Commerce Teriyaki

Commerce Teriyaki is a kind of a no frills kind of restaurant but the food here is pretty solid! The restaurant is close to where I work and for some odd reason I was Teriyaki which has never happened to me ever!
The Chicken Teriyaki I got here fit the bill nicely and in fact «inflamed» my craving a week later for yet more Teriyaki! I haven’t gone out again yet to get satisfaction with the continued craving but will come back when the craving gets intense!

I have decided that I’m actually going to start writing these Unilocal reviews because some businesses don’t deserve to be in business. This place doesn’t even get a 1. The food is like any other teriyaki place. Nothing unfamiliar. Service however, SUCKS. The young lady at the counter had a nasty smirk as I walked in with my Havanese puppy who is as friendly and well behaved as ever. I pointed to my puppy and gestured if it was ok and she kept glaring so I just walked in and halfway through the payment process she asked very rudely to hold my puppy who was sitting down next to me. I said ok and held him but her attitude was so annoying. When I worked at a bank in Tacoma, it was statically proven that 30% of small businesses do not last 2 years. I hope they are one of them. Honestly, you can go to Sarku in the mall and get more of a quality food and service minus the nasty smirks and glares.

I have eaten here many times and the food is not to bad for whats in the area.
I only give this 3 stars because either the place is under new management or they just keep changing hours without notification.
I have now tried on two seprate Saturdays to go here since I work nearby. It clearly says they are open on the take out menu but they have not been.
This is very frustrating to not know.

I eat lunch here at least once a week and can’t say enough positive things to do this place justice.
In this (relstively) quiet and unassuming location, the staff at Commerce Teriyaki is dishing out delicious and fresh meals at the speed of «I only have 10 minutes. for lunch»
Consistent and friendly service round out one one of my top 5 all time favorite places for a quick lunch.
Also, if you’re wondering what I order (and why wouldn’t you?) — it’s the #3 Spicy Chicken Teriyaki. And yes, it’s delicious!

Just your run of the mill Teriyaki joint. I just couldn’t get over the after taste of my chicken and gyoza. I suspect that it’s probably the oil they use to cook them.

Food is always made fresh and the fried rice is to die for!!! It’s not oily or some funky yellow color. Staff is super friendly and always engaging with customers.

The first time I came I got the house tofu ($ 7.95) and it’s the only dish I’ve gotten since. My coworkers all love this place too, and they have ordered a variety of things from the menu. The good has great flavor, the staff is nice, and they get your food prepared quickly.
I only like this place for TO GO orders because the ventilation pipe from the kitchen makes a horrible buzzing sound constantly that just drives me crazy when I try to dine in.

I want to LOVE this place. I used to really like it, but there has since been a management change that I’m not a fan of. The old owner/​manager was very nice and actually remembered my usual order every time I showed up, even if I hadn’t been there in months.
Since the management change, however… the food isn’t quiiite as good (but the fried rice is still good enough that I keep coming back) and the service is certainly not as good:
The new owner doesn’t speak English well, and also didn’t handle a situation involving my co-​worker and I satisfactorily… we had both ordered the hot and sour soup (which, by the way, isn’t actually hot and sour soup here, it’s just egg drop soup with a ton of red pepper flakes dumped in it, so it’s slimy and so hot you can’t taste anything, but there’s not actual flavor to taste). We told her that it was not actually hot and sour soup, it’s nothing like real hot and sour soup, and that we would either like our money back, or a replacement food item from the menu (it was so spicey-​hot neither of us could eat it). We had made the trip back to the restaurant from our work to tell her this (because it was more than $ 6 apiece and neither of us had other lunch). She steadfastly refused to replace or refund the soup for either of us, even though it was apparent we hadn’t eaten any of it.
Shortly after we got back to work, the owner called my co-​worker and changed her mind, said she would replace the soup with gyoza if we would come back down. Our lunch breaks were both over and we’d wasted enough time trying to talk it out with her, so we couldn’t go back. She then called my co-worker’s work phone many times for the rest of the day, to tell her that the gyoza was ready. She even called her the next day as well! Give it up lady, if you wouldn’t fix it when we were there for the second time in one day, you’re too late…
I like the fried rice enough to probably order from them again in the future, but this soup incident has me too wary to order anything I haven’t tried yet from their menu.

Its my standby generic Asian food joint. The food is pretty good and decently priced but honestly not worth out of your way for. As a side note, I have no idea what the name of the sweet older lady behind the counter is but I affectionately call her «Snow».

First impression; Restaurant is kind of dirty looking, pretty sketchy.
For my first menu item I ordered the teriyaki chicken lunch w/​vegetables. The meal was mediocre at best. The quality of the chicken and veg were not very good. There are so many teriyaki places that are better. I would not recommend this place.

I’ve only tried their chinese food, and they are the best compared to other chinese places in downtown Tacoma. They don’t over batter the meat (unlike other places), which means they are not skimping you on meat.
Nice people.

For plain old chicken teriyaki this place is ok. For anything else it is the worst teriyaki restaurant I’ve had in Tacoma. The beef is terrible, both the texture and the flavor of possibly the cheapest Winco beef money can buy. Find another place, for the money they charge it’s not worth it.

SUMMARY: Some of the best Japanese and Chinese wok cooking in Tacoma, Washington!
TASTE: The food tastes fabulous and is made fresh, fast and hot. Teriyaki is excellent; Mongolian beef is wonderful; Yakisoba is flavorful; Crab Rangoon and Gyoza are great!
PREPARATION & PORTION: All food is served hot and very fresh with more than enough food for two meals at one meal cost.
SERVICE & LOCATION: Smiles and greetings from the moment you walk-​in. Regulars are greeted warmly and new foodies are welcomed with open arms. If you need take-​out, the wait is less than five minutes on a steady day. Very clean and decorated with vintage Tacoma history. Views of the busy Downtown Tacoma happenings without a lot of traffic congestion. A block from the famous Rialto Theater and convenient to walk to from most Downtown Tacoma businesses.
PRICE: More than reasonable for the quality and quantity of food. A huge and tasty lunch averages $ 7.00 and a fabulous and filling dinner for $ 8.00 to $ 9.00. You’ll have healthy and tasty left overs because of the quantity you receive for the price.
OVERALL: A great restaurant with amazing food, outstanding service and perfect location!

The people that work here are friendly and they give alot for a plate for take out or dine in. My staff and friends come here at least every 2 – 3 weeks to get food here. Love the yaki soba YUMMYYYYYY! And the order is pretty fast.

Four magic words equal happy lunchtime: «Chicken Teriyaki To Go». For a total cost of $ 6.01 and seldom more than a five minute wait, the customer gets a styrofoam dish full of sticky rice, grilled teriyaki chicken, and cabbage salad. Yummers!
There are plenty of other options on the menu, and I’m sure they’re all fine, but I keep coming back for the chicken teriyaki and am always satisfied. I have dined in here a few times too– the self-​serve hot tea and ice water are a nice touch.

Horribly disappointing teriyaki chicken. I was able to get white meat which was nice but the teriyaki sauce is terrible. It seems to have the subtle flavor of some sort of cleaner. Luckily the chili garlic sauce is free so I was able to burn out my taste buds and at least not go hungry.
I also saw the two customers who ordered after me get their food first. Perhaps due to my ordering white meat?

A bit above average for a teriyaki place. Lots of Asian selections beyond standard Teriyaki. Veggies were fresh and not overcooked. Nicely sticky rice. Friendly staff.

As far as teriyaki places go, Commerce is good but nothing vastly different from the rest. For $ 5 or $ 6, you get your standard two scoops of rice and a serving of chicken thigh that’s been marinated and grilled. Not really a bad deal. I’ve only been here a few times in the last two plus years that I’ve been working in Tacoma. But what I have noticed is that they water down their teriyaki sauce quite a bit. Most places give you their sauce and it can stick to the chicken. At Commerce, it’s more watery which only makes me question why they do it. Is it because their customers like it that way? Or because, it’s already pretty salty and a full un-​watered down sauce would be too much to endure? Or just to save a few pennies to widen that profit margin? In any case, the food is decent and with so few affordable food options in this end of downtown Tacoma, Commerce Teriyaki is a legitimate business that won’t be going anywhere anytime soon and I guess I’m pretty happy about that.