I have always enjoyed my visits to Nakama. The food is very reasonably priced- meals, appetizers, and sushi; and Nakama continously gives out freebies for mother's/father's day, birthday's etc... plus the points reward card to get free meals are just that--free meals. I have no problem abiding by their rules on how I use the point gift. cert. since they are free! It is not authentic but it doesn't try to be and your a goofball if you go thinking it might. The target audience are those who like 'Americanized Japanese food'. There are however, some cons to being a self-proclaimed ""hot spot"". Each time I go the service gets worse and the atmosphere gets more annoying. On a weekday, the service is fine but on the weekends they definitely do not have enough servers in the dining room or at the bar. I don't mind going to a club or bar and being pushed and squished and knocked into but if I am spending $$$ then I want a nice relaxed experience and whether you are in the dining room, bar or sushi bar, it is just not comfortable and very very loud. In the dining room, the bad service drags the meal out 3-4 hours and the atomosphere does not make that 3-4 hours enjoyable. Going on a weekend is pointless. The wait is too long and even with reservations you are waiting (example: on a Friday night my party was sat at a Habachi for 1 1/2 hours before the cook came out and the server was slow with the drinks! on a Thursday at 8:30 p.m. 3 of us waited 1 hour to get seats at the sushi bar and were almost knocked out of our seat the whole time). Plus, if it was NYC or LA then maybe it would be worth it to go to a trendy hotspot but this is Pittsburgh! I love Pittsburgh but come on. Lastly, the cook performers are not really fun but they are competent and I have NEVER gotten sick from the food. Early in the week makes a great time as does lunch (which is also extremely reasonably priced).
Pros: Menu Selection, Price and Portions, Weekday and Lunch Dining
Cons: Ambience and Service Thursday-Sunday
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