Aoyama Japanese Steakhouse & Lounge

Aoyama is really just okay. The restaurant is relatively large, but seemed almost too big for the amount of people that come, especially during the week. Had miso soup, fried oysters, crispy calamari, two special sushi rolls, an eel & avocado roll, and fried ice cream for dessert. Nothing really stood out to us in terms of quality or taste, but a couple problems: the spoon that came with my boyfriend’s miso soup was sticky and our eel & avocado roll had the tiniest bit of eel to the point where it was basically just avocado and rice. Soup and appetizers came out quickly.
Taste | 3
Atmosphere | 4
Presentation | 4
Service | 3
OVERALL | 3

Being from Southern California, I find that Erie’s a tough place to find good Asian cuisine in general. That said, Aoyama is as good as it’ll get around here for sushi. The pricing is reasonable during their lunch/​dinner specials, but the portions feel skimped on (I’ve never been to a place where every roll is 6 pieces or less). The texture/​quality of the fish is decent and the hibachi is good as well. But I found some of the other dishes a bit lacking — the udon is tasteless as is the teriyaki. As far as the service, the servers/​chefs are amiable and attentive when it’s busier, but for some reason, my table has been neglected when things were slower. For Erie, it’s the go-​to place for my wife and I.

We’re new to the area and really wanted to find a nice hibachi place, and this place is it! When we got there we didn’t have to wait, but I’m not sure what a regular night would look like though seeing as we went on Halloween when most people are out doing festive things. Anyway, this place does have a bar with a variety of beer, wine, and other specialty drinks. The place is very clean and our waitress was a sweetheart! I got the bingo bango sushi roll to start which was amazing and fresh! My boyfriend (a non sushi eater) got the fried dumplings which he loved as well. We ordered the chicken and steak combination hibachi which came with soup or salad, we both chose the salad and the waitress ended up bringing a complementary soup to share so we could try it. Then it came with either fried rice or noodles but for a little extra money we chose both which was well worth it! The chicken and steak were cooked to perfection and the hibachi chef was very entertaining, making us laugh plenty of times throughout the night. To finish our night off, we ordered the fried ice cream which was like eating ice cream wrapped in funnel cake… aka it was delicious! We are really pleased with this place and for all the food we got the bill really wasn’t even that high! We will definitely be back!

Prepared quickly and fresh. Did not care for the Volcano Roll, too many like textures, even with the crunch added. Komodo Dragon and Wonder Roll were great! Great service and clean. A little over priced, but servings were larger than expected.

We keep going there almost every time we decide to eat out. Love their sushi bar! Kids choose their hibachi style dinner over any other place in town.

I love hibachi, and this place has the best fried rice ever. It is accompanied by this great sauce that I have never had anywhere else. Truly unique, and my food is always cooked to perfection. The scallops and filet are my go to for hibachi, but you can’t really go wrong on the hibachi menu!

SERVICE
Service was great. Our server Eddie was accommodating to our needs and experience.
FOOD
The Sashimi Deluxe is well presented and tasted great.
DESSERT
I just got a normal Vanilla Ice Cream dessert which was quite generous in the servicing size. Perfect for post meal.

My niece had her graduation dinner here. It was a party of 10. My first impression was that the restaurant was dirty. Food everywhere on the carpet and the counters at the hibachi table very sticky. I also don’t like that the huge menus cover your eating plate. I had to wipe my area (and plate) off twice. Most of us got the combination hibachi. I ordered the steak and shrimp. The quality of meats and seafood is good and the server was quick and efficient but it was obvious they didn’t want us hanging around as they kept peeking our way to see if we were done. She could have asked us if we or the graduate wanted dessert.
When I ordered I asked if the rice and mixed vegetables was a generous portion and she assured me it was. Well, the mound of veg and rice looks impressive on the grill but by the time you’re dividing it by 10 it’s an INCREDIBLY STINGY portion. My niece sitting next to me didn’t want her veg so I took hers. Rice and vegetables are not very expensive and the portions should be larger. ALSO, it doesn’t make sense to me that the cook would sautee the veg last! So, he plates the meats first and by the time the veg is done the meats are cold.LOL. SO SILLY.
I also ordered the spicy shrimp roll which was 2 pieces short of the serving but it was very good.
I can’t say that with the $ 50 I dropped for my lunch alone it was an experience that would make me want to return.

I have eaten Sushi all over the world. I can sincerely say Chef Young at Aoyama delivers the freshest, highest quality, and authenticity of this Japanese cuisine to Erie, PA. I believe a restaurant is only as it as its chefs and Chef Young delivers an experience of enjoying sushi I can appreciate, and I will continue on following him where ever he goes.

Surprisingly nice.
Sushi was a bit pricey but the hibatchi was a great deal at under under $ 20 per entrée for most items.
Didn’t care for the salad dressing, but mayo is my one major food aversion.
This is about minutes north of I-​90 and I would recommend.

Huge portions. They don’t charge for fried rice. Super friendly staff (Michael and Ali Baba). But the steak is not good. I guess get the filet mignon.

Good sushi. Always room at the counter. Sometimes has uni. Usually nice and fresh with ice cold sapporo wonderful.

We took a quick trip out to Erie, PA and this was the only establishment we visited during our short time here.
The space of the interior is fairly enormous and spacious; there is a separate dining area for hibachi and non-​hibachi. There is ample parking as well.
Anyways, on to the actual food. When we usually frequent a Japanese restaurant that offers sushi, I like to order one of the larger assortments of sushi and/​or sashimi. Our server was very amicable but he clearly wasn’t educated in Japanese cuisine at all; I had to very clearly explain to him that «sushi rice» isn’t the same as «regular rice» which I thought was a bit odd.
When the sashimi assortment finally came, we noticed that some of the slabs of fish were incredibly cold, I’m talking ICE cold. I would say that the texture of a certain piece of white fish was almost like biting into a solidified slushie. The pieces themselves were fairly large and plentiful; but that doesn’t excuse the fact that some pieces were nearly frozen when served. Also, the octopus (tako) had noticeable thawed water remaining on the pieces. My opinion is that the quality control is quite low at the sushi bar, and the sushi was very disappointing.
So the lessons learned here, do not order sushi at an establishment that doesn’t care about quality control of their fish products.

I have eaten Sushi all over the world, not Japan, and have never had better cuts of fish nor a better presentation than I get at Aoyama EVERY time!!! Love it here and Young is the best Chef!!’

The goto spot for sushi and low key bar action. Haven’t been here in a while, but it has been consistent and good in the past. Very spacious. Good atmosphere. Doubled as a pseudo night club… does it still? Haa

Is there no where for good sushi in Erie… Been here a few times hoping things would get better. Guess I’m just spoiled when it comes to sushi. Pricey and the sushi is not really good. The fish does not taste fresh and is warm… Hibachi is just ok…

Had been here several years ago and when they first opened and were happy. This time however we were not.
First of all they refused to honor a gift certificate that we had purchased with the guarantee they would. Second of all the manager argued with us that what we had in front of us was not what it clearly stated it was. Thirdly, as soon as the waitress saw this we didn’t see her again until the bill came.
We weren’t even rude yet he came back a second time to let us know how wrong we were.
Very disappointed in the service for food that was ok. Like the other reviews said, you can go to Wegmans a block away and get at least the same food cheaper, faster, and without a rude service.

I’m no sushi virgin… I’ve had better sushi in larger cities — BUT the prices were double Aoyama even though the quality was not. This is non-​costal, Erie PA, folks ;)
I love the sushi here and the prices for the rolls are great. They have a variety of rolls & the rolls are huge! For $ 15 — $ 18, you’ll get a roll that is a full meal. It’s a nice place to take a date, but my favorite thing to do is to go with a large group of people, order a bunch of different rolls and pass them around :)
I’ve been here a bunch of times… always had good service, and the quality of the rolls is consistently good. The plates are fresh and beautiful.
The Haibachi part is fun, but very salty. Not any saltier than anywhere else, just not my thing. It’s a very fun thing to do with kids and you’ll leave there stuffed, with lunch for the next day too. For Haibachi, the atmosphere is casual. Don’t wear anything you wouldn’t mind rolling a flying shrimp down the front of ;) and the performing chefs are friendly & entertaining.
The atmosphere is classy at the bar and in the central (sushi) dining area. It can get a little noisy on Saturday nights, and sometimes in the winter, it’s a little cold in there… but I really do love this place! If you’re in the mood for sushi in Erie PA, it doesn’t get any better than this.

This place is average, but coming from the city where Japanese restaurants are aplenty, I’ve definitely had better.
The sushi/​sashimi dishes were well presented… but were definitely not fresh. I also had one of their chef’s special rolls (which I forgot all of a sudden), and I found red peppers inside the roll. What the, that’s not authentic! Apparently the red peppers replaced the tobiko/masago…an absolute no-​no for me.
I stopped by here on my way to Grove City, and quite frankly it was the only decent place around. Maybe I should search around more places next time I’m in the area.

Ever love a place so much that after years of being away you find yourself afraid to return to it, for fear of disappointment? For fear that maybe the place isn’t quite the slice of Heaven you recall so fondly?
That’s how I felt about Aoyama before my trip there last week, and, I’m happy to report, the food and bar experience was just as fantastic as I remember.
A friend and I headed to Aoyama last Monday evening for drinks and food before heading downtown for the rest of the night. The place was inexplicably slammed when we arrived around 8PM. Slammed. Line out the door. The bar was packed full as well, but for some reason the few lounge seats/​tables near the bar were unoccupied, so we set up shop there.
For old time’s sake we ordered the Spicy Lobster specialty roll. I’m a wuss when it comes to spice/​heat, but the Spicy Lobster roll has a kick that I can (just barely) handle… until the last couple pieces cause my mouth to catch fire. Truly, it’s the only thing that comes to mind that I’ll eat knowing that there will inevitably be some pain involved. It’s a delicious roll, and, FYI, Aoyama specialty rolls are considerably larger (piece-​wise and volume-​wise) than any specialty rolls I’ve had at other sushi joints anywhere.
We also ordered a hibachi combo dinner (steak and chicken) to share, and, wow, I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was. Tons of moist steak and chicken piled high upon sizzling veggies such as broccoli and onions and carrots and more. Clear soup, rice (choice of white steamed or fried), and salad also came with this dish, and I thought it was really nice that the kitchen sent out separate salads even though while ordering my friend and I didn’t explicitly state that we were sharing.
Love you, Aoyama!