Hibachi Express Highland City image

Hibachi Express Highland City

Restaurant Japanese restaurant

😠 Absolutely stay away from this restaurant. We got our food and it was cold. My spider roll was burned. When I called back to tell them we would like a new order, they refused saying they would lose money. WHAT?? Terrible customer service. The real manager would not even get on the phone and made his... People often mention sushi, order, time, lunch, chicken, service, good, rice, ordered, steak,


Address

5209 US Hwy 98 S, Lakeland, FL 33812

Website

highland.hibachijapaneseexpress.com

Contact

(863) 619-8886

Price rating

$$ $$

Rating on Google Maps

4.30 (619 reviews)

Open on Google Maps

Featured Reviews


Frequently mentioned in reviews: sushi (25) order (18) time (13) lunch (11) chicken (11) service (10) good (10) rice (10) ordered (9) steak (9)
Reviews are sorted by relevance, prioritizing the most helpful and insightful feedback at the top for easier reference.
  • 1/5 Stephen P. 10 months ago on Google
    Absolutely stay away from this restaurant. We got our food and it was cold. My spider roll was burned. When I called back to tell them we would like a new order, they refused saying they would lose money. WHAT?? Terrible customer service. The real manager would not even get on the phone and made his shift manager handle the complaint. Good leadership. There was a teenage boy working that had no idea what was going on. Our food sat for 15 minutes and then he was like ohhh duh here's your food. DO NOT eat here. They don't deserve the business at all.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 2/5 Gabriela S. 10 months ago on Google
    Was so excited to finally get some sushi and what a let down. First I was surprised no one knew what was going on. I asked if that one was mine and instead of checking assumed it wasn't. I doubted because of how small the bag was. I ordered 2 specialty rolls and one regular one. It was. It was my food.. Shocked that $36 of sushi fit in one tiny little container. I'm not even full off that. Also, never had a cold tempura shrimp roll so there's that too. How do I get my money back, Hibachi Express?? I'm so sad. I don't get to splurge on treats often so its a let down when its not up to par!
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Jason F. 1 year ago on Google
    Always a fantastic visit, excellent food and service. The sushi menu is a huge variety. All the hot food is always fresh. The restaurant is always clean with a comfortable atmosphere.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Raegan L. 3 years ago on Google
    Mmmm need a sushi place that isn’t going to break the wallet but is still really tasty? Well, I welcome you to Hibachi Express!! Really, their sushi is so affordable it’s fantastic, and that’s coming from a current broke college kid. Not only is their sushi pretty darn good for the price, but they have a lot of other great Thai/ Asian food as well, like lo mein, shrimp, and rice combos that are also yummy options. I’ve gone a couple times and I have a lot of friends who love this place. Also, one time I came in at 9 pm, when they were supposed to close at 930, so I felt bad and was worried they maybe wouldn’t serve me since it was so close to their closing time. But they were more than happy and got me exactly what I wanted still with a smile on their face! There were even more people who came in later than me, around 915 and they were still served just like normal. That just really impressed me because so many places will start shutting down an hour or so before closing and they’ll get really defensive if you come in close to closing time, but nah these guys are different and awesome! Highly recommend for my sushi people!
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 1/5 M W. 2 years ago on Google
    Sushi is for fish, not beef! Not Healthy! The steak was only cooked on the outside. Raw cold beef on the inside.I had to bring it up and wait for them to cook it. No sorry, no nothing. Now everyone was done when I got served. Felt ill after biting into raw cold beef. Again, no apologies or anything. See the pic. You can see they don't care and don't respond.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 1/5 Jeremy D. 1 year ago on Google
    Had a very lackluster first-time dinner experience at Teriyaki Madness in Highland City Lakeland. We came with another couple on a Friday night for take-out. About half-way home they called my cell and said they got one of our sides wrong, no big deal to me but they asked us to turn around and bring it back! No compensation for our trouble, they just wanted the side back so they could give it to the customer who ordered it! They came out to the car with our correct side dish and switched it out - That's a little concerning to me as we could have done anything to that original side dish while in the car on the way home, I hope they didn't really give it to the customer. Standard procedure would be to bring us the correct side and let us keep the wrong order which we have already have in our possession for 15 minutes by now. Really makes me wonder, what else they do behind closed doors. To make matters worse when we finally got home to eat our food it was cold and everyone's steak was dry and tough. The Miso Soup tasted like it was scooped out of a nearby lake, heated in a microwave and served, it was just plain nasty. The couple we were with had been to "theirs" in Winter Haven many times and said that one was so much better, including the service. I will give this location one more shot since the reviews are so high and everyone has a bad day, but it won't be anytime soon.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 2/5 Brittany S. 2 years ago on Google
    Very disappointed in this place. Their lunch special is about $9 and includes a drink but the portion is very small and the food is so bland. Their ‘fried’ rice has no seasoning, veggies, or egg. Their steak is a bit over cooked so it’s very chewy. Just overall not impressed and the food is too bland.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 1/5 Jack F. 1 year ago on Google
    if you like paying for 2 dinners and getting food for 1 this is your spot. the sushi rolls are not much bigger than a nickle. 2 orders fit into a tray that at any other sushi place is one order. The entire menu does not taste like it did its dry and unpalatable. if you want to over pay for food and be treated like cattle this is your spot. I live in this neighborhood and will never eat here again. This was a wast of money and time.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 2/5 Jim S. 1 year ago on Google
    We went to hibachi express for lunch the other day and we ordered two pieces of salmon and two pieces of tuna sushi to start. The salmon sushi tasted OK but the tuna sushi smelled and tasted a little off like it was not fresh. The tables in the restaurant were dirty and sticky from previous guests but it was 11 in the morning so I’m assuming nobody cleaned it from the day before. My wife ordered the steak teriyaki lunch special and I ordered the chicken teriyaki lunch special. My wife is complaining that her steak was so overcooked that it was hard and crispy. My chicken teriyaki was not really recognizable as chicken it looked more like chicken jerky? Over cooked and burned. Also the sauce had a burned old grease wok flavor. The meat was not good at all so I tried the fried rice. The fried rice had a very funny off taste to it. At that point the two of us declared the lunch an in-edible and left with our plates on the table full of food. Previous to this the worst Chinese food I have eaten in Polk County was at the China one restaurant off Lakeland Hills Boulevard near Winn-Dixie.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 3/5 Amy R. 1 year ago on Google
    It's better to dine in then to order out portions are bigger. They always go heavy on the chicken and light on the steak. Sushi is pretty good.

  • 1/5 Morgan M. 6 months ago on Google
    If I could leave 0 stars I would. The vegetables uncooked as always but on door dash they give you no special instructions options so I couldn't even ask for them Cooked more. The steak was over cooked and again couldn't ask for it cooked medium. The rice was bland and just mushy the "sushi" was like gas station sushi and for the same price as good sushi get out of here. This was an awful experience with food and service.

  • 5/5 Pauline 8 months ago on Google
    My son and I enjoyed our dinner here. Food was really good and fresh. Restaurant looked clean and staff was friendly.

  • 1/5 Lucas J. 1 year ago on Google
    Ive worked at a few different hibachi express locations as a kitchen and sushi chef and have never seen such a lazy worker in my life. Called in to place a Togo party box order. I called back immediately within 30 seconds after my kid wanted to change something and was told I cannot change because "the order was already made" I told her I called literally 30 seconds ago and she then changed it to " because the ticket was already sent to the kitchen and the sushi chef is working on the order the order cannot be changed" LOL. I had a friend dining in at the time and was able to confirm there were at least 3 tickets ahead of mine in the sushi bar and at least 4 in the kitchen, it makes no sense in any restaurant I've worked at for us to prioritize the latest order when there are others ahead, if she at least pretended to ask the sushi bar or kitchen then I couldn't care less but the fact that she tried to play it off as if my order was already made and then changed it to order is being worked on within literally 30 seconds of placing the order in the middle of a dinner rush is what blew my mind lol. I know kids couldn't care less about their part time job at hibachi express but at least pretend to care. Obviously was able to talk to someone else and fixed the issue no with no problem.

  • 5/5 Kathy P. 1 year ago on Google
    We enjoyed the lunch special! Great price and very delicious! EXCELLENT customer service! Thank you!

  • 1/5 Annette W. 1 year ago on Google
    Went to pickup my online order (already paid for) and was told I had to get in line with people waiting to place an order to pickup my food when before I’ve always picked up at the PICKUP window. Very rude employee with a long braid and glasses! She needs customer service classes!

  • 3/5 Raven 2 years ago on Google
    I like their food and they have quick service but on 3/19/22 I picked up my carry out order at 9:05 pm (they close at 10:30 pm) They were already cleaning the floor with a very strong & concentrated cleaner the chemical burned my nose, throat & windpipe it's upsetting When writing this at 10 pm my nose, throat & windpipe are still burning and It is making me cough I didn't even want to eat my food

  • 1/5 Robert W. 1 year ago on Google
    I came in and ordered Chicken and Steak Hibachi and I ended up getting only chicken. I asked for specific veggies and they gave me the wrong ones. The manager solution to this was offering 20 percent off, and I had to re-order also don’t tip here. Multiple people have said it and I confirmed that Management keeps all the tips.

  • 4/5 Ryan C. 1 year ago on Google
    Good alternative for non fried food and vegetables at a very reasonable price. Sushi is good as well, but can be slow sometimes. If you go during a busy time, you could have a prolonged wait. Never had a problem with the food quality, it's very good for the price/value. It's a nice benefit to be able to order online as well, and pick-up.

  • 5/5 Miss P. 4 years ago on Google
    I loved everything I ordered. The vegetables were so tasty with the hibachi meats. I ordered the California roll and Tampa roll too for lunch tomorrow, but took a bite. They were both excellent. I haven't eaten my cucumber salad yet. I will come back and edit later after if I didn't like. Next time I will take pictures to share. They do have excellent lunch specials and happy hour specials. I took a picture of that in case I was craving sushi.

  • 5/5 John Warren J. 5 years ago on Google
    This place has amazing food! If your looking for great Hibachi for a great price u must try this restaurant! I come here every time I come out this way!!

  • 5/5 John H. 2 years ago on Google
    Good food and service here. The portions are good as well. Looking forward to coming back to try the other hibachi but the chicken was great

  • 5/5 Lisa L. 2 years ago on Google
    it was my first time an it was good.i got the chicken hibachi with rice an vegs.the other option was teriyaki chicken but it was to rich so I would stick with the hibachi chicken. Very fresh an cooked to order

  • 5/5 Lisa M. 5 years ago on Google
    Tried out this place for lunch with my daughter yesterday, it was my first visit. We shared a lunch steak hibachi entree and some sushi rolls. Food and service was amazing especially for a fast service type joint. Atmosphere was clean, modern and nice and I will definitely return if I'm in the area esp6for the amazing sushi....sushi was def6the star of the show, just as good or better than some of the specialty sushi places we visit. Even the presentation of the sushi was top notch and beautiful. Dragon Roll was one of the best I ever had, it contained no fish as it featured fried chicken but who cares cause it tasted so fabulous. Pink lady roll was fresh, huge and fabulous! I always enjoy some soy or rice paper so was happy to see this roll on the menu. Steak hibachi- steak was overcooked for our taste making it a bit tough but u can not beat the overall value of the lunch meal with meat, vegetables, rice & yum yum sauce! We traded rice for noodles which was $2 extra, I found that upcharge a little much and will probably just stick to the rice next time.

  • 1/5 Jak 3. 2 years ago on Google
    This place is a joke I've been here twice and called and placed orders by phone both times during non busy times but had to wait almost a full hour both times to get food and the second time the my oder was given to a door dash all I wanted was my money back then when I asked they gave me someone else's order it wasn't what I ordered. There definitely won't be a third time. ****Update the wrong food was so burned that it's almost inedible I wish I could give ZERO STARS****


Call (863) 619-8886 Open on Google Maps

Amenities


  • Parking
    • ✓️ Plenty of parking
  • Payments
    • ✓️ Debit cards
    • ✓️ Credit cards
    • ✓️ NFC mobile payments
  • Offerings
    • ✓️ Beer
    • ✓️ Wine
    • ✓️ Alcohol
    • ✓️ Quick bite
    • ✓️ Comfort food
    • ✓️ Small plates
    • ✓️ Healthy options
    • ✓️ Late-night food
    • ✓️ Happy hour drinks
    • ✓️ Vegetarian options
  • Popular for
    • ✓️ Lunch
    • ✓️ Dinner
    • ✓️ Solo dining
  • Accessibility
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible seating
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible entrance
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible restroom
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible parking lot
  • Dining options
    • ✓️ Lunch
    • ✓️ Brunch
    • ✓️ Dinner
    • ✓️ Dessert
    • ✓️ Seating
    • ✓️ Catering
  • Service options
    • ✓️ Dine-in
    • ✓️ Takeout
    • ✓️ Delivery

Trends



Last updated:

Similar Restaurants nearby

Last updated:
()