Let me be clear about something: the way Edina residents are experiencing hibachi in 2025 would have seemed impossible three years ago. We're not talking about incremental improvements to restaurant dining—we're talking about a complete reimagining of what premium Japanese cuisine can be. While you've been making reservations at Benihana or driving to Minneapolis for teppanyaki, hundreds of your Edina neighbors have discovered something better:hibachi at home that turns your space into the restaurant. And here's the truth—once you experience it, traditional hibachi restaurants start feeling like the compromise they always were.
I'm Rumla, founder of Love Hibachi, and I've spent three years proving that at-home hibachi isn't just "as good as" restaurant dining—it's categorically superior. This isn't about convenience, though that's a nice bonus. This is about fundamentally better food, better service, and better experiences than any restaurant model can deliver.
Here's what most people get wrong: they think "hibachi at home" means some scaled-down version of the restaurant experience. A portable grill, maybe. Limited menu options. Chef who's "good enough" for a backyard setup.
Wrong on every count.
Love Hibachi delivers the complete teppanyaki theater experience with professional-grade equipment, expert chefs with 15+ years of experience, premium ingredients, and full entertainment that rivals any high-end Japanese steakhouse—except we build it in your space, on your schedule, for your guests only.
The difference? At Benihana, you're one of six crowded parties around a communal grill, splitting your chef's attention, coordinating with strangers for photos, dealing with that one loud table that showed up drunk. Your experience is determined by whoever else got seated at your grill that night.
With Love Hibachi in Edina, your chef is performing exclusively for your group. No divided attention. No strangers. No compromises. Every trick, every joke, every perfectly grilled bite—it's all for you and your guests. That's not a small difference. That's everything.
And while typical Edina caterers provide food—trays of lukewarm appetizers, buffet lines, disposable chafing dishes—Love Hibachi delivers a complete entertainment experience that guests talk about for months. We're not competing with other caterers. We're in a different category entirely.
Our chefs bring professional teppanyaki mastery directly to Edina homes, offering authenticity most local restaurants can't match. When you've trained on the hibachi grill for fifteen years, you're not just cooking—you're orchestrating an experience. The knife work isn't for show; it's precision that affects texture and flavor. The timing isn't rushed by a kitchen ticket system; it's paced for maximum enjoyment.
Let's talk about the structural limitations of restaurant hibachi that nobody mentions.
Space constraints: Even the nicest Japanese steakhouse in the Twin Cities area seats you inches from strangers. You're managing small talk with table neighbors while trying to enjoy your anniversary dinner. Your eight-year-old wants to ask the chef questions but feels shy around the other adults. Your elderly parents can't hear the jokes over the noise. At home? Your guests spread out comfortably. Conversation flows naturally. Everyone has the perfect viewing angle.
Menu flexibility: Restaurant hibachi means choosing from their menu, prepared their way, on their timetable. Last week I did an event in Edina's Country Club District where the host had a shellfish-allergic daughter, a vegetarian teenage son, and a father-in-law who only eats steak cooked medium-rare. Our chef handled all three seamlessly, modifying preparation on the fly, ensuring everyone got exactly what they wanted. Try coordinating that at a restaurant table of twelve.
The timing factor: This changes everything. Restaurants are optimized for table turns. Your chef is thinking about the next seating. You're being subtly rushed—check arrives before dessert, pressure to clear out by 8:30. Love Hibachi events in Edina typically run 2-3 hours because we're not chasing the next reservation. Guests linger. Second drinks happen. The chef answers every question. You're not renting the experience—you own the entire evening.
Actual ingredient quality: Here's what most people don't realize—our ingredient sourcing is typically superior to what restaurants use because we're not managing the cost structure of a physical location with rent, utilities, and staff overhead. We're bringing the same premium proteins and produce you'd find at a high-end steakhouse, but without the 300% markup that comes from overhead expenses.
After hundreds of events throughout Edina, we've proven that at-home hibachi delivers better food, better service, and better memories than any restaurant alternative. The data is overwhelming. Our repeat rate is 73%. That means nearly three-quarters of Edina clients book us again within eighteen months. When was the last time you went back to the same restaurant three times in a year and a half?
There's a pattern emerging in Edina's dining culture, and it's accelerating.
The shift started with the pandemic, obviously—everyone got comfortable with premium experiences at home. But it's continued because people realized something: home is actually the superior venue for celebration. Your sound system, your lighting, your seating arrangements, your guests moving freely between spaces, your kids able to disappear to the playroom when they're done eating.
Edina's particularly suited for this because of the housing stock here. These beautiful homes—from the mid-century properties near Countryside to the newer builds in Highlands—were designed for entertaining. Proper kitchens, great outdoor spaces, finished basements, open floor plans. When I arrive for an event, I'm usually working with genuinely excellent entertaining infrastructure.
The demographic mix matters too. Edina skews professional, educated, traveled. These are residents who've had authentic teppanyaki in Tokyo or Osaka, who know the difference between good hibachi and mediocre. They're not impressed by flashy knife tricks alone—they notice when the vegetables are cut precisely, when the fried rice has proper wok hei, when the steak is seared at exactly the right temperature. Our chefs rise to that standard because they trained in that tradition.
I've done everything from Edina's historic homes near 50th and France to modern open-concept builds in the new developments—the beauty of mobile hibachi is we adapt to your exact space. The most common setup? Kitchen island or large dining table. We bring commercial-grade portable grills, set up in 20 minutes, and transform your everyday space into a teppanyaki theater.
Garages work brilliantly too, especially for larger groups. I did a 40-person graduation party last June where we set up two grills in a three-car garage, doors open to the backyard, string lights overhead. The family saved thousands versus restaurant costs, and their guests couldn't believe this wasn't a permanent setup.
Even condos and townhomes work. Our equipment is surprisingly compact—we've done successful events in smaller spaces where restaurants would've required splitting the group across multiple tables. The advantage of controlling the entire environment.
Let me walk you through what actually happens when you book Love Hibachi in Edina, because this is where the value becomes obvious.
Pre-event: You're not filling out complicated catering forms or managing vendor coordination. One conversation with me, we confirm headcount, menu preferences, any dietary restrictions. That's it. No deposits to three different vendors, no coordination headaches.
Setup: Chef arrives 30-45 minutes before service, brings literally everything. Commercial hibachi grill, full ingredient kit, serving equipment, cleanup supplies. We transform your space into a professional teppanyaki station while you're finishing hosting prep. You lift exactly zero fingers.
The experience: This is the part that separates good from extraordinary. Our chefs don't just cook—they read the room. Kids present? Tricks get bigger, pace slows slightly, chef engages directly with the children. Business dinner? Professional tone, refined presentation, still entertaining but sophisticated. Birthday party? Chef personalizes the show for the guest of honor, coordinates with your cake timing, plays to the celebration energy.
The menu itself: appetizers (typically edamame and miso soup or salad), hibachi vegetables, fried rice, and your protein choices—steak, chicken, shrimp, salmon, scallops. Everything cooked to order, right in front of you. Total experience runs 90-120 minutes typically, longer if the group's having fun.
Cleanup: We handle everything. Grill breakdown, waste removal, kitchen spotless. Most clients don't even realize we've left—they're still enjoying drinks with guests when we're loading out quietly.
Compare this to restaurant coordination: driving there (Edina traffic during dinner rush?), parking, waiting for your table even with a reservation, managing the check split, driving home. You've added 90 minutes of logistics to your evening and paid premium prices for the hassle.
Some occasions absolutely require the at-home advantage:
Milestone birthdays: When your parent turns 70, you want them comfortable in familiar surroundings, not navigating a busy restaurant. Love Hibachi brings that same chef talent to your space where everyone has the perfect view, grandkids can sit on the floor if they want, and the celebration can be truly intimate while still impressive.
Corporate entertainment: Edina's corporate crowd gets this immediately—hosting clients or rewarding team members at someone's home demonstrates both hospitality and creativity. It's memorable in ways that another steakhouse dinner simply isn't. Plus you control the environment completely: background music, temperature, timing, everything optimized for relationship building.
Intimate proposals or anniversaries: I've been part of a dozen proposals in Edina. The setup is perfect—romantic, controlled, private, but with enough wow-factor that it feels genuinely special. No restaurant can offer that combination.
Holiday gatherings: Thanksgiving weekend in Edina? Christmas parties? New Year's? Restaurants are slammed and overpriced. Your home becomes the destination venue, and you're not exhausted from cooking.
Love Hibachi serves all of Edina and the surrounding Twin Cities metro area. We're regularly in Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Bloomington, Richfield, St. Louis Park—basically if you're within 30 minutes of Minneapolis, we've got you covered.
The beautiful thing about mobile service: distance isn't the constraint, your space is. And in Edina, space is rarely the issue. Even smaller homes here have workable entertaining areas. We've successfully served groups from 8 to 50+ people.
Learn more about our coverage and booking at lovehibachi.com—the site has our full service area map, menu details, and real-time availability calendar.
Pricing comes up constantly —and here's the honest answer: we're premium service with premium pricing, typically $85-120 per person depending on menu selections and group size. That's comparable to what you'd spend at a high-end hibachi restaurant once you factor in drinks, tax, tip. But you're getting exclusive service, better ingredients, no logistics headaches, and an experience guests remember. The value calculation isn't close.
Space requirements : I get this one a lot, especially from Edina residents in townhomes. Reality? We need about 6x6 feet for the grill setup, preferably with overhead ventilation (kitchen range hood) or the ability to open windows/doors. If you can comfortably fit your guest count for dining, we can make hibachi work. I've done successful events in surprisingly compact spaces.
What we actually bring versus what you provide : We handle everything cooking-related—grill, all ingredients, cooking utensils, serving implements, cleanup supplies. You provide the dining space, plates/utensils for guests, and beverages. That's the division. Simple.
Dietary restrictions and customization : This is where at-home service shows its advantage. Vegetarian? Easy—we'll do vegetable and tofu hibachi. Gluten-free? We modify preparation. Shellfish allergies? Kid who only eats plain chicken? We adapt in real-time. Restaurants are structurally limited here; we're not.
Edina has always been ahead of Twin Cities dining trends. You embraced farm-to-table before it was mainstream. You supported local restaurants when suburban dining meant chains. You appreciate quality and you're willing to pay for genuinely better experiences.
Hibachi at home is that next evolution—premium dining that's actually more convenient, more personal, and more memorable than the restaurant version it replaces.
We're booking 6-8 weeks out for weekend dates during peak season (graduation, holiday, summer entertaining). Visit Love Hibachi to check availability and secure your date. You can also reach me directly through the site—I handle all Edina bookings personally because I love working in this community.
This changes everything about how you host. Time to experience it.
