Maki Hibachi used to be a go-to restaurant for both myself and my family, which makes writing this…read morereview particularly disappointing. Unfortunately, our last several experiences, both dining in and ordering takeout, have fallen extremely short of what we once enjoyed.
About a month or 2 go, we ordered four hibachi meals for takeout. Two were incorrect order and we were missing extra sides of fried rice and noodles. To make matters worse, the hot meals were packaged alongside the salads, leaving the lettuce warm and wilted to the point of being inedible. When I called, I was offered a remake of the two incorrect meals. However, when I later attempted to redeem that offer, it was not honored. Frustrating, but I decided to let it go.
Fast-forward to yesterday as
our most recent visit. We decided to give Maki Hibachi another chance and celebrate a family birthday locally with a party of seven.
The restaurant itself has a nice interior and a welcoming atmosphere. However, it's almost always extremely busy, and while we've experienced slower service here before, this particular visit was significantly worse than usual.
As for the food, there were some positives. The garlic edamame was really good and something I would recommend. Unfortunately, the crab Rangoon spring rolls were a completely different story. At $9 for just three very small spring rolls, the value was disappointing. I couldn't taste any crab whatsoever, and between the portion size and lack of crab flavor, this appetizer was absolutely not worth the price. It's definitely something I would not order again or recommend.
For our main meals, we ordered several hibachi combinations, two children's meals, additional noodles and fried rice, and sushi. The sushi, which we ordered before our entrées, somehow didn't arrive until after we had finished eating. At that point, we sent one roll back and let the birthday boy enjoy his.
Our extra noodles were noticeably smaller portions than on previous visits, and the additional fried rice never arrived. Requests for extra sauces also took an unreasonable amount of time.
Unfortunately, the biggest disappointment was the service. Throughout dinner, our table remained cluttered with stacked dirty dishes and trash. We were left reusing the same few napkins because, despite requesting additional napkins twice, they never arrived. Drink refills required multiple requests, and a refill requested to-go was never provided. Our waitress was largely absent unless delivering food.
I understand that restaurants get busy, especially when managing larger parties. However, if a server is overwhelmed, management should provide adequate support rather than allowing the guest experience to suffer. Being busy is understandable; consistently overlooking basic service needs is not.
Unfortunately, things didn't improve when the bill arrived. Several charges needed correcting, and the menu prices did not match what we were being charged. When I pointed out the discrepancies and an item we never received, the interaction became unnecessarily argumentative. I even offered to have them check the cameras above our table to verify that the missing fried rice was never delivered.
After spending over $250, I was especially frustrated when our waitress made a point of telling us gratuity was automatically included, despite nobody asking. Automatic gratuity for larger parties is understandable, but it should never come at the expense of attentive service. I couldn't help but wonder whether knowing gratuity was guaranteed contributed to the lack of attention throughout our meal.
My feedback to management: Please update your menus to reflect accurate pricing, improve order accuracy and takeout packaging, reconsider the portion sizes and value of certain appetizers, ensure promised resolutions are honored, and provide additional support when servers are handling multiple large parties.
This restaurant used to be somewhere I genuinely enjoyed bringing my family. The atmosphere is still nice, and there are menu items worth enjoying, such as the garlic edamame. However, the repeated mistakes, inconsistent portions, poor service, and lack of accountability have completely changed my impression.
At this point, I don't see myself returning for quite some time unless these issues are genuinely addressed. I also can't confidently recommend Maki Hibachi based on our recent experiences, particularly for larger groups. Smaller parties may have a better experience, but unfortunately, that hasn't been the case for us.
It's disappointing to see a longtime family favorite fall this far short of the standards that originally kept us coming back.