Jo To Japanese Steakhouse

This place was pretty average. Went with a friend and between the two of us, we got three rolls and mochi for dessert. The rolls were soooo tiny! It was cute because they were bite sized, but I don’t think it worth $ 8. I ordered a Sprite, and it wasn’t even bubbly. The mochi was hard and stale. I’m very disappointed! It filled my stomach but it was very disappointing when I expected so much from the reviews.

Slow service. She messed up our order and the table behind us. Food is decent. Took a while for them to take our order

I live on Siesta Key and just went to JoTo for the first time.
The underwhelming façade and inexpensive looking signs on the exterior if the building were enough to keep us away for the first year we were here.
Tonight we decided to look past it and give it a try. The restaurant seems a little crowded, several small spaces that are very broken up but once I settled in I was fine.
I ordered a soft drink which was completely flat. I mentioned this to three severer’s by saying the soda is flat, there is no fizz, it is out of bubbles, but no one understood what I was saying.
I initially ordered five rolls, spicy tuna, spicy yellow tail, spicy salmon, crunchy spicy and Sunday morning.
The sushi was fresh but was bland. The only thing worth ordering was the Sunday morning which I liked enough to order again.
I might try this place one more time just to give it a fair shot but unless something amazing happens there are other sushi restaurants I would go to first, like Ginza or Tsunami.

After a day on the beach, Jo To is an excellent place for dinner. Treat yourself to a nice, quiet, wonderful meal!
The soup was excellent, the salad was great, and the service was friendly and relaxed. Certainly one of the best hibachis I have ever been to.
I had the filet, which was cut into perfect, bite-​sized pieces (so that no cutting was necessary, a problem at other hibachis) and each bite melts in your mouth.
I’m glad that I ate here and I will certainly come back in the future.

We were a table of 8 in the hibachi room. Three tables here. We were seated on time and to ourselves. Service was quick (I felt they were trying to turn the tables again.)
5 ordered full dinner with all the sides. We had a variety of scallops, filet and lobster. We were already full on the pre-​cursors before main course!
Everyone liked their meal. The three others ordered al a carte and enjoyed their meals as well.
Serving sizes are more than generous! Great entertainment cooking too!

Nice food and a different menu than everyone else in town, so that’s good. Very traditional Japanese. It gives you a reason to go over to the key for it. No parking area. Staff was very courteous.

Always love going to hibachi restaurants while on vacation so we had to stop in. I have to give it to the chef he was great! Cooked everything very well and was entertaining! We also ordered sushi and sake which were both very good. I would definitely recommend this place to travelers the only thing I wasn’t a fan of was their chicken was all white meat, not a huge deal but after having the filet mignon which was the best I’ve ever had the chicken didn’t quiet measure up! But still a great little spot in siesta key

I go to Jo To almost every time I’m in the area. The service is exceptional– attentive and friendly. They make you feel like family. The hibachi portions are very large (but don’t let that stop you from ordering extra vegetables!) and exactly what you expect when you get hibachi. The best part is the fried rice with the yum yum sauce. I usually get the shrimp and scallops — so delicious! Get the scallops thinly sliced to make them slightly more cooked. They take reservations too.

I am totally confused. I have no idea how this place has such high reviews?! The food was terrible. Awful.
Started with the shumai. You could tell it was previously frozen and then cooked in a microwave. To add insult to injury, instead of spicy mustard, they used yellow mustard (like the type you put on a hot dog) just gross!
We asked what fish came with the chirashi dinner, the server didn’t know. We asked what fish was the special, the server said, I don’t know, a white fish? Wow.
I wanted shashimi so we just got the chirashi dinner. The fish you could tell was previously frozen and stiff, like it hadn’t been thawed all the way. And lazy, sloppy presentation.
We got the special roll, and the krab mix just tasted like mayonnaise. You would bite into the roll and just a blob of mayo would squeeze into your mouth. Awful.
Terrible. I would not recommend and will not return. Although based on the other reviews, it sounds like people have had better luck on the teppanyaki side.

I love Sushi and have had it many places around the USA. I ordered 4 different rolls 20 minutes before closing and was given a 15 minute pick up. Needless to say, the BEST sushi I’ve ever had. I must say I wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary but was completely blown out of the water. If you are on Siesta Key I highly suggest and recommend giving Jo To a try, you will be impressed!

Hibachi is ALWAYS great! Love the show just as much as the food and sitting with strangers is entertaining too.

Absolutely AMAZING! Dined at Jo To for the first time last night and it is now our favorite restaurant in Sarasota. We tried various appetizers and ordered a boat full of sushi rolls. We also tried a special Japanese ice-​cream for dessert. Everything was fresh and delicious. The service was out of this world. The restaurant was very clean and the owners were very kind and hospitable.

Family and I showed up for a late night dinner and the staff was more than hospitable the two hour late arrival. The teppanyaki chef was pretty funny and put on a good show.
When he started to grill her shrimp in butter, my wife told him of her dairy allergy and he said it was no problem. Without any fuss, he put her shrimp on my plate and brought her out some fresh ingredients to cook with no butter. (This was a rare show of hospitality)
The food was excellent! Fresh ingredients, good service, and a great atmosphere. This fine Japanese restaurant is a must during your stay at Siesta Key.

Simply put, Outstanding, in a very unexpected setting.
Down here on business in Sarasota proper, my colleague and I decided to check out Siesta Keys, the famed Gulf Coast stretch of powder white sand beach off the mainland of Sarasota. It was all that plus warm Gulf waters but the area itself is just ordinary American tourist trap. Every restaurant a burger/​beer joint with a Jimmy Buffet sounding musician wailing away, plus sports on every screen. And ice cream joints.
My colleague was especially not into it, so we held out until we ran into a Japanese restaurant, nestled incongruously amongst the expanse of Beach Bum Dining. It was very nearly empty, which gave me pause, but we decided to go for it. In this heat and humidity, huge Beef or Fried plus Beer sounded awful so the prospect of some lighter fish fare appealed.
We sat, and ordered some Sake. They did not have the one my colleague wanted, which caused the owner, Ayako, to come out to chat with us about alternatives. After some small talk, she decided she liked us and said, «Ignore the menu, I’m going to serve you a real Japanese meal».
We went for it.
And it was sublime. Grilled Shrimps in Egg Yolk Sauce, Fried Tofu in Ponzu Sauce (yeah, fried, but tofu, you know?), pan roasted calamari cubes — totally not rubbery, laced with pepper and accompanied by a garlic mayo dip, a hunk of Japanese style Sea Bass glazed with a sweet but charred glaze, and a Hamachi fish, roasted and seasoned, from what remained after the sushi bits had been removed — sounds questionable, I know, but it was unbelievably crispy and tender and flavorful.
And the Sake was not too shabby either.
We thoroughly loved this place and I recommend it to one and all.

Was very please to see they take reservations! Food was excellent. Wish they served lo mein instead of sprouts. Our cook was funny and definitely entertained us. Sushi was good too! Will be back next year!

A pretty standard teppanyaki experience: friendly chef, good service, average food. The show had the typical tricks, with only a few mistakes here and there. The food was good, but not outstanding. The restaurant itself was nicely decorated and clean. We did not try the sushi, so I cannot comment on that.

What a charming place!
The sushi was to die for and the chef nailed our special requests.
There is no parking, but it doesn’t matter.
Everything in town here is in walking distance.
I’ll be back, again, and again!

Could not be happier with this wonderful restaurant. Had their broiled Chilean Sea Bass along with chicken dumplings. Fantastic tastes and presentation! Our friends had the Sushi and also the Sashimi and they loved it!
Beautiful service and friendly waitresses!

The sushi is excellent, the atmosphere is comfortable, the staff is friendly and conversational, and the prices are quite reasonable (especially by Massachusetts standards). We had a terrific experience at Jo To and will without doubt return should we get back to Siesta Key. My one and only complaint is that we discovered this jewel so late in our vacation.
Also, try the green tea tiramisu. I had my doubts but it was surprisingly good.

Great service. The hibachi grill chef was entertaining and friendly. Atmosphere was relaxing with beautiful paintings surrounding the room where hibachi was done. Good food. Large portions. Scallops cooked to perfection! I don’t like sushi but it certainly looked fabulous and those with me who did have it LOVED it. I would definitely return!