I feel like I'm an adventurous sushi eater, but I guess I'm not adventurous enough for Japanica. I can never seem to find anything that hits the spot, and the specialty rolls all taste a little too specialty for me. I find myself wishing for 'just a tuna roll' or 'just a California roll.' I know Japanica is a favorite among area sushi lovers but it just never does it for me. That being said, the sushi is always fresh and I always get good service. I like the convenience of having a sushi place near Southridge, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, etc. And I'll keep trying to find 'just the right dish' for me. So many people love this place so my perfect dish must exist, right?! read more

Service was as poor as you can find. Hair on my dinner plate and took and hour to get a drink. Food was average at best.

Came here for the sushi. The Miso Soup was not very good.The sushi wasn't bad. I usually love the Spider Roll, but wasn't a big fan here. The Yam Tempura was awesome, and the Spicy Tuna was quite good as well. They also have hibachi here, which we did not participate in. It looked neat with lots of big flames and clanging, but no idea how it tastes. read more

This review is strictly for the group experience. I couldn't tell you what Japanica is like if you come in a small group, but for a large group the Hibachi experience is a lot of fun. Every other Thursday, a big group of friends do a get together at a local restaurant. Japanica was a recent (well, recent-ish) selection. It's crazy that a place this good is in a strip mall next to an old-folks buffet, but hey, I ain't complaining. They're pretty strict about not seating you until the whole group is there, so we were waiting as people trickled in. They made sure to tell us several times that a certain number of people would have to do the hibachi. That wasn't a big deal for us because our group was huge and several of us wanted hibachi anyhow. The constant reminders did seem a bit overbearing, though. They took our order quickly, and out came drinks and appetizers pretty quickly. They started with a salad, which was actually quite good with the house dressing. The mushroom soup was also delicious. Shortly thereafter, the chef arrived, verified our orders, and put on a show. We saw pillars of flame as he showed off his skills, cooking our orders as well as a huge portion of fried rice. This guy had serious talent. As he finished cooking, he sprayed a stream of sake from one of his bottles into each of our mouths. Maybe that's not for everyone, but it was entertaining to us--and hey, I liked the party atmosphere he created. The food itself was delicious. Personally, I'm generally not a huge fan of hibachi because it's generally pretty gimmicky (and this place is no exception, I think my last paragraph illustrates that it is) and the fun usually comes at the expense of the food. Here, we got great food (well, as good as quickly cooked meat can be, anyhow) and the fun to go with it. read more

My husband and I went here for the 1st time and we decided to try the Hibachi grill / food. The chef we had was amazing and really helped us have a great time. The prices seem like they're expensive but you get A LOT of food for the price. I ended up bringing some home with me because I wasn't able to finish it all. We will definitely end up going back. read more

My family has always loved this place. So it was only natural that we would go eat there over the holidays. The food here is great and this is coming from a foody New Yorker. The sushi is excellent and the hibatchi is amazing. I got the scallops last time and they were perfection. It came with soup,salad, fried rice, sauteed shrimp, hibatchi veggies and perfect scallops. The only reason I didn't give it a 5 was because the host is just plain rude. She basically insisted we couldn't have our own table even though the entire restaurant was empty. I guess she is always a bit difficult. Our chef and waiter were, however amazing. I'll be back. read more

Sadly, the quality and cleanliness of this restaurant have diminished terribly since it opened. The booths & decor are in disrepair and the carpet & ceiling tiles are filthy. There is clutter everywhere & the bathrooms were not attended to. The service is equally as shoddy. Sushi quality is sub-Sendiks. It's really a shame to say, but I've had my last meal at Japanica. End of an era as this was the Go-To sushi destination in the area when it opened. read more

The best all-around sushi place in the Milwaukee area. It's not the hippest place in Milwaukee, but Japanica does combine quality sushi and hibachi with reasonable prices and great serivce. I've been to most sushi places in the area and this is the one I keep going back to. read more

Food was excellent. Chef Chris was a lot of fun! Prices are decent. The only reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 is that when we got there, we were told there would be a wait of about 45 minutes. Which was fine with us. I left to go retrieve my phone from the car and when I returned, my wife said we were going to be seated with another group that was already sitting. Having been to other hibachi places I know that it is normal to sit with others so that wasn't a problem for us. The problem came when we joined the other group.........they had all been there long enough to order and receive beverages as well as nearly finish with their soups. The waitress came right over after we were seated and asked about drinks. We had not even had time to look at the menu so we asked for a few minutes to decide. When we were ready we called her back over and told her. She placed the order and then brought our soups and asked if we had decided on our entrees. Fortunately we did and placed our order. The salads were brought out a few minutes after the soups arrived for my wife and I. We felt rushed into ordering our drinks and entrees as well eating the soup and salads so that we could "catch up" to the rest of the group we were seated with. Once we were done eating it seemed as though the staff wanted us to leave right away as the other side of the table had a new group of diners that had been seated. Over all it was a good experience and we will definitely return. Hopefully next time the staff will be a bit better than this time. read more

Very good service, so nice and friendly. The food was fresh and delicious... For a Thursday night place filled up quickly. We enjoyed sushi and hibachi steak and chicken with a scorpion bowl for two... Very good and would totally go back again read more

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Since my daughter, who does not like sushi, is away at camp, my son and I decided to indulge our love for sushi. As I've said before, kids do have a large influence on where families choose to dine :) We decided to try Japanica - for a nice change - and we were pleasantly surprised. The place was totally empty, but it can't be because of the food or service. Both were very good. We thought the lifesize trees in the middle of the dining room were cool, and the bathrooms even coooler and very clean. I'd definitely go back, with my son, again :) read more

Went here for the first time in years to see if it had improved over time. It hadn't. Best ambiance in town, but the food and service are as bad, if not worse than I remember. I ordered a torikatsu bento box for lunch. I explained to the waitress that I am allergic to seafood, including imitation crab, and asked if I could get a veggie roll instead of the Cali roll. She was pleasant but seemed to have a hard time understanding what I was saying. The table next to me had to explain to her what seltzer/sparkling water was, so I think she was still learning English. The sushi roll was very disappointing, none of the veggies were fresh; the clear soup has exactly one mushroom and one green onion slice floating in it; and half the katsu was hard and crunchy - chicken should not be hard and crunchy. Worst was that the shumai had shrimp in it. I became immediately sick and had to leave my table briefly. When the waitress returned, I asked her if there was shrimp in the shumai and she told me no. I asked if there was any other seafood in it and she again told me no. I said that there had to be seafood in it, because I had an allergic reaction and she still insisted that there wasn't. The way she spoke, again, it was clear that she didn't have a strong hold over the English language. I wouldn't normally hold that against a person, but I became horribly sick because of her lack of understanding. Also, this is the only Japanese restaurant I know the regularly plays Chinese music exclusively. read more

Japanica - Sushi Bars Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This place is not clean. The table we were seated at had rice stuck to it- so we had to ask that it be cleaned. Gross. The walls that separate the booths are caked with dust and slime. I think the mistake we made was ordering dinner- not sushi, not hibachi, tempura dinner. It was not good at all. The chicken was tough and hard to cut- really nasty. It was served with plain white rice and soy sauce. Salad and soup before dinner was awful. Dressing had an unrecognizable flavor - which is always scary. The place was busy with hibachi diners - and they all seemed to be having fun, but our dinner was awful. Won't go back. read more

The hibachi here is divine, the best in SE Wisconsin. You want hibachi, Japanica is going to be the first search result. The sushi is fabulous too. And the drink selection is top notch! A great time to spend with friends and family guaranteed. read more

Not only is the location is good where I live but the service and food was wonderful. So I came by 'my first time there with a friend' and we both ordered a combo. Although the selection was good however it was limited and pricey (thus the 4 stars). Our food was good; the fish were fresh although one of her fish selection she ate she said it was slightly 'frozen, no ice but more like frozen and thawed' but other wise she enjoyed her choice, as did I. Everything else excluding that one fish slice was excellent, we were both satisfied. Service was ok, food delivered to us at a good pace it was quick, maybe because when we went there was hardly any life within. Except that one hibachi table with a small crowd; anyways the trip was worth it, and to say my friend and I would love to come again. read more

Horrible experience with hostess for our date night. Demanded we sit at certain spots at empty hibachi table. Then yelled at us to move from corner spot so a giant family could sit on top of us in the middle of covid. Very unromantic, very uncomfortable so we requested to move to a booth. Waitress was nice but shrimp and mushroom came out cold. Sushi was ok at best. The original restaurant we wanted to go to was carry out only & we should have done that instead. Way better restaurants out there. Hostess needs to be fired who worked this Saturday. I absolutely will not be back. read more

Stopped back for some hibachi dinner and I'll admit I was a tad nervous. Haven't graced this establishment in some time and the last couple Yelp reviews were not so kind but we pressed on. We all had hibachi and it was great the chief was rather entertaining needless to say also. I partook in a California roll as well it was quite tasty read more

Restaurant is ok !!! The place doesn't look that clean probably because they need to remodel it to make it more welcoming. The service was ok. The food is good and they give you a lot for the price. read more

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Came here as a long time friend came into town. We used to visit monthly, if not multiple times a month. Our visit was to say the least, horrible. We waited 30-40 minutes, which is fine we knew there was a wait. We were seated with a bunch of loud drunk hipsters-ok, fine. They came around to get our drink orders and hibachi orders. One person in our party got ttyt Orange Fanta. First glass had black chunks-which I'll assume is mold from the soda machine not being cleaned properly. I requested another drink for her, same thing with the next one. After I showed the waiter the second drink with black chunks, we requested a sprite which looked ok. Once dinner started being made-we were never offered dippinng sauces as every other hibachi table was offfered! One person in the other party went and asked for it, and by the time they came around with sauce everyone was pretty much done with dinner. One person in our party ordered a filet-which was rancid and tasted like nasty blood-there were maybe 8 tiny die sized pieces of meat. Definitely not $30 worth of food. She didn't eat it yet they wouldn't come anyone's meal... our hibachi chef was boring and didn't interact with us other than feeding the drunks more drinks of saki! Very disappointed in the show, or lack there of. I asked to speak to a manager who could have cared less aboout our experience! There are MANY other hibachi places. Won't be visiting Japanica again! read more

This place has gone downhill big time. We visited on NYE and there were 2 hibachi chefs for 8 tables. They were entertaining- but 2 on such a busy night? The place is unclean, rundown, and desperately needs a good makeover. The staff looked miserable and I couldn't help but notice that the busboys has a station full of dirty dishes and supplies in the middle of the dining room. There is zero effort towards providing a quality experience- go elsewhere. read more

They have really cool hibachi, and the people who do hibachi are talented and nice. The only thing is there are usually long waits to get a table and/or get your food. read more

This place deserves -5 stars !! This is probably the worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant! I went in Sunday ordered the oyster appetizer and the chicken teriyaki sushi box, oysters were extra greasy the sushi box consisted of chicken California roll rice tempura shrimp and deep fried vegetables, I've never in my entire life ate at a restaurant to only a hour later I found myself running literally to the bathroom in Southridge mall.! Only to have to stop at Walgreens because my stomach is upset again..!! let's just say I spend the rest of my evening going back and forth. I will never ever go back to this pathetic restaurant again!!! read more

Japanica - Sushi Bars Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

As many have stated, what a wonderful treasure in such a generic and bland strip mall. Really hard to believe this place is upstaged by Old Country Buffet. I came in here one day during lunch desiring the entire experience (Miso soup, hibachi, sushi bar, fried ice-cream...the whole 9 yards) and it's never been any different since. Never in my entire life will I forget the experiences I've had at Japanica. The Miso soup is a wonderful start to ANY Japanese dish. While I can't really tell the difference no matter what restaurant I have it at, I could have it for the rest of my life and still be happy. The hibachi session is in particular spectacular, the chefs are extremely personable and really know how to put on a good show. I'll be honest and say this does overshadow the ultimate result: wonderful hibachi-grilled shrimp fried rice. Consistency perfect, and enough to make you full with just that. It does not stop there, their fish? So fresh, extremely delicious. Can not put into words how awesome their sushi (sashimi/maki/etc) is. Would recommend anything from their Temaki to their California rolls. And last but not least, their fried ice-cream. The only place in Milwaukee worth purchasing it at. Such an awesome temporal surprise! I've only been during lunch, and never for dinner. Would love to experience that sometime soon. Most of the time it seems to be inhabited by businessmen and couples, but it is always quiet when it needs to be (ie, where there's not an hibachi crowd applauding and laughing). It can be a little expensive when you're with a group so be smart about it. Regardless, the hostesses are extremely welcoming and will accommodate your needs! read more

it's deceivingly located in a strip mall, but dont be discouraged....the food is amazing!! great japanese bento style plates are what we enjoyed, but looking around the room there wasny anything I wouldnt have enjoyed. Simple casual decor, great service. Good family gathering or date night location is fun at the hibachi tables...also have gotten yummy teriyaki chicken & miso to go!! because EVERYTHING tastes better in PJs on a sunday nite ;) read more

The food did not taste good. A member of my dinner party woke up at 4 am and had violent vomiting and diarrhea. They do have a beautiful, although fake, tree in the restaurant which I really admired. read more

Reservation at the hibachi grill. Service was slow, staff unorganized. Food was okay not great. Bathroom was really dirty. Won't go back.

First time to Japanica on Friday and I LOVED IT! I have had Hibachi once before and thought it was good but this was so much better. I tried Sushi for the first time and just really liked everything about this place. I love that it is smaller and absolutely love the trees inside. The ambiance is very nice. Food was very good and can't wait to go back. Great family experience too. The kids are entertained by the Hibachi chef and then are anxious to try chopsticks and eat what they just saw prepared. You receive a big portion of food for the price. I'm hooked. read more

Not at all happy with being served raw chicken...NOT undercooked chicken...RAW chicken! Your Maru Maru chicken is described on your menu as "deep fried sliced chicken rolled with crabmeat, celery, carrot, cheese, scallion & string bean" You do not list torisashi on the menu. Someone sliced the chicken into pieces and plated it, without seeing that it CLEARLY was raw! Your lack of attention to detail puts your customers' health at risk! We will NEVER return to your restaurant and encourage others to stay clear as well! read more

Not good. Soup and salads were the worst ever, that is the opinion of 7 diners at my table. Salads were made perhaps in the morning. They were filled with ice and water in the bottom of the bowl, topped with a mound of awful dressing. Noodle dish... Eh... No vegetables or meat. Over priced for the quality. read more

The service was good and food was excellent! However the chef we had that cooked our hibachi did not put on a very good show. He just did not seem enthusiastic. read more

I practically lived in Japanica for a few years. They always had the best sushi, the happiest and most cheerful staff, great specials and great atmosphere. I really enjoy the sushi bar, especially when you go during non-peak hours. The sushi chefs are pretty friendly and they sometimes give away new rolls they are trying or give you something the new guy was trying for the first time. They have hibachi which is nice. Good performance and good food. The have a nice bar and liquor selection. Japanica is really great for the casual sushi eater, and pretty good for the sushi elitist. read more

I have been to this restaurant a couple of times and hoping that it will improve. It hasn't. Your experience starts being greeted by your host that is in tennis shoes and a T-shirt. When seated, your waitress will try to ask for your order. The waitresses does not speak English. It makes it very hard to order anything but the hibachi. The soup had a bad taste to it. The salad dressing had no flavor. The only reason I gave this 2 stars was because the chef was entertaining. read more

Enjoyed the sushi more than the hibachi (have gone here more than once). Favorite roll was the lobster roll that is excellent Still hungry after ordering hibachi supreme for 2. My wife was barely full. read more

Food is good, nice service, good place to go with friends. Pinky rules!

DO NOT get here for lunch after 2!! They say they close at 2:30 and DANG IT, THEY MEAN IT! Apparently the same happens during evening closing according to another reviewer! I got there at 2:10. A couple got seated at 2:22 only to hear my server tell them, come back tomorrow. We close at 2:30 and our staff needs their two hr break!!! Unbelievable!!! He brought me my check and said please pay while you're eating, but we will serve you until you're done. He then HOVERED two tables away, well within my view. As soon as I put money out he swooped in to grab the check. He returned with my change and asked if I wanted a to-go box and continued to stand within my view - obviously waiting for me to be done. My change was a five and two singles. I had barely put the five in my wallet when he came flying up to my table and scooped up the check. Japanica: I love your food. If you need your stupid two hour break, CLOSE THE DARN PLACE AT 2:00!!!!!! This was the most disgusting service I've ever had ANYWHERE!!!! read more

The fresh hibachi stuff is great. Sushi smelled bad...

Kid friendly, affordable Japanese. Our go to place. Who knew a strip mall place was so great? The sushi is always fresh and the service is great. They make chopsticks for the kids. They have hibachi and the 5 year old likes it. There is a full bar which we have had a drink at just us and the bartender, very nice. There is not a better "let's get sushi" family place in town. read more

Always great sushi and nice servers. Drinks are too $$, but the sushi is priced right and good. I always eat here for my sushi fix!

This place has a great lunch special on the weekends, so we went Saturday. The food was good, and the bill surprised us at how reasonable it was. We went with two kids, and the server was very helpful with dividing the food. read more

Japanica does a really good job with it's hibachi. Everything is always cooked to perfection. The flavors are on point. The entertainment from the chef is always fun! Overall, Japanica always leaves myself and any group I am with happy and full. read more