Koizumi Express

This place is being run by kids. They struggle to get orders right and appear very stressed to fill orders. There does not appear to be a mature adult leading these kids which concerns me with quality control. The food is average. They management must be very tight to hire only teens, charge for ice water and deny a request for an additional shrimp sauce to a family that just spent $ 30 bucks on mediocre food. Not a favorite.

This was my first time eating at Koizumi Express. I had ordered vegetable fried rice. I think the food was OK. I have eaten at similar cook in-​front of you Japanese restaurants before and the quality and freshness is generally very good. the restaurant was clean and service was good. The food just didn’t have the taste you come to expect of these type of restaurants.

Taking over 30 minutes. Girl at register cussing in frustration. Not sure if we will ever get our order. Many other customers getting food before we are. This is crazy.
Never mind she gave me cash back and didn’t give us any food. Waste of now 45 minutes.

I thought the food was good. The customer service was terrible though. They weren’t that busy and the restaurant was terribly dirty. The girl working the register was texting someone while taking my order and hardly made eye contact with me. There was a girl working in the back chopping vegetables at the prep table while she was eating a plate of food and playing on her phone. The cook had two friends and a baby show up and disappeared into the back for about 10 mins while people were waiting on there orders to be cooked. Finally a little older lady popped from somewhere in the back to make the food while the other girl was on her hiatus. There was plenty of yelling going on from the kids in the lobby who were friends of the employees working behind the counter that created a most unpleasant environment. These kids are not professional at all and its obvious they don’t care to be there. The managers need to get a handle on their employees. Prob wouldn’t hurt to have DHEC pop in unannounced either.

Seem to get better portions and better food when dining in rather than take out. Always check your to go boxes before leaving because chances are you’re missing something. Food is alright but nothing to write home about. The kids running the place are always nice.

Food is always Great!
But the PORTIONS seem to be getting smaller in size as the take out styrofoams are getting smaller and smaller…

Wasn’t too excited about the fact that I had to go into Rock Hill (but Fort Mill doesn’t have any Japanese take-​out), but it was worth it. Had the Hibachi Shrimp and it was pretty good. The staff was young and not the friendliest, seeing as how I was the only one there, but it wasn’t awful. My service was quick and accurate. I will give them another try.

Ate there tonight. This is my 3^rd visit to this place and EVERY TIME I have been VERY satisfied with the food. Tonight’s exception though was we dined in this time instead of the usual carry out. What stood out most was… from the time we arrived til the time we left there had been several guests dining there coming and going and I would roughly say that in the 35 to 45 minutes we were there not a single employee came out and wiped off ANY table and believe me… THEY WERE ALL A MESS. I noticed two different ladies, one with child, at two separate tables wiping the tables off themselves. I thought of saying something but then figured… if they don’t care enough to keep the place clean… the certainly don’t care to hear what I think.

Charged $ 11 for a steak and chicken lunch– completely forgot the chicken. I was the only one in there. Be careful when coming here, always open each box and check before you leave. Disappointed.

Food and portions are really good — however both times we’ve been here the employees seem like they would rather be somewhere else — watching the cook standing by the grill texting was a little disappointing — I didn’t get a chance to see if he washed his hands afterwards — I doubt he did.
Also the wait to get your food has been lengthy each time. We decided that the best thing to do is call ahead as a takeout order and then just eat there.

Another lunch time fix for me when I am passing through the area. This is your typical fast food Japanese. Ive never had a bad experience here and the owner (Willie) tries hard to connect with his customers which I respect as a patron. This place isn’t 5 stars but I don’t expect it to be. Good food at a decent price. It works for me!

A nice small place in Newport where you can get hibachi and shrimp sauce without having to drive all over Rock Hill. Not expensive and not a big hibachi grill, just enough to get my Japanese food fix. The chicken yakitori was good, the sauce seemed a lil tangy but still good. I have yet to try more of the menu but most looks good. Iv been about 3 – 4 times and never had a bad experience, everyone is nice and helpful.
P. S. I was able to pick up a strong free wifi signal on my ipad, probably from the Verizon store next door but it worked! ;D

This is my first visit to dine in at Koizumi Express and it was much better than take out we ate there a few weeks ago. I had the vegetable stir fry with rice and shrimp sauce and he had the hibachi chicken also with rice and shrimp sauce. Both were prepared right away and served freshly cooked and hot. The shrimp sauce is a little sweet for my taste, but my husband likes it very much. Your order also comes with sweet carrots which were DELISH and I could have eaten a whole plate of just those! The vegetables were well cooked and plentiful and for $ 5.25 I thought a great value. His hibachi chicken ran $ 5.95 but was a plateful and more than enough for one person! Drinks are pricey in my opinion at 1.75 each, but I guess you pay it if you want it. Sweet tea was super sweet so half and half may be best next time for me. You can visit their website for coupons and bring in your receipt for 10% off an entrée on your next visit.
The owner/​chef came out as we were finishing up our meal and chatted with us and was super friendly! This is not a sit down and be cooked in front of you Japanese restaurant, but it was affordable, the food was good and the waitstaff (and owner) were fantastic! We’ll eat here again when in the Newport area for sure!