A Las Vegas hibachi restaurant is counting the damage after burglars broke in early Sunday morning, smashed a window, and used a saw to cut open the business safe. Owner Zach Tolen says the thieves did not waste time searching the place — they walked straight to where the safe was.
Vanilla Rice Hibachi, located near Flamingo and Sandhill, discovered the break-in while Tolen was attending church, according to FOX5 Vegas. Surveillance footage from inside the restaurant showed the window shattering and sparks flying as the intruders sawed into the safe. Tolen said the burglars clearly knew what they were after. “They walked right to it,” he said, describing how the pair went directly to the safe.
Replacing a Shattered Window Alone Could Run $1,000
Tolen estimated that fixing the broken window could cost up to $1,000 — a cash outlay that lands harder given that Vanilla Rice Hibachi stopped accepting cash years ago as a safety measure, a precaution that now looks prescient given what happened early Sunday. The restaurant is also known in the neighborhood for a different kind of generosity: Tolen said the business regularly offers water and some fried rice to people outside who need help.
That community-minded reputation hasn’t shielded the restaurant from the broader problems Tolen says have crept into the area. He told the station that crime and homelessness have both increased nearby, saying, “Definitely a lot more crime, a lot more, you know, homeless as well.” He added that other businesses near his have also experienced break-ins over the years, and a nearby restaurant in the same shopping center confirmed to the outlet that it, too, has dealt with similar burglaries in the past.
Part of a Wider Pattern Across the Valley
Vanilla Rice Hibachi’s break-in fits into a pattern of commercial burglaries that have plagued Las Vegas-area restaurants and small businesses over the past couple of years. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has been investigating a string of commercial burglaries targeting restaurants and lounges across the valley, according to News3LV, with that particular string of incidents beginning in late December 2024 and the most recent reported case occurring in mid-February 2025…