Bari Bari Japanese Steak House

Last Friday night I went out to dinner with my parents. For the past few years, they have walked past this restaurant and always said “we have to try that place” but never got around to it. Well, Friday night was the night. We arrived around 6:45 pm. When we walked in the restaurant was full but there appeared to be no one waiting. We were told a wait time of 15-20 minutes. We were happy to wait and looked at a menu in the meantime. As we were waiting the lobby area started filling up some people agreeing to wait 45 minutes to 1 hour. From all of my experience in the restaurant business, I knew that this was a good sign.

We got seated in about 15 minutes. We were sat at a teppan grill with another group of 6 next to us. The waitress came over and took our orders promptly. Before we knew it we were being handed a small salad with homemade ginger dressing (that was to die for so yummy) and a soup. Then our chef came over to “work” the teppan grill. He was wonderful, included everyone and made it a fun, friendly and enjoyable experience. He even chopped up some of the cooked egg and had everyone catch a small piece in their mouth. Sadly I was the only one who did not catch the egg 🙁 Typical of me though! 🙂

He first cooked the veggies, then the rice, and finally the meat. The food was fabulous so flavorful. I ordered half chicken half filet mignon. I ordered the filet medium rare. I was a bit skeptical when he chopped the filet into small pieces that it would end up being overcooked. I was wrong it was so juicy and wonderfully flavored.

The only downside to this experience was that before anyone at the table had time to finish even half of their dinner there were to go boxes and checks left on the table. Looking back on the whole dining experience the servers seemed very pushy- they wanted to get us in and out quickly. And as a waitress, I realize that the more tables the more money you make and you have people waiting but there is a way to go about it and be respectful to your paying customers. And the decor could be updated.

If you are in the area I really would suggest going it was so tasty and a fun experience 🙂 Unfortunately, it looks as if there is no website but just google Bari Bari Japanese Steak House Yorba Linda, CA

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