roll that was still in front of me (the thing was huge!)
Our Chef arrived, and started the show. He immediately set up rapport with our table, and obviously enjoys his job. Of course, being a Tepan Chef requires you to have some flair up your sleeve, and he did put on quite a show. He really seemed to enjoy entertaining our two year old son, and told me that he was a father of young kids too. He even built an onion Thomas the Train for our son for the traditional onion volcano trick, and I thought that was pretty damned cool of him!
Onto the food. Once the food started hitting our plates, we dove right in (even though I was STILL battling with my delicious ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ roll… did I mention how big it was?). I ordered chicken and shrimp and my wife got chicken and filet mignon. I must say, I love the fact that they add bacon to their fried rice, and I also appreciate that they ask the table if anyone prefers not to have bacon in theirs. I personally would brush my teeth with bacon if four out of five dentists told me to, but I also know that not everyone eats it (I feel sorry for them…). That said, a delicious addition, indeed. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and seasoned with garlic and lemon juice, and before he finished cooking my chicken, he gave me the choice of regular, teriyaki or spicy teriyaki. I went spicy, and it was wonderful. Tossed on the grill with the spicy Japanese mayo along with some teriyaki, onion and garlic, it gave the chicken a wonderful flavor. Thankfully the ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ roll filled me up early on, because I had PLENTY of leftovers (planned-​overs) the next day, and as I write this review, I’m already looking forward to going back soon.

They have the best sushi in town. Try out the love potion roll. It’s my favorite.

We need to go here for sushi more. Note: we’ve never had anything but the sushi.
Prices are reasonable, sushi bar is usually empty. Chefs are great! Great rolls, great cuts, prompt service.

Ok so I called and tried to make a reservation, they only had a 10 pm and obviously that’s too late more my 70 year old mother. They said well just come in and we will try and get you in. We came in at 6:30 pm I watched people come in & get seated before us. We were told it was because of our size group which was 9 so I offered to break up our bday party just to get us in. so they broke us up but we still didn’t get in till 9:30 pm. that’s absolutely absurd. then we our table was cleared by us we asked if our party could now finally sit together and they refused. Just a horrible experience for my moms big bray. No apologies or discounts no nothing.

My Hubby and I absolutely love this place. Great staff and great food. Need I say more? Def a place I’d recommend if you are craving some teppanyaki

Worst place ever!!! I came here to celebrate me and my fiancé engagement dinner. And all I got was shitty service (one time they checked on us) and Long wait for a reservation and the rookie cook spilled and dropped bean sprout in my fiancé drink… So of course I was pissed… I would never suggest this place to anyone… #KuniSama is a way better place and service I would highly recommend it over this place any day

The wait time for 2 people is approximately 45 minutes without reservations. They’ve got to do something about it somehow! Well the sushi was mediocre, but the raw oysters was really good beside the fact that they put too much green onions. The waitress & hostess is not as friendly and welcoming as other restaurants. I’m not sure if I would recommend this place to a friend.

Came here for christmas day because the movies were packed. I love the tappen yaki but i have not tried the rest of the menu. So this time around we did and basically i rather eat the tappen yaki than anything else on the menu. It didnt really wow me but its wasnt the best either. I came back again wednesday again to try their sushi and the sushi was actually pretty good, the ashely roll was my favorite. I still love this place for their tappen yaki :) i wanna give them four stars but the baked mussels that i tried were awful and i couldnt finish them, they are my favorite starter dish and this place killed it for me. They were large but tasted old and smelled weird.

My first time to Sakura Chaya and I was very disappointed.
1) Did not receive any help when arrived at the front desk (two girls stood behind the counter). We stood there for a few minutes without any greeting until we walked to the counter to ask for seating.
2) We sat at the sushi bar, no service came by with drinks or utensil. We had to ask the Sushi chef. We made comment about it and the chef told us that someone should come but no one came to ask or offer anything.
3) Sushi was below standard. We ordered two sushi orders (seared tuna and yellow tail) and they weren’t as we expected so we didn’t order anymore however before we give up hope for Sakura I thought I try my favorite sushi, salmon skin hand rolled. Very disappointed, the roll has no salmon skin but only with bits and piece of salmon meat and a lot of artificial crab.
Sakura is a nice place, maybe my expectation of it was too high but eateries can’t only have a nice appearance they need food and customer service to keep patrons returning.
My two stars are for the sushi bar chefs cordial courtesy.

Came here tonight for Christmas dinner. Asked for my steak to be untrimmed. My New York was trimmed and not cut and flipped onto my plate. I have never been given a New York at a teppan yaki uncut. I told the staff and they brought me a butter knife. REALLY?! The manager tried to make it my fault. Rather than make it right with us, he was very rude and argumentative. Maybe they don’t realize that we have many options in Teppan dining in the Clovis/​Fresno area. They may want to reconsider how they treat people that come there. Merry Christmas to us!

Sakura Chaya has below 4 stars on Unilocal?That can’t be right. Especially not in my book. I had been a devoted customer to Sakura Chaya on both dining and teppanyaki for the last 5 years and I still have to schedule a meal in at Sakura when I’m visiting my parents in Clovis.
My family and I love coming for sushi and the dining experience, as the sushi is extremely cheap and reasonable for what you get. HUGE, long rolls for about $ 15 or under! Their fish is always fresh and their appetizers are really good as well. Two personal favorites of mine would be the baked mussels with spicy mayo and the seaweed salad. The seaweed salad is special because they include raw salmon and tuna which doesn’t seem to be a thing anywhere else.
Once you’ve gone to Benihana’s, you will learn to appreciate this gem of a place called Sakura Chaya. Pardon my French for the older crowd that may be offended by Benihana’s charges UP THE ASS for what they give you and the way it tastes won’t even be up to par. When you go elsewhere and crave for teppanyaki or sushi, you will miss Sakura Chaya in good old Fresno. There are a lot of things to complain about in Fresno but Sakura Chaya is definitely not one of them lol.
$ 11 – 13 dollars for the lunch special and they feed you like you’re royalty with the size portions. Definitely getting your money’s worth and the hot and spicy sauce is to die for… If you can handle it of course, but it’s not spicy in my opinion.
However over the years I’ve noticed they’ve lost many master chefs and have brought in a lot of rookies. That’s okay though, they still have my heart and do seem to train the new chefs pretty well. Service can be slow sometimes but it’s understandable with how busy they can get. Overall, I’ve had good service most of the time and just so you know… Reservations are a must.

Food’s kinda «meh» for the price. I’ve been here twice for Teppan yaki and got the chicken the first time and wasn’t wowed at all. I especially loved how they charge you extra for the sauce and keep pushing you to try it. The rice is ok, kinda «white washed». the second time I went was for a friend’s birthday and it’s her favorite place so I went with high hopes that it’d be different. But nope. I got the hot & spicy chicken and took two bites. it wasn’t spicy but it was in that weird almost curry like sauce and I LOVE curry but it was just bizarre. I don’t plan on coming back.
I know you have a loyal fan base so you won’t miss me lol

Pretty disappointing that the service and staff here have such poor attitudes toward customers. We had a reservation for 11, and were immediatly told if every person in the group was not here by 10 passed the hour our spot would be given away. Not sure why that even mattered as when we arrived our group was split up to two different tables anyway defeating the point of a group reservation. When we tried to ask why we couldn’t be accomdated at a larger table we were told with attitude that, «You have to be specific when you call.»
As if that wasn’t bad enough, half the group ended up getting their meals before the other making for an awkward group experience. Then when trying to order we were told that the ice cream we normally get with our «dinner» meals, which includes ice cream, is now extra…
Overall a seriously dissappointing experience and easy to see the service here is declining. It’s hard to want to ever come back or recommend the place to others. Would give zero stars if it was a possibility.

Sakura Chaya! Very good indeed! The regular table dine in is usually bad experience for me so I haven’t been there for years till this oct/​2015! Sat at the bar with family and it was an Amazing++ experience! Sushi guy was very nice and gave us great customer service and food did not take long at all… the sushi guy had a nice big tip from us!

This place overall was a great experience. There was a lot of people waiting when we arrived, but we had made reservations so luckily were seated in about 15 minutes. The food was amazing, especially the fried rice. They start of by serving you miso soup and salad. I am usually not a huge fan of miso soup but I really enjoyed it. I definitely recommend the steak and the shrimp combination plate. I had so much food leftover so I even got to bring some home!
The customer service was also great. The chef was extremely friendly and kept us entertained while cooking out food. The waitress was very attentive to picking up extra dishes and refilling out drinks.
Some quick tips:
1. Plan ahead! Either make a reservation or keep in mind that you will be potentially waiting for some time.
2. Definitely try their spicy sauce. It’s really not spicy, it just adds flavor to your dish.

Honestly, went to sakura for sushi once before and wasn’t impressed.
Fast forward a year, and my mind is totally changed. Went there yesterday with my dad for dinner, who was visiting from up north. We sat at the sushi bar, and they weren’t too busy. Our usual sushi spot was Japanese kitchen in Clovis, and he loved their volcano roll. He was so sad to learn that although the owners were the same, sushi chefs all have their own style and «signatures» and that the volcano roll wasn’t available. The amazing chef (name started with a J) offered to make us something we’d love, so we agreed.
SO glad we did. We had the most amazing roll. Soicy baked crab, soy wrap, avocado, asparagus and more avocado made this roll so delicious! We will be back for sure. I hear the teppanyaki is pretty good too, so I will be back.

John, our teppanyaki chef was fun and very entertaining. The food was delicious. The only minor complaint would be we had reservations at 7pm and got seated at 7:35pm. The hostess was very clueless and the teppanyaki room was very hot (warm).
Overall, the food made up for the lack of courteousness.

Everything on the menu looks good! Too bad their kitchen isn’t up to par with it. Table for 2 wait time was over 25 minutes (reasonable for a busy, Saturday night w/​out reservations). When we were finally seated, they only had 1 menu available for us, but was quick to bring out a 2^nd menu. Our appetizer came out in a timely manner, but what took forever long was my sushi roll. I didn’t mind the wait even though I was hungry. My BF wasn’t too patient about it since his meal came out literally 30 minutes before my sushi even came out (which turned his meal cold and unappetizing at that point). The waitress apologized several times giving false wait times of when my sushi roll would come out. I would highly recommend that they bring out meals at the same time (esp. if it’s just a party of 2). I can only imagine how the service would have been if we were here with a bigger party.