osaka japanese steak & sushi

great experience every time!. i've been to osaka (bandera location) many times and each time the food is delicious!! yes, sometimes thesushidoesn't come out altogether but what do you expect? it's sushi. the chef only has one set of hands; it's not like steaks where you can grill 10 of them at once. expecting all 5 or 6 of your rolls to come out all at once is a little unreasonable. if you'd like your meal to arrive all out once, simply ask your server to hold and wait until it's all prepared. the staff is so friendly, i will definitely continue going back! try the super mario!!

i have eaten here many times and have always had great service; in fact, i haven't been to any othersushirestaurant in over a year. i've never had the hibachi - i'm there for the sushi, but i have always been greeted warmly. once they were understaffed for the evening and we had to wait just a little bit because they were very busy. i know they tend to hire college kids for basic seating and service and i can imagine the call out rate around finals and summer time shenanigans. 

with that said, the service has always been at minimum "to be expected given circumstances". the are always kind. the chef behind the bar i swear only speak japanese. it's the only language he'll respond to me in. he's not rude and isn't judgmental that i am not fluent. 

the food has never been "bad" and i've been eatingsushisince i was young. i've had badsushi(a-tan) and this place has never had bad sushi. their prices are only fair considering the atmosphere, location, and parking; but they are easy to find. 
the parking does suck if you, like many texans, have a large truck. it's doable, but it is a small lot behind the restaurant and can be a tight fit on a busy evening. 

for myself and my young son, i typically spend about 40-50 dollars between soup, edamame, 2-4 different roll dishes and drinks.  i've not been around for the happy hour yet. 

i hope this helps and keep in mind there is another osaka that i've heard is rude and has otherwise horrible service.

osaka happy hour m-thr & saw on the menu they now have a weekend happy hour! woohoo!. just went last monday forsushihappy hour. yum. i got the wonderful rainbow roll & the philadelphia roll (2 for $15 or 3 for $21 also found out they have a weekend happy hour but i don't remember the prices just saw it on the menu) you can't beat that w/a stick & they were wonderful. i love theirsushihappy hour. i shared my rolls w/my son since they are so huge. i believe my brother got the broadway roll. i tried a piece of it & will have to give that one another try. i am not sure if i like it or not. all tasted fresh & held together beautifully. had my first sake bomb, it was good but i like the sake separate better. i enjoy trying differentsushiplaces in sa but i am a repeat customer to this one over & over.

very nice lunch, haven't been to this osaka for dinner. after having a very pleasant evening at the bandera road osaka, i was happy to find out about this location that's closer to home. i don't mind driving over to bandera, but it's a bit of a hike when you live in the far northeast area of s.a., and it's hard to make it over there all that often.

saw that bento boxes were on the lunch menu, took my daughter specifically so she could try one of those, as she'd been wanting to. she's not a bigsushifan, so she got the "kitchen box" of chicken teriyaki, really enjoyed it. we also did the hibachi, which we didn't try at the bandera location, and i was surprised that osaka's policy allowed putting on the show for just the three of us. i'd thought that there was usually a higher minimum on the number of diners, but they didn't act as if it was anything out of the ordinary. the chef was very nice, entertaining, he didn't seem annoyed that there were only three of us, either.

i had the steak, more or less the standard for me at japanese steakhouses. it was cooked well, very tasty. fried rice was very good, as were the sauces. husband had the chicken, enjoyed it as well. didn't have any drinks of the alcohol variety, but would like to go back and check out the happy hour. and my daughter was very happy to be able to get her much-loved ramune.

all the staff was friendly, attentive, no issues with the service. more of a "neighborhood place" feel at this location than at bandera road. if i lived in the neighborhood, i could see becoming a regular, but since we're a little bit of a ways away, guess we'll have to settle for semi-regular.

if you're in the mood for japanese food, check out either osaka location. glad i found them both.

both of thesesushirolls were delicious, and the best feature of them, like the soup, was the delicacy of the flavours in combination.

my son & i enjoyed the happy hoursushiand they have a good location & atmosphere. nice people work there.

we loved going for the happy hour that has $2 sapporo, 2$ ichiban, sake bombs and 3 rolls for $20 from a limited selection (naturally). thr service is aleays nice, cheerful, and friendly and as quick as you can find when ordering hand made sushi. the reason we will go to godai instead is that they stopped having thesushion the happy hour. that was the primary reason we went and had friends join us regularly. we all agree that nigirisushiis required to have specials for it to be a happy hour at anysushirestaurant. we hope they change back to the reason that got our neighborhood of beacon hill coming to them in the first place and gosh knows we lament the loss of thesushispecials. i hope they change this and post it on their features here on us & we'll return without abandon. we usually spend about $45-$60 per couple each visit with 3-6 couples so that's some lost revenue.

alright sushi. being that my favoritesushiis quite a distance, this will have to do for the meanwhile. a bit overpriced, and i don't know about you guys but i like mysushicool and not warm. seems to be the on going trend here with everysushii've tried.

excellent food!. this was my first japanese steakhouse in san antonio (i am from iowa, here for military) and going here was a great choice. the food was outstanding. went there on a saturday night, got right in, sat down and ordered with no problems. got some appetizers,sushiand teppenyaki food also.

the appetizers were excellent (fried dumpling) as well as thesushiwhich we ordered the dragon roll with spice added. they accommodated all special requests also which was great. the main meal was excellent as well, we had an outstanding chef who talked to us, and was very personable the entire meal through. made the meal much more enjoyable on top of the great fresh food that was made for us.

all in all, this restaurant was very good, the only downside was the prices were a little higher than most japanese steakhouses that i have been to, but the service was great, food was fresh and tasted great, and there were no other downsides at all.

i would recommend this place to everyone!

you'll need a to go box!!!. i don't know about your family, but some nights, my family suffers from serious disagreement when it comes to picking a place to go out to dinner. i'll want steak, wife'll want sushi, kids will want chicken, etc. you get the picture. and that's why we love osaka.
realistically, just about any mood can be accommodated here. osaka goes the full mile to provide sushi, teppanyaki steak, shrimp, chicken, or lobster. you can get it grilled, fried, or steamed. and, for $3.00 more they'll make that steak a filet! (you tell that guy how you want it, and he will make it that way - cut up, not cut up, salt & pepper only, just name it. he'll do it.) vegetables on the grill, steamed, with rice, without rice - honestly the choices and combinations of those choices are endless. and all items are fresh and made-to-order (well, you knew that about the teppanyaki, but the rest of the menu is too!)
really cool & delicious appetizers (monkey brains & heart attacks - i'll let you look those up) and desserts. awesome lunch specials, and my favorite, the 3 for $20 happy hour - truly the best deal in town. huge house rolls from just about half thesushimenu - you seriously cant beat this deal for sushi. and they have a well rounded wine and drink menu to go with all this diversity.
the atmosphere can be a little dark, but the hibachi grills are the reason, and this is a typical japanese steak house. my family thinks its warm and comfortable. all your traditional japanese favorites are here as well, including the ever popular bento box.
service here has always been fun and attentive, with vince being my favorite. (no, he's not japanese, but is benihana trained and throws a mean spatula!) prices are just a little higher than most asian restaurants, but that's a norm for a japanese steakhouse with this many fresh choices on the menu.
and come hungry, because that guy will just keep piling food on your plate from that awesome grill long after you're full. "can i get a to go box, please?"

sushi + happy hour = love. new to the area & andsushilover i have been all over san antonio trying to find a place to call mysushihome. call me dorothy because this place i love and there's no place like home. m-f they have a 3sushiroll special for $20.00 from 5-7 that include the usual soup and salad and $ 2 beer. (party after work woo woo). the waiter was very accommodating and he got a little extra in his tip for being fast and cheerful. i got the california (to play it safe) the ninja, and the spicy tuna. now they couldn't ad the crunchy like i wanted to the spicy tuna but it was still a great roll. do yourself a favor and go for a visit. great place for a first date. get a booth if you are not having the hibachi and enjoy the food.

we went during happy hour and were blown away with our rolls! ambiance was nice, service was ok, but oursushichef rocked!! sit at the bar and let them amaze you!

the truth. what do i think? for one, i think dear scott down below, has an ulterior motive (or two) for posting a review attempting to degrade osaka for all that it's not. let's take a look first at scott's other reviews. it just so happens that he has reviewed competitors restaurants with practically 'outstanding' compliments.... (no, who would have thought that such deceitful attempts to gain a competitive edge were possible?)...

yes. it is possible. yes. there are restaurants and other companies that intentionally disguise themselves as a customer and leave bad reviews about their competitors just to have a half-brained attempt at gaining a single piece of business or two over their competitor. yes. there are also people (very similarly too scott here) who go around and offer a business a deal, in which he gets food for free or greatly discounted and in return leaves bad reviews for one of their competitors.

again. let's take a look at his reviews. is scott eating at 2 restaurants at once? apparently he went to both tong's thai and osaka in one night. but why isn't he leaving anymore reviews of other restaurants now? did he just hit up tong thai and osaka simultaneously and leave it at that? is his career as a well-rounded food critic over? why was he at a mexican restaurant and the back lounge area of tong's thai in the same night too?

does scott understand the idea of a "themed restaurant?" places like benihana of course fit that mold. but the restaurant is name osaka. as in osaka, japan. so, i don't think you're going to enter into a restaurant named osaka and have a menu and experience that caters to cheeseburger lovers. at osaka you get the best hibachi-style dining experience.

and scott ragging on the staff as "more interested in singing japanese birthday songs to tables celebrating such events rather focusing on the majority of customers ".... i didn't know it took 30 minutes to sing some fun and happy customers a birthday song.... well. in that case, because the caring and fun wait staff takes 45 seconds of their time to focus on singing happy birthday to a happy customer, maybe we should tell them to not be so darn nice and sweet and take that 45 seconds to do something else. problem fixed. when scott dines at osaka (if he even did the first time) no happy birthday songs in japanese because that 45 seconds of making a customer happy and the environment more lively (coincidentally, just like many other restaurants do to make their customers happy) can be more productive with some other use... like serving scott some water to go with his sour-tarts.

what else did scott say.... oh yes, " tasteless sashimi. the tempura squid appetizer was made from out of the bag frozen squid." hm... i wonder how ninja scott made it all the way into the restaurants kitchen to gain this specific, but inaccurate knowledge about the frozen in-a-bag-squid? and sashimi being tasteless... does he know what sashimi is in the first place? it's raw seafood. it's typically an acquired taste for many. and according to those who can appreciate it's taste, they are able to distinguish osaka's as being highly worthy of great acclaim. i doubt scott has the sophistication of knowing the difference between tasteless and tasteful sashimi.

there's too many oddities for someone to take this guy serious. he's obviously not credible. and he's obviously got an ulterior motive. and of course he's "never going to go again" because he probably didn't go the first time he left his diluted review.

maybe someone can pat tong's thai on the back or give them a high-five for allowing themselves or someone else to deceive customers into missing out on a truly great opportunity to dine at an incredible place like osaka.

if anyone is familiar with local professional food critics and magazines, you'll have surely come across on more than one occasion, a few articles on osaka and it's great environment and great food. if anyone is familiar with actual real customers that have been to osaka, you'll hear pretty much the same thing. the food is great. prepared immaculately. the environment is great. extremely easy going and fun. the staff is awesome. very friendly. (if you don't like being happy, then you won't like this place).

personally, i have been to osaka many, many times and each time the experience is exactly on par with extremely friendly staff and a very nice, engaging and fun environment. each time that i've been to osaka there seems to be usuals at thesushibar laughing up a storm with one of thesushichef's, or a family or group of friends at one of the hibachi grills being entertained by one of the funny, talented and skillfully trained hibachi chef's. if you're looking for a date night or something less entertaining and more relaxing, you don't have to go the hibachi route. you can always seat at a booth and enjoy a relaxed dining experience. or you can sit at thesushibar and eatsushilike a kid that just received the key to willy wonka's chocolate factory.

osaka really is a great environment. being one of the many usuals that spend a lot of time there, i feel like it's family. i know people leave happy.

my favorite place for sushi!!. go there and see kasey and june!! they keep it fresh!! try the south west roll to share and go crazy, whatever they prepare will be outstanding! great service th& bestsushivariety! thesushigem of alamo heights!

very enjoyable experience. staff was friendly and attentive. food was great and cooked well. price was comparable to othersushiand teppanyaki places and reasonable. planning to go back again!