Genji Japanese Steak House

Ok you have go to try this! For starters love the food. I always get the steak and shrimp combo. And I have no idea what they put in the yumyum sauce but it is outstanding. On top of this they put on a great show! The cooks are always great spinning eggs and making fire out of the onions. I have been once to the gengi go and it is just not on the same level as coming here for the real thing! Love it and will continue to return.

Not nearly what it used to be. There is no reason to go here over other restaurants and especially not for Japanese steakhouse. They have really skimped on the amount of food they serve but have managed to keep prices on the rise.
But that doesn’t even begin to describe the horrible service we had. Not only after being told they could use my gluten free soy sauce when I made the reservation but then after saying it was ok a second time once we arrived I was then rudely told it was impossible to do and they suddenly couldn’t accommodate it. The reasons for why they suddenly couldn’t do it was bulls – t. I will never eat there again and the manager needs a years worth of lessons on how to handle a situation that their own people mishandled in the first place. They don’t deserve my business ever again.
The chef was very nice but that couldn’t make up for how unprofessional the other staff was.

My wife and I tried the restaurant on New Year’s Eve and came away very impressed.
We both had the filet and shrimp and both steaks were cooked perfectly to order.
We opted for the white steamed rice that consisted of a huge rounded bowl that neither of us could come close to eating. One bowl would have probably been enough for the two of us.
The only negative was there was a long delay between being seated and for our server to begin taking orders, in fact a table that was seated after ours had their orders taken before us.
Aziz was an amazing chef, both very talented and engaging. We will likely request him on any return visits.
Also, if you are a fan of apples I would recommend trying the apple saki if you have never tried it, very delicious.

Love this place. I understand the 18% gratuity. The food is good and they have great chefs. This was the first Japanese Steakhouse I ever had and it’s still the best.

I used to live in Pickerington when I was younger, so Genji was my family’s go-​to Japanese steakhouse for years. Now that I live in Upper Arlington, we don’t come over here quite as often and have «expanded our horizon» in terms of other Japanese steakhouses in Columbus. But every time I come back to Genji after going to a few other Japanese steakhouses, it reaffirms my opinion that this is the best Japanese steakhouse in Columbus. (Although you could argue that the Genji on Sawmill Rd is just as good… since it’s the same chain.)
First of all, Genji tends to have the best hibachi chefs in terms of performance. Keep in mind that I’ve been going to Japanese steakhouses for 20 years now. So I’ve more or less seen every hibachi trick and can oftentimes get bored and zone out during the performance. But our hibachi chef last night (I believe his name was Aziz), really impressed me with his interaction with the table. Yes, he did the same tricks, but he also threw in a lot of good (and tasteful) jokes to liven things up at our table. My wife hates corny jokes, but even she was laughing.
The quality of the meat, seafood, and fried rice I think it pretty consistent across the board at most Japanese steakhouses. However, Genji I feel has the best sauces. Their yum-​yum sauce is what most people seem to love, but I actually also feel that their ginger sauce is excellent compared to their competition. This is good as I prefer the ginger sauce with my meal as opposed to the other cream/​egg/​mayo based sauces.
Of course, Japanese steakhouses aren’t for everyone. If you have heart issues and needs to be on a low sodium diet, avoid at all costs. Hibachi grills also are inherently not authentic, so don’t come here expecting amazing sushi. But for everyone else that just wants some good old butter and soy sauce flavored meat & rice, you should give Genji a try.

Absolutely one of my most favorite places to go, we go for all kinds of special events for us & our kiddo’s. We are in process of moving to Arizona & my man is home this weekend but we can’t get in for dinner for 4 on Thursday night… because of their newish on-​line reservation system! Hence total disappointment by all of us. We can’t plan 2 months ahead for dinner when we are coming from Arizona 6x a year! Ugh!

I have gone to Gingis for my bdays before and we always get a great show. The chefs are very talented and the food is always amazing. I like going to a restaurant and get full and having to take the rest home and let me tell ya everytime I had gone I have always taken a box home. Love love this place.

Went here on a Thursday night for a dinner date and was pleasantly surprised. I’m very picky when it comes to Japanese steakhouses. I’m a huge Benihana fanatic and wasn’t sure if this place could hold up. It’s no Benihana but it’s a great place to dine.
We ordered the filet Mignon, lobster tail and added extra shrimp. The chef cooked our filet to perfection. The «Yum-​Yum» sauce was tasty and the ginger sauce that comes with the meal is way better than the ginger salad dressing.
I just wish the fried rice had more veggies.
Staff was friendly ad attentive. I will be back soon!

can you say yum yum???

Came here for the first time tonight and it was incredibly delicious! Such a fun show! It’s a little pricey but the entertainment and the amount of food you get is definitely worth it! Will come back again!

Went on my birthday, a Saturday evening and it was PACKED. Even with a reservation we had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated. That being said, when we were finally seated the food and drinks came rolling in shortly thereafter.
Soup and salad were good, the chef was good, too. It seems to be a tradition for the hibachi chefs to always give me a hard time, I don’t know, maybe I look like I deserve it? Anyway, all the food came out great and he didn’t put too many onions in the fried rice, which is a plus for me. We ordered plum wine and appetizers as well and they were quite tasty.
It was a bit smoky in the restaurant from all the cooking/​grills going at once, plus it got a little too warm. No other complaints though, if you like hibachi restaurants you’ll like this one. Would recommend.

If you like hibachi, then there’s no reason not to like genji. It’s all the rice, butter and yum yum sauce you can handle with all the staples of a Japanese steakhouse.

This place is extremely busy… However it is TOTALY worth it. The food is tremendous, however they can be pricey. But your not only paying for he amazing food, but you get a great show to go with it. Highly recommended if your looking for a fancier dinner & a good time.

I notice mixed reviews about this place, so I’ll add mine to the group. Keep in mind that we’ve been to Japanese steakhouses all over the U.S. Our kids love them and so do we so its a pretty common stop for us. We’ve never been here before and just happened to be in the area for work. First off, walking in, the smell was really bad. Almost bad enough for us to walk out. I would almost like to give 3 stars, but decided they didn’t quite make the cut. The seating was typical and the wait was after being seated was typical as well. The chef was very friendly and seemed to honestly enjoy his job, he was the only one we encountered that had this attitude though. I know people have commented on how great the Yum Yum sauce was, but in my opinion (sorry to disagree), it was a little bland. Reminded me of a bland ranch with something mixed in. On a good note, the portions were really big. I had to take half my food to go and that rarely happens for me. I asked if they could make the chicken spicy (bc this is what I would order at Benihana) and they said no, but offered a side of Sriracha. This doesn’t have the same affect, but at least they offered something. The fried rice also wasn’t as good as I expected especially considering it about $ 3 to add a bowl of it. Overall, it wasn’t a bad experience, just wasn’t up to par for me.

It’s been awhile since my family has eaten here and I think it’s because it’s starting to lose its luster. The food is pretty salty however there is an abundance of it. I ordered the shrimp and scallops and my husband ordered the filet and scallops. My husband commented that his steak portion wasn’t nearly as generous as it had been in the past. Our chef didn’t speak a lot but he did display skill. My seafood was cooked well and was tasty however I got a small portion of the veggies which I really like and a ton of rice. My one observation was it wasn’t nearly as busy as it used to be and although we had reservations we still waited around twenty minutes for our table. In doing so I noticed that the restaurant is looking dated. I won’t be driving out if my way in the future unless Genji ups their game.

On July 4^th. That place was not packed.
I ordered fillet and scallops. Mmm… Those were so salty because they used too much soy sauce on everything they served. And, everything tasted like the same. I would ask them to use only salt and peppers without soy sauce next time (On fried rice would be ok, though).
The amount of food was very huge, so you can get lots of leftover.
Their service was good.
I will come back with a special order.

Had lunch here with 4 former co-​workers. Two of them had been visiting Genji’s since the original location. Apparently back then you could get the soup, salad, entrée and sherbert for all one price. Now it’s soup or salad and entrée.
The #1 rule is: don’t eat anything before you go.
The #2 rule is: don’t think about the amount of butter on the grill.
The #3 rule is: order double fried rice if you want to make sure you bring food home with you.
We were seated with a family of 4 (it was during spring break) so the 9 of us had one chef to ourselves. The waitress took our orders and returned promptly with drinks. She read our orders back to us to make sure she had them correctly. Then she brought us our soup or salads.
When the chef came out, he repeated our orders too to make sure they were correct. He told us to stand back and wake up before setting the grill on fire. It caught our attention.
First he made the rice. I was quite amazed at a regular portion size. The double fried rice covered the entire plate. Then he made mushrooms, bean sprouts, and our entrees.
It was my first time at a Japanese Steak House and our chef was not the flashiest nor was he conversational. He was very efficient, pleasant, and took pride in his work. Between making the different menu items he kept the grill very clean.
I liked the taste of the ginger dressing on my salad and also liked the Yum Yum sauce. I alternated between the two. I did try some of the Yum Yum sauce on my fried rice but didn’t like the taste of it then. It made it seem goopy and I rather liked the clean taste of everything without it.
Make sure you check the total on your check. A few in my party were surprised the 18% gratuity was already tacked on.

The food was very tasty, and the prices reasonable. However, the dining experience was of lower quality than other Japanese steakhouses.
Our chef had absolutely no «flair». He was polite, but as quiet as a mouse the entire time he prepared our meals. I’d look over to other tables and see people having this fun experience fostered by their actively engaged chef, however ours might as well have prepared our food in the kitchen.
Also, our waiter was more focused on the restaurants turnover rate rather then our dining experience. Almost immediately after the chef stopped cooking, our waiter began to distribute our checks. We had only had our meals for maybe five or six minutes before he came inquiring about to-​go boxes. A few minutes later he came with the boxes, offering to box up our remaining food for us.
New to the area and to Genji’s, I was appalled by this brisk manner in which paying patrons were handled. However, my dining partner (a Columbus native) was used to it, insisting that this «get ‘em out quick» approach was typical, and even expected, when dining Genji’s.
In summation, I go to Japanese steakhouses for a fun, non-​typical, entertaining dining experience. However, my dining experience at Genji’s was subpar at best. The food is still great, though!

I am giving this place 1 star, and it is out of protest. Normally these type of places commonly give a credible example of Japanese culture and so forth… This place however is NOT even close.
This place would be Much better off as a tourist spot directly by the airport to appease the tourist. I feel bad for the locals who go there for the «exotic» concept and yet don’t realize that it is a joke.
Based on that, let us go into the food. It was ill-​prepared, the seafood was far from
Fresh, and there constant flies by the chicken and beef (maybe because the place is not as clean as appearances)… The scallops were not real scallops (though the price for them were) and they were in fact manta ray «punches»… The lobster was not as seeing it raw and laden with ice crystals from frozen. On a whim, I got to see into their back area because an employee had left the door open… Absolutely filthy, with raw
Chicken resting on open counters next to other foods.
Just run!

Try shrimp tempura roll with yum yum sauce!
This place is defintely my favorite! I come here as often as my husband will allow ;-).
I always make a reservation via OpenTable, and rarely have to wait once checked it. It is an awesome experience, especially if it’s your first time. I don’t recommend it for first dates or budding relationships because you’re sitting with a group people you usually don’t know, so you can’t really do the ‘get to know you thing’… that’s great with me… I’ll talk to my husband another time ;-).
Obviously, I highly recommend this restaurant!