Sai Gai Traditional Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar

For starters. I JUST left this establishment with my 3 year old.
I just moved to Norfolk and read the reviews on this place & decided to give it a try as most raved about it.
Service was great. I ordered a bud light bottle, shrimp tempura roll (which was great). We also got salad and soup as we knew we would be ordering the habachi.
I ordered the shrimp, chicken, steak combo and added scallops! It was cooked to perfection. I was able to eat a couple bites just before my daughter needed to use the restroom. We returned to our seats to see a baby roach on the edge of my plate! YUCK! UNSAT! I couldn’t believe it. i attempted to kill it but it ran INTO the habachi grill. Funny part is my baby started yelling, «the bug is trying to eat our food mommy». So that made me laugh but the fact remains that no matter how well the food is cooked or how good it tastes, none of that matters if the establishment is DIRTY and infested with BUGS! I really wish I could leave a better review because I was enjoying myself and my food until this happened. SMH

We become enthralled at the new, flashy spots around town but sometimes you gotta go with a small, local classic. Sao Gai isn’t the most modern of restaurants but the service is good and the food is nice. Located at awards Corner you could easily drive by Sai Gai and miss it. Inside you will find a nice sushi bar and a teppanyaki style grill. Prices are reasonable and it’s a «down home» atmosphere.

It’s been a lot of years since I had been in here, and frankly for good reason. They had issues with cleanliness and upkeep. That doesn’t seem to be the case now. We were there before the dinner rush, if they have one, so there was almost no one there. I checked and it seemed clean, if a little sparse. The furniture could really be updated. Spend a little on the ambiance, and people are willing to pay a little more to feel like you’re somewhere good! We chose to have sushi this time around, leaving the hibachi for another try down the line. The menu was reasonably full of yummy sounding offerings, so we made our choices and awaited our food. One of my biggest pet peeves in today’s day and age is canned soda in a restaurant. With the plethora of «less expensive in the end» options for soda on tap, I see no good reason to keep cans around to do nothing but get dirty on top, hold on to germs or have bugs crawling on them in the back, or just plain expire, all the while imbuing the soda with that aluminum can «tang.» The sushi was surprisingly tasty. The rolls could’ve been a little bigger, but we stuck with the old faithful’s (volcano, spider. etc.). I think it likley that if we’re in the mood for sushi but not a long drive anywhere, we could find ourselves back here giving them another shot. Plus, we have to give the hibachi a try. fingers crossed!

We are pretty much regulars at Sai Gai. They never disappoint. Their steak is always perfection and my fav, the filet literally melts in your mouth. The staff and the owner are very friendly. We need to support this little gem and keep it going. It has great potential to be a real gathering spot in the neighborhood.

Very disappointed by the Unilocal reviews. Teriyaki dishes are not that great and overcooked. Waitress showed sign of tiredness and she’s ready to take a nap. The person who makes Sushi keeps walking back and forth to the table to use his iPhone 6 next to us. I just hope he clean his hands when rolling the Sushi. It’s quite pricy, but it makes sense to cover the overhead cost. I’d expect better quality from this place since we drove far away. I will not ever come back.

Staff is friendly. Food is amazing. The filet is on point. Great service. Favorite place in Norfolk!

The food is always wonderful and the cooking is very fun to watch. Hibachi is one of my favorite types of foods. Most hibachi places don’t vary much in taste and price but I think that this restaurant is the best. It is expensive but I think it is worth it.

Love the fresh sushi! This may look like a dive or hole in the wall, but this is a gem in Wards Corner! Best white tuna in town!

I’m telling you that it’s a comfortable place to sit and eat not very crowded but Convenient. The customer service is FAST and attentive. And the food; WELL WORTH THE PRICE.

A little surprise by their food. I was the only customer on a Tuesday night and I walk in on the staff napping. Regardless they treat me with hospitality and I had some of the best sushi I ever had.

I had a hankering for some hibachi, so I dropped in. Honestly, I thought about turning around and leaving when I noticed that I was the only customer! Luckily, my need for fried rice was stronger than my will to leave. I almost felt bad having them fire up the grill for this guy.
Wow! The experience was great. They treated me as though the table were full. The food was amazing! The conversation was intriguing. I will definitely be back.

First time here. The servers were really nice and food was good but I wasn’t wowed! The reviews made it sound amazing but it was still good!

I don’t even know where to start. I really wasn’t expecting much judging from the outside. Definitely taught me not to judge a book by its cover! The Hibachi here is on point! Great food, and the chef put on a great show. Also our server was super friendly! This is definitely my local go to Hibachi spot!

Food was great, sushi waa mediocre. We liked the service. There wasn’t anyone else in the restaurant except us two and two others. Its right off of Granby very easy to find. Ambiance is missing, some music wouldn’t hurt. Filet mignon and shrimp was delicious. We will probably come back here if in the area for hibachi!

We’ve been coming here for years, and unlike other area hibachi places, the food quality has remained excellent. I don’t know who their seafood supplier is, but the shrimp and scallops are always big and sweet! Steaks are great, too.
I love the friendly staff. Come back more than once and they remember you. The chefs are as quiet or rowdy as their crowd (always appreciated, because sometimes I just want to eat and don’t need the show).
We don’t eat sushi, but our friends who do rave about it.

This place never disappoints. Great food and friendly service. The place can use some renovation but that would drive the price up.

They have traditional seating for the sushi and kitchen items. However, it was there hiding from a torrential downpour and sat at the bar. The staff was really polite and conversational. The sushi and shrimp gyoza was very good here. I give it 5 stars for that and atmosphere.

Ok, i understand that they want to fill the table but we have been here close to an hour for hibachi after our reservation. Had to ask twice for drinks, and I think the owners daughter is the only waitress on a Friday night. They seemed really short staffed and this poor girl is running around madly to fill 30 people’s orders.
The food was alright. I would rate it five out of ten. Nothing special but nothing terrible. The sushi was small and over priced for how generic it was.
I don’t know if this was a fluke, but probably not coming here again.
Edit: forgot this. They asked how everyone wanted their steak but everything was served well done. If you spend the money on a filet, at least you should get it done the way you want it.

The place is outdated but that didn’t take away from the food. The waitress kept our drinks filled and made sure we were taken care of. The chef wasn’t as humorous as other Hibachi grills but he did a great job of cooking our meal. We ordered 2 steak meals with fried rice and it came out to $ 35 dollars so their meals are reasonably priced. We will without a doubt be back.

I always get hibachi when I eat here — I’ve been over 15+ times with co-​workers and we’ve had many going away lunches for co-​workers who have left, retired, or moved on here.
The servers are friendly, especially the one older greeter who is now a hibachi chef.
The prices for lunch are excellent for hibachi — chicken and shrimp with fried rice runs me about $ 9 or so I believe with the veggies and it is a pretty large serving. Plus you get the miso soup with that.
It is a lengthy experience for lunch — probably at least an hour to an hour and a half from start to finish and sometimes they’ll make you wait until more people show up at your table although they have gotten better about not doing that at lunch time — maybe someone complained.
A few co-​workers have ordered sushi while we were waiting for our hibachi and the volcano rolls weren’t too bad.
I am a big fan of this place — the prices are excellent during lunch and the servers are friendly and very helpful and responsive to regulars.
The only cons are the length it takes to get in and out, the lack of parking out front, and the old building and décor, but I can get over it.