Soooooo come here a lot and have slowly seen a decrease in service, portions, and quality. Drive thru: slow, inaccurate, but there is one awesome guy who makes up for it. Dine in: apparently you have to be a young fit male to get attention here. Our waitress hasn't even been to the table. Someone else has been checking on us. This isn't the first time this has happened here either. Had to talk to the manager, he was kinda rude. Was suppose to get a free meal for the last mess up, I got 2.00's off instead b/c he had no clue. Wasn't going to argue, but they need customer service boot camp & to stop being skimpy. The kids meal had more food than the over cooked steak bento box we ordered. My noodles, were over done, and so was my broccoli. All in all I would say not happy, and probably won't be back any time soon. Which is sad, I loved this place. read more

My new favorite spot for a quick Japanese fix. Their sushi rolls are spot on and the prices aren't half bad either! Lovely waitresses and fast services. Hibachi meals are wonderful, got the chicken and fried rice this time around. If you're in a hurry and want some sushi: these guys are my go-to. Love it! read more

Sake Express - Japanese Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

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Good, cheap, delicious sushi. Nothing super fancy or inventive going on here. They do have the basics for like $6 so not too shabby!!! Similar to what you'd get at a publix deli. I will say some things are pricey. I got this fruity tuna salad that was a little pricey. The portions are a bit small but it's probably hard to get seafood out here in the middle of nowhere hahaha. So I was like okay I would recommend. I ordered takeout the service was extremely fast. No wait. Perfect for a person who wants to grab something fresh but not spend a bunch of money!!! I will definitely be back here. read more

Sake Express - 1/2 The mango salad. Pretty small portion size for the $15. I would eat it again but not if I'm buying lol if that makes sense. - Japanese Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

I went here a couple times. So far I love the bagel roll and Philadelphia roll sushi. Their hibachi chicken and vegetable trays are decent as well the carrots are the best part. read more

I placed an order removing mushrooms from one order and add them to another order. I've ordered this way for years and never had a problem. Today, they called wanting to charge me extra. I asked to speak with a manager and they put a younger kid on the phone. They took care of my order. This is poor customer service! The food is okay, but we won't be back anytime soon. read more

Why is there never any teriyaki sauce on the meat???? Meat is terribly tough, ugh! After waiting 30 minutes in drive thru!!! Asked for fried rice, this is NOT fried rice, just white rice! The quality of the food is way below the price! read more

Sake Express - Japanese Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

This place just isn't what it was like before to relocated to this new location. Took a friend there a couple days ago for lunch. The portions have gotten smaller and the rice is still undercooked. The staff don't seem to make much effort like before. (Maybe I'm not tipping enough ). I really could done of the time deal with that. But dang!!! Can they at least roll the sushi a little tighter so it doesn't fall apart when I pick it up. read more

Sake Express - Japanese Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

Always the best! Prices and choices are fantastic. Lots of options. They serve sushi but didn't order it. Ginger sauce and shrimp sauce available when ordering. All the great things a Japanese steak house would have just not the Hitachi grill. (good for kids or 1st dates lol) Tapanyaki noodles with chicken very good and lots of food. Hitachi filet cooked perfectly. Egg roll was a spring roll and fresh and yummy. Service was fast and polite! Will come back again and again read more

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Last night around 9:30 I came here and ordered two spicy tuna rolls to go. I worked at a sushi restaurant before and always ate this same exact roll. As soon as I opened the bag, I could tell something was off. It smelled terrible. I thought maybe that's just how their fish smells, because it looked like a pretty regular spicy tuna roll. As soon as I started eating, my tongue got a little swollen and numb. The roll was way spicier than I'm used to so I thought maybe that was why, so I ate a few more pieces. About an hour later my entire face was bloodshot red, as well as my eyes, ears, arms and chest. My face and ears were very swollen. I started feeling extremely warm and my arms were tingling, going numb. My boyfriend wanted me to go to the hospital because I've never had an "allergic reaction" before and I'm not allergic to anything. I was in the emergency room for about 2 1/2 hours. They had to give me three different types of medicine and two steroids. I eventually threw up and the redness went down a lot. They told me that the raw fish was either stored at the wrong temperature causing food poisoning, or that they prepped the fish with some type of preservative that wasn't right and made my body react that way. I'm not allergic to anything and I never have been. I would not suggest eating sushi from here!! This was my first and LAST time ordering anything from Sake. read more

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I really miss when this place was good. I just spent 30 dollars to eat the most flavorless and dry teriyaki steak I've ever had. It's pretty frustrating bc I can't just drive back up to the restaurant and ask for it to be remade. My jaw hurts from chewing. Wheres the teriyaki flavor? So over it with Sake. read more

We ate dinner here on Saturday night. First time going here. The place was very busy but we got our dinner in a timely fashion. It's not your traditional Japanese restaurant, but the food is great. Big portions, big enough that we had left overs. The staff was friendly and helpful. We will be going back. read more

My friend ate here last night, mind you she's as healthy as can be. No known shrimp allergies, She ate the SHRIMP SUSHI and got FOOD POISONING her symptoms red hot itchy ears, stomach hot to the touch, drooling, extreme tummy pains, and chills. read more

My rating is relative to the service, not the food. Here's what I had to say and I am deeply disappointed by this manager's response. She needs some lessons in courtesy, customer care and respect: "So I found this restaurant I love a couple months ago, the food is #delish but the customer service could use some improvement. And it's not the employees that are rude, it is management. I go there practically every week. I generally order the same thing but each time it comes back a different way. So I made an effort to bring it to the attention of the BIG BOSS - Lisa. She offered to remake my order, however, I attempted to explain that I was running late for work and could not wait any longer as I had been waiting for 20 minutes already. So she cut me off mid sentence and stated, "Well maybe you should just go to another restaurant." My response, "So that's your take on it?" "Yes since you won't let us remake etc.," Then she just walked off. I spend no less than $15 each visit. She was rude as rude gets. And that's really sad that she didn't even hear me out or provide an alternative. So yes I will find a new & better spot Ms. Lisa. " I spent almost $25 there today FOR LUNCH. And she was completely rude and disrespectful. I worked in customer service for more than 25 years; I'd like to take her through my classes and train her. It's not enough to be able to run a business, you should care about the people who keep you in business. My profile is public. And many people follow me for advice and food recommendations. I won't say I'll never go there again because I really do LOVE the food, but the manager is disrespectful. So, it will be an extremely long time before I visit there again. Dr. Angel Miller read more

We've had Sake Express twice in the past two weeks, once to go and once delivered by Door Dash. Both times were a mixed bag. The to-go order today was for hibachi veggies and two orders of clear onion soup. The veggies were fine, but since they don't offer a large soup, we got two small ones. When we got it home we were very disappointed to find that both soup containers were less than half full. When poured together they didn't even fill one container all the way. The soup was good, but it feels like a bit of a rip off. The previous order was for Hibachi veggies and Hibachi chicken with no mushrooms, add broccoli. When it arrived the veggies were fine, but the chicken was just dry chicken and broccoli with no sauce whatsoever. I ended up heating it in a skillet with a little oil and soy sauce, which was better than the normal Sake food, so maybe I'm on to something. read more

Sake Express - Japanese Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

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Food can be good if u can ever get it. Takeout only and a nightmare drive thru service makes this place off our list. Such a small parking lot and inefficient service. read more

Drive through system is a mess and there is no drive thru menu currently posted. The person standing in the parking lot did not have a menu And told me that if I pulled around to the window and asked for a menu I would be able to order at the window. When I pulled up to the window I was told that I would have to put my order in with the people standing in the parking lot. However there is no entrance back into the parking lot once you've been through the drive-through, the lane only exits into traffic... so... I guess I'm just not eating here today read more

I didn't get everything I ordered and paid for. Food was not the same as other locations.

This place is dirty! They have waitress and the entire time I was eating nobody cleaned this table. They were not busy and the waitress were huddled talking. The chicken taste like rubber! Yuck flavorless food. read more

Sake Express - This place is dirty! They have waitress and the entire time I was eating nobody cleaned this table. - Japanese Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

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For an express hibachi place I was very surprised that the food was good. Shrimp sauce is thinner than what I typically get but taste did the job. Will be coming back to try other items next time. read more

Sake Express - Japanese Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

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I just got home with my order. I ordered the salmon noodles. They gave me the salmon and veggies but forgot the noodles! WTH?! I'm so disappointed. read more

We ordered filet mignon medium one evening through the drive-thru. Our steak was charred black an inedible. I called the store and told the lady who answered what happened. She asked if I could come back and I told her no that would be too inconvenient. She took down my name and told me that on our next visit they would make it right for us. Fast forward to our next visit and they wouldn't give us our food because we didn't have a receipt. My question to them was why have a policy if your employees don't know how to enforce it? I would've gladly kept my receipt if she had instructed me to do so. Sake has lost a longtime customer. We'll take our business elsewhere. read more

They're steak and shrimp hibachi is super delicious! Always good quality food and fast service.

Hit or miss food. Sometimes it is awesome other times it is tough and small portions. The prices are a little high for the amount of food they give you. I feel like you get more and better quality food if you eat inside. Everytime we order to go or do the drive through it's either not right or small portions compared to going inside. read more

This is the first time I've had the sushi there and I was unimpressed. Also had hibachi chicken and rice and found the chicken to be dry. Usually one of my favorite meals but not thrilled with it today. read more

Food was not good. I ordered medium done steak and it came extra crispy. The chicken was not cooked well. The only thing good about this plate was the carrots which were sweet everything else was trash. Ill definitely not be ordering from here again. read more

Sake Express - Chicken - Japanese Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

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Their food is always good and cooked to just the right way. I love the shrimp sauce that they give you! This location is always busy every time I've been here (around dinner time). The drive through sometimes does take a while to get your food out to you, and often they will have you pull in one-of-two spots to wait for your food. It is worth it though because it's hot and freshly cooked when you get it! read more

Sake Express - Chicken Teppanyaki Noodles (takeout) - Japanese Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

Ordered from DoorDash, asked to substitute broccoli for carrots. They called and said it would be $3.00 extra to add broccoli as a side. I didn't want broccoli as a side, I can't eat carrots so needed to replace. This has been done for me without a charge in the restaurant yet online they call to charge extra. I cancelled the order. $3.00 to substitute broccoli really !! If it was a protein I would understand but vegetable for vegetable. Even worse is how rude the girl was on the phone with me! No customer service at all ! Must be nice to have business where customer service is not important! read more

Sake Express is an interesting concept that my in-laws have fallen love with in Gastonia, NC, close to their hometown of Charlotte. When we visited with them we were struck by the fact that they have a drive-thru--through which you can order SUSHI!! So cool! They seemed to have some really affordable specials and the dishes on their menu ranged in price from $8-17. If you're dining in, you order your food upfront as you would at a fast food restaurant then you sit down (self-serve seating) and wait until a server brings it to your table. The interior of the restaurant was very clean and tidy and they have plentiful seating. The thing I liked most was their booths...they're huge! The booth we chose for the four of us could've easily have seated 10, making it a great place to have lunch with a bunch of co-workers or perhaps a birthday celebration. The food was served very quickly. I'd ordered two of their rolls and one of them was pretty good but the other one had a strange after-taste that I didn't like at all. My in-laws were treating so I didn't want to make a fuss by sending it back so I just kinda forced it down LOL. I also thought the size of the rolls were pretty small. My wife enjoyed her rolls and her sake as well but it was my in-laws' food that was the best. They both ordered hibachi plates and let us try them and they were delicious! The meat and veggies were tender and it was all very tasty. If we visited Sake Express again I know what I'll be ordering for sure. read more

Had the privilege of stopping in for a lunch and was very pleased. I ordered a salad with some side order of steamed veggies. It was delivered in a very timely manner, and the food was very good. The service at the cash register was excellent, the waitress staff was A plus excellent, Very attentive, and very cordial. This location, Gastonia, seems to have everything working exactly the way that it should. The gals that on this place, the family, should be very proud of whatThey have been able to accomplish. This will be one of our to go places in the near future. read more

They must have changed something on the grill because the food had no taste at all. It used to be great but something has changed. The last two times I have eaten there it was terrible. I had hibachi chicken and steak, zucchini, and onions. Absolutely no taste. Very disappointed. read more

This is my favorite fast food place in Gastonia. The food is very fresh and cooked to order. There are lots of selections from chicken ,steak, shrimp , and scallops with choices of sides. You can do combos ,too. My favorite is the scallop and filet low carb combo. I get the steak med rare and shrimp sauce for the scallops. The scallops are the big ones ,too. I get broccoli to replace the rice. Fast service inside and from drive through window. Very casual and very clean. Sometimes they offer a coupon on groupon. read more

Dined here with a companion recently. I ordered hibachi shrimp with broccoli and carrots. The food was tasty enough. Drinking sweet tea with my meal actually gave me enough food for two meals. The decor was modern and interesting though I didn't care for the color scheme or the close fit of the tabled booths. I also didn't like not being able to get my own drink. All in all, I would return if I was in the mood for hibachi shrimp. read more

Sake Express - I wish I could quit you but I can't. I had seen Sake Express for years but hadn't eaten here until a few years ago when my daughter came home and demanded that we go. We are now complete slaves to the Sake and LOVE their food. Typically I get the Chicken Teriyaki but sometimes I get Chicken and Cabbage or the Bento Box meal. I had the Scallops once and I can't believe I have resisted having them again. In all, you will become addicted to Sake if you try it. We introduced another friend to it and now he is on the Sake Express train. read more

There food is the best and it never disappoints and you could do for shrimp sauce and then pour it it is so good and the employees are nice too read more

December 5, 2021 Sunday afternoon, I received my food from door dash and was highly disappointed in the food and the disrespectful customer service me and my family received when we called the restaurant. I ordered 5 boxes of food and only received 3 boxes and out of those 3 boxes none of the boxes had any shrimp sauce in them. Therefore, my family could not even eat what we received. My wife called the restaurant from where the food was prepared, in Gastonia, NC and the female manager there was so rude to my wife that I had to call back. I told the manager what was going on in a more direct way, but she did not want to listen and kept trying to over talk me with disrespectful communication and even began screaming saying it wasn't her or the restaurants fault and that it was Door Dash. When I told her that it was the restaurants responsibility to make sure the food was correct in the bags. Door Dash just picks up the bags and delivers. She screamed "Whatever" and hung the phone up on me. We eat and order from the Gastonia location on a weekly basis and have been doing so for years, but we have never had any issues like this at all. I am not sure where the phone is located in the restaurant but I am sure other employees and even other customers in the restaurant heard the female manager's disrespectful communication and unprofessionalism. This manager in no way shape or form should have any type of leadership role in a restaurant or any type of position where she is expected to deliver exceptional customer service to the public. With more training and coaching she would be able to handle the position she is in now but until then you will continue to have complaints from long time or even short time customers. As an established restaurant, I hope you would be able to handle this incident. read more

Great customer service, quick and efficient drive through, good sushi options for the person on the go or in need of a quick hibachi fix!

Stopped by for dinner and tried teriyaki chicken and Dynamite roll. Food taste was OK. Ambience was good and staff were very kind and receptive. Service was fast. Dine in and Drive through available. Great place for lunch I guess. read more

Sake Express - Teriyaki Chicken and Dynamite Roll - Japanese Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

The meals and sushi we ordered left lot to be desired. Small portions than expected. We don't think we are going to order from this place.

Best Fast food in town. The hibachi chicken with Mushrooms is incredible. The shrimp sauce would make anything taste great.

I come here often for lunch. Probably too much. I've only ordered maybe 3-4 things on the menu. I usually stick with my favorite-the Dragon Roll. It's pricey but so good! I've never eaten in, I call ahead and go back to my office. I deducted 1 star because they have a practice of - instead of answering the phone when they're busy - they will just disconnect the call. So, you call and it rings and rings. No one answers and the next thing you know the call is disconnected. So you have to call back several times to get anyone to answer. Other than that the employees for the most part are nice and friendly. There's this one young teenage girl however who always appears to have a scowl on her face at the register. It's a shame because she's beautiful. I wrote on the tip line once "smile more and maybe you'll get more tips". Dunno if it worked. The next time I saw her she was still scowling. read more