Tokyo Express

I really enjoy coming here for lunch and/​or dinner. Great service and hospitality. Always friendly and smiling. Get the food out as fast as possible and I love they have Christian radio station playing through speakers, just side note.

This place was always first choice for fast food, as little as I ate fast food, when I lived in Florence. Since I moved away, I’ve developed a longing for the taste of its food that becomes more intense every day. Sure, there’s several good Japanese restaurants in Columbia, but none of them can even match Tokyo Express. The staff may not know me by name, but they know my face. They know what I like and they never fail to deliver. They always remember me, and that means more to me than anything else. Every single time I came to this restaurant, I was greeted with a hearty «Hey, welcome!» and a warm, genuine smile. On top of that, the food has always been fresh, satisfying, and delicious. Not too salty, not too savory, not too sweet. A perfect balance of flavors that I would gladly pay for any day of the week. I genuinely miss this little hole-​in-​the-​wall take away joint and I hope that they stick around for many years to come.

Tokyo express is my go to place for comfort food. A bowl of rice, sauce and meat can turn any frown upsidedown. It’s a small fast food establishment where you order your food at the cash register and pick it up on a tray. The meat is comparable to what you would get at a teppanyaki place like miyamis or the stir fry meat from red bowl. They cook it on the grill the same way and it’s much cheaper. They also stir fry the rice which makes it so yum. I’ve seen many people eat the rice bowl slathered in what they call white sauce or shrimp sauce and a side of sweet carrots. This must be a southern thing because I haven’t heard of it until I moved to Florence. White sauce is pretty standard with Asian food here. It’s good but so unhealthy! It’s basically mayonnaise ketchup and butter. Argh stay away. They do carry sriracha though if you need an extra kick.
It’s an open kitchen so you can see them making your food. Don is really friendly. He works the front and is very helpful. The wait is never long and the portions are good. It’s in the same lot as Walmart so there’s ample parking.

I’ve been eating at this place since 2005 when it was called Kyoto’s and it’s held up throughout the years. I usually get the chicken bowl that’s teriyaki chicken over rice. The rice is loaded in the bottom, catching the sauce from the chicken piled on top making it perfect. I recommend filling up a container of white sauce (sakura sauce? yum yum sauce? shrimp sauce?) to dip your food in because it’s the best sauce ever made but the food taste good on its own!
I wouldn’t trust their sushi though.