Every fall semester runs on the same math. There is a number in your head for what dinner should cost, and most of the options near campus either come in well under it and are not a meal, or come in well over it and are not a Tuesday.
We are at 3548 Crain Highway, a short drive from Bowie State. This is what the different numbers actually get you here, written for people who will be doing this arithmetic four nights a week until December.
Under $11
Chicken Hibachi, $10.85. Hibachi chicken with your choice of any two sides, from fried rice, white rice, lo mein noodles or vegetables. Both sides are included, not add-ons.
Tofu Hibachi, $10.85. Same structure, same two sides.
This is the floor, and it is a full hot meal rather than a snack. If you take fried rice and vegetables, you are eating a plate that holds up as leftovers the next day, which effectively makes it two meals for a shade under eleven dollars.
Under $15
Beef Hibachi, $11.85 or Shrimp Hibachi, $11.85. Same two-side structure, different protein.
Chicken and Beef Combo, $12.85. Two proteins on one plate with two sides. Better value than either single plate if you want variety.
Steak Hibachi, $13.85. The upgrade order. Worth it on a Friday.
Chicken Bento, $13.85. Hibachi, vegetables, rice or noodles, a 4-piece California Roll, dumplings and spring rolls. This is the most food per dollar on the menu for one person, and it comes in a closed box, which matters if you are eating between a class and a shift.
10-Piece Wings, $15.99. Just over the line, but worth knowing about. Fourteen flavors.
Under $20, splitting two ways
This is where the real savings live, and most students miss it.
Chicken, Beef and Shrimp Combo, $15.85 plus a California Roll at $8.85 comes to $24.70 and feeds two people comfortably. Twelve thirty five each.
20-Piece Wings at $28.99 split three ways is under ten dollars each, with Fried Rice at $5.45 added for about eleven fifty each.
The add-on trick. Extra chicken on a plate is $3.45 and extra salmon, beef or shrimp is $4.45. Taking one Chicken Hibachi at $10.85 and adding extra chicken for $3.45 gets you $14.30 of food that two people can split, which beats buying two separate plates by seven dollars.
The halal part
The entire menu is halal at every location. There is no separate halal section and no special order to place. No pork is served, stored or cooked anywhere on the premises, and our sauces are made in our own kitchen rather than bought from a distributor, which handles the mirin and cooking sake problem that disqualifies most commercial teriyaki and eel sauce.
Practically, that means a group order does not need to be split into two lists, which is the thing that usually makes group food difficult.
Fall semester logistics
Weeknights between 5PM and 7PM are the busiest window of the day here, which is exactly when most people want to eat. Ordering online before you leave campus turns a twenty minute stop into a five minute one.
Our hours are 11AM to 10PM every day, which covers late study sessions and Sunday afternoons when campus dining is thin.
For a study group or an org meeting, wings scale the furthest per dollar. Thirty pieces at $40.99 feeds a room that six separate entrees would not, and it does not require anyone to bring plates.
Visit us
Halal hibachi on Crain Highway. Flame Japanese Hibachi Bowie, 3548 Crain Highway, Bowie, MD 20716. 240-206-8269. Open 11AM to 10PM daily.
