A new kind of dinner reservation just landed in Edmond. Love Hibachi says it opened its first Oklahoma service location in the city, but there is no dining room to walk into — instead, the company sends chefs, grills and ingredients straight to customers' backyards, patios and event venues.
According to einnews.com, the Edmond location operates as a service base for chefs traveling to customers' event locations rather than as a dine-in restaurant. The brand says it will serve events across Oklahoma County, Cleveland County, Canadian County and Tulsa County, giving it reach well beyond Edmond's city limits and into the wider metro and Tulsa-area market.
The pitch is straightforward: Love Hibachi brings the chef, mobile grill and ingredients to the host's property, turning a birthday dinner or backyard hangout into a live cooking show. The company markets the format for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, family reunions, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and corporate gatherings — essentially any occasion where someone wants a hibachi show without driving to a steakhouse.
What's Actually on the Grill
Meals follow a familiar hibachi-night script: hibachi-style proteins served alongside fried rice, vegetables, salad and sauces, the same report states. On its Oklahoma County booking page, the company notes it can accommodate vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, halal and kosher requests, according to lovehibachi.com, so hosts with mixed dietary needs among guests aren't necessarily out of luck.
Love Hibachi also offers bookings in Oklahoma County.
What Hosts Need to Set Up Beforehand
Because there's no restaurant involved, the legwork shifts to the customer. Love Hibachi instructs hosts to prepare utensils, including dinner and salad plates, along with tables and chairs set up ahead of time, and the company reviews service availability based on location, schedule and event requirements before confirming a booking. Customers are also asked to share food allergies and dietary requests in advance and to discuss protein selections, optional upgrades and additional menu items with the company directly.
A separate booking page for Tulsa County asks for a preferred date, event address, guest count and celebration details, suggesting the reservation process is similarly structured across the counties Love Hibachi now serves.
Edmond Joins an Already Crowded Backyard-Hibachi Scene
Love Hibachi isn't the only operator chasing Oklahoma's at-home hibachi crowd. Hibachi With Us advertises service across the greater OKC metro, including Edmond and Norman, with chefs who bring the grill, fresh ingredients and a live show right to a customer's home or event, according to hibachiwithus.com. That company lists travel fees around $75 in most areas, asks customers to have tables, chairs, plates and utensils ready, and advertises no-deposit booking with a suggested 20 percent tip.
Hibachi Panda is also active in the Oklahoma City area, framing its mobile cooking as both catering and entertainment — an interactive chef show meant to double as the party's main event, per hibachipanda.com. That company lists pricing starting at $49 per adult and $25 per child age 12 and under, with a $490 minimum food purchase, and names Edmond among the nearby communities it may be able to reach depending on address, date, guest count and chef availability.
Legal Footing Still Unclear for Mobile Food Operators
Mobile food businesses operating around Edmond fall under rules that predate this particular wave of hibachi-at-home companies. City guidance indicates that a food truck must be licensed by the Oklahoma City-County Health Department and the Edmond Fire Department, operate only in zoning districts where that's allowed, secure the property owner's permission, and remain mobile, according to edmondok.gov. The Oklahoma State Fire Marshal's webpage attributes to the Oklahoma State Department of Health guidance that mobile food vendors, with a property owner's permission, may operate in any zoning district where food-service establishments are permitted, per oklahoma.gov. Whether Love Hibachi's backyard-chef model is classified under those same food-truck rules isn't addressed in the available guidance.
For now, the company is leaning into its new reach into central Oklahoma, offering a reservation process and customer care line for residents weighing whether to trade a restaurant reservation for a grill show in their own driveway. With Love Hibachi, Hibachi With Us and Hibachi Panda all courting the same backyard crowd, Edmond-area hosts planning a birthday or graduation party this fall have more than one chef to call.
