The restaurant inside was sort of a mess, it seemed a little dirty and unorganized. It was a mom and her two kids working so it seemed and the mom was yelling at the workers the whole time. The sushi it self was okay but the miso soup was very bland and did not taste how it should. The chicken lo main was not good either read more

went last week and food was actually pretty good. we are in the process of moving to Lancaster an thought we had found our place.... went back tonight and it was barely eatabl. I actually got the same dish; my husband got something different, but same result. not sure if I should try again?? Service was ok. Ambiance is nothing much read more

We were the first people there and was apparently there "dinner rush" I got the California rolls they were good and got some fried rice I didn't really like it and got some vegetables and they were ok. I didn't get full. The people were nice I guess. Not what I was excepting. read more

3rd table to arrive for the "dinner rush". Everything took forever. About 2hrs. There was only 4 of us. Menu is confusing. Charge you for everything. We didn't order anything odd or difficult. Drinks went empty. Never got appetizer. Never coming back. read more

I had was the sushi and it was so fresh and delicious. The staff was nice and provided excellent service.

Probably the absolute best restaurant in Lancaster. Quick and attentive service. The spicy tofu and mushrooms alone is worth the trip. Ask for it extra spicy and you won't be disappointed! read more

Really good sushi. I was pleasantly surprised we have a great sushi place in Lancaster! I ordered the TJ roll and Spicy Tuna roll. Hibachi chicken and noodles was fresh and tasted good too. Prices are high and maybe a bit over priced, only downside. Will definitely be coming back. read more

Great people and better food! Been eating here for years. Watched the kids drop up and start working in the restaurant.

This place has been here ten years and we've never been on our trips back home. So glad we stopped in tonight. We got hibachi chicken and steak. It was fresh and flavorful. The fried rice was some of the best I've ever had. It wasn't sticky and once again, fresh. The menu has a ton of options, which should satisfy the whole family regardless of what you're looking for: sushi, staples like sweet and sour chicken, pad thai and hibachi. Highly recommend if you're in Lancaster. read more

See all

Between the variety of sushi options and traditional Asian cuisine you can certainly find a dish that satisfies your pallet. The service is great, wait staff are welcoming and friendly and food is always served in a reasonable time. If you're a fan of sushi this is the place to go around Lancaster, every specialty roll on the menu offers a unique experience and I highly recommend the Taido Maki roll if you like a little bit of spice! One of my favorite spots in town, definitely recommend! read more

It's not the cleanest restaurant in the world, but it is quiet and the food is WONDERFUL! It's a great little place that seems like a hole in the wall. read more

What a pleasant surprise! The food was awesome and our server was even better! Don't let the casual atmosphere scare you away! Absolutely delicious! read more

Their sushi is the best in Lancaster and the service is awesome the prices are decent

I was uncertain when we stopped in here. We came in on a Saturday night, it was after 9 pm (they close a 11) and sat at the hibachi grill. The food was SO good. For a small family-owned place, they really know how to grill some great food. Their sushi was also amazing! (We got the rainbow roll). It seemed a little expensive, but it ended up being worth the price when we tasted how perfect our filet mignon was cooked. Everything was great. The atmosphere is cozy and the staff is super friendly. Both our server and the chef were so sweet! Normally at restaurants the service starts lacking when closing time is approaching, but we were treated extremely well. The friend we were with said they came in at lunch before and it was exactly the same. Anytime of day is a good day to eat here! read more

Akina - I love their derserts. - Japanese Near Me - Lancaster, South Carolina

We love Akina. The food is always delicious and everyone is very friendly. It doesn't take long when we have a takeout order.

I loved their food. The place is also clean and customer service is lovely as well. I had a combination plate which consisted of rice, shrimp, and chicken. I almost forgot about the tea it was nicely flavored not too sweet. read more

Total disaster altogether. When we placed our food order we noticed the tables were dingy and plates with food were laid across the bar. When we got home with our order, as soon as we opened up our to go containers, we were immediately hit with the smell of a porta potty. The rice tasted as a porta potty smells. My order of Mongolian beef had a strong smell of ammonia. When I called the restaurant to explain, they said to bring the food back. When I brought it back, the lady that rang us out got hectic with us and said that the cook was crying. They stated they never had any complaints and would not let my wife speak at all. She just kept on and on about how their food is delicious and they never have any issues. She even got a couple that was eating there to come and smell the returned food. When we got the refund, we weren't even refunded the full amount that we were charged so had to go a third time to get the remaining balance back. I would not suggest this place. This is the only food that I've had today and I'm currently sitting on the toilet with food poisoning from eating a spoonful of the fried rice, one egg roll and one piece of Mongolian beef. Eat at your own risk read more

This is going to be long- SORRY- BUT I am being very descriptive. We wanted to try this place but could not find a menu online. They only have a FaceBook page and you have to send a friend request. So We did not order the first night. Next day went to the place ad picked up a menu. We ususally order out and eat at home- much easier, little mess, just some trash to throw away, I have drinks at home, can watch my own TV shows, its quiet, less germy and i can do it all in my pajamas if i want to! So now i have scanned and uploaded the menu so you have pictures of the menu for your review----- you are welcome! :-) Most have been to the traditional Japanese steakhouse where you get the typical flaming, spatula juggling show. This is along that line. They have only 2 tables that can be used for the teppanyaki style cooking. There is a few seats in front of the sushi making person and then several BAR seats. I did not pay attention to what alcohol is served but according to the menu Beer, Wine and Sake. The menu is quite large in that of regular chinese take out styles. You will notice when you DINE IN that the Teppanaki style cooking is WAY HIGHER priced than if you sit in regular dining and eat the same item. Lesson learned for ME. They do have specials all the time which you can see on the Facebook page but those do NOT apply to the Teppanaki food preparation. So we decided to go inside and eat, just me and my daughter and we were ordering a to-go for my husband. she and I wanted to see the teppanki cooking. We were the only ones sitting at the cooking table - although there were several couples in the place in regular seating and a few at the sushi bar, This should have been a BIG FLAG! But no, I was oblivious. We stand at the entrance with people just shooting glances at us and wondering ok what now? finally after what seems to be several minutes, a tiny girl comes over and greets us. I didn't even see her before and had no clue she worked there. we told her we wanted the hibachi table. After several question and answer minutes, we order our drinks. we look over the sushi menu and decide on the special 2 rolls for 7.99.. Ordered my favorite Spicy Tuna and a tempura crab roll. We then order our entrees (expense place I tell ya! when you can go right down the street and get the same thing for a LOT less- no show but you can watch them cook it!)!!!!! as we are eating our soup (a beef broth with a few mushroom slices and some green onion, also seemed a bit heavy on the black pepper) and eating our salad (icebrug lettuce with some shredded carrot and a "ginger dressing" - the dressing was a bit on the SWEET side and could taste hardly any ginger and I am positive it was a mayonnaise base) the dressing was the strangest ginger dressing I ever had at one of these places it was also white in color. anyway while eating the salad the waitress informs us they have NO TUNA TODAY!!?? The sushi place in town on a Saturday night and no TUNA? ok so I order yellow tail- never had it but took her suggestion that they were similar texture fish. The yellow tail was good although not very spicy and had what looked like some bread crumbs on each end, it was not topped with the spicy aioli like I expected. the tempura crab roll was topped with some brown sauce I am unsure what it was. the roll was large, so largeI couldn't pick it up with my novice chopstick skills. the fried batter kept falling off the crab- and I am almost positive that crab was imitation! at least it looked like that fake crap. Both were good but I have had better. The meal time comes. the show wasn't that great at all typical stuff. there is no appetizer shrimp like in most places. They only have this yum-yum sauce for dipping which to me is a much sweeter version of the pinkish shrimp sauce you get elsewhere. They put some weird sauce in the fried rice. that was tanish colored. He didnt do much in way or show, just a few trick and then it was over! less than 10 minutes worth! Daughter and I both ordered steak, I also ordered shrimp. /He put 2 steaks on the grill but gave her half of my steak along with hers. My shrimp were not cut up (and the whole show part with the tails0 forget it they were peeled already all he did was cook them) I had to cut my large shrimp with my fork. He also put teryaki sauce on the shrimp and the vegetables. YUCK. This was NOT worth the price by a long shot. Service was MEH! Recommend fresh sushi here, but for cheap hibachi get it at the other Japan place. or cheaper sushi Try redbowl or BETTER Harris Teeter in Indian Land update: crab is fake crab, confirmed by employee. at 12 noon had no tuna (again) rather it was there but not prepared as yet. so call beforeheand if this is what you want! read more

See all

If I could give 0 stars I would. The first older woman who took our take out order was sweet, I'll give them that. But the place was a bit dingy. Once we brought our food home, it was a disaster. The fried rice tasted old (like it made in a port-o-potty) and my husband's Mongolian beef had a very strong ammonia smell to it. When we went there to nicely and calmly return the food and ask for a refund, the woman who checked us out was screaming at us, not letting us speak, and getting other patrons involved in the matter. She tried to say that the cook was crying in the bathroom and made other people comment on how the food was and that they "have never gotten a complaint." Once we got our refund, they didn't give us back the full amount, they only refunded us $40.00 out of the $47.00 we were charged. Needless to say we will never be coming here again as the food was extremely inedible and the service was below average. read more

Great environment friendly very helpful.... love the hibachi and sake... delicious food. read more

See all

My friend got a bug in her soup. One of the sauce bowls had a hair in it. Then to top it all off the sushi cook cut his finger nails right where he was preparing our food. Not the best experience. read more

They were very friendly and the food was great. I had the Mongolian beef and It was superb. Will defiantly go back.

Although I usually attend another Japanese restaurant in this town, I decided to try something new tonight. This place is also has delicious habachi and has great deals on their sushi rolls. They will also cook in front of you on the big grill if it is requested before hand. They also give you unlimited shrimp sauce on the table which is always a plus. Will definitely come back again to enjoy the food. read more

Just don't feel like everything there is fresh even the seafood for the sushi not a big fan eight there probably four times same experience no updates read more

So glad we Yelped and found some really good Sushi! We tried the Crunchy Munch Roll which is a new favorite and the Rainbow Roll (really good). We also had the Special 3 rolls for $11.99 (which also comes with a broth soup). We chose the Shrimp Tempura, The Philadelphia (nice and smokey), and the Spicy Crab (Really Good). We will definitely be back when we are nearby! read more

I'm so glad we have Akina in Lancaster! Before them I had to drive 25 miles for legit sushi. They have good noodle dishes too. They might not be quite on par with the top places in the QC, but for a small town sushi joint they are great. read more

So, I regularly dine in Charlotte, where there are plenty of great asian restaurants. I realize that Akina is in Lancaster, which isn't much for food options. However, I don't think that's any excuse for not having a quality restaurant experience. I went here on a Friday at lunchtime. The outside doesn't look like much, but I've seen plenty of grocery store sushi joints that are deceptively pretty inside. Not so for Akina. The overall feel is dingy. Though it doesn't seem particularly *dirty*, the lighting is bad and there's clutter everywhere. There was a young boy (3-4 yrs old?) running around playing with toys scattered across the restaurant floor. At one point, he even popped out of the kitchen with a scoop utensil on his head. If I weren't trying to give this place a chance, I would've left before ordering. The food took a decent while to come out. I ordered several sushi rolls - tuna tempura, spicy yellowtail, and salmon avocado. The salmon avocado had tons of fish in it (decent quality) but was incredibly bland. What I can assume was the spicy yellowtail was fish mixed with a TON of spicy mayo and tempura flakes. There was WAY too much mayo, globs of it. I could barely even find the fish. And the tuna tempura had avocado and cucumber, which I did not expect, and was the most edible of the three. However, it still suffered from a curious blandness. My dad ordered the Mongolian chicken with fried rice. He claimed he liked it, that it was sufficiently spicy. I had a few bites of it as well, but I found it to be pretty underwhelming. The chicken was good quality, though. Overall, this place leaves a LOT to be desired. The atmosphere is very off-putting, and the food is forgettable. If you're desperate for sushi and asian cuisine in Lancaster, I guess this is your place. I'll hold off until my next Charlotte visit for that. read more

I'm doing a follow-up review. I wrote a glowing review about a week ago, and attached a picture. HOWEVER. Tonight I ordered takeout, and it wasn't edible. I ordered the same rolls, Tuna Avocado and Salmon Cucumber. The rolls were falling apart, and rotten. The Avocado was cut into huge chunks and was BROWN. The fish was slimey and smelly and not edible. I ate a couple pieces and my stomach is already turning. They forgot my rice, and between my friend and I we paid $27 for food we couldn't eat. I will never again eat here, and neither should you. read more

See all

Pretty good sushi, nothing was great but nothing was terrible either. My girlfriend and I ordered the "sushi& sashimi combination B" 46$( cucumber roll, tuna roll, cali roll, with 9 pc of nigiri and 10 of sashimi) and a volcano roll,$13 (a deep fried roll filled with crab and what seemed like cream cheese)to total my bill out at 62 dollars after tax. The tuna was ok, red snapper good, salmon good, but there was one type I couldn't make out that was kind of odd in the assorted sashimi. The volcano roll was pretty good, but was not worth the 12.99 price tag in my opinion. All in all a pretty average experience, a little overpriced. Friendly staff, average sushi. I may give it a round two if I'm ever back in the area read more

A very good Asian restaurant. I had the beef and broccoli that was great. Nice quite atmosphere with friendly service. We will be back.

Went here for lunch hoping for good sushi. Restaurant was empty but 1 other table. Salad was fresh lettuce and carrot, no cucumber or tomato that is standard other places. Salad dressing tasted of mayonnaise and no ginger. Disappointing at best. Menu has no description of any items just the title and price. Restaurant was run down. T.V. plays old shows in the background. Service was fine not anything to write home about. Sushi arrive and it was terrible. Whatever batter they are trying their tempora in is heavy, bland and awful. Sweet potato sushi was ruined. veggies in other roll were hollowed out cucumber instead of tiny strips and large wedge of avocado. Both too heavy handed and not well rounded complimenting to the roll. Wouldn't go back again for sushi. Unsure how they get the good reviews unless these individuals have never had real sushi. read more

I enjoyed the food it was very good fresh and the vegetables were very crisp and the hospitality was wonderful if you want a very nice meal at a very decent price in a quiet atmosphere you must come here I recommend it very highly. read more

Cockroaches!!!! My wife and I went in with our daughter to try out the hibachi. The reviews looked decent so we wanted to give it a shot, when we got inside, there was one other couple sitting at the sushi bar and no one else in the restaurant. A couple minutes later a lady from the back came out and sat us. The restaurant was very disorganized and cluttered with random clutter on various tables around the room. Once seated my wife tapped me and said there was a cockroach on the table behind us. That was our cue to leave! If there was a cockroach on a table in the dining area, I don't want to know what's in the back. Needless to say this place will never be getting our business and I strongly recommend all those interested to stay away until major changes are made! I wish I had gotten a picture but I was so in shock that I just wanted to leave! read more

We lived in Lancaster for 3 years before stepping into here. Outside is unimpressive. But the food is incredibly fresh and well prepared. the grill is great for gatherings. The show is not quite as fancy as the Charlotte Japanese grills, but very entertaining. Just always impressed with the freshness of the meats and fish. So surprising to find great sushi in such an out of the way place. read more

Best Asian food around, also the staff is very nice. Try anything, you won't be sorry!

Best sushi around no where here is close. Also have ate alot of food of this type elsewhere and there staff is always top notch and the food is super fresh. I love there food and could eat it everyday. My favorite is the 3 sushi combo I always get different ones and the sweet potato sushi is insanely good. read more

Best Asian food in the county. You'll have to go Charlotte or Columbia to get sushi that's as good as it is here. The service is excellent and the people are always lovely. They even have a Japanese steak house setup which you'd otherwise have to drive to Pineville for. read more

This is an upscale restaurant with good service and excellent food. The sushi and Japanese steak house set up is on a par or better than those in larger cities. You can't judge a book by its cover so my suggestion is to try it before you judge it - you won't be disappointed. read more

Everything at Akina is amazing . Why drive to Charlotte when fantastic Asian food is right here? The pineapple chicken fried rice is to die for . The sushi is amazing . It's a locally owned restaurant too . read more

This place is superb and is really the diamond in the rough when it comes to dining in Lancaster! I got the Candy Cane Roll with 3 different types of tuna - very fresh and one of the best rolls I've ever had. I also ordered sauteed bok choy and gyoza. The dumplings were average but the bok choy was extremely flavorful. It was a perfect meal, especially since we'd been warned that Lancaster didn't offer much in the way of food beyond chain restaurants and fast food. My two friends that were with me had equally good meals. read more