Banzai Teriyaki

The food here was pretty dang good. We stopped by to have lunch on our way to a show at the Gorge Amphitheatre and we were pleasantly surprised. You can choose to order from either restaurant at any kiosk and then get self seated. We chose to sit on the spacious and lovely patio. We split food and had more than enough to get us for that the staff is very lovely.

I've been waiting to go here for a long time. It was good. We had fried rice, chicken, as well as a crispy original sandwich and fries from the Studebaker menu. Zero complaints with the sandwich. They were out of fish, and the kid wanted fish and chips really bad. But the chicken burger was amazing, so he was happy. The teriyaki chicken and fried rice were very flavorful. But, the chicken was swimming in oil and it was super fatty, the teriyaki sauce a bit salty, the rice was good but seemed like it might have been a little over cooked. Over all it had excellent flavor and was very delicious, but there's room for improvement.

Addtn: 7/2022 (after loss of head chef.) We enjoyed our lunch on Studebaker Alley patio with our pup! Wonderful venue! They are still working out service but we had a good lunch. Edit: 6/2022 tried to dine inside half an hour before closing on a Saturday and they closed the kitchen early. We tried... 05/2022 came for take out with our pup in tow. They are open for dine in as well. Our food was delicious. Yet another to add to our local regular stop list. We ordered two combo plates. I received enough to have a second meal. My husband finished his. Well seasoned and charred to perfection. We will have to come back and dine in to try out the cocktails... Thank you for opening your restaurant in Cle Elum it fills a niche of food we were missing. We hope Studebaker alley and your rooftop are open soon.

Got there at about 8pm and the place was half filled. Took a good amount of time for the food to come out, and both my teriyaki chicken and my husband’s shrimp in his noodles were super burnt on one side. The parts that were edible were subpar at best. When the waitress came by to ask how the food was, we told her both our dishes were pretty burnt, she laughed like we told a joke and just walked away…the nice part is that the place is well lit and looks clean. Might be a nice place for drinks, definitely not food.

We got there around 630 and they sent staff home so our service was a bit slow as they had about half their seats filled. The food was on par with your average teriyaki place. I ended up paying about $60 for two people to get combos and one shot of sake. Seemed a bit high priced compared to some of the other places I go for teriyaki. The food tasted pretty good but for the hype that was made for them coming into cle ellum I was a bit disappointed at the lack luster performance all around. I'd go back but it won't be very often.

Portion sizes are amazing I get 2 meals out of my single plate of teriyaki. Flavors are a masterpiece not many could perfect, most teriyaki sauce taste like soy sauce but not here. The fact this place doesn't have a 5 star review from everyone is sad, most people have never even ate there or tried to talk to the employees. The employees go above and beyond, caring more about the business and it's success rather than looking at an algorithm that tells them what to do. They remember your name and depending on how often you order they'll even remember your order by heart. I couldn't ask for a better staff to server me my Yaki when I am hungry.

A more special plate of teriyaki I have had not. And I eat a lot of teriyaki! This isn’t stripmall-styrofoam-tray teriyaki, this is chicken with a perfect flame broil and a rich teriyaki sauce. Fried rice was spot on the mark. All done simple, made right. As a local, stoked I can get it here anytime in beautiful Cle Elum! For visiting friends, Bonzai also has great bar space with local brews on tap, and tons of great Japanese whiskey. How awesome! Only made a quick dash of it this time, and food came quick. Or you can mix and match plates and apps as you sample beers and relax. Great atmosphere too with a good vibe. Enjoy!

My wife ordered Spicy Chicken Teriyaki with white rice to go for me. I think she said it cost $14—I ended up getting what can only explained as a truck stop/choke & puke meal in a plastic container that was what you would expect to find a $1.99 biscuit's and gravy meal at the forementioned choke & puke packaged in. In other words: it was small. Not a meal by any means. No spice on the spicy chicken. Slimy skin on the chicken making the texture something hard to swallow. Very small amount of rice. I try to give every place a 2nd chance... but I will have to wait a while on this place before I try it again in hopes they improve.

I had read about this place earlier in the year, but we had never made it up with the express purpose of grabbing some teriyaki and Cle Elum. Fortunately, we had a random day where neither my better half an hour were working, so we decided to head on up with the kids. We were very glad we did! The place is located on the main drag in Cle Elum. the hours of operation said they were open, but the sign outside looked like they were closed. We called, and they were indeed open, but had just failed to turn on the sign. We sauntered in and were greeted with a lovely, very long restaurant. There's a very nice bar on the left-hand side of the place, the register where you order is in the back of the restaurant, and the indoor seating area is to the right. everything was quite cozy. There also have a couple of very nice outdoor seating spaces, one in a courtyard adjacent to the building, and one on the rooftop, for when it's nice out. The 2 feet of snow definitely didn't count as nice! We also found out there's a chicken place here as well. That will be saved for another review, but suffice to say the chicken sandwich was very good! They have a number of different options within bonsai. The main staple is the teriyaki, and we were very satisfied with it. We had heard mixed reviews, but felt like it was important to give it a try. The chicken was very flavorful, had just a little bit of open flame char on it, add, who is the first time we've ever had teriyaki chicken that had the skin left on. It really made for some delicious chicken! The fried rice was also quite good. We also started with, some Gyoza, which is excellent, and came in a presentation we hadn't seen previously. The pictures tell the story the best - it almost looked like they made a huge noodle at the bottom of a pan and then put the gyoza on top. It was lovely! The service was very nice, everything came up quickly, and they were very attentive. Overall, this place was a total win for us. We tend to give new restaurants a few months before trying them just so they can work out the kinks... It seems to us that they've done that! This is a great spot to try, either for dine in or if you are on your way through.

How can this be from a Top Chef finalist Shota? Vibe ~ modern mural, typical steel chairs found at TJ Maxx that everyone uses, dark hall. The advertised attraction rooftop seating not open because there was not enough customers. Service ~ somewhat friendly, invited to sit anywhere we liked then asked to move to accommodate another group coming in. Unsure in responses when going over the menu. Initial shock ~ prices on menu. More expensive than any Seattle or Portland restaurant. Second shock ~ quality of food. Presentation was mind boggling disappointing. The portions ridiculously tiny. Ribs so burnt inedible. Flavors from meat to rice was nothing but overly used soy sauce and sugar. Third shock ~ the bill. Discontent from this intentional visit to dine at a TV star restaurant.

This place is closed forever. Closed last fall. They weren't much to write home about anyway. Let their employees know about the closure with a note on the door with no notice.

5 stars for sushi night. I'd love to see their sushi menu all the time, but when it's on their sushi chef does a GREAT job.

Overall a fantastic experience! We stopped in for a quick lunch on Sunday, and were met with quick and friendly service. The ambience was fun, hip, inviting. I had the chicken teriyaki, gyoza, and the miso soup - all were delicious. Chicken teriyaki: I loved how the skin was included (and not in the gross inedible way) and the chicken was moist and the sauce was a nice balance of sweet and salty. Gyoza: get it. It reminded me of the stuff I'd ordered in Tokyo Miso soup: I was pleasantly surprised by the complexity of flavor, and not being hit with basically salt broth which is how many miso soups come across. Prob one of my fav miso soups I've ever had

Wanted so much to like this. We were so pleased that as out-of-towners and fans of Shota that we managed to drive through Cle Elum as they were open. However, this place has got the celebrity-chef-downtown-metropolis thing down in the middle of a mountain town. That could be really fun but it's backfiring. Prices? HIGH. Downtown seattle prices. Esp considering it's teriyaki (a notoriously cheap eat). $17 for shrimp teriyaki w/ 5 shrimp. $12 for 3 pieces of shrimp tempura. Quality? Mediocre. The shrimp was bland. The teriyaki sauce was just sweet. There was no char. Same with chicken. However, the green bean tempura was fantastic. Order process? Easy but the order was supposed to take 20-30 min and took 10. We were still passing Thorp at this time so needed the full amount of time - our food was cold when we arrived (on time for our original pick up). The green beans were fantastic - crunchy, you could see the bubbles in the batter. A bit salty but worked well with the sauce. $70 for 2 tempura + 2 teriyaki that was forgettable and small portions.

These folks have come such a long way since opening. Had dinner there last night and it was delicious. Portions were great, food was tasty and cooked perfectly. Will definitely be back.

YUM! Just had a great Father's Day takeout dinner from Banzai! It is So easy to order online & I had no problems parking to go collect our order! We ordered: Chicken teriyaki combo with regular rice & cucumber salad- I thought the portion was good, it just comes in multiple containers, unlike traditional teriyaki take out. The chicken was tender, well seasoned & had a nice char. Rice was perfectly cooked. The cucumbers were just ok. I think a smaller cut & more time with the sauce & they wouldve been perfect- it's almost there. I'll try the house salad instead next time. Short rib teriyaki combo with fried rice- nice portion of really delicious, tender short ribs. The fried rice was a highlight: So flavorful with great texture! Chicken yakisoba- Another highlight! Perfect pan fried noodles with lots of veggies (thin shaved carrots, zucchini, cauliflower & onions) & perfect tender chicken. Pork gyoza- solid traditional gyoza with a well balanced sauce. Cauliflower with miso hummus- this was so so good! Perfectly browned, garlicky cauliflower with an earthy, umami hummus! Sadly, there were only 3 pieces! We wanted so much more! All in all a great meal! The service was friendly & attentive, though they seemed stretched thin- I only saw 2 in the front of house. I'm looking forward to seeing how things evolve as they settle in. We will definitely order again & soon!

Stopped in for lunch on a road trip to the Eastside of the state. We ordered the spicy chicken teriyaki combo. The miso soup was lukewarm and a bit sour which I took as on the verge of being spoiled. The cucumber salad was soso but definitely not as good as what I make at home. The spicy teriyaki chicken left a lot to be desired. I'm not sure what makes the sauce teriyaki as it tasted like over reduced soy sauce. It was so salty we sent it back. We then received new chicken without sauce which tasted good and regular and spicy sauce on the side. Same problem, too salty and absolutely no heat to the spicy version. Ambiance was nice with a cool vibe and the server was pleasant and efficient. I don't think we'll be back.

Banzai Teriyaki is the Bomb! Great location, best Teriyaki aside from Hawaii (where I'm from) or the original Toshis Teriyaki in Seattle. Moist Chicken thighs with a little char? Soo good. Yakisoba bomb as well. Omar the chef and his wife Jen are the best :) A couple small things preventing a 5 star. Teriyaki sauce should always be on the side for the teriyaki and the yakisoba as it can be overwhelming

We loved our yummy chicken teriyaki and salad. Great comfort food for the trek to Chelan. It's our new designated pit stop along the way. Nice atmosphere and great service too.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon, there were only two of us. We never received our drinks, then they tried to give us our drinks with our meal- by then we had lost interest. When our meal was ready, it was set up on the rack and left there for 10 minutes so it was cold by the time it was served to us. My partner ordered a beef and chicken combo- received short ribs and chicken instead. I ordered the short ribs. They were decent. Spent $47 on two cold meals with no drinks. Won't be coming back. Very disappointing. Also- there was no one else in the place. No excuse for terrible service.

Yakisoba was so burnt that we couldn't eat it. Vegetable tempura was not remotely crispy. It was soggy veggies with some tempura flakes sprinkled on top.

Food was great, I was happy with the flavors/portions of the food. I had ordered the combo plate, spicy teriyaki, fried rice, cucumber salad with the miso. I'm normally not a teriyaki person because I grew up with it and got sick of it but everything here was delicious! The service was a little slower but we were in no hurry and our server was nice and apologetic. I'd definitely recommend and would come back.

We used to love coming here for the bold flavor and cooked to perfection chicken teriyaki, spicy cucumber salad etc, but sadly the menu and chef seem to have completely changed. The food was some of the worst flavor and texture we've had in a long time. Hope to see this restaurant restored to its former level, the space is still great! Service was friendly and efficient!

Chicken teriyaki was the best I've ever had! Pork gyoza was something special Drinks were good and a hug selection of beer on tap. Service was great and atmosphere so fun. Met and talked to tons of locals as well as many visitors to the area.

Like the new menu, but don't know what they were thinking with the bar stools. I'm small and can barely fit in the chairs. I would recommend new stools.

Banzai is no bullseye. After a few disappointing experiences, we stopped dining here, but after all the hype of the revamped menu, etc, we thought we'd go ahead and give it a try again. The place just seemed kind of chaotic, unprofessional, unfriendly and cold staff, unsightly images, etc. The food was not very savory. I mean, if you like fatty pieces in your chicken and mashed potato rice, you'd be at the right place. I'm so sorry, we really wanted to like this place, but bye bye, Banzai.

Dang. I wanted it to be good because there are so few options in Cle Elum. The teriyaki chicken was tasty, skin on and char crunchy. The let down was the shrimp tempura. $12 for 3 SCRAWNY BLAND SHRIMP. I mean if they were the world's greatest tempura shrimp...maybe. But they were less than average and waaay over priced. The tempura sauce was sweet and weird. Granted they are new and hitting some speed bumps but I won't be back for a while. Hopefully they will cater to the local audience and rethink some of their pricing.

My friend and I had a lovely lunch here. We had excellent service and suggestions. Stellar specialty cocktails. Delicious pulled chicken sandwich with ginger sauce, pickled carrots and slaw with a wanton side salad. The lettuce wraps came with Bulgogi and sweet/spicy pickled cucumbers, YUM! We sat at the bar and thoroughly enjoyed our girls lunch. Thank you, Lily!

Outstanding! Chicken teriyaki excellent, fried rice excellent, pan fried gyoza delicious. Tempura green beans - awesome! All Day I've been thinking about my fab meal from last night - I can't wait to get back there! Prices were comparable to quality and portions. Welcome to UKC!

This place is amazing. Staff are incredible, ambience is great, full bar, and excellent food. Can't wait to come back when the rooftop bar is open when it gets warmer.

Food is horrible, small portions . Couldn't eat the chicken with greasy skin on it. One and done.

Teriyaki in Cle Elum. Awesome. Or so I thought. I wanted to like this place as I've waited years for a teriyaki restaurant to compliment the other, more traditional, excellent American fare served in the area and it would be a great addition to the two fantastic Thai restaurants nearby. But, alas, so far it is not to be. THE GOOD: Nice décor. Clean, modern, industrial. THE BAD: Service was slow and un-organized, although the servers were pleasant. The prices do not reflect the quality of food and the dessert was inedible. THE UGLY: Poor planning in seating guests. The dessert was inedible. Arrived around 4:30p.m. on a Friday and was instructed to take any seat in the dining area. Ordered a Sapporo draft, shrimp tempura appetizer and the teriyaki chicken. The tempura came out first and they were big pieces of shrimp which was a plus, but the "tempura" was not traditional. Traditional tempura is a light, almost gossamer coating that highlights the natural flavor of the food. The coating on the tempura served here was more of a thick batter which made the tempura more spongy than crisp. The teriyaki chicken was good. Well marinated grilled thighs cut into bite-sized pieces. Reminded me of the teriyaki I grew up with. The chicken was served with two scoops of steamed rice but the rice I was served was cold. This caused a bit of cognitive dissonance since I cannot recall ever being served cold rice at a "Japanese" restaurant or any other restaurant for that matter. Since the advent and ubiquity of rice warmers and microwave ovens hot steamed rice has been the norm. No biggie. I at the the chicken and the cold rice. Mid meal, the server came over and placed a "RESERVED" sign on my table. Again, no biggie, I figured the restaurant would be picking up as the evening progressed. I did wonder why they would allow me to sit in a seat they knew would be needed before I finished my meal. Feeling a bit rushed I finished my meal and was waiting for my check when the server suggested dessert; Banana S'mores. Although I knew the table would be needed for a prior reservation, but also believing that my server had calculated the time necessary to make, serve and consume dessert, I agreed to the suggestion. As I waited for my dessert I was asked to move from my table, which I did, and found a seat at the bar. When dessert arrived I was taken aback by the black, skin on, charred banana sitting on the plate surrounded by a dozen miniature marshmallows, two rectangles of Hershey's chocolate, and a square of graham crackers sprinkled with about 10 chocolate smarties. Unsure as to how to eat this dessert, I peeled some of the charred skin from the banana and took a spoonful of the fruit. The taste and texture surprised me. The banana was soft and mushy on the outside, like a well bruised fruit, while the inside was firm. There was no taste. I was expecting a sweetness that didn't exist, it tasted more like a boiled plantain rather than a ripe banana. I took another bite and the disappointment was the same. The bartender saw my disappointment and asked me how I liked it. I told her it was not my cup of tea. She explained sympathetically that the owner encourages the staff to come up with ideas, which is fantastic, I am all for staff input, but it is beyond me how this would pass inspection. The bartender suggested that maybe I got a bad banana. Perhaps it was a bad banana, but then they shouldn't have served it. If anyone out there has tried the Banana S'mores and enjoyed it, please comment. I'd like to know what I'm missing. To add insult to injury, the monstrosity cost $14! Overall, an underwhelming, disappointing experience.

Service was friendly and attentive. Tempura green beans were the star of our choices. Chicken teriyaki wasn't my favorite as the skin (unusually left on) wasn't crisp and was overly charred trying to get it there. The sauce left a clingy aftertaste. Side salad and steamed rice were just ok. My son 13 said the music was to loud. I thought the interior design was great.

After a "challenging" opening night two weeks ago, these folks opened for "to-go" only this weekend. Sadly, despite the invitation on their website to "order online", they clearly don't know how to use the system. I ordered at 4:11pm for 5:45pm pickup but arrived to no food or even knowledge of my order. There were arm-waving excuses about the order not having been accepted, system being overwhelmed and that they are getting used to the new system etc etc. Well, that don't feed my belly! Even the smallest of mom & pop shops figured out online ordering in the pandemic! This is the first time I've never gotten what I ordered... I want these guys to succeed but they are 0/2 right now

I really enjoyed my meal at Banzai Teriyaki. The atmosphere is chic and fun and the service was very friendly. When I visited it was the first time they had been fully open since the pandemic started and the food was quite tasty. They offer everything you expect from a teriyaki restaurant. We really enjoyed the chicken teriyaki and the cocktails. If you're looking for a tasty dinner with the family I recommend visiting Banzai Teriyaki.

Since moving here, we have really missed Sushi. We had dinner tonight at Banzai had Sushi (Wednesday Special). We enjoyed the Sushi and service was great, we definitely will be going back.

Beautiful restaurant, but....Slow service, over salted food, stale rice. We won't return.

Wonderful staff! Love being outside and great if you have kids. Kids meal is awesome! A little bit more expensive than teriyaki you get at your normal cheap local place. The quality of the food and the atmosphere more than compensates for that.

This place has the bomb teriyaki! We are road tripping and craving some real good quality teriyaki that is Seattle style and this place has stepped it up and impressed us. Great decore, awesome bar, excellent service and then the food! The food was fantastic with great flavors, portions and options. It surpasses Toshis' Teriyakki. We will be back on our next drive to Seattle 100%.

its a great location, WAS owned and started by a famous top chef, RUG PULL, no longer, now its Just another disappointing over priced restaurant. The Spicy Teriyaki chicken is skin on , correctly marinated and appropriately spiced, however it was a little overcooked. The Fried rice, it had a very BURNT flavor and not much else. overall , I would pass on this one.

Great food , Friendly staff. Really cool atmosphere inside. In nice weather rooftop dining is great.

Over hyped under delivered.Expensive. I saw when driving that they were open. I was greeted by 2 security guys. The taller of the 2 was very helpful but the short guy was a prick ( he must have been picked on in School ) 1st thing in my thoughts was, why do they need security Guards. The gal at the counter was very nice but they were out of a few things. the GM was almost annoyed that people were there. Instead of talking about all the positive things, what limited conversation I had with her all she talked about what an ordeal it has been opening. I think it was a big mistake opening up at this point and not having the right staff or kinks worked out. The food was mostly just ok. I had an order of Gyoza ( pork ) they were small and soggy about 5 of them had better and worse.Duck spring was good but again very soggy Fried rice was awful mush and zero flavor. The short ribs had good flavor but really tuff. Short ribs that I'm use to having are meaty and tender. These were thin and tuff but again good flavor. It might have been better if the security Gaurd that was also handing out the orders did not forget to call my name, and yes he maintained he did a few times but the funny thing I was 8 feet away from the take out counter. at some point he noticed that I had been waiting a long time and asked my name ( and yes this was the small guy again ) I Guess he had no heads to crack on the mean streets of Cle Elum so they put him in charge of handing out food to the hungry masses. Hope he had a food handlers permit but somehow I think not it would have been to much to handle......well unless he crack a few head while doing it. I think it would have been better on the food side if I got my food before it all got soggy. I will come back at some point when they have there Sh&$! Together and give it another try and hopefully the have moved on the GM and Security Guy and can sit down and have a meal. At this point my $55 meal was take out only plus the $10 tip. Again big mistake opening before your ready.