samurai japanese cuisine & sushi bar

the scenery was nice, but customer service horrendous. the waitress was obviously inexperienced and spent most of her time texting on her phone. when we requested a manager she was flippant and told us they were busy. we had to request a manager twice, who came about 10 minutes after the 2nd request. he was apologetic, but offered very little compensation for the inconvenience as we were on our hour lunch break. can't say thefoodwas worth it...

worst service i have ever had. ordered myfoodtogo.. got there and they forgot to make my food. when i finally got myfoodthey forgot my salad that i had paid extra for. thefoodis good but i don't recommend the one downtown. pretty upset because the one off of veterans was outstanding

sushi. each sushi roll is filled with top perfection, with the up most fresh cuts of fish..topped with homemade sauces. never once disappointed. they never skimp on thier sushi roll ingredients, they are abuntly filled! these rolls are huge, and never skimped on. they top the rolls with special homemade sauces to die for! the hibachi is outstanding! they use top grade top of the line beef, and chicken. the vegetables i can tell are fresh cut, they don't use the frozen pre-cut vegetables here, all cut fresh. i know for a fact the sauces are all homemade. this is a family owned business who is very personable with the guest. times are very busy, but worth the waite. so muchfoodon everything you order for the price. i love sitting, and having a few beers to which i can choose from their 130 different beers, wine, and sake while listening to thier great music, it's so different here, it's not like the run of the mill japanese resturaunts in columbus, and decorated quite hip! the owners are so welcoming and kind when you talk with them. if i've ever had a problem, they are so kind to get it worked out, and very acomidateing to my special request when i was on a special diet! the servers are always helpful and always doing their best to make you satisfied. i've had serveral parties upstairs to which all was made so perfect with thefoodand service. this place goes above and beyond to please and make thier guest happy and satisfied! my most favorite place to eat downtown and my favorite japanese restaurant for superb sushi and hibachi!

the very best sushi, and hibachi in the phenix city, columbus ga. area!! the rolls made with fresh ingredients with most flavorful sauces! all the rolls with so much inside! i always am so full and have to share. when i order the hibachi it's always cooked to perfection! with so muchfoodfor the price. i always have to take some home. the service is great and very personable. at times their quite busy, but it's understandable with so much going on downtown. have been going there for 2 years now, and love everything about samurai. over all thefoodis out of this world delicious! the atmosphere is cozy and hip! the music is a cornucopia of play list from the 60's-current! it's never boring at my favorite place for sushi!

my girlfriend and i came here for the first time a couple days ago. i must say that thefoodwas outstanding!!! the only thing better was the service; our waiter, jay, did an outstanding job to accommodate us and make our experience great. we enjoyed it so much, that we came back the next day and requested the same waiter. in short, this is a great place to go for some good sushi and great service! i'll definitely be visiting them again very soon.

this place is great! very friendly, helpful staff and owners. thefoodand location are the best in town. overall 5*****!

this is my favorite japanese resturant in town. thefoodis awesome, the sushi is the best and the service is wonderful. i recommend it to anyone.

i have eaten here four times. each time the service was worse than the last time. the wait staff is terrible, they brought the wrong items, forgot to bring items and the order comes out at various times, not even close to all together. they are overpriced for the terrible service they provide. thefoodis good and i haven't had anything that i didn't like but the really bad service overshadows the quality offoodand ruins the dining experience.

great place to eat.. i love eating here. the people are always so nice and thefoodis great. thefoodis so good my 5 year ask to go almost everyday.

embarrassed. i usually don't write bad things about a restaurant, instead i just don't return but the service and treatment my husband and i received there was so bad that i had to warn other people.

we just moved to this area and i was dying for some good sushi. i had high hopes for this place because it was in uptown and seemed like a nice place. we got seated and there were little things about the service that was bad but we overlooked them because we wanted to try thefoodout first before we had any opinions. plus, you never know, it could be the server's first day or maybe she had a bad day.

first, i'd like to say that the restaurant was 1/4 to 1/3 full. most of the people were drinking at the bar. we put our orders in and waited...and waited...and waited...

while we were waiting we had time to really observe. the table next to us were having problems with their meal and the sushi chef came out to address them.

by this time 30 minutes had passed and my husband wanted to leave but went back to the sushi bar to check if ourfoodwas being prepared. we didn't want to have thefoodready and waste it. so he was addressed by a lady who was sitting at a table in the back. she asked him if he needed anything. not knowing that she was someone who worked there, manager or co-owner--we still don't know. he saw the server and said, "never mind i'll speak to my server." he asked her when thefoodmight be ready. the manager/co-owner flippantly said, "don't you see how busy they were?" and pointed to the empty sushi bar. but you see, by this time the restaurant was empty. she then followed him to the front of the restaurant and told us that "table 2 needs their check." she threw us out.

it took forever so i went up to the front desk. i sent my husband out because we both were getting upset. it took them 15 minutes to get a receipt and when my husband was walking out a server ran from behind the counter and yelled at him for trying to bail out on the check while i was standing there with my wallet out paying for the water and beer.

after her restaurant didn't serve us, and kicked us out she had the nerve to call the cops on us! they followed us down the block to the next restaurant and asked him to have a word with them as we just got seated. i'm sure that was eventful to the tables all around us.

never have i had to deal with such an rude and short sighted manager/co-owner. i feel really bad for the unfortunate diners and employees.

i used to be a server at samurai. i would not recommend anyone to apply/work at this restaurant. the managers treat you with zero respect; they promote bad workers and punish good workers. i've seen a manager personally victimize both customers and employees in front of me.
as far as thefoodgoes, it's okay. the hibachi is mediocre while the sushi is a bit better. however, if you are in a rush and they are busy, do not order sushi. i've had tables wait over an hour to get their sushi. this is not the waiter's fault; it is the management's fault. there is only one sushi chef for a sushi restaurant.
in conclusion, this is a good place to eat if it's not busy. ultimately, the managers have absolutely no idea how to run a business, and it's sad because the place has potential.

i really wanted to like it.... as a downtown business owner, i really wanted this to be a great sushi restaurant. i was excited to see the neo-contemporary decor and the wide-open floor plan in our beautiful historic district.
the staff and management was friendly- no complaints at all in that department, and leniency is given for the tardiness of thefooddelivery as they are just opening and are likely working out the kinks.
thefoodquality, however, is the worst i've ever had in a japanese restaurant. (point of reference: while living in japan, i was a traditionally trained sushi apprentice and hibachi chef).
starting with the miso soup. flavor was instant miso and dehydrated (still crunchy) tofu, quite watered down and salty due to the abundance of wakame/kelp in the miso soup.

the tenpura appetizer was dripping with oil, the broccoli floret, sweet potato, and zucchini was still raw and cold in the middle.

we ordered the largest sushi/sashimi platter. the tuna, salmon, and hamachi quality was fine, however, the mackeral, yellowtail, and abalone was rubbery. the ebi was overcooked and dry. no eel or octopus was included and this was their best platter. the nigiri sushi was formed all wrong..3-1/2' slab of sashimi (all cuts) on a 1" ball of rice.

every sushi chef takes pride in making rice properly. i tasted very little mirin and only a slight hint of suu (rice vinegar) in otherwise dry and flavorless rice. the rolls included were philly roll and california roll. i've had better from publix.
the sashimi was cut into cubes and odd-sized pieces and thrown on the platter. perhaps the chef was trying to hurry and finish as i had already been waiting for half an hour.
my overview is this: the decor and atmosphere are great; i really do like it. the servers and staff were friendly and attentive, so no complaints there. the sushi chef however, was apparently not properly trained or just unskilled. no apparent knife skills, basic nigiri forming standards weren't followed. the sushi rice wasn't made/seasoned properly.
if this establishment hires a skilled sushi chef before everyone catches on, perhaps they'll survive here. if not, they'll be just another statistic.

i really hope that the owner will read this and take positive action; i would love to give them another chance, but not with the current sushi chef.

never return !. i had a very bad experience with this restaurant. first i walked in and there wasnt any one in the front to host us. finally we sat down and i noticed the cups on the table had lipstick stains on it. when i asked the server for another cup she brought me another dirty cup. i asked the server about something on the menu and she didnt even know what i was talking about. so i just ordered the samuari fillet which was very tough. when the server brought out our soup and salads, the lettuce was brown and my soup had to much seaweed in it. i guess the only thing good about this restaurant is that thefoodcomes out fast. our server didnt even bring out our food, i guess the hostess had to do it for her. i was very disappointed. i wont recommand this place at all

samurai japanese cuisine and sushi bar. samurai is absolutely the best japanese restaurant in town! thefoodwas tasty, the atmosphere was lovely and the service was outstanding. i have a new favorite restaurant!

best sushi in columbus, bar none!. i travel to columbus on business and have tried almost every sushi restaurant in the area. samurai has the best quality seafood and in extremely generous portions. compared to other local spots you literally get twice as muchfoodfor 1/3rd of the cost. the restaurant is extremely new and staff and management are still working out the kinks but i could care less. thefoodis simply fantastic! look forward to going back soon.