Sapporo is a restaurant in Scottsdale that serves authentic Japanese food. It’s name comes from an actual city in Japan called Sapporo. The building itself is fancy and structured differently. There are two big metal poles with fire on the top in the front entrance of the restaurant, and near the entrance you can see a bar and hear the cooking and the talking in the place. Once inside, it transforms into a warm and open Japanese restaurant. Sapporo is dimly lit throughout the whole building, and there are teppanyaki areas on either side of the structure. There are small tables scattered around, and a bar in the front and a sushi bar in the back. To get to the teppanyaki areas, you have to walk up a small flight of stairs, so it’s slightly elevated. Because of this, you can see the entire restaurant and all of the interior designings and cooks and people. I highly recommend reserving for a teppanyaki, just for this reason.

Since I have mentioned the teppanyaki so many times, I should probably explain what it is. So there is a stove with a table attached to it and the table goes around the whole stove, so it’s circular. The table can fit about nine people. Once you have ordered what you want, a chef comes to your table and starts cooking right in front of you. Not before you get the other five plates of food that comes with your main meal, though. Each teppanyaki meal comes with a simple shrimp starter, an inviting mushroom soup, a fresh house salad, fried rice and seasonal vegetables that are cooked right in front of you and, to top it all off, a house-made sorbet. I had a teppanyaki once, and I can tell you that it’s not something you want to pass up.

While the teppanyaki is very popular, and some people come only for this special dinner, you can also order a standard sushi dinner. There are all sorts of different types of sushi made, and there are stools in front of the sushi bar so you can watch the cooks make the sushi right in front of you.

While the prices are slightly higher than usual dinner places, it is definitely worth the pay. The food is fresh and delicious, and the wait is not very long. Usually on Friday nights you should reserve a table, since it fills up pretty fast. Sapporo is on Thunderbird East Plaza and the Southwest side of Scottsdale Road and Acoma. Their website is www.sapporoscottsdale.com/. Sapporo is not a restaurant that is for everyone, and most people don’t know about it, but it is definitely could be a big hit.