Arigato Japanese Steak & Seafood House

One of my favorite places to go. If it was easier to get a seat here I would be back more often. Let me start by saying this place is much better than the winston location. Much cleaner and the food was much better. I am a big fan of the lobster here and the shrimp, they are perfectly cooked and the fried rice is out of the world. You can always find some interesting people here. We had a very talented chef who knew what he was doing and watching them cook puts that extra sugar to the experience. The steak is not the best but it's personal presence, I am always and always been a fan of more premium quality meats. This experience went smoothly we only waited 45 minutes which was worth it but I would not always want to wait but hey I can't help it if they are busy.

The food is like most other hibachi restaurants. I miss the little cake things they used to give after the meals. Make sure you know that if you come to just sit, they charge you $4. Also, if they bring you a birthday dessert, they charge you for it as well. It seems to have gone down since I used to go. The servers are nice as well as the cooks. So that's a plus, it's still an enjoyable experience.

A place who's time has passed?
The hay day of Hibachi may well have passed us by my friends. At 47 I've seen both iterations of Kabuto and Arigato at this Holden Rd location. Had hundreds (not exaggerating) of meals and celebrations and even dog waded thru Covid Regs to get my fix, but current standards and conditions are doing the opposite of making a comeback.
Positive: online booking is relatively easy. But with that ease seems to be a lack of actual availability. Where 3 years ago you could call with a week or two notice and get a 7pm Sat res for 4 now you have to look a month in advance or for a weekday. More people making reservations? Or simply just keeping reservation availability on lockdown?
Waiting once you get there has stayed consistent. Maybe 10 minutes after your booked time..
But... then you're at the table for...ev...er waiting for a server.
Negatives
Host at host stand..yellow underwear showing because he is "saggin" at work???? Can't you save that for literally anywhere other than work?
Portion sizes are way down and inconsistent. Depending on your chef (lefty or righty) some are getting a glutton of rice and veg while the last to get served are getting barely any. Even if you spend extra and order additional those who were served first get the lions share.
Special requests ruin experience for others. Tonight the first two men to order asked for only onion and extra onions. The chef took 75 percent of the table veg onions for these two guys leaving all of us with 90 percent zucchini.
Frozen Grouper cooked to order? Yum, not! Who puts frozen fish on a smoking hot grill?
The manager was accommodating
She seemed truly sorry for the incidentally and did discount our bill. I really hope they can make some changes and bring this place back in to its former stature.

Food was excellent and the customer service !! Me and my family and friends will be returning again ! And The Ambiance was great also !

Walked in a couple mins before they stopped accepting walks in, the staff was friendly & we only waited about 10 mins to be seated (which is great for these types of restaurants). Our waitress was on the ball with all of our wants & needs. The environment itself could use some updating & a deep clean but was by no means as described in the other reviews. The food was flavorful & the chef tried to make our dinner as fun as possible. The wine was delicious but a very small serving for $6 a glass.

Not a fan of this establishment. The only thing I did enjoy was our server. She was amazing.

The wait seemed like a lifetime. When we finally received our call we walked into a very dark and out dated establishment. The ambiance was dark and dull.

The food was nothing to write home about for sure. Below average Japanese cuisine in my opinion. There are much better selections not far away.

I was visiting from Los Angeles and this spot did not disappoint! The service was great and the portions were outstanding. I loved everything about it. I'll be back.

Everything was great as always. Got shrimp it cooked perfectly. Service was great. Company was good even meet people from same town that we are from..

I've lived in Greensboro most of my life and have come to Arigato on special occasions frequently. However, I'm fairly angry with my most recent experience.

To start, I witnessed the hostess sneeze as the other two hostesses giggled. Then she picked up the menus with the same hand she sneezed into. We followed her to our table and she put the same menus on all our plates where the silverware and napkins were.

When the drinks came out, the server placed the plastic tray filled with drinks on the hot stove top. We could see the water from underneath the tray sizzling. I don't know about you but I don't want any form of plastic in my food.

Next, something about the hot tea smelled like fish. Everyone at the table said the same thing.

Lastly,a forced 15% service charge is distasteful. Tips should be earned not guaranteed.

Please do better.

PS. The chef was wonderful.

Arigato is probably the best hibachi place I have found in the Greensboro area. We used to frequent another one in the area and we probably preferred their food more, but we noticed they had a sanitary problem a few months ago and have unfortunately not been back. That to say, Arigato is a great second.

The parking lot is huge, but can be full depending on the night. There is generally a wait, though not unbearable and their bar is open and serving drinks while you wait.

I want to mention a strange occurrence that happened during the last visit. This is not, by any means, intended to sound nit picky, but was slightly annoying and off putting. I'll be back, but I don't agree with how it was handled. Myself and my friend dined in on a Wednesday evening. We checked in with the hostess ahead of a larger party behind us with 5 or so patrons, plus a small baby. Our name was called (incorrectly, but not an issue) and we were paired with that party plus another couple of gentlemen. After we were seated, the hostess came to our table. Again, calling out the wrong name so I didn't think she was looking for us. Lo and behold, she was. She told us that the party who came in behind us had a baby that was not counted in their party's original count and that due to health department standards, we had to go back to the front and wait to be sat on the next go around. This makes sense as I'm certainly respectful of health regulations, but this was an infant, not a child that would be sitting in a chair and eating. Now, this isn't a huge deal at all. However, it was a bit of a nuance, particularly since we had gotten there ahead of the other party! The way it was handled made us to feel that we were being punished (perhaps a harsh word but appropriate) for the hostess' mistake. I just feel that this could've been handled better. Anyway, no huge deal. We were called shortly thereafter (under a third wrong last name..it was comical at this point so I'm not saying this in a complaining manner, but just maybe a nod to the particular hostess either not hearing me correctly or maybe not listening).

Now to the food: everything myself or friends I've dined with have ordered has been delicious. Generally we order chicken, steak, and shrimp between us. The prices are reasonable compared to other hibachi restaurants and you get a ton of food. The white sauce is also very good which is a huge plus for me. The chefs and waitresses are always checking in to make sure you have everything you need, and refilling sauces without missing a beat. I have no complaints about the food itself and if you're looking for a tasty hibachi meal and experience, definitely give Arigato a shot.

I had no idea this place was this busy, all the time, from what my sister told me. We were quoted an hour wait for two people. Less than 30 minutes later, we get a call, come inside the restaurant, only to wait another 30 minutes before being sat down.

The server and chef did great, we were sat with an awesome group of people. The soup was good, my salad had WAAAY too much dressing on it, the shrimp appetizer was a little salty from the soy sauce. The drinks were okay, we ended up getting shots of tequila to follow them. The main course was good, the filet mignon was tender. Their white sauce is thicker than most restaurants and that's a good thing.

Rant: The Chef's spatula was touching everyone's plate/food while dishing out every course! Everyone eats as soon as food hits their plates, between every course, so this was bothersome to see! In the climate of COVID, I don't care how many times you wipe that spatula, the virus will live! If it wasn't the middle a pandemic, this would still be unsanitary. Also, when did it become customary to automatically place a 15% service charge (aka an added tip) onto everybody's bill. I tipped above the 15% but what if someone isn't big on tipping; I used to be a server so I know how tipping works in the US.

There were a ton of birthdays, my sister was one of them. I know the guys handling the birthday drum were tired that night, I should've given them a tip. My review is three stars because the server was amazing and the food I did eat was decent, not sure if I'll be back.