Gee is the best hibachi chef. Period. He consistently cooks everything to perfection, and here's the thing that sets him apart: he's one of the only people who doesn't overcook the lobster. Not just here, but at any hibachi I've ever eaten at. If you've had overcooked, rubbery lobster tail at hibachi before, you know how rare it is to find someone who gets it right every time. Gee gets it right every time. My go to is the shrimp, filet, and lobster combo. It's fire. Every protein cooked exactly how it should be, every bite better than the last. And here's a pro tip: if you're a small party, don't stress about reservations. Me and my wife have only made reservations twice. They always find a way to squeeze us in at the end of a table. That's rare at most hibachi places where you usually need to plan ahead. At Daruma, you get the craving, you go. Simple as that. The Verdict: Daruma remains our hibachi spot in Fort Myers. Excellent food, amazing service, Gee on the grill making magic happen, and flexibility for walk ins. If you can get Gee, do it. Five stars, no question, every single visit. read more

Daruma - gee is the man !! - Japanese Near Me - Fort Myers, Florida

Our server was really nice and the atmosphere was cool. Tried some of their apps and they were yummy. The fried rice was okay but I'm sure it would've been a lot better if we sat at the hibachi table - so we'll be back for that! read more

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March 2026 ~ This was our third time here and it didn't disappoint. We came in on a Friday night & didn't have a reservation so we sat at the bar. It was a great night, good vibes, good food and good drinks. Our service was excellent. read more

Daruma - March 2026 - Daruma Lava Drops - Delicious! Cream cheese crab meat roll - Tempura battered w/spicy mayo - Japanese Near Me - Fort Myers, Florida

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Food was so so Service was ernnnnt The ambience was Nice, but very jammed pack , hard to get in and out of the tables / hibachi area as well as being served from a waiter standing 4 ft above you from behind you!!! if you think that sounds confusing wait until you try it and see what I'm talking about. Definitely overpriced. Need to drop the prices or people are not gonna continue on. read more

The service was great. went in early and sat right away! Waited a few minutes for another family. We got a variety of meals in our party to include steak, chicken, scallops, shrimp, and tuna. All were cooked perfect. One of the people in our party ordered a Gluuten free meal. cooked in the kitchen as oppossed to the grill but still got to see the show. Usually one complaint I have at t the Japenese Stteak houses are over salted but this one was good for me. Little pricey but isn't everything nowadays. Bodhi enjoyed the chicken, steak, scallop and shrimp and ofcourse rice!!! And ofcourse he loved the namesake since Daruma is named after Bodhi Dharma. The influence of zen and perseverance. Just some added history!!! read more

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Came here for a birthday and it was an awesome experience. The host Lilla was extremely sweet and informational when I called and when I arrived the customer service was exceptional. The hibachi chef Gilbert was funny he engaged with us made us laugh and did tricks and make the the whole experience truly special ! The server was great and everyone was just truly awesome . Food was amazing as well 10/10 I definitely recommend! read more

When it comes to hibachi, well - it feels as if it's pretty much everywhere. Consequently, you ask yourself how someone could miss a place like this, seeing as you never do, but there are people that do miss out on hibachi. My aunt and my cousin are such people. My companion and I dragged them here for dinner and it made for some good times. So, hibachi in a nutshell is a unique experience in the sense that they cook in front of you. This essentially was the appeal that I used to drag my aunt especially, seeing as she is one of those who doesn't trust other cooks for a slew of reasons I won't get into. Anyway, we went and Liz took our orders. One filet mignon, one lobster and shrimp, and two salmon, plus lots of and lots of beer and wine. James a.k.a. White Rice came soon after and he was an entertaining chef, as well as one who actually knows how to cook! My aunt who always complains about something when someone else cooks couldn't find a bad thing to say. That said, in typical fashion for these types of restaurants, we wound up in food coma given salad, soup, shrimp appetizers, and the main dishes themselves full of whatever meat or seafood we selected, along with rice and vegetables. Minus one person, we all wound up taking leftovers home. It was quite a sight I imagine as we paid and walked to our car. Or should I say waddled like a duck back to our car? At any rate, with this experience we introduced two of my family members to something new that they enjoyed. This was quite memorable in itself, but the characters in this only helped. White Rice was really a delight and I would definitely request him as your chef if you go. I know that's my intention whenever we return. Also, it helped, too, that we were sat with another family that spoke Spanish. Now I know this is the luck of the draw, but my aunt prefers Spanish over English, and when the flames came up, she was petrified, so having others who like me could tell her it would be okay was truly a godsend. Lovely time overall. I'm a bit sad we didn't exchange numbers with that other Spanish-speaking family. Oh well. read more

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Coming from Miami and having some great Hibachi spots that I hold in high regards when comparing (Samurai) I can say this restaurant comes 2nd close to being one of my favorite hibachi spots on this coast. I like that they offer reservations for your groups so it makes the experience easier of arriving and being sat. I also like they have 10 person tables so it makes inviting friends and family to events much more fun as you can invite a decent handful. Pricing is what i would consider fare for this type of experience. Range between 40-60 person. I've been here 4 times for different events and have enjoyed the food presentation, staff and experience. read more

Daruma - Filet Mignon and Shrimp Combination - Japanese Near Me - Fort Myers, Florida

Some of the best food I had in my life . Fast service but I didn't feel rush . They had a pianist playing such a wonderful experience. Amazing sushi and strong drinks . I highly recommend this place read more

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Service, Lisa the bartender is great but Rick Diego and Niko the sushi chefs are amazing and the quality like no other.

Amazing food and service! We come here at least once a month and it never disappoints. Tonight G cooked our food perfectly and we really enjoyed the show. So much fun! I highly recommend this place! read more

Johnny is an amazing server! He is always very attentive to us when we come in, and to all of his tables. Sushi is great as always. Will be asking for him next time we come in! read more

Dinner with mom and we had a pleasant time. Some room for improvement but overall, good. Warm hostess brought us to a booth and we had an attentive and friendly waiter. Mom chese the chicken udon and I selected the spicy beef. Both came with salad (good salad) and soup (barely warm). Mom's udon was a big portion and she said it was hot and tasty. My beef was tasty but was not hot and I'm definitely confused by the huge pieces of broccoli. At 5:30pm on a weeknight, it wasn't busy and there weren't any hibachi tables going. Just a few diners at booths in the back section. [Review 20274 overall - 1776 in Florida - 1251 of 2023.] read more

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Tonight was supposed to be a special celebration for my wife's birthday, and DaRuMa managed to ruin the entire experience from the moment we walked in. We had a 7:30pm reservation for a party of 7, yet when we arrived, the hostesses sat the wrong party at our table. No apology, no explanation -- we only found out after asking why we were still waiting. I even reminded them it was my wife's birthday, which they clearly didn't care about. They told us about their $13.75 birthday special that included a hat, lava cake, a song, and a photo. I agreed immediately. We also had two children with us (9 and 3) who were excited for the experience. They never received hats, and when my 9‑year‑old politely asked the chef, he told him to "go ask the hostesses." After waiting 30 minutes, my son asked the hostess and she told him "No, it's only for birthdays." Completely dismissive. I went up myself and reminded her again that it was my wife's birthday, and she said, "Sorry, that comes at the end." The lack of common sense and customer service was unbelievable. Then came the chef -- easily the worst hibachi chef we've ever had. No interaction, no personality, no tricks, no effort. He barely spoke. Meanwhile, the chefs at the tables next to us were doing full performances, cracking jokes, and celebrating birthdays with their guests. Our table got none of that. After dinner, we sat for another 10 minutes with no dessert, no cake, no acknowledgment. I had to go back to the hostess stand again to ask what was going on. Not once did anyone offer to get a manager or address the issues. Eventually they brought out the cake -- while my wife's sister was in the bathroom -- and took a photo of us **without our full party party present. It felt rushed, careless, and completely unprofessional. To top it off, the bill came to over $420 for what was honestly the worst birthday experience we've ever had. DaRuMa failed at every level: service, communication, hospitality, and basic respect for their guests. I would never recommend this restaurant for any special occasion, and we will never return. read more

The food and service are always wonderful. Had another great dinner last night. Highly recommend it. read more

Daruma - Bento box with bass - Japanese Near Me - Fort Myers, Florida

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I've been here several times and never had a problem until tonight. I was a party of four and they served a party of about eighteen kids before us when they arrived after we put in our orders. That party was served and checked out long before ours was. Our server forgot several items from our four top - a sushi roll, a sushi appetizer until asked, and gave an entree to the wrong table, causing two of our parties food to go cold while ALSO waiting for sauce. The server then proceeded to claim the kitchen "didn't want to make" our sushi roll and asked if we wanted anything else. This is completely unacceptable, as is an automatic gratuity when service was so poor. For a restaurant that is a higher price range, I expect better. read more

I don't have the energy to put a review in place. Maybe down the road. The short version.....my friend's sushi boat was the best they ever had. It did look great. They've been here before. My wife's duck breast just ok. Good. My Negimaki appetizer the worst. My Spicy Beef dish just ok. Asked to have temperature hot and medium rare.....barely warm and well done. My Miso soup was good. Her Clear soup not so good. Our salads with Ginger dressing good. Place looks great for sushi. That excels. These entrees? No. Three times asked to have the green tea hot. Brought to the table 3x barely warm. Only the pot you serve it in kept coming back hot. The server couldn't be helpful with the menu. Not helpful about the food. May not have been taught or tried some of the entrees. Promised us what we wanted. But never materialized. Again, the boat was the only winner last night. Sad. Spent good money here. I don't get it. My friends will continue to go here for the sushi as they have. I'll dine back home in Naples. read more

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First time to Daruma. First impression was ok. My party of 4 was on time however the rest of the guests sitting at the grill setting were late and therefore we had to wait 15 min before we could begin the ordering and grilling experience with our Chef. Best part were the Scallops. Cooked perfectly! Our Chef was very kind but didn't exhibit a lot of skills. read more

Food was good.. With the exception that they changed the vegetables. No mushrooms hardly any broccoli.. A lot of huge carrots which are odd.. But the worst of it was my son's birthday.. We were told after spending 600+ plus dollars on dinner at first, we could not cut his birthday.Cake that we brought then we were told it's a $30 charge. I said o k.. The server went and got plates and spoons and a knife. And just dropped it on the table and walked away. I said for thirty dollars, you're not even gonna cut it and serve it.I have to pay to cut and serve my own cake that I brought here for a party.Because that's what the habachi table is all about.A party right? The chef was decent, but he was very tired at 5:30. He was not even Japanese, he was Russian. I believe which was odd to begin with. But very nice, but not the show we were expecting to have for the money that we spend.. Not to mention, never a refill on our drinks.The whole night.. And some creepy, little chinese dude peering over his glasses through all the little slatted walls made us feel very weird and nervous the whole night... Just an uncomfortable night that should have been full of fun and laughter.. Not to mention the automatically, add twenty percent of your bill for their gratuity, which is great.If they actually do the job.But since they know they're getting their gratuity already, they don't do their job.I don't appreciate that at all.And why should I tip on the thirty dollars to have my own cake there?That I have to cut and serve myself? read more

We had a Hibachi reservation for 8 PM. We were sat at 8:55. While we were waiting, we went to sit at the bar and order something to drink, and the bartender was extremely rude to us. Once we got to the table, we then waited 30 minutes to get our appetizers. Our reservation was 8 pm, and we didn't see any food on our table until almost 9:30. I have never waited so long for a table. I have also never had my group be treated so poorly by a bartender. I'm sure she was having a hard day, and I can understand that, but it just added to an already frustrating night. The food was decent. The actual Hibachi experience was pretty good. However, I will never come back due to the ridiculous wait and the extremely poor service. Overall, I DO NOT recommend this restaurant unless you are content with getting your first course over an hour and a half after your reservation time. read more

We LOVE sushi and this is one of the places we frequent. They have a sushi bar (with a GREAT happy hour), and a piano bar. We love hearing the "Ichiban" groups too, but dine on the sushi. The wait staff is impeccable. They're always busy, but we never wait very long. read more

This is kind of a hard review to write. A great friend of ours told us about how amazing the sushi was here as we accidentally ran into him after going to ice spot. He makes his own sushi and he has undoubtedly combed Ft Myers for the best sushi and the best ingredients. So of course we had to try it. So here is a review I didn't feel good about writing. First off, let's touch on the great. The sushi. The more expensive rolls were great! The Spicy Crunchy Lobster Tail roll was amazing and the Super Duper Eel Roll was very well done. The other ones, the less expensive, the pink lady and the candy cane was not appealing at all. We in no way had to choke them down BUT, and it's just my opinion, but they needed more help in the flavor department. The crab meat and the white tuna didn't taste right as well. But overall, I still would have given the place 4 stars if: THE CALAMARI I ordered fried calamari and they didn't have it BUT they did have spicy calamari, so we got it. Maybe it was the drive home, I don't know, but the calamari had no flavor. It relied on what it was sitting in. Which is ok, because a hamburger needs ketchup, right? Except, the calamari was over cooked, chewy and hard in my mouth. It almost tasted like rubber. I'll be honest, I eat anything, and this, the decorative flower tasted better. Did I expect more after paying $74? I did. But the sushi for the most part was great and the service was great too, though, they were packed, which is good for businesses and bad for spreading Covid but I don't judge. Everyone needs money these days. Anyways, 3 stars for now but we definitely will give them another chance. read more

Daruma - Calamari - Japanese Near Me - Fort Myers, Florida

Would give negative if could. One of the most humiliating experiences. Crammed you Into a seat practically on the ground next to everyone to save the restaurant money. We were next to people that made fun of us the entire time and then the waitress was talking about us. We hate this place. Ruined eating out for us. I'm telling everyone I know not to come here. read more

Still a good time. Food, sushi has a lovely presentation, drinks are full/good pours, service is good ( very busy place), ambience-pleasant staff... it's been a long time since I sat at the Hibachi Tables but I like how each table is semi-private ( 2 in a section), chefs are great showmen and waitresses ( staff) are efficient. I'll wil continue to return. Reservations recommended unless sitting at bar, can get lucky sometimes. read more

Daruma - Crunchy Tuna and Mexican Roll - Japanese Near Me - Fort Myers, Florida

Daruma was just ok. We arrived exactly at 5pm when they opened. We were seated immediately at a hibachi table. We were told we had to wait a couple more minutes to seat others at the table. And then the server disappeared for about 20mins. Another couple was sat, we had to go find the server. The chef was great. Funny! And the food was decent. The shrimp and filet were cooked perfectly. The manager came to collect our bills. I was unfortunately charged for someone else's meals as well as my own. He did void it out but still.....curious. read more

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Average hibachi. The inside was Much nicer than Naples location (which will be closing down after 20 something years in business). The chef was mediocre. Food was decent but nothing that made me want to stand for ovation. Below are some pics. Tip: we made a reservation days before (Called Wed for a 5pm res for Sat night). Called Sat to see if we can move to 6 or 7 and they were very backed up and could not accommodate. We look forward to the new location opening in Naples. read more

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My wife really enjoys chicken tempura, which Daruma offers as an appetizer option; however, they will provide a full dinner if asked. The problem is that of four times out of the five she has ordered it, Daruma has messed up the order: an appetizer served at a full dinner price, the fried rice that comes with the dinner not given (twice this has happened), the salad that comes with the dinner not given. You get the idea. When I ordered the meal last night, I stressed how orders in the past were messed up, and I was assured that it would not happen this timeL. It did--no fried rice. Given the high price, one would think Daruma could provide competent service: Not so. Unfortunate. read more

Wait staff are excellent with exception of hostess. Chef very friendly but food although cooked fairly well was soso Better hibachi elsewhere in town. This place charges for fried rice? I tried their tempura which was acceptable. Shrimp and vegetables was decent. Negamaki was tasteless with no appropriate sauce. Overall I'll pass this place by in the future. Not worth the cost in my opinion read more

Meh...went here because it was near our hotel. We sat at the bar because we didn't want to wait for a table. Once we ordered it was just ok after that. The bartender was great and accommodating. However we overheard the employees talking about it being a slow day and what not. Which was odd because it took so long for my food to come. My partner had his food and finished before I even had mine. I ordered the Shrimp Udon Teriyaki and have honestly never had such a bland meal. The bottom of the bowl was water and maybe at some point teriyaki sauce touched it. I was so hungry after waiting so I ate it. But between that and hearing others at the bar being warned that food would take a while. Yet not busy? I will say tm food was piping hot just had no flavor. I appreciate that the bartender was sympathetic and tried to get us a discount on our meal. It was food and a meal after a long day of traveling. But I don't get how this place is a chain. read more

Waited 30 mins past. Place looked dirty everywhere and smelled like a wet dog that had been pissing on himself for a week. Smell got stronger as you went towards the kitchen. Decided to leave. read more

Durama is a wonderful place to take your family for some delicious food. Our four grandchildren and family loved the experience. The food prepared by the wonderful cook was excellent. The wonderful hostess at the front was so kind. Thank you to the rest of the staff for a good meal. read more

My family and I had dinner here last night and Anton, our hibachi chef, was amazing! He really did put on a show. The food was great. Service was great. Glad we came!! read more

Really enjoyed the sushi I had here!! Any roll was really good or looked really good. The drinks were not the best. The hibachi was good the show was certainly better but I feel like we got the "smaller" portion of food at our table. read more

Only eat here if you want to leave hungry Portions were tiny. Trust them when they say "petite" on their menu I ordered the shrimp teriyaki came out with 6 small shrimp My husband got the chicken teriyaki and it was about half a chicken breast and room temperature after waiting forever for our food. The Hibachi was closed our only option was to order off the menu. Nothing was memorable. I'll never return read more

Great food! You can get hibachi at lots of places. But the sushi is fresh and the staff is fast. Never had a bad meal here. The have a ton of rooms for the show. And is still a very quaint experience. read more

Some of the food was good. Gyoza and salads and some rolls were good. Tuna entree was sent back. Service was absolutely abysmal. She handed every dish across the table and across faces and never walked around to people or even said excuse me for reaching across everyone. Sushi rolls ordered with soy paper - waited forever and one was soy, one had seaweed. Ambiance was nice, live pianist read more

My family and I had a great time at Daruma celebrating my son's birthday . Great experience and great food. Our chef was extremely social and entertaining. Everything about our night was wonderful . read more

Daruma - Japanese Near Me - Fort Myers, Florida

This place is unprofessional we called to put a reservation for 8:30 and Bebe we hit there the horses we laughing saying that our reservation was canceled cause it was at 8 I told her no me and my older siblings called to confirmed that it was at 830 she was like nope and the other row hosted was just standing there in trynna to talk to her letting her know that no we called you told us we have 15 min graced been the manger stood there and didn't say Anything and I will never come bevel to this restaurant it was a family favorite. read more

This place has really gone downhill. The days of having a fun, interactive and delicious habachi experience are over. I have gone to this restaurant periodically for years and I'm sad to say I won't ever return. The staff is incredibly rude, they rush you through the entire meal, give you Togo boxes while you're still eating, don't ask if you want dessert or another drink before bringing the bill, they stand there waiting for you to pay and they even reset the table while you're still sitting there. We asked if we could do the birthday experience for someone in our party of 10, they said yes when we made the reservation and then said no when we got there. We were in and out in less than 45 minutes as two Bussers stood and stared at us to leave. We walked around the corner to McGregor's and that place was great as always! We will definitely be going there next time instead. read more

Food was good. My steak was cooked to perfection. Medium rare. Service was very good too. Great sunset special.