Katana

My husband and I went there last night and if I had read the reviews I might not have gone, but I am glad I did. We ordered the Izakaya Feast and it was fantastic!!! Our servers name was Chris and he was charming, our food came fast....very fast actually. Our tea was constantly refilled without asking, our food was introduced and explained to us as it was served, the manager came over and gave us his card and invited us back. I loved the place! The only problem we had was parking down below. My husbands truck is too tall for underground parking so we had to park in the $12 lot. Oh well......One more thing....I never go to restaurants for "the scene" I prefer the beach actually where you can look and dress and be whatever and whoever. High-end, Sunset strip, hip-slick-cool-see and be seen places are NOT interesting to me at all. I went for the food. It was fabulous! We will go back.

Pros: Food and Service!!!

Cons: parking

Posted 09/19/09

Went there on Sunday night, place is empty, hostess tells us there are large parties coming in so she can not seat us outside and that we can either sit at the banquettes in front or at the bar. We ask her if there is service at the banquette and she said "yes" so we sit and every waiter in the place walks right by us. I ask the hostess if she could send someone over to take our order, she says "yes" but does nothing. We wait and complain again and again -- no service. We moved to bar and there are only 4 people there, the bartender says "I'll be right with you" and leaves the bar for 15 minutes!! At that point, I complained to the manager and he could care less, doesn't apologize, doesn't say anything, so we left! I have never been treated so poorly at a restaurant in my life! I have been to every hot restaurant in LA and never, not once have I been treated that way, I will never go back! You get better service when the place is packed.

Cons: SERVICE

Posted 09/08/09

Great meal, great place to socialize, had a great time!

Pros: Food, yum!

Cons: Busy, but expected!

Posted 08/30/09

The waiters were fun. The food was excellent & my fav, the volcano cake. ;O) Thanks!

Posted 08/25/09

When we went there the service was a little slow but the staff provided us with free dessert which was to die for. The chocolate lava cake was delicious!

Pros: good food

Cons: Service

Posted 08/18/09

I just left at 7:45 pm on Sunday August 9, 2009 from having drinks and appetizers with a friend at Katana, and I have never had a worse experience at any restaurant as I did tonight. Our waitress was inexperienced and unprofessional. While she made a series of undoubtedly mistakes (that even she admitted), she was unapologetic and rude about having to serve us. She ordered the wrong meal for my friend, and we then had to wait for long periods of time for our meals to be delivered to us. Not to mention, she did not apologize for her incompetence, but instead she repeatedly walked away dismissively as if our concerns were not valid. The manager came to our table and before we had a chance to fully express our concerns, he immediately took an abrasive tone with us. While my friend was explaining the poor service we received, he rudely interrupted her by saying, ?There?s nothing I can do if you had a bad experience." Not only was his tone generally rude with us before we could even fully explain our service experience, but he was also resorting to saying rude things under his breath (almost whispering) to us. When we asked him to speak louder to have a civil conversation, he did not do so. During the course of his quiet berating, he said "You all have been difficult since you've arrived here, and we have the right to refuse service." If we were being difficult, rude and upsetting to his staff from the beginning, then the staff and general manager did not acknowledge this before and during our meal by doing as the manager stated, and refusing to service us. After witnessing the rudeness of the manager, I asked him "What ever happened to the customers' experience coming first?" He replied that his role was to "protect his staff". When asking him to elaborate upon how we did anything that gave him the need to protect his staff, he gave no specifics and refused to explain how he came to this conclusion (applying apparent prior racial bias and prejudice to his approach to us being African American female patrons).

Pros: location

Cons: Bad waitress, incessantly rude manager, late and cold food

Posted 08/09/09

My girlfriend and I I just returned from an absolutely awful dining experience at Katana. We thought we were going to have a nice girl?s night out, but this turned into a nightmare. I usually do not write reviews but this was soo bad that I can?t just act like it never happened. This is my 5th time dining there and my last. All other times I have been nice, hence why I returned. However, tonight our waitress was flustered and making rude and snide remarks when we asked questions on why each order was taking almost 30 minutes to come out ( we ordered small bites). Then we asked to speak to the manager who identified himself as Al who was beyond rude, before we could say one word he was verbally attacking us and telling us the restaurant has the right to refuse service. What is he talking about? We had the bill and were paying but wanted to speak with him to address why the food was room temp when it came out and also why each order took so long. We really were not going to mention our waitress (we figured she was having a bad day). However, he attacked us saying he heard us talking to her in a rude manner...WHAT? he was no where around and also there is no way he could have heard us as we were not rude and we couldn?t even hear the people 10 ft away from us talking so how could he have possibly heard our conversation unless he was standing at our table...which he wasn?t. As we attempted to talk to him he was beyond dismissive and said well you ate the food didn?t you...pay the bill and leave!! Unbelievable...he then continued to say we protect our staff and she said you were being mean and rude to her. Ok, if this was going on then why didn?t she approach the manager and ask him to come over to our table? Why because we didn?t say or do anything rude to this woman. I then asked her please tell me what did we say or do that was rude her response was I just told him I couldn?t do anything to please them. The manager was rude and unprofessional. A manger is suppose to speak with the customer and address their concerns, not approach a customer with an attitude, and not let us get one word in. He had already made up his mind on what he thought happened. It seemed to me as though this manager and waitress had a dating or some type of relationship as he approached the situation as an overprotective boyfriend. We have no idea but this was beyond unprofessional ...no apology or anything. This manager Al should not be working in the hospitality industry let alone as a manager, and if this waitress can't deal with the public she should chose another profession. I will never return and I will tell everyone I know to never return to this place unless you want to be mistreated and verbally abused!!!

Pros: patio and some menu items

Cons: Service is awful

Posted 08/08/09

Testing

Pros: Vibe

Cons: Service

Posted 07/20/09

The sushi and sashimi is fresh and attractively prepared. The server kept up with our ordering pattern, but seemed a little distracted (overworked?) and it took a few reminders to keep the drinks coming in concert with the food. In general, I would give the thumbs up for taking a date or a small number of guests -- nice interior, very clean, professional service environment without the uptightness of nobu. it is more fun that ocean ave seafood (also of excellent quality, but a very predictable American experience).

Posted 07/10/09

I love this place! great crowd! The presentation is particular and the full bar with a warm patio make this place a perfect location for a Saturday night

Posted 05/01/09

My friends and i loved the food. It is kinda pricey but I thought it was worth every penny! It is so gorgeous inside! I think it would be the perfect date place. I'll be back for sure, with a smaller party of course.

Pros: Food, decor

Posted 04/05/09

Katana is beautiful... really nice spot. Salmon is my favorite seafood so I seem to favor the rainbow roll. But they are way overpriced. club sushi is more in my budget. The average amount you will pay per entree is between $15 and $25.

Posted 03/19/09

First of all, I've been here quite a few times and I strongly recommend a reservation, especially during peak hours.

Katana is located in the heart of Hollywood and it's a nice place to go to get to know someone special (as I did this past weekend) or just hang out with friends and meet people. The patio is especially nice. The food is quite good, but the portions are small. I think the prices are kind of high for the food, but the location is prime so maybe pricey is appropriate. You may even bump into a "star" or two as I have done on more than one occassion! Anyways, go with reasonable expectations and you will definately be satisfied!

Pros: Great atmosphere and well executed japanese theme

Cons: Pricey and very small portions, except for chicken bowl

Posted 03/17/09

The patio is great in the summer months for watching the scene on Sunset. Sushi is fresh, people are nice.

Pros: Perfect location for people-watching

Posted 01/04/09

They have the best sushi in Los Angeles (that Ive had). The best people watching in LA too. And its in the best location. Def try it

Pros: food/ people

Cons: NONE

Posted 12/03/08

I give this place 5 stars for decor and location. the place is so beautiful and big. Staff was very friendly. We were the first ones to show up on a thursday night (or wed, can't remember) so we got the fusion drink (awesome!). They kept forgetting some of our order which was annoying, but were still very friendly. The music outside was mellow and i loved the vibe of the whole place. Sushi was good and fresh. The cooked steak on a stick was amazing, i dont like steak but i'd order this again and again!!! Place packed up pretty fast by the time we were leaving.

Pros: This place is so beautiful, and food is really good

Cons: Kept forgetting some of our food

Posted 11/15/08

Check out the review of this and many other happy hours at: happiest hours(dot)blog spot(dot)com - no spaces between words, but City Search won't allow it any other way. First, the important stuff - the atmosphere here is great, and for a Tuesday night, it was a decent crowd. Young professionals, friendly bartender, good decor. The downside is that for two people having drinks and food, the total was $74 (after tax and a hefty - as always - tip.) The upside is that there was PLENTY of meter parking on Sunset at 5:30 mid-week. Plenty.

Drinks on the HH menu include sake, wine, well drinks and a Katana Fusion (vodka and fruit juice) for $5. There used to be beer as well, but they no longer stock the happy hour beer and haven't replaced it with another selection. My companion wanted a beer, so we paid menu prices for two of those ($6 each), plus we had two Katana Fusions, which are mighty tasty. The awesome bartenders topped me off with club soda after that and generously kept my glass full, gratis. Thanks, guys!

Let me start by saying the food was outstanding. Among the best I've had on the Happy Hour gauntlet. Everything is $5 a plate and was so good it was easy to not realize how small the portions were until -- eight plates later and we weren't full. That might not seem like much, but your favorite foodie here has the appetite of a budgie and usually can't split five plates with my fellow revelers, much less eight. Now, eight orders of sushi are also going to be pretty small, but if it's Happy Hour, or "Red Sun" hour, prices should be reduced, and these seemed like standard $5 appies from a regular bar/sushi menu.

Posted 09/17/08

Four of us went for dinner, promptly seated, decent table, very dark inside. The place was slow but it quickly filled up. The service was generally good until they got busy. We liked some of the food a lot, and hated some of it a lot... we sent back a raw tuna that was fishy smelling and then later, we had a shrimp tempura roll that was completely inedible. I mean, it just tasted like over fried pork rind! It look a long time to get that sorted out, and by the time we were done, we wanted out. Not planning a return. I've had better sushi in less pretentious places. Most of the staff seem congenial, but many of the hostesses look a bit overly Beverly Hilled.

Pros: Nice atmosphere for the most part

Cons: A little too snobish and "Hollywood Scene" for me, nothing, "real," or down to earth about it.

Posted 07/05/08

I've been here several times for "date nights" and am always impressed by the great service and the good sushi. My fav is the spicy tuna roll and the asparagus wrapped filet! Oh, and try the infusion drink at the bar - it's great as a martini or over ice. Yum.

Pros: the infusion drink at the bar!

Cons: the parking lot gets full easy...but if you make a reservation, you should be fine.

Posted 06/25/08

I went with a friend for her birthday and we had an amazing time. Our waiter was polite and made great suggestions based upon our personal likes. We loved the kobe, sea bass and shrimp wrapped with bacon from the Robata menu. They had a fun sushi menu although I've definitely had better sushi before. I'd suggest dining outside (at least while the weather is warm) because it adds a new dimension to the already great ambiance. This place attracts a fun crowd...great for people watching, too.

Pros: Outdoor dining, plenty of options on the menu

Cons: It was kind of tricky finding the valet parking

Posted 06/14/08

My wife and I go here about once a month to enjoy the food, the drinks, the ambiance and each other. The food, to me, is better than anything else I have ever eaten. We love the robata, especially the black cod, the chilean seabass and the ribeye. Green beans are a must. They have an appetizer that has fresh crab stuffed into soy paper which melts in your mouth. Try the pear martini -- it's perfect: fresh pear, parmesan cheese...strange combo but works sooooo well together.

We have also had sushi and sashimi from Katana. It's super fresh and delicious. And the service is prompt with really cool ambiance. Katana is a must!!

Pros: Food, Ambiance, Drinks, Service -- EVERYTHING

Cons: None that I can name -- pricey, but it's expected with such high-quality food

Posted 05/24/08

The entire wait staff thinks they are better than the diners- all waiting to be discovered. Periodically, this isn't such a bad thing as you get to be around beautiful, want-to-be-liked, early twenty-somethings, but generally speaking, they tend to want to please so the service industry works for them (hence all the actor/waiters in this town). It is as sadly typical of Los Angeles as we've found, having moved here from San Francisco two years ago. We arrived at 6:30 and asked to be seated outside- there was nobody seated there yet, same as the inside. The hostess said, Oh sorry- all booked up for outside. 2 hours later and a very mediocre meal with TERRIBLE service later, the outside was perhaps a quarter full. The "creamy" baked crab roll was incredibly dry. The lobster baked roll was over cooked, and the drinks were unbelivably watered down. If you do go though, get the tuna over "baked" (clearly fried) rice. It was good.

Prices were over the top for what they are serving. They are going on location, location, location! But I am not buying a house....I just wanted a decent night out with my husband. In any other town this place would be out of business. Oh, and the tables on our right and left were eagerly griping as well. I realize this site isn't accurate as restaurant owners/staff tend to write them - so, I'm submitting this with a gain of salt.

Pros: One dish- tuna over "baked" (aka: fried) rice

Cons: service, service, service, drinks, rest of the food

Posted 05/09/08

so yeah there's a scene... but can you say yummmmyy!!! during the summer outside is a plus but be sure you call at least a week in advance and request it.. if outside is not possible sit in the tea garden room inside.. you are inside but you feel like you are in this magical sushi garden..... almost private.. very vip like area. last time i was there we were sitting next to tyra banks .. i dont know if thats a pro or a con. the staff is friendly and the food is delicious! you have to order the tuna carpaccio with the soy truffle sauce.. it has tuna, truffle oil, soy, shaved parmesan, arugula and avocado... it literally melts on your tongue! the king crab legs robata with drawn butter.. the lamb chops.. i can go on forever.. a must go place.

Pros: NOT A PLACE FOR KIDS! great people watching, very hip and on the sunset strip if you want to go out after. love the outside area. fresh food

Cons: if you dont have reservations you will have to wait forever. but overall very cool place to go

Posted 04/24/08

I dined here alone - in town from work. It was kind of funny that they have a guy manning the "red rope" yet they don't ask if you have a reservation or anything. It's a cool building and is right on the strip. I sat at the Robata bar. The food was good and the staff was attentive. I had the tempura vegetables which come as a large "brick" of sorts. They tasted SO good though - good appetizer. I also had the California Roll - not that exciting, but tasted good. Overall, it looks like this would be a fun place to come and have a drink outside on their patio and then dine - or just drinks. Fun atmosphere.

Pros: Cool building, good staff, fun atmosphere

Cons: Appears to be very busy - thursday night was packed

Posted 04/17/08

I love katana...great atmosphere and the best sushi in town. Spicy tuna rolls are amazing and so is the filet mignon wrapped around asparagus. The drinks are great..the service is a little slow but its worth the wait. Try to go during the week as it gets really packed on the weekends and theres no seating outdoors. call in advance for outdoor seating reservation. its definitely pricey but worth every dollar. Great for a night out with your friends or a date.

Pros: Sushi and drinks

Cons: Service

Posted 04/13/08

My friends and I have always heard great things about Katana and decided to give it a go. From the moment we walked in, we liked what we saw. Very stylish decor, a lil' dark (what restaurant in L.A. isn't), cozy feeling in a weird way. We got sat about 20 min. after our reservation time in a cozy corner area and was greeted fairly quickly by our server. He explained to us how the restaurant works and suggested the most amazing dish to get us started, order the lobster with scallops and shrimp, amazing! Everything we got was fantastic and tasted sooo good. The robata is the way to go, trust me! The cocktail list is pretty good (pear martini), although wines by the glass aren't the best. If you happen to be there on the right night, get the fried cheesecake, insane!! The service was amazing, ask for Adam?, made us laugh a lot. Make a reservation and order a lot of the robata,so yummy. I'll be going back!

Pros: fantastic waiter, food, and people watching

Cons: wines by the glass, strange music

Posted 04/02/08

Going along with all the other happy reviewers, I thought this restaurant was pretty great. The pros were the amazingly fresh sushi, the friendly service, the drinks, the decor... Just impeccable all around. The only con was, well, how friggin' popular this place is. The bar was SO crowded on the Saturday night I went (I know, duh). Yummy mojitos, though. And also, we were originally taken to a teeny, tiny back room to celebrate my boyfriend's 25th birthday, next to a crying baby. Uh, yeah, I'm not usually picky, but NO. So, we then requested another seat, and were taken outside. Then, the manager himself brought over a complimentary dish - Just because we wanted to change seats!

All in all, a GREAT place... Just popular.

Pros: Fresh sushi, friendly service, decor, price

Cons: Loud and overly crowded on a weekend night

Posted 03/25/08

The biggest advantage of Katana is of course its location. I really enjoy sitting in its patio and observing the traffic on Sunset blvd, the luxury cars and people walking around. People there are just beautiful. Even though it is always crowded in Katana, the crowdness doesn't annoy me. As all the restaurants and lounges on Sunset, the valet parking is just a little overwhelming.

Pros: Ambience, service, outdoor dinning

Cons: parking

Posted 03/22/08

The first time I went here was a few years ago. I went there on a date for my birthday and the experience was phenomenal. Everything my date ordered was really tasty. The drinks were perfect and the service was good. It's a good spot for drinks. After that I 've been back many times with a large group and it worked out just perfect. I recommend this place to the younger crowd.

Posted 03/05/08

Went for happy hour...nice selection of small robatta and sushi dishes for a reasonable price. Very tasty execution on all of them. Drink specials were limited; however, one must try the Kyoto Rose or Pear martini if you are in the mood for something different and not too terribly sweet. The shaved parmesean served with the pear martini truly "makes it". However, if you don't tend to care for syupy sweet fruity drinks, steer clear of the Katana Tropical Fusion - unfortunately the only cocktail on the happy hour menu that night.

Atmosphere is high concept and well executed. The only real draw back is that there is not much of a lounge area. One cool spot in the back, but that was taken. If you wish to partake of Happy Hour the only seating option other than the bar is at a couple of benches near the entrance. Felt very exposed and more like the waiting area than an actual seating area. Good people watching though.

Overall - Great place to go if you are catching a show at HOB across the street. Nice evening and pleasant service. Good food and unique drinks. If there weren't so many interesting place to try in this town, I may go back.

Pros: extensive menu of small bites, atmosphere, interesting cocktails, location

Cons: small lounge seating area - the only place to sit if you want to partake of Happy Hour

Posted 02/29/08

I have eaten at Katana over a dozen times and never written a review. Overall I would recommend Katana for a few reasons.

Here are the Pro's- They have a knowledgeable staff, a nice Sake list, extremely friendly Sushi chefs who love to interact (this is difficult to find in LA!!!), a warm atmosphere, nice robata selection and good sushi, friendly bartenders and servers.

Cons- The food could be better. Katsuya seems to be leading this category but they are a close second. They have a little attitude at the hostess desk, do not go on a Saturday as they are too busy and service can be lazy, parking can be difficult.

Enjoy Katana as I usually eat at the Sushi bar. They have the nicest Sushi chefs in town which creates an enjoyable dining experience.

Pros: Read review

Posted 02/19/08

It was our very first time at the restaurant so our very friendly server gave us several recommendations that made our dining experience amazing that night.

First he recommened the Tsukune and the Tanuki Robata, both are made with chicken and the latter is mixed with some shitake mushroom. Very nicely grilled and the chicken is tender, blends well with the shitake.

Next we had the Gindara which is a black cod fish and some mushrooms, excellently made as well.
I would also recommend the asparagus that's wrapped with shitake mushroom, a very light and healthy dish to balance the meat robatas.

The dumplings are also something I would recommend - the gyozas.

The crunchy tuna is decent if you wana try rolls and so is the baked lobster avocado roll.

One thing note worthy is the exquisite cocktail menu, and the fuji apple martini is a must try, very delicious with the flavorful fuji apple

Posted 01/30/08

This is not a place to go for sushi!! My husband and I ordered several sushi selections last night and all were horrible. Sushi is very black and white: it is either a good cut of fish and ultra-fresh or, in Katana's case, NOT. We were so blown away by how awful it was. I will say the atmosphere was beautiful , the service was excellent and the drinks were good.

Posted 12/21/07

Anyone who has a problem with this place is just a hollywood hater and can't put their opinion of the "scene" aside to appreciate amazing amazing food and drinks. AMAZING. I highly recommend the striped bass, it will scare you when you first see it, but it's mouth-watering.

Pros: Food, Scene, Outdoor

Cons: Expensive, but worth it

Posted 12/17/07

While this spot has had its heyday, it's still a fine location with great views over the Strip, particularly on a warm evening. The appetizers are good and the drinks strong. The scene provides cool decor and lots of people watching. All in all, it's not the kind of place locals really go to -- it's more for suburbanites and out-of-towners looking for what they think is a cool scene or trying to prove to themselves just how cool they are ;)

Pros: Great location & views

Cons: Trendoid overload

Posted 11/17/07

Katana has the best happy hour in town! The $5 menu is a bargain for such a cool spot. The food is delicious and so are the drinks.

Posted 11/10/07

Katana is an awesome dining experience. The food is delicious and the service is top notch. All my questions about specials, robata grill were answered and I loved our waitress' suggestions. Can't wait to go back!!

Posted 10/14/07

I love this place, I go there with my fiance about once a month, and we always had a wonderful time.
The food -especially the sushi- is amazing; the service is good considering how busy they are.
Just make reservation, they are packed even on week nights.
I recommend this place.

Posted 07/29/07

The Sushi was amazing the drinks were good service was great good place to take the one you love or groups.

Pros: good service foods great and worth every dollar.

Cons: If you dont make reservations good luck getting a seat on a friday or sat. night

Posted 07/28/07

Ate there last nite and was amazing as always. I like sitting at sushi bar so you can watch masters at work

Pros: Lobster roll, Sushi chefs are amazing and very friendly

Cons: Wines by the glass

Posted 06/27/07

Love the decor, the ladies, the staff, fun atmosphere and good food as well. If it is too busy in the dining room hang at the bar and people-watch.

Posted 06/11/07

I have to say that I enjoy eating at Katana whenever I am in town (about once each month). The food is great!!! I am especially impressed by the head hostess on weekends. She is friendly but professional. I feel as though I am just as important as the so called Divas who come through the door. All of your hostesses and your wait staff are professional and friendly.

I will continue to return over and over again. Thanks, Katana for making my evenings so special.

Pros: Beautiful hostesses and good food

Cons: Sometimes there is a wait but the hostess is professional & beautiful to watch

Posted 04/23/07

I used to eat at Katana a couple nights a week. The staff has completely changed within the past 5 months. Since this change, the service has been HORRIBLE! The hostesses are wanna-be's much like the new clientele. This restaurant is on it's way out. The atmosphere has declined, although the food has been consistently good. They need to adjust into a service oriented company. Remove the attitude and cater to the client. They should take a lesson from some higher end restaurants.

Pros: Decent food

Posted 04/10/07

What a great place...The most beautiful hostesses I have ever seen...............even though you might wait 20 minutes for a table with a reservation.......everything from the food and the service is great........one thing to watch out you need reservation just to valet park............try to get a seat on the patio.............I will be back

Pros: great food & great people

Posted 03/27/07

I was visiting LA recently and decided to grab some dinner with my family at Katana! What a great idea! The atmosphere is great, the robata grilled items, and sushi were divine! The service was prompt and our waitress was on top of things. Typically, I would not say this was a "kid friendly" restaurant, but my children LOVED IT!!! One of my favorite restaurants in LA. Very cool and trendy! MUST GO!!!
BTW, I would recommend reservations! We walked it without any and people told us that is almost unheard of. I guess we got lucky. We were seated promptly and the staff was very accomodating. Check it out, you won't be disappointed!

Pros: EVERYTHING WAS GREAT!!!!! Robata and GREAT sushi!!!

Cons: NONE

Posted 03/23/07

I took my mother for her 50th birthday about a week and still have not stopped raving about it. There preselected choices are awesome. The lobster is awesome! We were late for our reservation and they still were able to accomdate our needs.

Posted 02/22/07