Sakura Hibachi Sushi Bar

In sum: racist, rotten sushi, slow and rude service, overpriced and overcharged
Stopped in with my family the other night… would recommend that you go literally anywhere else in town… McDonald’s, Burger King, Applebees, maybe a nice bologna sandwich that you found on the sidewalk…
We came to the restaurant and were told there would be a 20 minute wait… even though there were several open tables (I think this may have been a race issue, as my wife is black), and after waiting, were rudely taken to our table… the first set of silverware still had food on it from the previous user (gross!) and the napkins were wrinkled and smelled musty, kind of like someone had maybe tried to wash them, but didn’t dry them all the way and let them sit in a heap before finally folding them…
Anyways, onto the ‘food’. Maybe we went on the wrong day, and we got the leftovers from the middle of the week, but you would think that a sushi restaurant would have fresh sushi for weekend customers (we went on a Friday night). The sushi was warm, and smelled very bad (those of us who have had good sushi, I travel to Japan for business several times a year, know what good and bad sushi smells like). Additionally, the rice and texture was completely off, and made us feel queasy after. Again, maybe this was a race issue, as we were treated very rudely, so maybe they save some ‘special’ rotten sushi for the customers that they don’t like.
And then finally to add insult to injury, they attempted to overcharge us not only by adding extra items to the bill that we didn’t order (this is very common at sushi restaurants, as they hope that Americans will not recognize all the items that they ordered… but this is more common at higher end restaurants, not dumps like this), but by overcharging us $ 0.75 per item… so, everyone check your bill diligently if you for some reason decide to come here and subject yourself to this disgusting restaurant!

Stopped here for dinner and chose to sit on the empty sushi side for some quiet time. The prices were a lot higher than I expected of a casual strip mall restaurant. Specialty sushi rolls $ 13 and up, desserts $ 6.75. Miami flash back.
The menu isn’t veg friendly at all, all dinner combos were chicken, beef or salmon based. Not even an age tofu appetizer, standard in any Japanese establishment. I was craving tofu, so I chose the only menu item offering it, teriyaki tofu bento box. At $ 16.95 a very expensive bento box. I’d rather pay less and have a reasonable portion of food, instead of the family size meal I received. I couldn’t even eat half of it, and trust me I can EAT.
The place totally lacks ambience, no music, TV on mute. Grabbed a free food magazine from the entrance to pass the time. Apparently, the chef plain forgot my order, which the waiter told me 15 minutes after ordering. I was in hurry and switched my order for takeout. He did apologize very nicely.
Miso soup and salad with carrot ginger dressing were pretty standard. They skimped on the wakame in the soup, salad was just lettuce. California roll had very little kani and was mainly cucumber and avocado, which I didn’t mind.
The tempura veggies were enough as an entrée on their own. A total of 8 or 9 huge pieces of mixed veggies. To boot, two cups of steamed rice and about 2 lbs. of teriyaki tofu, I kid you not. The tofu was a little too sweet for my taste, but pretty good. Saving most of it for dinner tomorrow night.
All in all, the portion size didn’t make up for lack of quality and service.

Never will I ever eat here again! I used to work there and loved it. The owner was and still is a really good guy. The reason why i will never eat here again is because there were constantly people finding roaches at their tables, and when i asked the owners wife how to get rid of them she told me that we can’t. Then one day i went into the kitchen to see the owners wife washing there youngest kids poop off him in the sink. I would shake that off but she didn’t even take the dishes out or go as far as cleaning up when she was done. I would go into how unfair and how illegal she pays us, but that does not effect the food.

Decided to give his place a try after reading split reviews…& unfortunately, after the experience I had being the first time eating there, I can only give them a 2. The food was sub-​par and the staff was attentive– but during the meal, our chef started to feel ill and our table thought he was going to pass out right on the grill! I definitely feel like that affected my taste for the food simply because I thought he was going to get sick right in front of us and it made me lose my appetite. It also took the staff a good 10 minutes to replace him with someone else who could finish cooking our meal. I want to give this place more stars because the food was decent for hibachi, but I feel like it could have been better if our chef was in good health but I don’t know if I would consider going back. Overall, I would recommended it if you’re in the mood for hibachi or stay safe and try out the sushi bar… just hope your chef doesn’t get sick during the meal.

This hibachi grill was very run down. Although polite, the staff were unprofessional. The restaurant owner sat at our grill with us and made jokes with her husband (the chef) and her little girl was jumping on the seats. This made my experience there a little less enjoyable.
The lighting is fluorescent and doesn’t create a very nice ambiance. The décor, in my opinion, was tacky and the restaurant felt dirty.
It was not busy at all when we went, a Saturday night… and probably because it is just not a very well kept restaurant. I have been to many nicer hibachi grills than this one.
I would not recommend, nor would I go back.

I am only giving one star because I don’t know if no stars counts as a rating for their system. No only was the sushi mushy which in some way is why I ended up pulling over to the side of the road on the way and throwing up, but the wait to get in was long and the wait for food was even longer. The rice that came with it all fell apart and that was only the sushi. Calamari as an appetizer was barely cooked and the salad was drenched in the dressing they use. Normally if some part of an entrée would be preferred to be switched out, that wouldn’t be a problem. In this case, the snow mountain roll was horrible. After eating only one piece… and the rice fell all off of it as well, it’s taste was rancid. When we asked to speak with the manager, we were denied that. No concessions were made with the bill and there is not a chance in hell that I will ever return to that place of business. If you go there pray to God that your stomach doesn’t lurch and make you throw up any vile bits of refuse that they use in the way they cook whatever it is they call it.

Stopped by this place by chance and was pleasantly surprised. The sushi rolls here are good! Some specific rolls are HUGE! I Iiked the snow crab roll the best. Would definitely return.

We had a pretty bad experience here and I absolutely hate to say it, but here’s my honest review. We visited here for my daughter’s 6^th birthday on a Wednesday night and we were literally the only people there. I told my husband when we pulled in the parking lot it looked like there was no one there, and boy was I right. It was extremely awkward to begin with. Our waitress was really nice, I asked if they did something special for kids with birthdays and she said yes, we took our seats and waited for our cook. Our soup was delicious, but that was the only delicious thing we had that night. The salad was wilted and the dressing was SOUR. Our cook didn’t say much. It made for a really uncomfortable experience and he did not put on a show for us whatsoever. He casually cooked our food as anyone else would and left. We all ordered steak and scallops. None of which were appetizing. After we ate, our waitress turned on a disco ball, brought my daughter a small bowl of ice cream and sang happy birthday. I left there not really knowing what to say. We love hibachi, but we did not love anything about this place. Oh, I must mention how EXPENSIVE this place is. Much more expensive than a typical hibachi place in my opinion. We won’t be returning, unfortunately.

This place is more of Vietnamese-​Japanese restaurant in my opinion. Not a typical Japanese sushi restaurant you would think. Mushy rice and served with wasabi from the plastic tube. My tempura came out soaked in oil… Perhaps the temperature of the oil wasn’t hot enough when they were cooking. Though, this place offers great customer service. Very friendly and attentive.

Loved the experience. Great food and great value for the price. Would definitely return. Recommended!

So this place is more expensive during dinner then at lunch. Overall I would say it’s decent only because of the price. This was the first location I went to while trying to find places that have good sushi. Oh and yes The sushi was delicious. Just not an all you can eat sushi bar which is what I was looking for. You will love their yum yum sauce

I didn’t go for the sushi. I went for hibachi and a good time. The maitais I ordered were amazing. The food was fantastic too, even though they forgot my chicken. However if you want a hibachi for a good time this is not the place. The chef did absolutely no tricks. He didn’t even flip the spatula or spin an egg. I almost wanted to rate it 3 star instead of the 4 because I feel like the appeal also includes entertainment from the chef. I was really looking forward to catching broccoli and sake in my mouth and wasn’t even given an opportunity.

This place is alright. Maybe I’m so use to the sushi at tatsu but Sakura has gone downhill ever since it first opened. I’m aware that a few years back they changed its management. It was good with the new owners (current owners) at the time but the past few times I’ve been have not been good at all. My bf and I ordered 3 rolls and an appetizer which was almost 60 $ and was not worth it at all. They don’t use real jalapeños, they’re canned. And the rolls were not rolled tight at all. We ordered 2 specialty rolls, something lobster mango and jalapeño one that were very bland. We also ordered spicy tuna that wasn’t great. I may try them again, but not for awhile and will update if anything changes.

We got there at 17:05 and had the first bite of food we ordered (not salad) at 18:15.if you go there when you are hungry u might pass
joke.lol .food is overall ok but kinda salty. not only hibachi but also the soup and sushi. prolly never go back.

I have been to this Sakura many times in the past. I went last night and the sushi fish (on top, the raw slices of fish) were a pasty mush and reeked of rotten fish. I paid and left and do NOT plan to return to this location EVER. It’s unfortunate since it is just 2 miles from my home and sushi is my favorite (so I am WELL aware of rotten fish smell and texture, as I purchase sushi grade fish and make sushi in my own home as well)! I was completely disgusted with the quality of the fish. It was insulting to even CONSIDER serving such ROTTEN FISH to customers!

Fun atmosphere and decent food. The staff is great at keeping you entertained while cooking your food. My son likes to go here too. He thinks they are ninja chefs and will eat pretty much anything they ask him to try. It is good for kids and adults alike.

Found this place while on a business trip and I will be back for sure! Saint Louis definately has several Sushi Buffets… not my thing! I found Sakura and glad I did :-) I was there on a wednesday and it wasn’t very busy so that’s ideal, since I can be the center of attention. lol
I sat at the sushi bar and immediately was greated by the Owner who was quick to ask me what I liked. Good sign… He immediately made me this yummy cucumber sald that was nice and spicy yet kept me coming back for more! The variety of rolls were somewhat overwhelming but he really helped coached me for sure! I ended up with the Love Affair roll which was huge!!! And I had some fresh nigiri which was yummy too! He made several other rolls for to go orders as I was sitting there and gave me a piece here and there to try! It was overall very very tasty can’t say there was anything that I didn’t like!

My review would have been 3 stars if not for the man cooking my friends’ food. He was absolutely hilarious!
I ordered my usual asparagus and avocado rolls with an edamame appetizer. It was quite scrumptious and I gobbled it down before anyone else had finished their meals. I’m not sure what it is about sushi, but I can eat a great deal of it and very fast.
For a Saturday afternoon, I would have expected more people… but there were only two other people on the hibachi side of the restaurant.
Overall, I can’t say Sakura is the BEST sushi in this area, but for what it is and as close as it is… it’s difficult to beat.

This place is by far my favorite sushi place in the area. If you sit at the sushi bar you can order anything you want. My husband got a «Volcano Roll» that wasn’t anything like it said on the menu, the sushi chef asked him what he liked and then chopped it all up and mixed everything in a mayo/​masago mixture, then baked it… from what my hubby said it was the closest thing he has eaten to his favorite roll in Alaska. I was informed you can only order what you want like this if you sit at the sushi bar.
The House soup is not so good, i love onion soup and this tasted very salty, a little like miso and seafoody at the same time.
We were given a cucumber/​crab salad appetizer for free from the sushi chefs. I’m assuming because we were the only ones in there.
The waiter was great. I have no complaints about this place and will definitely think of it when i chose to go eat sushi.

Tried to come Aug 4^th, but restaurant was closed for remodling. Went back tonight, and there wasn’t much remodeled – couple of booths gone.
Menu radically changed – about 75% of sushi choices for dinner removed. I ordered tri-​combo (three very basic rolls), and the wife order tempura bento box. After about 30 minutes of waiting, started looking around – sushi chef busy watching tv.
The bento box arrived – wife tried the shrimp, I tried chicken… both cold. We summoned the server (all new by the way, almost the entire staff has been replaced during the remodeling, it seems) and had her take the food back. After about 10 minutes, a fresh plate came out… or so we thought. My wife noticed right away that the pieces we took bites out of were still there, just a bit crispier. THEY RE-​FIRED OUR OLD ORDER, AFTER WE’D TAKEN BITES OF IT! Still no sushi to be seen, and we’d had enough.
We left, and went to Shogun Steakhouse in Fairview Heights… superb service and food.
We were regulars at Sakura… no more.