Hanami Izakaya

Never a bad experience at Hanami, but I do recommend making a reservation in advance.

Had a really nice lunch here yesterday. Food and service was great and the place was really cute inside.

I travel the world for business a lot and I am always trying different food establishments and I got to say this is absolutely the worst experience I have ever had from the grungy feel of the place ,the dirty tables, dirty glasses ,dirty water jugs and food drops all over the seats. The place is not child friendly. I brought my 8 year old and she sat there and eat nothing because they have no choices for children. The food took so long to reach our table and when it got there it was under cooked for the most part. The waiter who checked us out was so rude and also angry that my 8 year old who had 1 sprite that I didn’t drink did jot pay the full buffet price after he had already brought the bill and knew we said my daughter would not be eating. He went out of his way to be super rude about it and I offered to pay but he continue with a rant of how his boss would be super mad if he saw my daughter drinking the sprite and not paying. I offered to pay at that point and he kept going and we just avoided the confrontation and walked out. The overall experience was the worst i have ever encountered. We spent $150 for the worst service and food ever . Save your money and stomach from this place.

Sushi is amazing, fresh, and the portions are fantastic. Will go back again and again.

I am editing our review. If you had asked me after our prior visits I would have give an easy 5star. However after our last experience Date:2026-03-20 Time:21:18 check #A3

It will be a hard pull to get us back in the restaurant. Our drinks took the longest to come out and only half at a time with the Sapporo taking the longest as our server said he would bring right away, then we watched have a conversation with another table for more than 5min with no food or drink delivery ( this happened multiple times during our visit)It was consistently difficult to get the attention of any server. The food was ok. The Miso soup, fried wonton and tempura were luke warm. We asked multiple times for ginger and wasabi which we never received also a refill of water which was also not refilled. We had noticed that more than a couple of our items ordered never made it to the table however other items placed on the same send did.
The restaurant seemed very messy we watched one server slip (Thankfully not falling, or being injured as she approached the table)
The floors were littered with chit papers, booth seats were covered in crumbs.
Again with difficulty getting the attention of a server we had to wait at the host stand to be acknowledged to get and pay our bill.

This is not the Hanami that we knew and loved.
I truly hope it was a off day, and not the new norm. Unfortunately we'll not be rushing back to find out.

This is my go to spot! I come here way too often????the food is always so fresh and delicious, and the service is amazing! By far (in my humble opinion), the best sushi spot in Guelph.