Arigato Steak House

See Gone, But Not Forgotten

Arigato Steak House was a Japanese steakhouse in the Benihana tradition, with the chefs cooking on the large grill in front of customers.

It was closed as of August 2013.

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See Archive Page for comments prior to 2008.

2008-02-18 11:07:07   The food has no flavor. Not one of my favorite places. —ChampsElysses

2008-03-18 14:03:42   I love Arigato! I used to go a few times a week! The chiefs are amazing and friendly, the servers are all beautiful, quick and polite, and the bartender is always on the move getting all the drinks done! The food is also great! There are no roaches! lol- If so they add the extra flavor to the food. And didn’t arigato get some prize for their sushi? I don’t know what the negative commotion is all about! It's a great place to eat! —AlbaKnee

2008-04-10 12:28:57   Not as good as Tokyo. When we want to order Miso soup, not only should they serve it a a Japanese restaurant, but the waiter should also know what it is. Our onion soup had no onions in it and the salad dressing was about a half a teaspoon. —TracyRohlin

2009-07-17 12:48:48   Im a little surprised by all the negative comments. Arigato is my go-to place for sushi in rochester. The sushi chef Phu is a great guy with decades of experience. I've only had hibachi twice there so i can't speak too much to that part (the little experience i've had was good). The all you can eat special can't be beat by anywhere in rochester. The owners are very nice, friendly and accommodating.

So bizarre all of the negative comments. It seems i've had the opposite experience of others here as i got food poisoning eating sushi at Tokyo and vowed never again. Don't be turned off by the comments on this page. Check it out for yourself and you might be surprised. —GioD

2009-08-26 23:58:13   Hello my name is Kevin on behalf of Arigato Japanese Steak House. I am one of the hibachi chefs at the restaurant and i must say all the negative comments are pretty outrageous. I started working there at a young age so I know the in and outs of the restaurant, and not only have I worked there I have worked at our other competitors business and I must say this is one of the greatest places I have worked at. I'll admit it is a little out of date but how can you say no to one of the first hibachi places in your hometown? All the chefs at the other restaurants came from Arigato so you can thank us for training those so called "chefs." We have updated our menus as well as remodeled most of the restaurant [we are currently replacing the grill tops and the carpeting also!] and added new seasonings to the food.

If you really want the inside scoop to all the restaurants get ready to come back to Arigato. After I left Arigato I went on to work at Tokyo Restaurant where I worked there for over a year or so. It was the most disgusting place i have ever worked in, I went on my hands and knees to clean that place up but no luck, plenty of cockroaches, mice, and rats. I left there to go work at the "amazing" Plum Garden...about that, sure everything is newer but half the "chefs" there couldn't make easy mac if their lives depended on it. My first day there I receieved plenty of complements about how I was the only chef that provided excellent customer service and my food wasn't over cooked or like most of the food there undercooked. [I'm saying that most of the chicken is always rare there and they leave it in used soy sauce buckets in the kitchen NOT in the cooler.] Might I add I found mice running around every now and then.

Our food is seasoned right there in front of you with our homemade sauces and our specialty garlic butter. I personally prep all the vegetables that day so it is always fresh. Our rice isn't pre-seasoned like Tokyo where they cook the rice with all the seasonings before it even hits the table. All our other produce is received from Palmers so you know its of high quality. We take pride in keeping our kitchen clean I know in the past they had problems but I guarentee you even I would take my family here and I'm not just saying that because I don't like to eat out due to the fact that I know the background of most if not all restaurants. I've been in culinary positions my whole life not just Japanese, also Italian and American so this isn't my first betty crocker cook off. I take pride in my food and prep skills so expect nothing but great quality and excellent customer service if you folks decide to come and eat at Arigato Japanese Steak House.

We are having a Hibachi special going on right now where our guest receive 2 meals, [Choices are: Filet Mignon, Shrimp, and Chicken.] you also get Crab Rangoon and California Roll as an appetizer all for the low price of $25.99 along with our Onion Soup, and Salad. So please folks don't let past experiences keep you from returning and to those who have never been don't let these negative comments keep you from enjoying one of the best original hibachi experience you have ever received. Again I thank you all and I hope to see some new faces. Again my name is Kevin, if you decide to stop in feel free to give me a request I won't let you down. Thanks again. —KevinSirps

2010-01-22 12:43:26   We purchased a $50 gift certificate from Arigato and I will never do that again or ever go there again. The first time, it was freezing cold where we sat, the food was overdone and had obviously been under a warming lap for a long time. On this visit, they refused to accept the certificate for the selections we made. Okay, a misunderstanding. I can deal with that. Next time we make sure of our order first and the total bill was $44. We had a $50 certificate that clearly stated and provided spaces for the remainder, in this case $6. When the certificate was not returned, I inquired and was told it was the manager's policy not to allow this to occur. I asked to speak with the manager. She was an absolute bitch. Even when I pointed out to her that it clearly said it was against the law not to allow us to use the full amount on one or more visits she refused. You know what? There are plenty of much better Japanese restaurants in Rochester. Don't go near this one! —RobertOwens

2010-02-09 22:19:44   The all-you-can-eat sushi special is awesome. The sushi chef (Fu) is very accommodating with special requests. The hibachi has still been fairly disappointing. But definitely one of my top picks for sushi! —OneLove

2010-02-28 19:49:26   I have just come back from our third visit since October, and it was the third GREAT visit in a row. We have had "Shogun", a chef whose name we did not catch, and tonight, Kevin. The food was well-prepared, and entertaining as well. We did not have sushi, since none of us have ever been fond of it, so I cannot speak to that, but we have had all varieties of steak and chicken and have not had issue with any of it. Now, seeing as some of these posts are 2 1/2 years ago, maybe there WAS a problem there in the past, but I don't think it is there any longer. I will be going again. —EricMurphy

2010-03-05 16:28:34   I prefer the Sushi here to any other Rochester establishment. The quality of the ingredients is good considering the reasonable prices. The service at the Sushi bar is great. Only one chef works there and he is amazing: very personable and creative with his art. I think Arigato is a good option for Sushi. —walternmoss

2010-03-08 17:25:05   I've been hear a few times in the past couple of months and everything was excellent, the food all tasted fresh and the serivce while a little slow was good as well. —ASTE1002

2010-05-29 22:20:37   We went to Arigato for a combined 16th b-day/Mother's day celebration. It was the perfect venue! We were given our own hibachi room. The cooking was dramatic enough to hold the smaller kids' (aroun9 9 years old) attention and the food was excellent all the way around. We were given lots of attention and made to feel very special. The food was excellent and even the less adventurous eaters enjoyed it. I can't think of when my family has had a better time. Thanks!! —ErikaWu

2010-07-14 18:25:27   Anybody know if there hiring. Would love to work there. —TerrellWilliams

2010-10-16 16:56:46   The all you can eat sushi deal is very nice, high quality sushi for a good price if you're really hungry. If you don't want crazy stuff with fruit on it(which usually has no flavor and just tastes strange most of the time) just ask for simple rolls. The sushi chef is really friendly and knowledgeable about all sorts of things, although a proper conversation can be difficult because of his strong accent unfortunately, you only catch every other word. The Women's bathroom is in shambles, however, with peeling wallpaper. Never had anything but sushi here, so I can't comment on anything else. I come here often, a few times a month. —lettuchi

2011-02-16 20:55:59   BE VERY CAREFUL about the all you can eat sushi dinner. Our experience was somewhat disappointing. It is expected that you are offered soup and salad to fill you up before you eat the sushi itself, so this was no bother. The base 'chef's choice' plate was reasonable as well, with 7 pieces of common nigiri and a california roll. Keep in mind, however, that it is all very cheap (shrimp, yellowtail, 'omelette'.) Service was also perfectly fine, the waitress did not fail to refill our water glasses, etc.

The aggravating element, however, was that there was no way for the sushi chef (who was actually a very nice guy) to formally take our order, so we ended up getting rolls we didn't ask for. He kept saying he would make us a 'special roll,' and after we asked for specific rolls, he gave us a shrimp tempura with cream cheese to start. This was not unpleasant, however we would not have ordered it as it was not anywhere near our first choice. When I asked for tobiko nigiri, dragon roll, and arigato roll, I was given an amalgam of all three that was not very satisfying, although aesthetically pleasing. Instead of tobiko nigiri, we were given tiny pieces of yellowtail wrapped with rice and spackled lightly with masago (cheaper than tobiko). Many places use masago as substitute, but it is misleading for Arigato to offer tobiko on the menu and to give masago instead (he even told us tobiko is expensive, so we were gonna get masago.) Once again, while it was aesthetically pleasing, it was EXTREMELY rice heavy and nowhere near what we asked for. I was one step away from speaking to the manager.

I realize one can't expect a dream come true when it comes to anything 'all you can eat.' However, it is flat out false advertising if there's no formal way to order food, so that it leaves our dinner up to the sushi chef's discretion, which unfortunately (probably not his fault,) involves saving costly resources.

I consider myself a sushi fanatic, I'm no stranger to it. This sushi is sub-par at best. I know when I'm being swindled. I'd rather eat less sushi and eat better sushi than eat rice arranged nicely.

I will not be back again. —JObscure