Fuji Hana

The worst hibachi grill in Gainesville. When I was there they had 5 people standing around but no one would come by the table. They didn’t even say anything when we left with out eating more than a few bites. The food was that bad. :(
It is supposedly under new management but the food and service was worse than before. It wasn’t great even before. They also are not serving alcohol, waiting for a permit, but they still have liquor on the menu.
Go some where else.

Well, where do I begin. We called and they said it was a 10 – 15 minute wait. We got there and it was empty — so why the wait? When they came to get our drinks the waiter said «We can’t sell liquor yet», so I opted to get a Bud Light. The waiter then says «We don’t have liquor.» I replied, «I want beer» he then says «We have no alcohol. We have a new owner and can’t serve it yet.»
We then proceeded to wait another 15 minutes for the cook to come. Oh, they only had 2 cooks on a Saturday night. My friend ordered steak and shrimp and did not get his shrimp.
The waiter went MIA and one of his co-​workers said she had to «Go find him somewhere».
Don’t go here. Period.

I absolutely love Fuji Hana. Since I live very close, I get takeout from here whenever I feel like a treat, with the teriyaki chicken bento box being my favorite for lunch specials and the same for a dinner-​sized portion which can be refrigerated and re-​heated to be just as delicious the next day. The teppanyaki chicken with the «yum-​yum sauce» is amazing! I’ve had sushi from them once, the volcano roll, and it was super fresh and tasty. Their gyoza are my favorite in Gainesville, because the wraps are thin and a bit crispy, but they are stuffed generously and seasoned well. I don’t usually stay and eat in the restaurant, but when I do, the service is good and reasonably quick. The dinner portions are huge, so for someone with a small appetite like me, simply taking home or splitting a meal in half makes it worth the slightly expensive price. If you want something new and comforting, I recommend trying the oyako-​don rice bowl – it’s egg and chicken, and my favorite thing to eat when I’m getting a cold! Even if the restaurant is usually depressingly empty (maybe it’s just a bit too big, or otherwise I just don’t visit during peak hours?), Fuji Hana has not failed me yet.

This place is really good. The fish us very fresh. Some places I’ve been to you can smell the fish when you walk in, which isn’t necessarily good. Not this place. They have some pretty good lunch menus. Like the bento lunch box. It’s a lot of food. Great got the price. The service is awesome. My waitress brought things right away. The atmosphere is nice fund quiet. Very clean too. I really enjoyed this place unlike others I’ve been to.

I’ve been going to Fuji Hana for a couple of years and have never been disappointed. The hibachi is rather delicious and the sushi is great. They have great lunch specials and I’ve always liked the staff. Although, there were some pretty interesting new chicks in there lately that didn’t seem to know what they were doing. I’m rather surprised by some of these reviews. Give it try!

I will never go here again. This restaurant has the worst business practices you can imagine. Their «free birthday dinner» is a scam if you take anyone else with you! We had a party of 15 and choose this restaurant based on their birthday meal policy. What they don’t tell you is that YOUR meal is not actually free. They comp the cheapest meal ordered at the entire table, not just the cheapest meal on the birthday boy/​girls ticket. Also, every time you eat here they give you a 20% off coupon for your next dinner; however, this coupon is also a joke. They would not honor their own coupon due to the fact that one person in our party had a birthday (we were not even trying to apply this coupon to the same bill as the birthday girl).
Also, I was not happy with how they only prepared the food for half of our party at a time. Six people in our party had to just sit and watch the rest of us eat.
It really seems like the biggest problem with this place is extremely poor management. As for the food, portions are large, quality is just ok, and price is too high.
I think it is safe to say that this restaurant will never succeed if they continue to treat their customers this way. But, based on what I’ve seen they don’t have many customers anyway. Must be totally relying on their birthday scam rather than establishing regular customers! Please don’t fall for their scams, go to a nice local restaurant that deserves your business. For similar style food, I would recommend Saigon Legend.

Food here is pretty decent, and the Hibachi is delicious. Our recent service in the past month, however, has been atrocious. We sat for (15) minutes without a glance from a server. We didn’t even receive water! By the time a food runner (not a server!) came by, they served (2) other patrons, both of whom had arrived after us.
In short: good food, horrible service.

Definitely not the best Japanese food in Gainesville.
Hibachi food is edible and the appetizers are hit-​or-​miss. Pork dumplings and Miso soup are good, but the spring rolls were awful and the soft-​shell crab was greasy and wasn’t even tempura (they were covered in your store bought breadcrumbs). Was not worth $ 7. Furthermore, the salad with ginger dressing was DISGUSTING and had a nauseating bitterness. When I explained this to one of the waitresses, she offered me a blank stare and a sarcastic apology. Ehhh…
Sushi was edible as well, but unfortunately our waitress (Kayla) was not able to understand my order, even after I had clarified TWICE. A waitress at a sushi bar should understand the basic difference between nigiri and sashimi, and in the event that she doesn’t, when the customer clarifies it for her, she should refrain from any attitude or rhetorical questions. After getting the order wrong twice, I simply gave up trying to correct her fearing more attitude and perhaps a little «present» in my entrée.
With my $ 70 check sitting at my table, the waitress (Kayla) decided to inquire «would you like anything else?» Why would you process a check before asking the customer if they wanted dessert or an after meal drink??? Pretty strange…
Finally, when asked to box our leftovers, she brought us a box and cleared our table, but took all the utensils, so how exactly are we supposed to transfer the food from the plate to the box??? Perhaps with our hands??? After asking her for some utensils, she walked away and with a contemptuous sigh proclaimed «it just won’t stop…» If I could hear that, it’s inappropriate. Keep your complaints to yourself and reeducate yourself on the menu.
In summation, the food is mediocre but somewhat overpriced, and the service stunk. Our waitress was surprisingly ignorant of the menu and the ingredients of the sauces. Furthermore, she couldn’t understand the difference between nigiri and sashimi, even after I clarified twice.
I probably won’t be coming back. Dragonfly and Sushi Matsuri blow this place out!!!

After a recent bad experience at Yamato I decided to try this place. I was not disappointed! I watched as minced garlic was mixed in to the fried rice and as a result was very flavorful. Sushi was fresh and delicious. The seafood sauce has a hint of coconut milk and the ginger sauce is phenomenal! There was a diverse menu and could easily accommodate a vegetarian. Although they are located in a Publix strip mall once you enter you forget this small detail. The furnishings are dark cherry with black granite and very elegant. Our experience overall was first rate.

Located in a Publix strip mall area, so it was somewhat hidden. However, definitely not as hidden as Yamatos (the OTHER hibachi restaurant). I came here with the family because of a 20% coupon we had and decided to try sushi exclusively and so I don’t know how good/​bad the hibachi portion is.
The rolls were moderately to high priced for the quality offered. Philly roll was $ 5.50 and Fuji Hana roll was $ 13 or so The taste was very bland on their most expensive Fuji Hana roll. It probably took way more time to make than was worth the flavor. Their other mid priced rolls were actually more tasty. Our entire bill for 5 rolls, coupon, tax, and tip came out to be $ 51 for 3 people so I didn’t feel that I had wasted a night out. At the same time, I will probably avoid a sushi-​only night at Fuji Hana in the future. Basically a no thrills, here is your food on a plain plate, not too expensive restaurant. It will work for some people on some nights, but when I go out and spend money, I’d hope to be enthusiastic about coming again. The hibachi side sounded like it was having a blast with people clapping and cheering, so maybe I’ll try that next time.

Took my daughters (15 & 13) out for dinner as a treat. We sat at the hibachi table, with no other families which was nicey. Our chef Myko could barely speak English but was very friendly. He took our order and proceeded to cook our food. He didn’t have all the fancy-​schmancy moves of some of the chefs, but he was entertaining enough. He squirted so much saki in my husbands mouth I thought he would drown before he could swallow it!
The filet mignon was perfectly cooked, the shrimp as well. I always forget to tell them no noodles on my plate, but that’s another story. They give more than enough food for one sitting. They served us a creamy white sauce that was a little bit sweet and very savory. Then there was a ginger sauce that was equally as yummy, in fact I couldn’t decide which sauce to dip my food in!
We all left happy and full with leftovers for lunch the next day.

This place is a lot of fun if you have the right cook.
Chad and I have had better food but it’s not bad. It was missing something I can’t put my finger on it… taste?
If you don’t want to talk to your fellow diner and you love over priced food. Then you found yourself a place to eat. We will probably go back because it is a lot of fun.

I turned another year older. We got to celebrate my ¹⁄₃ century with a free meal at Fuji Hana.
My sister — «When are you going to realize it’s just another day?»
Me — «Bah Humbug! … It is not another day, it is get a free meal day at the Japanese restaurant. That is why I am excited.»
Facilities
The restaurant is beautifully decorated and spotless, but when the grill hoods are off, it is uncomfortably silent. It was a slow night, with only our grill and another one seated. There were some people in the non-​grill side.
Service
We had two employees. One server and the other was the cook/​chef. The server was excellent, well timed drink refills and we didn’t have to wait forever for our check or to bring my card back.
The chef was decent but boring. The other grills guy had more personality. He was friendly, but not as engaging. I was really excited about watching a mushroom bounce off of my wife’s forehead, but alas, there was no food «fight» at our grill. I would much rather watch something hit her in the face than watch the onion «choo choo».
I might note that we have been there for my birthday before, where they provided desert and an awesome sparking, animated lotus flower. Apparently when I turned 32 it was cool, but they saw on my ID I turned the big ¹⁄₃ century and did not receive either. Apparently I am too old now.
Food
Appetizer — 1 sushi roll
Me — Steak and Shrimp
Her — Steak
The sushi roll was tightly packed and fresh, six piece roll. As good as everywhere else. I don’t recall which one we ordered. It was brought out after the soup and salad. I wouldn’t have ordered it if I knew we would be starting that quickly (we only had 4 at our grill of 8 seats).
I believe they used NY strip. The beef was very tender and the shrimp were more plentiful than I expected and large. The soup was not hot. The salad was decent, with homemade ginger dressing. The rice was rice, better than fast food Chinese, much better with white sauce and ginger sauce poured all over it. Same with the noodles. Portion size is gut busting as all Japanese restaurants provide. They were adding sesame seeds to everything. I am a fan of sesame, my wife is not.
Return?
It is decent, but I don’t think I have been to any Japanese grill restaurant without getting a free meal on a birthday. The service is good, food fresh and a clean, well designed restaurant. The show is cool, but after you have been to a few of them, it isn’t special anymore. We would have spent north of $ 50 for two soft drinks, 1 sushi roll, and two meals, tax and tip. Since they provided a sixteen dollar discount. It wasn’t that bad. For $ 50 there is a lot better food out there. For $ 36ish it is pretty good, especially since we had lunch the next day too.

Last week a friend had recommended another teppanyaki Japanese restaurant. Upon arriving the hostess told us that wait times were running about an hour for the grill but we would be seated right away if we considered a regular table. We chose the immediate option. We were led to, and seated, at a table covered with crumbs and dried sticky substances, and handed wrinkled, faded, and battered menus to boot.
We walked out as quickly as we were seated.
Fast forward to yesterday (Sunday March 20^th).
Fuji Hana was second on my friend’s recommended list. We walked in at the same time a large family entered and were all seated at the same station. Upon perusing the menu I saw ‘uni’ and ‘toro.’ They were out of ‘toro’ but had the ‘uni.’ Our appetizers consisted of the uni and an eel roll and we both ordered the steak and shrimp. Our chef was very skilled and personable and the food was ‘A-​OK’. It was exactly what I was expecting and we were not disappointed.
My wife said I like this place because it was «hokey and close» but I’m quick to add «and well executed, decent food.»
And did I mention… CLEAN?

Been back here a few times and I appreciate it more.
Went a couple of times and had nigiri/​sashimi and it was really pretty good. They’re not cheap but cost less than Dragonfly and the quality of the fish is just as good.
The last time we went here we sat at a table (we usually sit at the bar) and had the most amazing waiter. He spoke zero english, aparently had zero waiter experience, poured water in my coke glass, yet still somehow landed the job.
He honestly reminded me of a young Jerry Lewis.
That night we got the giant boat of sashimi (every sushi place seems to have one) with the intention of taking half of it home.

This review is for Fuji Hana’s teppanyaki [even though they call it hibachi].
Hmmm. We wanted teppanyaki and because of our last experience at Yamato, we opted for this hidden restaurant. We should have taken it as a sign when we couldn’t find the place at first.
But we didn’t. The sushi side of the restaurant was pretty full but the teppanyaki side– not so much. We were seated across from an unkempt mother and her two unkempt sons. Strike 1.
The server was OK. There were some communication issues but I’ll let her slide. We ordered chicken, chicken & shrimp, and filet mignon & shrimp meals. Each meal came with soup, salad, noodles, veggies, and fried rice.
The chef was young and his name was Bill. Yes, Bill. He was cheesy and funny, just like all the chefs at these kind of places.
The noodles were super greasy and the fried rice was barely fried and tasted like nothing. Horrible. Strike 2.
Bill started cooking our meat/​chicken/​shrimp after he served all the sides… So by the time we got our protein, everything else was cold! STRIKE 3!!!
Yamato’s service really sucked the last time but at least the food was good.
I DO NOT recommend Fuji Hana for teppanyaki. Sushi, I can’t speak for.

I think the review from Daniel L. is from the owner/owner’s cousin/​PR person. Something doesn’t look right or feel right with that review.
We had dinner there last night, and it was somewhere between good and just OK. The tofu teriyaki was pretty good, more of a corn starch vibe than others we’ve had, but good. Few vegetables were included, and the sushi was just OK. Overall, the soup and salad were sub-​par to what we expect in town. Prices were kind of high for what you were getting.
The décor is really nice, they did a great job with the remodel. We will come back to try the hibachi sometime, as they have hibachi lunch that should be a bargain at around $ 8 a person.
Overall, I would rate Fuji Hana well below Ichibahn and Chopstix.

For the price, this place is awesome. The sushi /​nigiri special was so cheap it made the food taste better. Overall quality of sushi was frankly not good; it was a little dry, small, could be better. But for $ 1 per piece, its very good. In addition, they had «real» scallop sushi (we had a deal with the server, lulu, she’s a nice person). The grilled squid in some sort of soy based sauce was very good. Impressive taste.
Tempura was okay. They give you disposable bamboo chopsticks, not the cheap ones. I liked this place, but not likely to revisit anytime soon.

My boyfriend and I ate here tonight after I read overall decent reviews of Fuji Hana: especially after Daniel H’s review on Unilocal I was intrigued to see whether or not Fuji Hana was in fact all that authentic. Plus, I was in the mood for some good sushi.
Fuji Hana went into a space that had been a movie rental store and is in the far north-​western corner of a shopping center at the corner of 13^th Street and 39^th Avenue. Thus, it faces 39^th, not 13^th as does most of the rest of this shopping center. The new owners seem to have spared no expense in installing very impressive wood panelling and some cute Japanese-​inspired lamps, but that said, the interior is not formal nor the most posh sushi bar I’ve ever visited. It’s comfortable though. If you want sushi, you can either sit at a table or the sushi bar itself on the left side of the restaurant whereas if you want teppanyaki, you can sit in a seperate room on the right side. We sat in the sushi section as that’s what we wanted.
All I ordered was sushi and the type of sushi I most enjoy is very simple, raw, fresh fish so we’re talking here about things like tuna and salmon nigiri and some simple rolls. My boyfriend also ordered some simple rolls plus tempura. As it happened, as a grand opening special, the more simple rolls and nigiri are currently half-​off! However, I don’t know how long this special will last and I asked the hostess how long it would and she didn’t know either. As a result of this whale of a deal, our waitress seemed a little emo we only ordered the «cheap» rolls instead of the fancy ones which are what most Americans seem to want and what bring in money, as these sell for $ 9 – 13 a roll. Of course, these rolls are loaded with all manner of goodies but I don’t care for rolls so stuffed with various flavors they mask the clear taste of the fish. Apparently, most people in America – especially in the south-​are all about these rolls however. Given the special, we got a lot of sushi for very little money, but don’t expect that deal to last forever.
The sushi tasted fresh, but not amazingly so, nor was it any better than the same types at Ichiban or Dragonfly. I tasted the tempura and there wasn’t anything wrong with it, per se, but it wasn’t outstanding either. The tuna and avacodo roll was the most outstanding of the sushi I had. Given the menu, there really were not that many options: they have a lot of the aforementioned special rolls, but their options for simple rolls are pretty limited to salmon, tuna, yellowtail, squid, shrimp, and perhaps a few other things. I saw no blue crab or any real variety of prawns or other emphasis on regional (Floridian) seafood. In Japan, sushi is all about freshness: a good sushi chef who just moved here would, in example, start to figure out what fresh fish we can get in our region and tailor his menu around that. You’d see this gent at Northwest Seafood asking a million questions about what’s fresh and what can be easily obtained. I don’t see this zeal for fresh fish represented in any of the local sushi bars’ menus though.
Based on Daniel H’s glowing review, I expected at least something like Jacksonville’s superb Sumo Sushi, a place where there was a real emphasis on the fresh and the unique. What I found was a pretty typical, albeit decently good, Japanese restaurant. I have not lived in Japan as Daniel has, but my ex-​boyfriend is Japanese and we’ve eaten out at a lot (and I mean really a lot) of good Japanese restaurants and sushi bars. Also, when I lived in San Francisco, I dined at Kyo-​ya a lot which is considered far and wide to be perhaps the best sushi outside of Japan: it’s probably the best traditional Japanese restaurant on this side of the Pacific, really. Fuji Hana’s menu also lacked key traditional Japanese dishes such as zaru soba.
Another thing that irked me was this: My boyfriend asked if salad came with his tempura (it did, according to the menu) and our waitress in turn asked him «oh, you’d like salad? a seaweed salad?»
«no, the regular salad. .. it comes with the tempura, right?»
«ah, would you like volcano roll?»
«no, the salad. .. which comes with my dinner»
«no other salad?»
Nope. He didn’t ask for another salad. Nor a volcano roll. He asked if he got a salad, as noted on the menu, with his dinner. Don’t try to coyly (and endlessly) upsale things to us. Again, I think she was upset we didn’t order some of the costly rolls not on special. But let me share a Blue’s Clue I know you can use: if you order one of these huge, tacky, rolls stuffed with various fried foods in a serious West-​coast sushi bar like Kyo-​ya, ehhhh, first of all, such won’t even be on the menu, secondly, if you insist, the sushi chef will secretly laugh at you.
Fuji Hana probably can be, if they try, as good as Ichiban. .. but no better. Right now they stand on the same level as Tatu. They’re a nice addition to a part of town where there’s few restaurants in the area. Little more.

Habachi is a grill that leaves grill marks on your food. Your food will actually taste like it has a grilled flavor.
Teppanyaki is a large flat frying pan griddle that requires oil for a non-​stick surface. Used to fry the atrocity that is fried rice at a Japanese steakhouse. Here at Fuji Hana, they have Teppanyaki, NOT hibachi. So please do not believe Mr. Lived in Japan 3 Months. I came here expecting grilled pork and was disappointed that your only option is pan fried. At least the sushi made up for it, right?
They went all out when they decorated this place. The interior is all glossy mahogany wood with handmade lamps. Very beautiful! The dancing men cooking you pan fried food are in a completely separate room from the sushi, so we chose to eat in the sushi area. Request upon entering. This is a Mandarin speaking establishment, not Japanese.
They do have a full liquor menu with some girly drinks that I would love. There is a large sushi bar at the end of the room where a single mid-​aged drunk patron sits nightly dropping f-​bombs and being really annoying. The guy obviously cannot tell the difference between a sushi bar, with a guy making sushi at it, and your local dive bar where that sort of behavior is permissible. The staff is used to him and treats him very nicely. To be honest, I really wish that they would call the cops on him and at least catch him for a DUI when he pulls out of the place. That on top of hearing some R&B version of «Tainted Love» five times in a row, made the experience too humorous to be annoying.
All of the sushi is 30−50% off right now, which made us nervous at first, but everything was delicious and the rice was perfect. The simple rolls with the nori on the outside had nori that was slightly tough, but my inside out style rolls were just fine. The Nigori sake here is only $ 7.00/bottle. So, if you know what you are getting, then you can get a good deal. At the same time, the beer is really expensive. The Agedashi Tofu was a little soggy, but my Mom really liked it once she put the dashi sauce on top. My favorite was the Whole Grilled Squid– which was tender and had a yummy sweet soy sauce glaze. The Tuna Tataki was not very flavorful, so I would skip that next time. Just get the Tuna Nigiri instead, since it is only $ 1/​pieces right now and is quite good. I would skip the Inari next time. I really love Inari (rice stuffed inside bean curd sheets), but their bean curd had a canned flavor.
All of the special cooked rolls were delicious. Even better than Ichiban; for me Ichiban has been a one hit wonder with rolls lately (see Aji San Roll for best), but their appetizers and cooked items keep me coming back. At Fuji Hana, every roll that we had was flavorful (sweet, spicy, salty), had great texture (crunchy vs. smooth, not chewy), and were crave worthy. I definitely recommend their Volcano Roll, which held up wonderfly to the sauce on top and was the perfect temperature when served. The Sexy Lady Roll had just the right amount of spicy tuna inside and topped with tempura shrimp, spicy sauce, eel sauce, and bread crumbs. The waitress recommended the Special Roll with Lobster, which contained huge pieces of real tempura lobster, topped with kiwi– a great combo. My husband ordered a tuna roll and a salmon roll, both were simple, and looked and tasted very fresh.
They were fairly busy for a Wednesday night and people come here mainly for the sushi. I recommend entering from 39^th Street instead of 13^th street. We ordered a large amount of food and it was $ 80.00, which seems to be my lucky number at most sushi places. Due to the crowd control issues, the service, and the fact that this was my first time here– I am not ready to give 5 stars yet. Right now, I am at 3.5.