Daruma North Sarasota - Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Lounge - Japanese restaurant in Sarasota - 5459 Fruitville Rd, USA

This place was horrific. Let's start from the beginning. We decided to spend my daughter's 7th birthday here. She was so excited, we made the reservation and got dressed up... all very fun. We get there and are seated promptly. Around 15 minutes after we are seated the waitress arrives and takes our drink orders. Another 10-15 min goes by and we are still just sitting there, no drinks, no ordering... nothing. Our reservation and seating was at 6. We didn't order our food until 6:45. The show/dinner prep itself was only 15 minutes. So, something didn't quite add up. The food preparation and "show" was absolutely pathetic. At hibachi places there's always a standard of what you can expect. They always do a little train made of onions and light it on fire, then they'll make a heart out of the rice.. it's standard practice, that is the BARE MINIMUM. Our chef didn't do one trick or fun joke, or even talk... he was silent the whole time... just cooked the food in from of us and left. We didn't even get a shrimp toss. It was brief, boring, and he didn't even mention my daughter's birthday until the end when he packed up and said oh Happy Birthday. She's 7... he could have at least cracked a joke or smiled. The rice was burnt and the chicken rubbery and inedible. My kids got steak and they could barely bite through it. Husband got filet and shrimp and for someone who will basically eat anything, he didn't even finish half. What I was most displeased with was they didn't even sing "Happy Birthday" or bring out a candle... nothing. She's 7, we were expecting something fun and joyous when we came... it is a hibachi "experience" after all. I can honestly say this was the worst restaurant we have been to in Sarasota, by far. We ended up spending $200 on a dinner for 2 adults and 2 kids. For that price we could have gone somewhere they would have at least sang my daughter "Happy Birthday". Do yourself a favor and go absolutely anywhere else... you will thank me.

This visit was for my grandson sixth birthday, and it was our worst visit ever at this to my location. They must be changing their menu or new management or something because the soups were terrible. Tasteless water with tough mushrooms, and the tofu soup was full of the seaweed greens and not much broth. Then the chef comes and we got a small portion of vegetables much smaller than any we’ve ever had and the fried rice had hard, crunchy bits in it. I talk with the manager and she never came back to me to talk about anything that we discussed. We have been celebrating special occasions for our family at Daruma for years. I think we will give the location at the Landings and Sarasota a try and if things are not any better we will have to find a new location for celebrations. Also, the waiter had our checks mixed up and wrong and then we waited 20 minutes to get the correction. The management and the service both were disappointing and did not seem to care.

Such a fun experience at Darumas. They cook in front of you and do a whole show, it was awesome. I love how they provide free tea & chocolates after your meal. We will definitely be back!

Beautiful and clean restaurant. Friendly service. Typical Japanese steakhouse menu with full bar. Chefs put on a fun show with many tricks. Table next to us was celebrating a birthday and chef paid extra attention to them and recognized the birthday person. Efficient service with reservations recommended. Lots of free parking.

The Chef cooked everything perfect and I can't remember the last time I had such amazing service. Victoria was attentive, sincere, and genuinely cares about the customers. You can't fake that! All around a great experience

Took my husband here for his birthday and had an AH-MAZING night. Wasn’t expecting it to be what it turned out to be, it ended up being the best hibachi we’ve had with a great chef! Jackie was awesome and made our experience the best it could’ve been! Thank you for an awesome time!

Elegant decor, outstanding service and food. The staff cooks in front of you and provides an entertaining show while doing it. Love the piano bar, made the evening so romantic. Great place for date night or a fun evening out with friends.

We went here for an anniversary dinner. They cook all the food directly in front of us. The grill is attached to the tables. The server did all kinds of cool tricks and even did cool fires. The food was excellent and the service was fast and the tables were clean. Love this place! 😊