Food items at the ready, intended to go on the hibachi grill.

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - Hibachi Buffet Sushi and Grill, at 5623 Sunrise Blvd., has opened in Citrus Heights.

It’s the first restaurant for owner Jay Wong, originally from Orlando, Florida, who signed a long-term lease earlier this year. Extensive interior renovations to the site of the former China Buffet, completed over the summer and fall, have given the restaurant a welcoming and very spacious feel.

Hibachi Buffet Sushi and Grill as seen from the parking lot.

Initial restaurant reviews on Yelp since a soft public opening on December 5th have been positive. The restaurant, which features casual dining, all-you-can-eat seafood, steak, Chinese, and sushi and a hibachi grill, is offering a limited-time 15% discount to new customers with mention of the Yelp advertisement. A seniors discount is also offered.

Customers are greeted at the main front counter by friendly restaurant staff, and pay for either their all-you-can-eat lunch or dinner meal and beverage first before being seated in the main dining areas.

Staff members Linda and Cici stand ready at the front counter of Hibachi Buffet Sushi and Grill.

In all, the restaurant can seat over 300 customers, with a future option for outdoor seating, and typically has a variety of over 150 different menu items served daily, Wong said.

“We’re excited to bring Hibachi Buffet Sushi and Grill to Citrus Heights,” Wong said.

The interior décor is thoughtfully refreshed with multiple main buffet islands chock-full of freshly-prepared, hot main and side dishes. Many popular main buffet dishes are also available in half-size and full-size portions for take-out.

First-time customers might want to walk around each of the buffet islands to take in and savor the sheer variety of familiar main and side dishes which are offered before making their choices. On the left side of the buffet islands, sushi chefs busily prepared and placed a colorful assortment of hand rolls into a cold display case for selection on a recent visit.

Another chef waited to take a plateful of a customer’s vegetable and protein choices to a sizzling hibachi grill to be cooked as the guest watched.

Attentive restaurant staff are quick to offer beverage refills and clear empty plates.

After multiple trips to the buffet islands, save room for dessert. A separate buffet island also features dozens of tasty dessert and fresh fruit choices including individual pastries, cookies and single-serving ice cream cups.

The desserts island at Hibachi Buffet Sushi and Grill, ready for service.

The new restaurant fills a major vacancy along Sunrise Boulevard in the city’s restaurant row.

Next door, a former Marie Callender’s Restaurant and Bakery, at 5525 Sunrise Blvd., remains on the market. The restaurant abruptly closed in August 2019 when the parent company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to dwindling profits. In early November, Boston’s Pizza and Sports Bar at the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Uplands Way, across from See’s Candies, abruptly closed.

Hibachi Buffet has a head start on Yum Buffet and Grill, another Asian-fusion themed restaurant now under construction, planning to open on Greenback Lane near Citrus Heights City Hall.

Exterior renovations of the former Tokyo Buffet restaurant at 7217 Greenback Ln., in Citrus Heights, shuttered since a fire occurred at the site in 2019, are well underway.

“It’s my very first restaurant in California,” Wong said in a telephone interview. He said he expected to hire at least 30 kitchen and customer service personnel to initially staff his new restaurant and is looking for more.

“Guests who discover our restaurant will find it a very special place,” Wong said, “and they’ll be excited to come back again.”

Golden statues grace the space next to the buffet islands at Hibachi Buffet Sushi and Grill.

Hibachi Buffet Sushi and Grill at 5623 Sunrise Blvd. in Citrus Heights is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lunch specials are offered at $14.99, Monday through Friday. Dinner (Monday through Friday) menu price is $20. Dinner all-day on weekends is $21.99. Children’s menu prices vary: for ages 3-6 it is $6, and for ages 7-10 it is $11.99.

For more information call 916-961-1508. The restaurant offers a daily 10% senior discount, and gift cards are also available.