Yamato Japanese Steakhouse in Gainesville

Charming oriental style. My granddaughter loved it for her birthday special. I have never seen a round slab of calamari. Resembled egg plant mostly. Suspect it's been processed. Although not advertised as such. Is this consumer fraud? I'll never order that again, ever. Steak has also become paper thin over the yrs. The ribs were undercooked. Lots of rice and veggies though. Doubt I'll return for another yr.

This is a good habachi restaurant they put on a good show to

Over a 2 hour wait for a limited menu and apparently no dress code.. When did just wearing a bra become acceptable as clothing? Not to mention the lady that greets you was Rude, not only to us but basically everyone who walked in the door. Our Cook was amazing and funny and the waitress was great as well as beautiful. I tipped the cook $10 and the waitress $10.... This place has Definitely changed and hopefully it will get better but today's visit was definitely sub par..

The place was great. Took a minute to get a drink but it was great servers. Great food. Will definitely be going back.

My husband and I made a reservation for 7:30 and we got there about 15 minutes early. At 8:15 we were still sitting there! Multiple groups got seated that were there after we did. This is completely unacceptable to make reservation for 2 people and wait a whole hour and not get seated. I have never had an experience like this at Yamato’s and I’m tempted not to return!

Our chef was exceptionally skilled and did not than your average tricks while cooking! The atmosphere was really nice, and due to their social distancing we were very comfortable even in the midst of covid 19! They are not taking reservations right now, but our wait was only around 15-20 minutes! The food was excellent, portions were large, and cost was fair!

Was hoping this was a good place. In Florida you would expect everything to be fresh seafood. Not the case. Frozen dumplings, sushi was not fresh. Fried rice was undercooked. The server kept calling my date honey and sweetheart. He asked how things were. We told him not great. But he didn't offer to do anything with the check. Not a great experience at all.

Well we waited 45 mins to b seated. Once qe got seated the very nice waitress made sure we had our drinks our soup and salad. We were starved and we had our 2 kids with us. After that it was a whole nother 45 mins before we got a chef to start cooking our food. The food was not great after all of this. The white sauce was sweet. The food was mediocre. Wont go back again. It costs $120

Wonderful place to go if in need of celebrating some kind of event. Wouldn't recommend for someone that would go alone. *Max per table 14 people*. Fantastic food, great servers and chefs.Normally busy, if planning for a big group, would make a reservation!

So I came here with four of my friends and one of my friends is running a little late, and they won’t seat us until our party is here. No problem completely understandable but later we have our party and we get a 15-20 minute wait no problem so we continued waiting around 25 minutes later we ask for the wait time and they up it to 45 minutes. No cool but obviously it was busy so we walk outside and talk for a bit. We come back inside after a good amount of time to another 20 minute wait because the staff thought we left but didn’t come outside and call our name. And we wait and after an inconsiderate amount of time until we finally get seated and the waiter hardly paid attention to our table.

Terrible service, waited 15 minutes before the waitress showed up. No apology, ordered food waited an hour, when we asked how much longer she came back and said they have not started it yet! Used to love this restaurant, will never go back.

Dinner and a show with a wide selection of Japanese cuisine at a reasonable price. However reservations are a must, all members of a party must be present to be seated, and service is quite slow at peak times.

Food was good and show was okay. A little disappointed with the amount of food for the money. We didn't realize that if you decided to change something that you are charged extra! Granddaughter only wanted steak and rice and we were charged $3.00 so her $22.00 meal ended up being $25.00. no one mentioned this to us. We really resent this type of surprise. Also, it took my wife over 3 hours the day before to make our reservation!!! Also, the tip is added to the bill! Don't think we'll be returning any time soon! Hope this review helps someone who doesn't like surprises when they go out to eat!

The combo meal is very value for money. Most people have double rice instead of rice and noodles. Obviously, the sauce for the rice has something to do with this. And it tastes really good.

The food is always good and fresh! Live this place! Scallops are outstanding!

Great restaurant! We had a chef who said he was new but his table side show was excellent. Great food and attentive staff! This place is the best hibachi in Gainesville. Don't believe me, ask the locals.

Seems like a pretty solid place for Japanese. The cooks and the experience make it fun! Who doesn't want food cooked right in from of them with bursts of flames?! Not really options for people that avoid carbs, but they will let you sub for veggies.

I had a birthday dinner there tonight. After waiting to be seated an hour after reserved time didn't get a chef for another 30-45 minutes. They had ran out of some food a guest ordered. Don't know what was going on tonight. They are usually so much better.

Bad service. Expected wait time was supposed to be 30 min and they continued to sit other parties that came in after our party of 6. We waited 1.5 hours before being seated. Once seated it took another 20 minutes before we received drinks and soup... Then another 10 min before salad came. Drinks would not be refilled. No one apologized for the service. Such a bad experience when trying to have a night of fun celebrating.

Our chef was attentive, laid back and funny. We had a birthday cake broight to us to surprise our friend. We loved the delicious food and the large amount of food served. We loved the Steak and Scallops the most. The soup and salad served before the meal was light and fresh.

The food is always good... not sure what's been going on with the service.... it's always empty and they seem to struggle to keep up with just 2 tables...idk....used to be on point.

Food and chef was great. Had to wait on waitress but they had her in 2 different rooms and her first day. Still would recommend it.

Food was very good. Felix was our chef and very experienced. I loved the noodles. Will go back. Plenty of food, had to take some home.🌞

I’ve only been here 3 times in the span of two years. Twice was for my birthday and the 3rd was for my brothers birthday. I love this place, everyone is always friendly, and the food is good. I love when the hibachi chef does the volcano, and once one of them even had a little boy that peed on the fire to put it out. For my birthday this year our chef made his rice into a heart shape and slid his spatula under it to make it beat, so cute! Love the attention that they gave us.

Great food and atmosphere

Good but not as much to take home. Smaller portions.

Food was great! Our server and chef did a great job! They even honored at least a 10 year old gift certificate. Amazing! Thank you for a wonderful experience!

If you want great food in Gainesville, eat here. I personally recommend the filet meal

Poor organizational issues with the front staff in charge of making reservations. My family and I made reservations ahead of time, specifically 3 hours before our reservation for dinner, and when we got there, they did not seat us. Apparently, they “did not” have our name and number down on the reservation list when we did have evidence of calling them with a time stamp on our phone and they clearly asked for our information during the phone call. It was poor customer service and lacked consideration for the party that actually reserved a table ahead of time. The food may be good, but it’s not worth the poor customer service and the time and effort wasted that I put in to get there. As a Gainesville native, I was disappointed.

Amazing experience! The hosts were very nice and got us in right away. Our server was great and very quick to get in our orders and bring us the salad and soup! The cook gave an awesome show for us and made sure to be quick and thorough at the same time. It was a very clean and well taken care of place, even the tables. Everything was the perfect temperature and easy to eat. I loved the chicken the most! I don’t like my food touching, and it was very nice that the cook put the food separate on the plate to accommodate that. Overall, it was a great experience!

I think it’s impossible to eat a whole meal in one sitting, we always have left overs and it taste just as good as it did when they made it. You sometimes have to wait a little bit but the production the chef’s do when they cook makes up for any wait you had.

Clean and beautiful on the inside. The staff is absolutely amazing, and the chefs are all super talented. Which is great, considering this is essentially dinner and a show, the show being their amazing cooking abilities! A bit expensive, but the food is delicious and fresh and cooked right in front of you. Definitely worth coming to just for the experience alone, but you'll want to come back for the tasty food! They also do great birthday specials!

Host with the pink hair is horrible. Rude. Also quoted us 45 minutes and still waiting and it’s been over an hour.

Great food, and a wonderful display for younger kids to enjoy. Can be a long wait, so plan ahead or make a reservation. Can be pricey but recieve lots of food, and usually have a bunch of left overs.

It was as awesome, so was our young man chef. We were there about 4:45 pm 8/24/19 at a table for 8, and he was great. Food was awesome.

Worst experience I have ever had and it was on my Birthday. Food was good but everything else was horrible from the wait time to the customer service to the manager just a bad experience for the price we paid.

Our hibachi chef was amazing! Very interactive with us and even let some of us *attempt* the skills. Food is always excellent at Yamatos. Reservations are a must because wait can be very long. It is a great place for special events with friends and family. Pictures are the vegetarian sushi rolls and tofu/rice/veggies.

I drive 45 minutes to get there Shrimp fried rice. If I am that way at Lunch. Inorder just the fried rice and sweet tea. I love this place

Our waiter was amazing. (Don't remember his name but he wore a Pokemon face mask)He was nice not only to us but to our son,he spoke to him in ways not many adults take the time out to do. He spoke to him about a game they have in common and let our son see his favorite character in game. Our cook was amazing also! (He had fresh tattoos and a black face mask with something white written on it. I'm terrible with names)He was funny and had our son laughing through the show. He also listened when our son spoke and our son made him laugh!! The food was delicious and everything was fresh(obviously because we had hibachi).

Great spot to buy food when in a hurry. Their service is rapid, rates are fair, excellent character. Keep up the good work

The food quality is high. The cooks put on a family friendly show while preparing your meal. The only negative we experienced was after you finish eating they were a little in a hurry to get us to leave.

Terrible service. We had a reservation for 7:30pm and weren’t seated until 8. Our server, Jill, was so inattentive and didn’t take our order for another half hour. From the time of my reservation it was 2 hours until I got food. Not worth it.

The food was surprisingly really freaking good! Oh man our chef was hilarious and a great cook. Overall awesome place to eat

Its amazing the way they cook everything right in front you and it's delicious food too.

The chief that we had tonight he was extremely funny and talented "JERRY" was his name. I would wait just to sit at his table again. The food was AMAZING

Got a little bit of egg all over us but other than that it was your traditional hibachi experience. Thanks again.

i got the tofu dinner and holy heck was it good (and only $12)!! the chef was very nice and the little cooking show they do was awesome.

Been here twice, once for my birthday and once for my boyfriend's. It's been great! Friendly staff, good food, awesome place. Every time we've gone the chef at our table has been a fun part of the conversation. It's a great place.

Food is always good, but pretty bad when you don't go inside and no one cooking in front of you, no one bringing you drinks or cleaning up after you and you aren't told in advance but still get charged a fee of 18%. Who gets this tip which we shouldn't have to have.added to our bill. Makes me want to stop giving them my business which they get alot of. This was an order for 6