This is the best sushi I've ever had, period. I live in Georgia now, but go back often to California to visit family. This place is always at the top of my list for a visit. read more

I have been going to this restaurant since I was a little girl. Many changes to the interior since then but the food remains the same - great! Service is always prompt and courteous. Chefs are friendly and fun - eager to include any kids in the tepan experience. They don't do the volcano made of onions anymore since someone got injured and they have reduced the shrimp appetizer you used to get for less shrimp (like 2 or 3 instead of 6-8), mushrooms and noodles - would rather skip the noodles and get the shrimp. Salad and soup are excellent! Just keep an eye on proportions and be sure you get your fair share! Kid friendly but not always easy for a group since it can get loud in there! read more

http://www.geocities.com/sandyx909/Ichibiri.html Here is the menu. Toro is seasonal and usually ranges from $5-$6. Sometimes it is not even available. It's unfortunate that you had a bad night there. I want to note that that restaurant has been there for about 20 or so years and the owner has opened up two additional restaurants in San Clemente and Laguna Niguel. I've been working there for four years. Sorry if I forgot to mention that before. I am currently helping the owner develop a website since he is afraid of using other sources because of a previous scam. read more

I have never written a review before but i feel that i have to today because the service and food was so awful. The restaurant was packed, with only 2 servers...yes 2. we were at the laguna niguel one and there must have been 6 or 7 teppan stations, with seating for 20 at each. The entire restaurant was packed, but only 2 servers..not to mention the booths were occupied as well. The front desk girl said nothing to make things better for us. I asked her is it always like this or are you short staffed, and she just looked at me. If servers called in sick, where is the rest of your servers you can call and ask to come in? between 3 locations, you would think they would have a big enough staff list to be able to call at any time. I think they just don't want to spend the money on servers and they would rather have a greater profit margin....horrible horrible service with no staff. Our soup was cold upon arrival. We sent it back and it came back even colder. We couldn't drink it...Our sushi never came, yet they managed to have it itemized on the bill, the teppan guy was done in 5 minutes...all that effort and money to watch a guy for 5 minutes..who was not even friendly and said all of 3 words.."how are you?" Don't bother with this place and save your money! read more

Love, love, love the ginger sauce! The sashimi is amazing and the servers are friendly and professional. They serve soup and salad right away so that you do not have to go hungry while waiting for your entrée. Love that! read more

I hadn't been for actually two years and had some friends in town who wanted to do sushi, so instead of driving to Laguna or DP, we decided on Ichibiri. Wow, not near what it used to be. I can recall 2-3 years back coming in here and having great sushi and tempura, but alas, with timing passing, certainly so to the quality of their food. You would have thought you were eating sushi in South Dakota. Seriously very marginal and certainly not fresh, clearly I wouldn't recommend this place after that experience. Honestly, other than the teppanyaki experience, which i thought was an 80's-90's thing, I don't see how the place could survive based on the quality of food we experienced. Actually embarrassing given proximity to the beach! read more

I had lunch today and was disappointed by the Teppan chef. I asked if he could put teriyaki sauce on my chicken and he was so rude about it. I guess it was too much to ask for. Lunch was $40 and I shared a plate with my girlfriend. I've been going to Ichibiri with my family for well over 15 years and was so disappointed by the attitude from the chef. It must be time to find a new Japanese restaurant. read more

We were Very Disappointed tonight. We ordered two chicken teriyaki chickens that tasted like rubber and were inedible. We told the waitress and she did nothing. We are not coming back any time soon. There are a lot of good Japanese restaurants other than this one. This was really a very poor experience. read more

Dined here before several times and it's a favorite spot for my four kids, generally for special occasions as the menu is pricy. Food is decent but we pay the premium price primarily due to expectation that the cooking will be entertaining and engaging. We had a dud of a cook this past Friday. Based on other reviews, it seems that the place could do a better job of matching chefs with those who would prefer a more engaging cooking experience vs. those that do not care as much. The food was fine but if I come back I will try and make arrangements for a better cook. read more

Big disappointment. Enjoyed it with the kids two years ago--may make sense for families on a budget. If you're looking for high quality sushi, go somewhere else. read more

Delicious!!!! Been going there my entire life and my parents have been going there for like 30 years. Delicious food, fair price!

We have been to Ichibiri many times over the past 20 + years. We were hosting a Japanese Pre-Nursing student for 3 weeks and decided to take her there for an Early Bird dinner. We sat at the teppan table. The entertainment by the chef was fine. The food offered has changed over the years. They now offer noodles on the grill. No bean sprouts or sesame seeds and few other items. Same sauces. The wait staff, to our surprise, did not speak Japanese. Had to get the older managers to come over and converse with our " daughter ". Thought that pretty funny. All in all in was a good experience. We all had the chicken and a side of sushi. Left with plenty of leftovers. read more

YUM! Ichibiri is my family's number one spot for birthday dinners! The teppan tables are so fun, and the food is always delicious. I've found it to be especially fun for our younger family members who are absolutely mesmerized by the chef and the show they put on! They have a decent selection of wine, sake, and beer. It's not too extensive but I've always found something I liked. Their sushi is also pretty good too! They can be a little slow getting you in if you are a walk-in customer, so I recommend making a reservation, especially if you have a larger party on the weekends. The portions of the food at the teppan table are HUGE! The prices are a little high, but for how much food you get, it's definitely reasonable. read more

Love this place but a little pricey. But entertaining and so deliciousious. Great for kids even if they don't like sushi the chicken is great read more

Overpriced Dinner combo's with subpar service. The Steak 2 item combo looked like it was a kid's menu portion. Didn't like the noodles they served with the combo dinner either. read more

Food id consistently good, Teppan chief did a very good job. But I had to argue with the server over the early bird special and the senior dinner. She told me we were too late (we sat down at 5:55) and specifically ordered from the early menu. They still couldn't get it right and the bill should have been 76 and all they would do was $90.45. I didn't want to push any more for the right price and embarrass my guests so I just paid it. Be careful of your bill and don't feel screwed. read more

Called first and asked if we needed reservation and was told no "come right now". Arrived and was told wait would be 15 mins. Waited 40 minutes and left hungry and angry of being lied to. While I waited, went to bathroom to wash hands. Walking across restaurant floor shoes stick to greasy sticky floor all the way through restaurant. Bathroom absolutely filthy with no hot water and toilet not working properly. After leaving hungry and angry from tiny over crowded tiny lobby. Entire family's clothes smelled like burnt cooking oil from the heavy dirty grease smoke in the air inside. How disappointed and embarrassed I was to select such a crappy Japanese restaurant. Food might be great, but l'll never know. Based on the filthy condition of this place I'm probably better off not to consume potentially contaminated food. Looked past the lack of caring and rude seating staff who have the attitude of we have plenty of customers so just go away. read more

Not sure where other reviewers have eaten before but please save yourself the misery and go someplace else. Sushi was far below good, covered with sauce on every roll, nigiri was poor quality fish and service was unbelievably poor. No need to give the gory details but this is at best a one star experience. Hope you listen because I hate to say "I told you so!" read more

Long wait, food was average, restaurant is very crowded and did not look clean, would not go back or recommend.

The service here has been really poor this last year. Been coming for years and have really seen a nose dive in service all around.

Great secret spot and even better food! The mango roll was phenomenal and our teppanyaki chef, Isaic, was amazing. He made the experience very special for our 5&7 year olds who were doing this for the first time. Thank you for a great evening! read more

Love this place, been coming for years, always a delicious meal. We usually do teppan, but have had sushi here as well.

Nice sushi bar. Very attentive staff. Fun place for a group- tables cook dinner in front of you. Def recommend.

Ichibiri used to be a great, fun restaurant. Unfortunately, it's not the same anymore. The food isn't as good and the service and atmosphere is now terrible. The past two times we went there, the bill included some items we didn't order. When my mother pointed out the mistakes to the waiter he got defensive and told her to relax instead of apologizing for the error. So, unfortunately we will not be returning to this restaurant, even though it had almost become a family tradition to go there. read more

Food was pretty good, prices were kinda high but the disappointing this was our chef literally did not even try to put on a show for our table...he then went a blew the socks off of the table next to us while we ate. May go back at some point to try again but not in a rush. Portions were great which made the price worth it because I eat a lot and totally got two meals out of it. read more

i have not eaten sushi here, ever. i'm not sure why, but i think it has to due with being satisfied greatly enough with their teppan. lunch is cheaper and it is just as good fyi. read more

This place doesn't get enough credit. For a teppan place I think this may be one of the best to go to. The options here are more variety because they offer combination dinners where you can basically choose two or more items and create your dinner rather than other places that only offer set combos such as steak and shrimp or chicken and shrimp and that's about it. There's also no extra prices for things such as you don't have to pay an extra amount to have fried rice with your dinner which most teppan places do. Plus their fried rice is the best, there's something extra to it that other teppan places don't do. They give more vegetable options than the usual zucchini and onion you'd get from other places, ichibiri gives broccoli and carrots as well. Sushi is also very good. They have really yummy eel sauce which is good on almost every roll as opposed to other places where theirs tastes like teriyaki sauce. Give this place a try if you haven't. I recommend more going on weekdays when they aren't as busy and they offer early bird specials. read more