Todai Restaurant

Doesn't Recommend

Angel2011abc

Joined 2 years ago

Now ıts called 'Ichiumi' - great food, terrıble cust.servıce. I am a regular cust. at 'Ichıumı'. I lıke and enjoy the food very much. I had a bad recent experıence. I went there wıth my famıly and the manager 'Jenny' on the 32nd st.restaurant ıs been rude, dısrespectful and unprofessıonal. Luckıly, we had a nıce waıter who helped us. I dont thınk I wıll go there anytıme soon. Just wanted to share my experıence. Thank you and have a good day.

Doesn't Recommend

capa4ka

Joined 4 years ago

Great place if you like R0ACHES!. I've been to Todai's a dozen times, and there was always a problem with the service. Given it's an AYCE buffet doesn't really matter. My real problem is their pest control!!! The last time I was there I found three C0CKR0ACHES crawling around the dining area!

Don't go there. Not unless you want to eat c0ckroach feces and have six legged dinner guests.

Recommends

Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

This enormous Japanese buffet attracts a diverse crowd for all-you-can-eat sushi and tempura.. In Short
The first Todai Restaurant debuted in 1985 in Santa Monica, Calif., and has since opened in locations across the U.S. and in Hong Kong. The restaurant, with seating for up to 500 people, features a 160-foot seafood buffet offering more than 40 kinds of sushi, all made fresh. The salad selection ranges from Caesar to seaweed to red potato salad. Hot entrees include sukiyaki, teriyaki chicken, sweet-and-sour pork and udon noodles.

Doesn't Recommend

MarshalD

Joined 5 years ago

OK food, worst waitress. We are seeing off a girl today and had lunch at this todai. It seems to be the only todai on the east coast. The food there is ok - selections are good and sushi are above average. Since I am a big sushi fan, I like their rolls pretty much. The hot dishes are not so good but definitely acceptable.

At the time of check out, the most amazing thing happened. We put cash on the plate and wanted to tip her after getting the change. The waitress told us to give her 15%-20% tips, took out a calculator and compute for us. Since we are paying separately, she required us to pay $3 tip each, on a total of $16. It is a lunch buffet, on a weekday, and this waitress asked for tips of 20%. I usually tip generously, 15%+ for lunch and 20%+ for dinner after tax. However, for a waitress like this we feel quite angry. Since one of us had an appointment, we did not ask for manager. But still, this is my last visit to this Korean buffet.

Doesn't Recommend

sushifan1004

Joined 5 years ago

not recommeded......... at all!!. As a tour guide, i used to brings tour to this korean owned "sushi buffet restaurant", well the food and service was ok, but if you wanna make a party booking, pls be aware that do not pay in advance, its happened that i fully paid in advance with credit card but not everyone show up,after that, i experienced a hard time to claim my deposit back. At first i demanded to to see their korean owner (person who charged my bill), my server told me he is not around, because i dont wanna make second trip down here so i want to see its there any manager or the cashier who might hold my deposit, and then i was told something very surprising that this restaurant don't have any Manager or Cashier, because the owner dont wanna spent "extra" to hire these position, i was shock that a "giant buffet" like this run without Manager and Cashier, so who is responsible for my deposit or other customer's complaints, this give me a imppression that this is not a professional restaurant and something wrong with the business ethics.

After that i call several times to get my money back but the owner is always not available and he never make a initiative to call his customer and offer refund. Well, fine..........i will never step in this Todai again and so are my family and friends.

Recommends

sushifan10003

Joined 5 years ago

Good food, BEWARE of RUDE waiters!. Ate here last night for the third time with a few family/friends (7 total). Meal was great EXCEPT at bill time. "Danny" our waiter had the nerve to write on the check that we should leave him 20%. I'd certainly leave 20% at a full-service restaurant, but for a buffet I think 15% is fair. We didn't get any special treatment and were also sitting in the steaming hot mezzanine (despite having made a reservation). We decided to pay with credit card and leave a 15% cash tip. Before we were able to get the tip in the billfold, the waiter grabbed the bill off our table and two steps away, opens it up to see if we left him his tip. When he saw there was no tip left on the receipt, he ran to consult one of his coworkers and one of the managers, then glanced back at our table and saw there was cash tucked under my mom's plate. He ran over and REACHED OVER US and took the $. (I have NEVER been to a restaurant where the waiter grabs the tip off the table without having been handed it or even while you're STILL SITTING THERE.) He sees it's only 15% and COMES BACK to ask for more tip. When we tell him that we're not leaving any more, and also make it clear (nicely but firmly) that we legitimately could have left less, he says "ok". 2 mins later he COMES BACK AGAIN to ask for more. Needless to say, we didn't give him more. It's almost as if the restaurant employees thought we were "tourists" that they could take advantage of. I have no problem if a restaurant adds a certain % tip to all checks OR for larger parties AND explicitly states it on their menu or on a sign at the entrance. But to target specific customers is rude and very bad business practice. But the food is good and the price is not too bad. I'll go back but I will NEVER sit in "Danny's" section again.

Recommends

mxtarantino

Joined 10 years ago

fresh sushi galore!. Buffet style restaurants with all the sushi you can eat. The sushi are really fresh and the hot dishes (Japanese/Korean) and salads are pretty decent.

Recommends

kellysan24

Joined 8 years ago

Good sushi and seafood buffet!. This was our first time to Todai. We got there right at 5:30 on a friday night and there was already a line out the door. It took us a few minutes to get seated. The serve a big variety of sushi. My boyfriend thought the rolls were small but the size was perfect for me. They also serve hot food like tempura, teriyaki, crab cakes and crab legs. The dinner buffet on the weekend is about $26p/p and the soda's are free refills. Our bill for 2 dinners and 2 soda's was $60 plus tip. Overall, it was a pretty good deal. On our first trip to the sushi bar we carefully selected the sushi we wanted to eat and we didn't overload our plates. On our second trip to the sushi bar some of the sushi (like the Maki rolls) were gone and the sushi chef took his time replacing the dish with more maki roll's. We noticed that certain sushi roll's were not prepared as quickly and at least an hour went by before they put out more maki roll's. Other roll's were always available. Next time we'll get their early and make sure we load our plate of our favorite sushi roll's on the first trip so we don't have to worry about them running out.