We went for lunch on a Tuesday afternoon arriving around 11:45, there was no waiting and only one Hibachi table seated. The hostess was extremely rude upon entering. She hatefully stated that our small party would not be seated until all persons were IN the building, which is understandable, and I told her my husband was parking the car, would be here shortly and she said very loudly... "Well, you will just have to wait!" No one was in front of or behind us at the time. I didn't mind waiting but her attitude was not acceptable. My husband arrived about a minute later and we were seated immediately. No words were spoken and she returned to the front door. This was a very bad first impression and we considered leaving but had good service in the past and decided to stay. Our waitress Lorah A. was outstanding! She took our orders very quickly and the food was brought out in a very timely manner. The cook was a great, making conversation with every person at the table. The food was good for the price, however part of my fried rice had several large clumps of cold rice mixed in that we're not edible. There was plenty to eat and we still had leftovers to take home. Overall a good experience but the hostess at the front door needs an attitude adjustment. It set the tone for a bad lunch experience, but the sweet disposition of the waitress and the hibachi made up for her!

Sam

I’ve been coming here for years and I always enjoy getting their bento boxes. However, the last several times it wasn’t as good as before. The salmon portion is getting smaller and thinner. The sauces taste different and weird yet the price for the bento box went up to almost $21. It’s no longer worth it.

Jeanne. Marie G

Went for lunch there were plenty of open tables and a large bar. Place seemed a little outdated which matched the food 😄 The Sake was good and so were the DosEquis. My water cup was filthy so I didn't drink it. The mushroom soup had a real odd taste to it, seemed like it had beef broth or old leftover fried onion rings in it. The salad came with the dressing already on it which was funky and looked to be curdled. We didn't eat it and really wish he would have asked if we wanted it before bringing it. I ordered chirashi plate. The rice was fantastic and most of the fish was decent. Some of the fish you could tell was not fresh so here is to hoping I don't get sick. Also they put so much parsley on as a garnish. Like I said outdated.. we are not in the 80s anymore. I took a pic with it on and off. It definitely looks better without it, I mean it has enough color already so Save some money, water and plants and just don't use it. The sushi roll I ordered was decent, did not have enough eel in it for my taste but it was good. My husband gas the hibachi and 2 rolls. He was stuffed lol. He said the hibachi was decent. I tried both of his rolls, one had no flavor whatsoever and the other was decent. This plates were so worn out along with the tables and chairs. This place needs some major updating. I think if we got rid of the parsley that would be a great first step. The server we had was super nice. 👌

+5

Sat at the counter a for quick meal. There is a koi pond directly behind and other diners allowed their children to scream and taunt the fish making the atmosphere miserable for dining. The staff did nothing. I actually had to turn around and ask the kids if they could maybe not YELL indoors.

Joelle Tindal

Unfortunately, after trying better Japanese restaurants in Lubbock, the novelty of being served hibachi-style doesn't outweigh the disappointing quality of the food. I ordered bento box A, which comes with teriyaki salmon, tuna and salmon sushi or sashimi, shrimp shumai, and vegetable and shrimp tempura. My issues with the items: the salmon was overcooked and chewy and lukewarm, the sashimi was fine but the tuna felt recently defrosted and very wet(?), the tempura was cold by the time my meal arrived (even if they were wanting to bring everyone in my party's food at the same time and the tempura was cooked earlier, this was disappointing to receive), and the shrimp tempura was done in a different style with panko breadcrumbs as opposed to typical tempura breading. Aside from that not being my preference, this did not taste fresh and the shrimp was sadly tough and chewy. Not sure if the issues with the temperature of my items was due to lacking service or the cooks not timing things properly, but compared to places like Hokkaido and Yanagi which clearly prepare their food fresh, have better flavor, and serve customers quickly (for the same price!), Hayashi was subpar. Fun atmosphere, but definitely not where I am going for quality Japanese food in the city.

Jennifer Peiser

This is our favorite place to go to treat ourselves for a meal. We went on a Saturday at 2:30 in the afternoon. Food was okay but definitely not what we are used to. This would have been fine if we didn’t have the worst server ever. He was rude and did a terrible job. No refilled our drinks, completely ignored the table behind us. They were steady but no busy but all the bar and several tables were sitting dirty. Staff was too busy watching a football game. Very disappointed for a $75 lunch. Not the experience we usually have.

Randi Brackett

I don’t even know how to say it, we have always been huge fans of this restaurant. The service and atmosphere were really disappointing. After waiting for over 20 minutes to be acknowledged after being sat at our table by a hostess, we still waited over 30+ minutes for our sushi to be served. Took over 2 hours (including wait time) for sushi on a Monday night. Restaurant was full, but we had 2 servers walking right in front of our table the whole time. We had to get our own drinks from the bar, the restroom was in disrepair (I fixed a gross toilet) and we were never visited by management to address the shortcomings of the staff. One of the servers did offer to buy a round of drinks for us, that was kind of him. I don’t know what has happened to this location in the last 3 months, but until the management and service is addressed, we won’t be back.

Olive Tree

Arrived at this location around 11:30 on a Sunday and it was quite busy. Looks like a happening place. I was told that there would be a 15 to 20 minute wait, which I was okay with because I had enough time. 25 minutes later I get set up my table right across from the bar and my server came up to me and took my drink order and came back to the table fairly quickly with my drink and to take the rest of my order. I ordered the hibachi steak and the server asked me how I would like my steak cooked and he went back to the kitchen to turn in my order. 30 minutes later he returns to my table with a salad and some broth and says I'm so sorry.I forgot and proceeds to tell me that my meal should be coming out any minute that they were waiting on fresh rice. Nearly 20 minutes after that, he brings a meal to my table, and it is not at all what I ordered and by that time, I was already out of time because I had an engagement scheduled for 2 o'clock. I can't rate the food.Unfortunately, because I was not able to eat.What I ordered however the salad and the sauce on top of the salad was amazand the broth was really good. I just wish that I had had the opportunity to try what I had actually ordered and I probably would have given a better review.

Lance Davis

If you want sushi, fine. If you want hibachi fun, go anywhere else. We came here to celebrate my daughter’s 15th birthday and left very disappointed. The sushi was great, but that’s where the positives ended. Our hibachi chef barely engaged—no fun, no show, just cooked and left. Drinks ran empty multiple times, service was slow, and the noodles never came until after the meal (cold and clearly sitting under a lamp). The worst part was the birthday. Instead of helping us celebrate, the server dropped our cake in the box on a cluttered table with plates and a knife, then walked away. No cleanup, no effort, no acknowledgment. We had to sing to our daughter ourselves while staff ignored us. We’ve celebrated birthdays at many hibachi restaurants, but this was by far the worst experience. Great sushi, decent steak, but the service and atmosphere were terrible. We won’t be back.

Sarai Devora

If I could rate this place, a zero, I would. We gave them an opportunity despite seeing that they already had an issue with the table behind us due to the order not coming out in a timely manner, we were there over an hour, and the food had still not come out. They were sitting people down, attending them and serving them before us. That were there after us. The drinks are horrible. Will never come back.

Stephanie Jones

Im a Texas Tech student, so I don't get to eat Hibachi very often. My family came out from town from San Antonio, so I mentioned Hayashi ( my friends have been raving about it ). They told me that they have great sushi, hibachi and very entertaining chefs. So my family and I decided try to it. We came on a Saturday night, which was busy, (Understandable). We waited for over an hour, because the hostess said they were running behind. After an hour, we finally sat at a Hibachi table, and every thing just felt rushed. The cooked didn't speak to us, no entertainment, and overall not the show we signed up for. The waitress didn't bring our sushi for over 40 minutes, and blamed it on the Sushi chefs, saying they "took their time." We asked the Hibachi chef his name, and he didn't acknowledge my question. He was a tall Mexican cook. Overall it felt extremely disrespectful, and was very embarrassing for my family to witness.

Soriah Smith

We came to this place as it has been our favorite go to place in lubbock for sushi and hibachi last night. The experience this time was horrible. We waited almost 2 hours to get in because they said that they were understaffed last night, which was understandable because it was a Friday night. BUT.....we were skipped to be seated multiple times because there was a chinese lady in the podium directing traffic to the hostesses and you can tell she didn't know what she was doing. 2 hours later and we finally sat down on the hibachi table and we asked for one of the brothers but we were told that none of them no longer worked there. I told my husband that we can go ahead and eat somewhere else but he insisted that we stick around and try it because we waited long enough. Our cook did not speak to us except for checking the order. The food was terrible and the service was by far the worst we've ever experienced here at hayashi. Management at this place has gone down hill and it doesn't look like it's going to be better anytime soon. We will be taking our business somewhere else from here on out. We will miss the brothers cooking, specially with the sauces they make. There is no more quality service here in our opinion, try at your own risk.

Heather Hamilton

More of a PSA so you don’t run into the same issue we did. They no longer offer lunch specials on Fridays and don’t let you know when ordering and are still given the lunch menu. My teenager daughter and her friends went in to eat and their bills were each about $10-$12 higher than expected when ordering. Their online menu does not reflect their price increases. The lunch menu showed $17.99, online 22.99 and was charged 26.99.