Kyoto Japanese Restaurant

Great Japanese food. Lunch menu Katsu Curry is to die for.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I love sushi with shrimp tempura but this was ALL tempura with the SMALLEST strip of shrimp. I've never seen shrimp so small and honestly I couldn't even taste it but I definitely paid for it. Such a bummer, my meal wasn't great. One and done I guess.

The food was good. My steak was a little overcooked. Not enough to send back but not the medium rare I ordered. My husband's was medium rare as ordered. Everyone can have an off night now and then so this experience will not prevent me from returning.

my friend car broke down, she had her baby and it was hot and we went in and asked if we could feed him out on the deck, they were so nice about it and even brought a water, the people who i think are the owners came out and were so polite and said we could go inside to feed him, they also gave us cold towels, will definitely eat here eventually due to just this experience alone.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Prices have risen to quite a level that makes frequency of dining prohibitive.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The food is always good. The staff was gracious to move our reservations to a later time due to traffic.

The staff are what I think makes this place so legit

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We ordered two entrées. The chicken teriyaki and the fillet, both were excellent! We had a reservation so we seated promptly. Service was perfect. I've been dining here for over 20 years and even with the change of ownership the meals are exactly the same and are fantastic.

Exceptional service and more delicious food than we could eat. It was a great way to celebrate a birthday.

I used to love this classic Japanese sushi restaurant especially with my Japanese friends who most enjoyed it. A full year or more had gone by since I had visited until this past week with my good Japanese friend. We were shocked and grossly disappointed at the low quality, tasteless and likely not fresh flavor of the sushi we ordered. Honestly the author we had eaten at Smith grocery store for lunch the day before was fresher and better tasting. I certainly will no longer return to kyoto.

We come back to Kyoto restaurant regularly because the food is excellent. We have never had a dish we didn't enjoy!

All the food was amazing. I got the beef tenderloin teriyaki and it may have been the best beef I've ever had. Will return and would recommend to anyone.

Authentic Japanese food, was not expecting the atmosphere to be so authentic, but we were looking forward to authentic Japanese food. Everything was awesome!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

What happened?? Previously the best and most authentic Japanese restaurant in town but now it’s a fake. I am spoiled to have lived in Japan for over twenty years and thus know real Japanese food vs imitation Japanese and this is not real. I was in town for a week in early July and wanted to visit what was a staple for me in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and was saddened to find the restaurant has lost it’s authentic taste and now simply caters to the westerners idea of Japanese food…. Good Japanese food starts with quality rice, one bite and it was clear the was not Japan sourced, it was hard and tasted like it had been sitting out for a long time. And then there famous tempura was bad, real bad. The onions tasted like bad onion rings not tempura. They are not using panko but cooking them just as any hamburger restaurant would for onion rings. Sad to read that the original owners sold (native Japanese) and now the current owners clearly have no Japan background and are not interested in maintaining the authentic taste.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 1

I'm sure there are many delicious Japanese restaurants across Northern Utah, and I've certainly tried a lot of them. But for more than two decades now, Kyoto in Salt Lake City has been a favorite. I’m a Japanese food lover who really prefers comfort foods like chicken teriyaki donburi, sukiyaki with raw egg for dipping, oyako donburi, and shrimp tempura over the sushi and sashimi options. Don’t get me wrong. I very much enjoy the latter, but I see them more like appetizers, not the main event. Although I can’t visit the Kyoto Japanese restaurant as much as I would like due to moving out-of-state, making sure to visit is always a top priority when in town.

Update (2025-07-13): It pains me to say this, but the service has really gone downhill. After being seated, it takes a long time for anyone to take your drink or food order. The wait for the food itself is slow, getting the check takes forever, and it’s even longer before someone comes back to process your payment. During the meal, no one checks in to see if the food is okay, if you need anything else, or if anyone needs a refill. They also frequently forget items—like hot green tea—even when clearly ordered. I still love the food, but I can’t recommend dining in anymore. Takeout is the better option, or maybe try sitting at the bar where service might be more attentive.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 1