This was my first time trying hibatchi and we didn't know which place in Ocala to choose and seen this one and the parking lot was packed. We decided to give it a try. It was the best experience I've had a restaurant in a very long time. Not sure why there's mixed reviews because I have nothing bad to comment on. Everything was outstanding and perfect. We will definitely be back! read more

We went to celebrate my friends 91st birthday cause he loves when they cook in front of him. We brought a cake which they said they would bring out at the end of dinner. First complaint is they brought the soup and salad out at the same time. Our chef put in absolutely no show for us, he cracked one joke. We had a fun table even with a little boy there. He could have put on a fun show cooking as we all really wanted to get into it, but he just silently cooked. They then brought the cake out midway thru dinner. We were nowhere done eating. Shoved our bill at us. I was heading home after only being there one hour. We felt rushed and felt deprived of the experience that we were suppose to have. The only good thing was the food! Although they were very skimpy when it came to the vegetables, guess they were trying to save money! Extremely disappointed. read more

My husband and I go here for sushi, I have never had their hibachi so I can't speak for that. The sushi is great, many selections and always tastes fresh. They have the typical sushi rolls as well as several signature ones. I can never remember which ones we try but they all have been good! Reasonably priced as well. read more

This place was GREAT! I read the reviews and almost didn't come here. IGNORE THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS! The food was great and service excellent! read more

First time there and probably the last. Had Filet and Shrimp. They were actually good, but the fried rice, lo mein and veggies all tasted the same. Very little flavor other than the taste of the grill. Drinks were over priced and watery. Ordered strawberry daiquiri and a frozen margarita.. no slush. Very watery read more

I have eaten here a few times and always have great service followed by very good food. If there is one point I would give for better service is better attention to drink refills while the food is actually starting to be served. Other than that the atmosphere is always nice and quiet. The chefs try very hard to make each dinner session a show for the customers and food is good quality. read more

Great food, however this restaurant does not allow sharing for an extra charge like Grace Steak house or Tony Sushi. Me and my husband typically enjoy a couple of sushi rolls and Share a hibachi grill meal of steak and shrimp at Graces or Tony Sushi and still bring home left overs. TONIGHT we decided to try some place different and for the two of us to eat it costed $70.00 and we returned home with over one meal left simply because this restaurant does not allow sharing. I feel that I will most likely not choose this restaurant over Grace or Tony simply because the food is about the same in flavor and quality yet does not allow sharing for the small fee like Grace or Tony Sushi. However, they do offer a free meal with purchase of another within 7 days of your birthday. Grace offers a free meal with another meal on your actual birthday. GOOD IDEA YAMATO'S! read more

Worst sushi rolls ever! Extremely small rolls without any taste. Ordered Sunrise rolls which supposed to have tuna and fish but no signs of any of them. Extremely poor quality sushi rolls. It is shame getting charged $100 for meals for 3 persons with this poor quality. read more

Excellent food, great servers and our cook was fabulous. Our Cook was Very entertaining and every bit of the food was great!! Will definitely go back.. there were 11 in our party and everyone was satisfied with prices, food and service.. read more

I go here on a very regular basis with family and friend and never once have been disapointed. The servers are all very nice sledge give us the best servis , even some of my hard to deal with family members,. The food is outstanding from the soup to the salad, best ginger dressing iv ever had, to the meal it's self all cooked/prepared to perfection. read more

I absolutely love this place. I had been coming here since they opened and would come in often when I would visit from out of state and I'm glad to see it's still here after being gone for years. I always have a great time the staff is always friend and the drinks are so delicious. It's better than a lot of the other steak houses in the area read more

For the first time I chose a booth not the grill , I wanted my steak with no pink inside , it came with blood inside , rare . I took it for the dog he didn't take of my check , then I ordered fried cheese cake it was frozen I couldn't even put the fork through read more

I am honestly saddened to even be giving them a 1 star review now as I've been going here awhile now. We recently visited them for dinner just a party of 2 ( myself and my wife ) as we walked up to the door 30 minutes prior to closing they were just calling a party of 6 to be seated. There were 2 other individuals in the seats waiting on thier table as well. I politely walked up to the hostess ( a dark haired girl I didn't catch her name because she was quick to dismiss me ) she very rudely interrupted me before I could even finish my sentence and said " yeah we're not seating anymore tables tonight " then just totally acted like I wasn't even standing there. We left and went to Tony's Sushi only a few minutes away and they welcomed us with no problem even though they were 45 minutes from closing. They opened up a hibachi grill so that we could be seated as they were still very busy. They were very polite and made us feel as if we were welcome there and they appreciated us choosing them. I will now continue to take the few minutes longer trip to go to Tony's Sushi and Yamato unfortunately will not be getting my business anymore. read more

My family and I eat here on a regular basis. Always have good service and always have good food

Yamato should be ashamed of themselves for the lack of service. The sushi was served halfway through the hibachi entrees being eaten additionally one person in our party was not given their entree. This was brought to the attention of the hibachi cook but he never gave her meal. Finally after he dished out everyone else's food he said her food would come from the kitchen. When the dinner finally arrived everyone else was leaving or boxing up leftovers. It is a shame when you have a $600 tab and everyone doesn't get to eat together and the establishment doesn't even try to make it right! read more

Food and service was wonderful!! We have NO complaints! Food is definitely worth the price and a great place for BIRTHDAY fun!! Free meal on your birthday :) read more

We love coming here! Since you eat free on your birthday, we always choose this place. It's a tad bit expensive, but that's to be expected at any hibachi. The food is always good and the cook is always entertaining. Highly recommended read more

We came here on Saturday,December 27th. There were 2 grill tables seated in front of us. It took us an hour and a half to be seated and get a WATER! We had a party of 6. We were VERY disappointed!!!!! read more

Great experience for sushi! The two gentlemen working the sushi counter are very knowledgable and helpful if you are new to the sushi world. Can't wait to come back. read more

We sat at the grill tables. I ordered a beer and they brought me a warm can , no glass, after 15 min. I then ordered sushi and we never received it . All the food we ordered from the grill tasted the same as it was covered with a salty soy based sauce. Will never return as much better food / service out there read more

We decided to try Yamato because we had a coupon for $5 off $25 from our local Coupons for Education book. Unfortunately, we arrived to a nearly empty parking lot at lunch time, a first sign that something wasn't quite right. We entered the building, and the interior was dark and sparsely decorated. A waitress looked up when we entered but there was no greeting; instead she rolled her eyes at our arrival and looked annoyed. Then she went back to working on something near the bar. The host appeared but said it would be 35 - 40 minutes wait for a seat at the hibachi grill -- out of about 5 grill tables in the dining room, only 1 was occupied at the time. We were told it would be 5 minutes to wait for a booth, from which we could order grilled items that would be made in the kitchen. However, noodles were only complimentary at the grill tables and we would not be able to get them included in our meal if we chose the faster seating option. He seated another couple and pulled the phone out to answer it WHILE he escorted them to their seat. So unprofessional. The 5 minutes had come and gone, so I asked to see a menu. It was greasy to the touch and we saw that it was $17 for chicken and shrimp. (We have a hibachi/sushi place near our home that is excellent and will do an Early Bird Special for several dollars less, and includes soup, salad, rice, two proteins, AND noodles). We decided to walk out. Another couple followed quickly behind us. We threw out our coupons and will not return. Sadly I cannot comment on the food because service was so terrible we never even got to a seat. I feel that if I am to be charged the same rate as another customer, then I should receive the same menu items as that customer. I don't mind paying the higher price if service is good, but they weren't even trying. The bar area was dismal with one small TV visible from the waiting area. The host saw us leave and said nothing at all, just watched us walk away. I would at least have expected some attempt to keep a customer from walking out. We felt unappreciated and as if we were going to be ripped off for a subpar experience. My impression was of a failing business where the staff had given up. read more

The worst meal and service I have ever received here. I actually downloaded Yelp to leave a review. Our waitress was slow and I'm pretty sure she needed hearing aids because she really didn't hear much of anything we said and she was writing it down!!! My daughter and I ordered sushi. My husband ordered hot food and we were at a booth. Simple steak (medium) and chicken with rice and noodles. He got shoe leather in place of steak and chicken jerky. The rice was slightly off white with no flavor and the noodles had no flavor either. Both sushi orders came on the same plate with the waitress knowing it was for 2 people. Needless to say we ordered 2 completely different rolls which looked and tasted EXACTLY the same. My husband actually left the table to throw up as the waitress came to ask if he wanted a box! I got the check instead. He came back to tell me even the bathroom was too disgusting to vomit in! I have never paid a check so quickly in my life. We left hungry and disappointed. New owners? New staff? I don't know but something went wrong and someone needs to fIx it!! read more

Food was good. Service was good. Sushi was a great. My only real complaint is the forced 18% gratuity. I can understand if you come in with a group, but not for 2 people! Hibachi is always good and the chef's put on a good show! read more

It started okay, just a little colder then it should be for a restaurant, it's workable. So I was their with y step-daughter celebrating my birthday. The guy working the grill was excellent. Our waitress was taking salad and soup bowls away, when she spilled the entire soup in my lap. The manager offered a 5 dollar discount for my inconvenience. The other couples at our table felt as we did, that 5 dollars was not enough for me being uncomfortable and inconvenienced. We then requested to speak to the general manager. The general manager came out being rude. He really did not want to hear what we had to say. He made three comments (1) this happens all the time (2) the soup was not hot and (3) do you really think this is worth 44.00 ? We asked him so you mean to tell me your waitress do this all the time? How do you know how hot that soup was it did spill on you and no it's worth more then 44.00 dollars if you ask me. After all that when I got home I got sick and was sick all night. read more

Always a lot of fun, especially if you go with a big group of people! A birthday favorite for our whole family!! Never had a bad meal, drink or service. read more

Yesterday was probably 12th time my family and I have eaten here. I go for the sushi and the family loved the grill as usual. I've had sushi in most of the cities I travel to but, still I compare their fare to Yamato's. It's where we go when we have relatives or guests in town! read more

My wife and I have been to Yamato dozens of times. It has never disappointed us. Great staff from front of house to the sushi bar.

The food and service has dramatically gotten worse. Use to eat here a good bit. Due to work schedule hadn't in a while. Decided to eat here tonight and was a horrible decision. I should have known better when the first thing I ordered was a Japanese beer (in a Japanese restaurant) and waitress had no clue what I was talking about. Sushi came after they had started cooking. Had to remind staff that we got a salad with our dinner. It was like they took a little bit of ginger sauce and mixed it in a pitcher of water. Salad was soaking wet. When I started to eat the Sushi it was like eating a block of cream cheese. All the food was bland. The noodles were down right inedible. Only saving grace was the cook. He was very helpful in getting us refills and salads. He was very nice and outgoing. read more

My wife and I ate at Yamato this afternoon, and the experience was awful. After the server took our order and delivered the drinks, they never returned throughout the meal to clean off the salad dishes or ask if we needed more to drink. That was bad enough, but the table side chef did a terrible job with the cooking. The steak and shrimp were overcooked, and the scallops were under cooked. He also used way to much soy sauce (the rice was dark brown), and did not correctly portion the servings. read more

Don't waste your time. We were excited to go but ended up very disappointed. I had the seafood combo - shrimp was dry and rubbery, scallops were gritty and sandy, and the lobster tasted as if it had been soaking in bleach - really! Food was horrible and we couldn't eat it. Service was non-existent. Chef was ok - not much of a personality or "show". A huge waste of money and time. Yuck. read more

It's not about the food. They advertise a free meal for your birthday, but beware, if the person(s) who go with you order a less expensive meal, they will get theirs for free and you pay. I'm just saying that seems like false advertising to me. I asked to speak to the manager and she was "smart" with me, saying it's buy one get one and the less expensive one is free. They can forget about me as a customer in the future. read more

My fiancee and i went on my birthday, her treat, to yamato for the free birthday dinner. We were excited and i had never been. The waitress took a long time to take our order after our drinks were brought to us. We both ordered the same thing, each would cost $22 before the discount birthday dinner. So, we finally get our food and find out that the menu says the dinner comes with noodles, but it doesnt say onlt if sit at a hibachi table. So we order an extra side of noodles and they were HORRENDOUS. Inedible, rubbery noodles. The chicken looked fake. The steak was way overdone. The fried rice was bland and the shrimp sauce tasted cheap. But we were relieved that the water was tasty. *sigh* so when we get the check, for a $22 meal, it came out be $36. They charged us $3 for that tiny side. And what they dont tell you is that they charge you a MANDATORY 18% tip on your card, if you are paying by card. Our service was awful and did not want to tip that much. No manger was anywhere in sight to complain to. So, just wanting to get out of there a fast as possible, we just split the check on both of our cards and hightailed it out of there. Ugh, now i feel sick and feel as though i wasted my time and money on this terrible, terrible restaurant. Lesson learned, i guess. Wouldnt wish this place on my enemies. read more

I have eaten there a few times and will never go back! I stopped in for a late lunch with a friend and we ordered from the dinner menu. Another family joined the table and ordered from the lunch menu. When the meat portions came out they were stacked up and all the exact same size. The rice and veggies were also the exact same portion. We all had soup and salad. I dont ever complain and I have never written a review for a restaurant before and it's not like I havent had bad food or service before but this takes the cake and worthy of my time to review! When I complained the Manager said we were lying. The other couple even spoke up and told the manager the meats came out stacked and they were the exact same size and they couldnt believe we were paying $7 more for each meal for the EXACT SAME MEAL! I wouldnt care about paying more if we got more which is WHY we asked for the dinner meal. I have been there for dinner a few times and always took home leftovers because the potion was large enough for lunch the next day. This "dinner" was NOT the same as the dinner plate I normally get so they gave us both a lunch portion and charged us for the dinner amount and then denied it. The manager did remove $5.00 off the bill but I still ended up paying $9.00 over what I should have and the fact that the manager called us all liars (even the other couple who spoke up) telling us we are wrong, is just uncalled for. Not a good idea to screw customers in a small town, that's not how you remain in business. read more