Ojiya Restaurant on Forest Avenue 
Sushi Chef Oscar plying his trade, Photo by RobinMowery
| Location |
| 2477 Forest Ave Suite 100, Chico, CA |
| Hours |
| Sun-Thurs 11am-10pm |
| Fri-Sat 11am-10:30pm |
| Lunch 11am-3:00pm |
| Dinner after 3:00pm |
| Phone |
| (530) 899-1199 |
| Website |
| http://www.ojiyagourmet.com |
| Owner(s) |
| Ojiya Gourmet Inc. |
| Established |
| November 21st 2008 |
| Payment Method |
| Cash and Credit, Travelers Checks Okay |
Ojiya Steakhouse & Sushi is the only Teppanyaki restaurant (similar to "BeniHana") in Butte County. Ojiya's Hibachi chefs have been training for years. It may be one of the more entertaining restaurants in Chico. Starters average from $4-$15, and dinners average from $8 - $40 depending on what your taste buds desire. The sushi and food are prepared in front of you by Ojiya's talented hibachi chefs.
The Sashimi and roll combo, Photo by RobinMowery 
Green tea and chocolate ice cream tempura confection, Photo by RobinMowery
Comments
2008-11-21 19:00:28 I LOVE OJIYA!!! THIS IS THE BEST RESTAURANT IN TOWN! I AM SO EXCITED IT'S OPENING, I HAVE HAD OJIYA IN HACIENDA HEIGHTS AND IT IS THE SHIIIIIIIIIIIZIT YO!!!!! IT'S SO FUN, I LOVE THE ONION VOLCANO!!!!!! —76.236.24.200
2008-11-21 19:13:34 Welcome to the wiki and thanks for your comment and contributions. Hope to see you around the wiki. —RyanMikulovsky
2008-11-23 11:39:19 we ate there yesterday for the grand opening, it's fuckin bomb yo —76.236.24.200
2008-11-24 15:57:37 Im soooo excited benihana is my favvvv hope this is as good! —24.23.19.248
2008-12-19 13:02:27 Horrible customer SERVICE ... I made reservation for 20 people 2 weeks in advance for a graduation party. We were told this place was perfect for a large party that we would have our own room with two tables and two cooks as long as the tip was be included in the bill. This sounded perfect. Once we arrived we waited 15 min until they came over to let us know that we couldn't have that room we were promised. Then, they told us that we would be seated at two different tables.(the whole reason we went there was so that everyone in the group could have a conversation). After talking it over we sat at the table because she said the room wouldn't be open for 1-2 hrs.So they take 10 back and seat them at the table while the other 10 waited. The second table wasn't cleared,20 min later the table was finally open.But they took a different party of 10 back to the room,but not us. We went to find out what was going on and she said "oooh, I didn't know you guys wanted to take that table".While half of our party was sitting at the table across how could she not have figured. After everyone is finally seated we are all a little irritated.We just wanted to make the best of it and try to have a good time. We ordered drinks the server comes out with a carrying tray and spills 8 drinks down the back of one of the girls. It completely soaks her and every one's purses. At that point, the manager comes out to let her know that they would take care of her dry cleaning (its a 250-300 coach purse)and her dinner was free. After that we all order food the server never came out to apologized and she had to sit threw a 3 hour meal completely wet.Finally, or meal was good, but it truly depends on which one of the cooks you get. They told us they would give us free ice cream for all the problems. They didn't bring it out or ask who wanted any. We all had to ask.. Once we get the bill it took another 45 minutes for them to run cards and get them back to us. At this point it is 10:15 it had took 3 hours. No one wanted to pay at this time. The server was good it was a accident but they just didn't seem to want to make us happy. We were a group of 20 with a celebrate of family and friends they could of easily had a big tip and a high alcohol bill, but that didn't seem to matter. As a business owner in town, word of mouth and customer service is what keeps you in business around Chico, but this place didn't care. To top if off, they gave me a number so that I could call the next day for an update on the situation. When I called, it was an invalid number, and when I called the Ojiya, and asked to speak to the owner, they told me he was out of the country. This has been by far, the worst CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERERINCE that I have encountered here in Chico. —75.93.94.162
2008-12-19 23:00:40 Customer service was good. Chef was friendly and fun. We were in the side room that was chilly at first and they had a space heater in the room. The room quickly filled with smoke after the cooking started. It seemed that the hood fans were not pulling out all the smoke. It made my clothes and hair smell. Not great, not horrible either. —24.10.33.114
2008-12-28 18:43:17 I have had Ojiya every week since they have been open. The food is terrific. I have tried most of the items and the only item I don't like that much is the Teriyaki Chicken (it's a bit too fatty for me). However, I have had the Teriyaki Chicken at the Teppanyaki table and it was the BEST! Max was a great cook and very entertaining. Jimmy (the Sushi chef) is outstanding! This place is definitely worth a try! YUM! —67.117.29.51
2008-12-29 00:30:48 Ojiya is my favorite place to eat in Chico. It has outstanding food, great, friendly service and wonderful entertainment. It's really popular, so there is usually a wait for the hibachi tables, but it is always worth the wait. I highly recommend it! —12.14.237.187
2009-01-07 09:29:16 Chef Max and the rest of the crew were awesome. Great food, great show, great price. —98.208.85.190
2009-01-12 13:50:28 We tried it yesterday, I took my mom and 3 of my kids ages who were a little frightened but otherwise it was a pretty fun experience. Customer service was polite friendly. For a japanese cuisine place the staff were all chinese, nevertheless the food was good, but a little pricey and salty. The restaurant was spacious and well decorated. —76.114.23.221
2009-01-16 00:33:12 I love this place! The first hibachi grills in Chico, adds a great experience for everyone to try! I have eaten here plenty of times since their grand opening and I have gotten to experience the 3 types of dinning there. The Japanese Dinning area where you can sit down and enjoy beef, chicken, or salmon teriyaki (and more) as well as their AMAZING sushi. The sushi is one of the best I have had in a long time, and I try a lot of sushi places, as I travel a lot. Also, if you want to sit down and enjoy some sushi, the sushi chefs are friendly and you watch them make your sushi right in front of you! The hibachi tables have to be my favorite. The service is great, the wait staff is friendly and open to questions. The chef comes out and prepares the food in front of you as well as putting on a little show to add to the fun and excitement! The steak I had was moist, tender, and had a great flavor to it. I also had the fried rice, which was good as well. In my opinion, their prices are just right(a little higher) for the freshness and amazing quality of food they have!!
I thought it was funny because I was reading all of the comments before I had put my own review down and I happen to be there the night that a waitress spilled drinks on that woman. The same waitress was ours as well. She was a great, perky little thing who answered all of our questions properly. I felt it was needed to comment on her because the comment below was blown WAY out of proportion! We had a bigger group(company dinner) and had gotten seated before this group of 20 came in. When the waitress came out with the drinks she had about 10 or so drinks on one tray and was trying carefully to hand them out as this group was avoiding her like she wasn't there. I was watching her closely (as I was a waiter few years back) and as she came to hand the drink out to one woman, I heard her say "right behind you mam." As she went to put the drink down, the woman talking bumped the waitress' tray and sent 10 drinks flying down the waitress and some down the womans back. The waitress immediately started apologizing as it was her fault! The waitress was soaked head to toe, not the woman...And the woman started cussing the poor waitress out! Making a very big scene which was not needed. The waitress went into the kitchen, looking like she was going to cry... Haven't we all made a mistake or two serving tables? I guess that woman had her nose too far up to realize it was an accident. The waitress came out a bit later apologizing to the woman and explained that her meal was going to be paid for. The waitress told me they had also gotten FREE apetizers and I think she said the owners gave them all a discount off their meal! (How nice! But uncalled for..) At the end of their meal, (my party was still there enjoying the new experience), I asked the waitress a few questions about that party (being nosey) and she had told me, two people in that group DID NOT PAY FOR THEIR MEAL! They simply walked out. She, again, was about to cry and I informed her, we all have bad days in the serving business and tried to give her $20 towards the RUDE people who didn't pay for their dinner.
I just wanted to set the record straight because Ojiya is a GREAT place to go for a fancy dinner, work party, family getogether, or just to have fun and experience a great time! I wanted to give a great review in hopes that Ojiya will do amazing in Chico. Just because 1 party had a bad time, does not mean they have to ruin it for the rest! Out of a 10, I give it a 9.5!!! (the last .5, goes to they are a new restaurant still working out the kinks and things). GREAT JOB OJIYA!!!! —68.127.48.147
2009-01-16 16:32:09 I'm glad that you put in that comment about the party of 20's comment (Horrible customer SERVICE)...give me a break. I have been to Ojiya several times and have only encountered wonderful, polite and outstanding service. I'm sure the party of 20 were just rowdy college grads... —69.224.99.18
2009-02-01 16:32:04 Does anyone know if they have lunch specials? What time and days? Thanks! —RyanMikulovsky
2009-02-12 00:42:42 BEST restaurant at chico, Chef Max was awesome. way better then the benihana, i love Ojiya!!! —71.197.125.18
2009-04-03 17:18:34 Very Good!!!! Love the Head Chef!! —132.241.219.47
2009-04-07 11:14:14 Absolutely HORRIBLE!! I will never eat at this restaurant again. First off, think those are Japanese chefs? Wrong. Chinese. Not that this is a barrier to being able to make tasty Japanese food, but for these people it apparently is. The menu lacks any descriptions of the items, but don't count on your waitress actually knowing the ingredients. I inquired as to what was in the Seafood Udon and she listed everything off, yet when it was brought out to me it was brimming with mushrooms. Explaining to her that I was allergic and couldn't eat them, my bowl was whisked away only to be returned a moment later — as in, the same bowl of Udon that they just scooped out the mushrooms, with little pieces of them still floating around. My husband got a bowl of Udon, as well, and it was terribly bland which shouldn't have been possible at $12.95 for a bowl. I attempted to offload my udon onto my goat of a roommate when I got home and she couldn't bring herself to take more than a few bites. At $10.95+ for a roll of sushi, we had high hopes for their being amazing. Wrong on that account, too. There was nothing to distinguish it from the cheaper sushi alternatives around town. Come check time, we paid $62 for two people to eat a meal that wasn't worth more than $20-22 at most. I spent the rest of the night thinking about all the totally cool things I could have had with that $62. I may have also been experiencing temporary insanity due to the fact that Ojiya played the same 6 or so Utada Hikaru songs on repeat the entire duration of our meal. The next day we went to Katsu's hoping to somehow mitigate the pain of eating at a crappy Japanese restaurant like Ojiya only to discover it was gone. With Genkai no longer managed by Gen, Katsu's gone, there are no decent Japanese restaurants in this town. Unless you want the novelty of teppanyaki or you have heinously low standards when it comes to Asian food, don't waste a dime on this place. —24.23.19.164
2009-04-16 12:28:32 If you are associated with Ojiya please see Welcome to the Wiki/Business Owner for important information on how to properly deal with negative comments.—RyanMikulovsky
2009-04-16 18:34:44 Ojiya is one of THE best restaurants I've ever been to. I figured I'd be somewhat partial since my son works there, so my assistant and I went in to eat today and tell him THE TRUTH - whether it sucked or not LOL... The service was great, the hibachi chef, Charlie was funny, polite, entertained us and made us feel very welcome. Not to mention he had the cutest smile everrrrr! :D The food has some of the best flavor we've had in any restaurant. Ojiya's scallops and shrimp are way better than any other seafood restaurant I've been to, except on the wharf in San Francisco. The food tasted extremely fresh and the price wasn't bad at all. Their lunch prices are sooo decent, even for a Filet Mignon and great seafood. I read the previous comments about horrible customer service and cannot understand how anyone could even say that? The food was amazing, service was excellent, and the atmosphere was to die for... TEN TEN SHABAM!!
10/10 —76.252.251.57
2009-04-17 13:39:22 I have been to Ojiya several dozen times and I have never had anything but great food and great service. I always sit at the sushi bar and Toni, Oscar and Jimmy always make sure that everything is just the way I order it. They are polite, friendly and they usually give me something extra for free; it is always incredible. The wait-staff is also very friendly and always makes sure that I have everything that I need. The fish is very fresh and I would highly reccomend going there and trying it. You will not be disappointed. —76.252.251.121
2009-04-24 14:28:45 so great...I need to go again now :) —67.121.238.124
2009-04-28 15:42:41 I LOVE OJIYA!!! STAFF WAS GREAT AND FRIENDLY!! TEPPAN WAS COOKED TO PERFECTION! GREAT SHOW, GREAT FOOD, AND GREAT PLACE!! —68.124.129.102
2009-05-16 22:38:35 The dipping sauces were simply orgasmic. And the Surf And Turf is the way to go, with the $1 extra to upgrade to filet mignon.
—67.121.224.91
2009-06-04 18:58:35 LOve this place, Great food, service and atmosphere.. —76.246.255.38
2009-06-16 06:40:41 We recently ate there and yes the food was fabulous.....only problem was it was FAST food. That was the most expensive fast dinner I have ever ate. The rushed use in and out we barely got a chance to watch our chef on the tepan table. I was bummed a bit since we brought some friends and family who have never experienced that style of dining. Take it slow, let the customers enjoy their dining experience. —69.238.199.198
2009-07-06 22:14:51 I would recommend them highly. My friend Anne and I had dinner @Ojiya tonight. It was very good. The service was good. I wasn't sure what to order so I asked the sushi chef what he recommended and ended up with an off menu combo plate that was excellent. My beverage was good and there was a decent variety to choose from. I asked for a dairy free item and they obliged with the special request. The dessert was good they weren't kidding when they said it was large enough to share. We sat at the sushi bar as opposed to the hibachi tables. The vents all seemed to be working properly the air in the restaurant was clean and smelled only of good food. The hibachi room was full but the regular table dinning and sushi bar were available for immediate seating. The owner was on premises speaking with several of the customers. —RobinMowery
2009-08-22 09:40:37 NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT!!
I have been to Ojiya several times for both lunch and dinner and I must say that I have NEVER been disappointed. The service is always friendly. The food is spectacular and you will never leave hungry! I always sit on the hibachi side because I love the show. To address some of the negative comments that have been left here...1. Don't let a place make you feel "rushed". Tell the cook to show you more fire, tricks, etc. It's interactive. 2. If you are allergic to mushrooms, instead of asking what is in something (quick, what are the all the contents of your kitchen cabinet? Challenging, isn't it?),just tell the waitress that you cannot have mushrooms and if you can maybe substitute some more of something else. 3. Please stop complaining about the prices! Chico is not a podunk little town anymore. Ojiya's prices are comprable to a nice meal in Sacramento (minus the drive).
Well, I have made myself hungry, just might see me tonight at Ojiya! —204.17.17.249
2009-09-04 18:03:40 MAX IS BEST. WE LOVE YOU —24.43.19.156
2009-09-16 23:04:20 Friendly staff, cute girls working, excellent food.... —99.0.42.81
2009-10-20 19:16:59 best sushi we've ever had, my boyfriend never ate fish a year ago much less raw fish, now this is our favorite restaurant in chico. we go here often, waiters now recognise us :) —98.244.11.51
2009-11-06 22:16:02 We used to come here before they changed chef and Max is the best forever. We love you Max, hope you back soon. —67.249.58.242
2009-12-05 08:40:11 DO NOT HAVE PRIVATE PARTIES HERE! I read the comment above regarding the poor handling of the private party for 20 and hoped we wouldn't suffer the same fate. Unfortunately, our party fell victim to the absolute incompetence of the staff at this place. Reservations were made several weeks in advance, we were promised the private room with a great chef(s) but they canceled our reservation even though we called the morning of the party to confirm! Our party ended up split up between two tables which broke the group in two. NEVER, EVER HAVE A PARTY HERE! THEY ARE CLUELESS!
2009-12-14 13:24:58 They cannot be put tables together, the cook tops are stationary and bolted to the ground which makes seating limited. Usually 8 people fit to a table comfortably, and the private room seats 12 or so comfortably. Large parties are not their strong point. Anything over that you will be squished together or split up between two tables. Otherwise the experience is what you make it, people who interact with the chef will have more fun. —132.241.64.146
2010-04-10 18:47:48 i love u guy —67.172.125.16
2010-05-19 16:54:50 They changed the menu! They took away the 3 combo bento box and increased the price! I am so upset. I don't know if the hibachi side prices changed. I imagine they had which would be a shame because it was already too expensive. This place needs to change if it wants to survive. —24.2.34.25
2011-10-08 20:15:27 I like this OJIYA restorent very much
—110.225.127.98
2011-10-08 20:38:53 I LIKE THIS RESAURANT IT IS VERY BEAUTIFUL
—110.225.127.98
