Reviews for Koto Japanese Steak & Seafood House in Lynchburg, VA

I went here over the weekend and the place was a total let down. I had to wait 10+min for my soup evem tho the whole table aside... from me received one straight away. I ask two other watresses for my soup as well. Our waitress was hardly seen. They used alotof cheap vegetables like cabbage and carrots to cut the habachi vegetables with but what really got me was they added their owntip of like 20% to my bill even tho I was one person and they still wanted a bigger tip because and I quote we have to share alltips with the chef. That chef was the only highlight of the meal and should have received the intire inflated tip. Read more

It's a great place to hang out with friends, by yourself, or on a date. You get to watch your food being made right in front of... you, so you know it's fresh and made to order. It is really dinner and a small show. The hibachi chefs that we have had have allbeen great and the waitresses we have had have all been super nice. If you go for dinner on your birthday you can get a hibachientree for one cents. Read more

The server was pleasant, the chef was entertaining. There are things that have changed and not for the good. The half cup of... soup was like dirty water with 3 small scallion slices. The yum yum sauce was not the same flavor, bland, and pale in color.Tasted more like mayonaise. Vegtables were mostly onion. The worst part was the 2 across from us. 1 woman worked there and wasoff shift so a lot of bantering was going on from the door way to her, back and forth. At one point she got angry at somethingand began yelling and threatening to 'go outside' with this other employee. The yelling was loud and intimidating. Her smallchild became afraid and clung to the grandmother. No manager or anyone did anything about this altercation. Our dinner date wasmade very uncomfortable to say the least. Then our check came, to our surprise an 18% gratuity had been added to the total. Noone told us or mentioned this, I just happened upon it while signing and attempting to include the tip! This is typically donefor a large party, not a couple. They have also done away with the early bird special, as well as raised their prices. But thatseems to be the same everywhere. This restaurant is in serious need of a deep cleaning. This will sadly be my last visit. Read more

The only reason it even gets 1 star is because of the chef he was the only good thing. The place is dirty as heck. We had to... chase the server down for soup. She also copped an attitude because of explaining the automatic 18%. Not pleased with it for thecost of food. Never coming here again. Read more

Giving this a 5 star review bc this deserves front page **I have provided pics of dinner below** GHETTO MANAGEMENT with an... attitude. High priced ROTTEN MEAT that will take your breath away, literally, as the projectile vomit spews all over thewalls. They offered 50 percent off the filet but the ticket came and we were still charged full price for the ROTTEN MEAT,instead of half for the ROTTEN MEAT. The rest of us that at were cleaning it up or flushing it down later. Management didn'twant to listen to me so I posted here in hopes others would. YW. Read more

Food is delicious,but service is lacking. Also Everytime I pay with cash the girls at the door short me at least a dollar. They... have a new tipping policy printed out when you first walk in ,so I imagine the money short is not an accident. Read more

Edit (1/27/22) - Adding another star after my latest visit. Service was a lot better than my previous visits I?ve been eating... here since Koto was Kyoto back in the day. Personally I feel the hibachi has taken a step back since the change so these days Istick with sushi. I?ve always heard mixed reviews but in my experience the sushi is always on point. Out of the last 3-4 visitsI have no complaints with the food. However, the service leaves a bit to be desired. Nothing totally out of bounds but there areenough flags to knock off two stars Read more

My family had a wonderful experience on 7/23/2021 for our daughters 12th Birthday. She had not been to a Japanese Steakhouse... before. From the time we walked in, the hostess greeted us with smiles and even joked with us because I called out the wrongnumber of people in our party. We were laughing all the way to be seated. This set the tone for our AMAZING night. Christy, ourwaitress, was down to earth and kept us smiling. She helped me with my drink selection and I loved her recommendation of one ofthe two drinks with Midori in it. LOI was our Chef! WOW!! He came out, flashed his smile and OMG he entertained us the entiretime. There was NEVER a dull moment at our table. We did notice a party at another table with a different Chef, not having theexperience we were having, it was quiet at their table. We were laughing, smiling and enjoying ourselves at ours. I cannot tellyou how thankful I was to get Christy and LOI!! LOI gave us nicknames once we shared who was in our party, my daughter wasBirthday and my son was Allergy because he?s allergic to shellfish. Christy stayed on top of our needs. She was wonderful. Thankyou LOI and Christy for a very fun and memorable experience for our daughter?s 12th birthday. Oh, food was great too. ???? Read more