Nakama Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar

Love Nakama hibachi...we went on a Saturday afternoon so it seemed empty and staff seemed a bit disorganized. Evening is more exciting and spot on.

Way too expensive for the poor uncooked chicken and shrimp on the hibachi grill. WAY too expensive. And they sat us with so many people when another couple had a table to themselves. So inconvenient.

Felt as though they were rushing us out after making us wait to order and for salads. Hibachi chef did not engage the table at all. Greeted, cooked food, left abruptly. Didn’t acknowledge husbands birthday (told waitress and noted in our online reservation- which they said we didn’t honor). Have had very good experiences the last couple of visits. Everyone seemed preoccupied and harried. Hope it was a fluke.

This restaurant is known for sushi and Hibachi and they organize seating accordingly. We were not asked what kind of food we were there for and were seated at a hibachi table. When we only ordered sushi a female manager came over and was very passive aggressive about our seating in a way that felt accusatory. Our server had also forgotten to deliver drinks. We wound up moving to a regular table after we offered to do so. The food was okay. Service was poor. Given the reputation of the place I was a little bummed out by the experience.

The food was very good, however; we waited 40 minutes for the chef as the waitress didn’t put our order in!! After telling the manager that we waited so long, the chef came right away! He did an excellent job!!

Food was amazing as always and same with the chefs but the service was really bad. Our server didn’t know anything we asked her and she brought out the wrong items. I would have spent double on drinks had she been around more often to get our orders. Maybe she was new? Unsure -but on a Saturday night I would use more experienced servers.

Every beer my boyfriend tried to order from our server the bar was apparently out of. Our server came back 3 times informing us that his choice was not available. Our server was completely overwhelmed. The chef at the table beside us realized after us sitting there for 45 minutes with only drinks that our order was not taken yet. The manager ended up coming to take it. We did find out that it was our servers first shift without a trainers supervision. Maybe a little bit more supervision is necessary. The food was excellent though and our chef was fantastic.

It was fine. Sort of overpriced for what we ended up getting. It wasn't bad though I guess.
Side note: the "dress code" stuck to the front door screams "Whites Only" and that upset my partner and I before we even stepped into the door.

loved it. would recommend. would go back anytime. .

We went for my son’s 16th birthday! Had a great time and our chef, Harry, was amazing! Our food was delicious. Will definitely request him next time we are there!

Enjoyed the show by our chef. He was great. Food delicious

Waitress was awful, couldn’t hear her and she couldn’t hear us. Food wasn’t well-seasoned and $4 for fried rice is ridiculous when Ichiban gives rice and noodles and is still cheaper. Need to put some sauce on the hibachi while it’s being cooked

The chef made a great show at teppanyaki table.

First I ordered a filet steak. I was served a strip steak that I ordered medium well. It was completely raw on the inside. The waiter said he knows nothing about how it was prepared. The manager came over and said because the grill wasn’t warmed up enough that it was undercooked. She sent it to a different grill and it came back 10 minutes later still raw. They offered no reduction from the bill. I don’t fight for customer service. If you can’t do the right thing for your customers, then I’m not going to tell you how
We will never go there again. Poor quality, poor customer service.

Great experience and dinner. Show/cook was good, but we have had better.

I love going to Nakama when someone from out of town is visiting, it has a good atmosphere and food. The one thing I always hate is when hibachi places don’t cook your steak how you tell them too. I ordered medium rare and got well done. It was taken off the grill the same time as the person next to me who ordered medium and that’s just carelessness in my opinion, especially for how much you’re paying. All in all, it has good food, but compared to other hibachi restaurants you don’t get as much for the price.

I have been to a few hibachi restaurants and often find the food rather bland, but this was my second visit to Nakama, and again, I found the hibachi food very tasty. Also, the Seared Ahi Tuna appetizer was delicious (and even more so, since it was a free birthday appetizer--check their website!).

My first experience at Nakama was not a good one. Our server was incompetent and did not have any knowledge of the menu or drinks available. My friends had ordered hibachi. The chef was not entertaining whatsoever. I was under the impression that when you choose to sit at the hibachi station that some type of show is given while your food is being prepared. This was not the case. I ordered a sushi platter, which was not on the menu given to me. The server was unaware of the sushi menu and had to return to the table several times before providing me with the proper one. My sushi was served after all of my friends had finished their meals. We were told that the kitchen was “backed up.” When ordering a draft beer the server had to once again leave the table, as she had no knowledge of what was on tap. My sushi was fresh and I enjoyed my meal, although I was served last and did not get to enjoy it with my friends. I will not be returning.

Great food for sure. Only a few issues.
1. Menus were pretty dirty
2. Had to get my own soy sauce dish and tap list
3. Tap list was out dated
4. Directly under A.C and fam so it was freezing for my wife and myself.
Other then that it was a good time.

Food is fantastic. No question. Our experience, though, was terrible. It was a hot and humid day (typical for Pittsburgh in mid-June), and the air conditioning was broken in the restaurant. To address it, the restaurant had fans on in the bar area and the front door open. When asked, our server explained that the fans in the restaurant area could not be turned on because of the open flames used for cooking hibachi. The problem with this explanation is that the fans from the bar area and the open door of the restaurant also posed a fire hazard, evidenced by the fire from the hibachi flying directly in front of the face of my young child. I was able to pull the child out of the way of the fire, and she was thankfully unharmed, but petrified. She would not remain in the restaurant and so we left. The server was unapologetic and the manager never came over, but communicated a small discount on our bill through the server. It was incredibly disappointing.

I made the reservations the day before for four people my friend that I haven’t seen for 50 years was meeting me with her husband they tried to see this at a table where there was hardly any spots left they wanted us to be separated where the person lives the table up and walks in the middle somebody would’ve been sitting on around corner the owner came over very rude did not know how to talk to people she refused to move us at first when I told her you will move us and do it now finally they did I’ll never go back there

I don’t think this restaurant is worth the current buzz/hype. The food was marginal, with the sushi rice being abnormally sticky. Like, weirdly sticky. Edamame was very good, and saltier than most restaurants serve it. We ordered several different types of sushi and sashimi and none of it is particularly memorable, which is disappointing. Ambiance is moderately noisy and very dark. Overall, it’s an okay place, but not great.

We come to Nakama regularly as one of our favorites. The portions are generous and well prepared. We’re members of their VIP club and we celebrated our anniversary with one free dinner entree.

It was a really good experience. We ate and drank in under and hour. The service was great we didn't wait on our server at all. She was always there when we needed her.

Dirty restaurant, disgruntled staff, pushy server.

Food was great.... Service not so much our cook did not Talk or Entertain when cooking. the Other cooks around us looked so much more fun.

Good sushi Lots of variety. Beautifully presented Service slow.

Food was average and the entire process was rushed. Could not hear our server because of the noise level and frankly she did not seem to care. From the beginning of the meal she was rushing us through.

I have a shellfish allergy and we let the waiter know when I had ordered however the chef proceeded to cook the shrimp and scallops along with the vegetables and before my meat so it was cross contamination central. Thankfully nothing happened. Also, it was very loud and there were kids running around being obnoxious

We all agreed that the lunch menu should have included veggies. Thats the best part of the meal.

The service was outstanding and so was the food. Looking forward to my next visit!

We are visiting the city enjoyed the food service and ambiance

My Birthday

This was not a good experience, and as people that travel for work often, we enjoy trying local spots, but this was by far one of the worst. Started with the extreme delay with getting seated. Our reservation was for 7:30pm, however they did not see us until 8:30pm, A WHOLE HOUR LATER! When it was time for the chef to come prepare our meal, he had little to zero interaction with anyone. We have been to many hibachi restaurants and there are certain expectations that come along with that. You come for not just the food, but also the show, however here there was none. He did nothing but prepare our food, and leave. Finally, to wrap it all up, or check out process took 40 mins!!! Our waitress first brought the check and had left multiple items on it from another table that we didn’t even order. We informed her, she took it back to fix it, brought it back, and it was STILL wrong and had food on it we never ordered. I tried to catch her again to tell her and the rest of the staff inform me she went outside, and instead of grabbing a manager to assist they told us we could wait for her. So the PAYING CUSTOMER had to wait for the waitress to come back from being outside for 10 mins. She comes back, I inform her that again items are on our check that didn’t belong to us, and she goes to fix it again, however this time it takes 20 minutes before she comes back with our check fixed. All in all we were there for 2 and a half hours but only 20 minutes or so was actually eating/having our food cooked. Terrible experience, and poor management.

Very mixed experience. First. the food was OUTSTANDING. The chef was polite but not particularly engaging.

The service was NOT a strong point. The server came to the table and seemed to be in a HUGE hurry. Asked if we had been there before, and our table-mates said "yes", but before I could say "no, it's our first time" she launched into a mile-a-minute spiel "well then you now that dinners come with.... and the vegetables are.....". I barely got any of it (also was VERY hard to hear due to the noisy atmosphere) and she was gone in a flash before I had a chance to ask a question. When she came back and was taking our orders like it was a race, I asked what was in the vegetables (as I was deciding whether to order extra mushrooms), and she said "....like I said before....". Although her tone was not snarky, the words most definitely were! When soups and salads came, she practically threw them at us.

Later, there was an issue with a drink in the other party, and both the server and manager (who they asked for) basically said "we'll make you a new one, but will charge you for it". They sent the drink back, and THEN the manager came and said that the bartended tasted it and whattayaknow, it WAS made wrong, so they gave the young lady a new one. But really - after making them go through all that?? It was ONE drink, and she clearly had only taken a sip, it isn't like she was trying to scam for a free one!

After all that, an 18% tip was automatically added to the check.

On top of that, when we left, the valet took our ticket and said "it will be a while". Huh? Then the party who walked out BEHIND us got their car - and clearly knew the valet (they hugged and spoke). Then 2-3 more parties who came out behind us got their cars before us.

All in all, the food was the best part, but I'm not sure I will give it another chance. There are other hibachi restaurants that I want to try.

My steak was barely seasoned. It was really bland and I didn't enjoy it. Please instruct all the chefs to be consistent .

I’ve been a Nakama super fan since to 6th street 5 years ago during my education at Duquesne University . I used to go 2-3 times a week for lunch or dinner . Having moved back to the south hills , I don’t get to go as much as I’d like .

Tonight I stopped in with my father and cousin to grab some hibachi . I haven’t seen him in quite some time as he had two young boys and I am quite busy running 3 companies . I am a young professional operating at the executive level and on the weekends I like to dress casually .

My cousin however , is dealing with a incurable form of autoimmune disease which causes his blood pressure to rise and makes him extremely hot . While he had a hoody on , he took it off due to this and had a tang top underneath . Within 3-5 minutes the manager (a 40-50 year old) woman abruptly came over to our hibachi table , interrupted our conversation , and yelled at him like a child because of this . As much as I love the taste of the food here (it’s my favorite hibachi place in Pittsburgh) , I will most likely never go back .

While I understand and respect the purpose of dress codes at nicer restaurants , especially in the drunken college scene of Southside , this was not the manner in which I expect anyone to treat anyone for any reason , especially when spending $100+ a meal every time I go there .

ADVICE TO MANAGEMENT - Instead or yelling at guests like children in elementary school for not following the “rules” , perhaps start the conversation by asking the guest if they were aware of the dress code policy , and then make a reasonable effort to accommodate the guest . To my knowledge , and I may be wrong , there is no easily visible signage informing guests of the dress code policy .

Treat your guests with respect , not like trash .

Much Love ,
A Sad Nakama SuperFan

Visiting Pittsburgh on vacation, I have been to this Nakama before and it held up pretty well!

I went with family for my birthday, it’s been YEARS since I’ve been to Nakama and I wasn’t disappointed! It’s a little pricey for hibachi.. but it’s DELICIOUS!! Get the Hawaiian roll! Thanks Nakama!

Great food great service great atmosphere . Highly recommended for any occasion. Kudos to the wait staff and chef!! Can’t wait to go back .