The experience of going to a hibachi grill was definitely there. The ambiance was fine. Our chef was fun and energetic and the performance was exactly as expected. We went during half price martinis which was a pleasant surprise.The food was fine. It was all cooked the same regardless of the cooking preference of the steak. Worth going at least once to see for yourself.
We had a party of 6, so we tried to make a reservation. The restaurant said no need, just to show up at 4. We walked in and it was filthy. There was trash on the floor, smears on the windows, dust on the decor. The floor didn't look like it has been mopped recently. The way the seating is set up, you can see the backside of the other grill. It was caked with grease. I understand that these grills produce a lot, but it doesn't look like it had been cleaned for quite sometime. The grill master was great. He had the script down pat, and even did some of the tricks a couple of times for the kids. The broth was watery. The sauces were ok. The chicken looked very dry and yellow before cooking, but tasted ok. The steak had a lot of fat. The chicken and steak did have a decent flavor. My favorite part of the meal was the garlic rice. It was very delicious! There were some issues with the table. On person ordered lobster, and it was forgotten. I ordered sesame chicken and was given teriyaki, not major, but just seemed like a lack of attention overall. I've been to many hibachi restaurants and this one was just ok. I probably would not go back due to how dirty it was.
The Good: The main meal was good.The Bad: The wait time was 45 minutes to get seated, which was fine, however once we got seated at the dirty grill, it took 25 minutes to get drink orders and almost 45 minutes before the cook showed up. The soup was barely warm. They gave silverware to the table that had just got seated, instead of us and they RAN OUT OF FORKS! I was asked if I could eat with chop sticks because they have been short FORKS and haven't ordered new. It was VERY HOT in there, it didn't feel like the air was even turned on. I was given a fork prior to the main meal by the host, by handing it to me by the tines. As stated by another customer review, the cook tossed shrimp down the front of our friends shirt, we probably won't be back...
The food was great as always, but it was chaos in this place last night. My party of 7 arrived at 5:15 and was told we would be seated at 6:30. We were finally taken to a table a little after 7:00. The server and the chef were doing their best to provide good service. The issue at this place in my opinion is that they don’t take reservations and you can’t call ahead to get on the waiting list. With the length of time it takes to have a meal prepared and to eat, it would be nice to be able to call (and have a person actually answer the phone) to make a reservation. The management must have changed in the last few years because it used to be a much better experience. Likely will never go back.
This place NEEDS to bring back reservations, for their own sanity. We got there at 5pm and was told it’d be 6:30 to be seated, we were seated at 7:10. They had a handwritten sign on their front desk that said “full for the night” that they put out at 5:30 - an hour and a half in. They are so clearly short staffed, their phone was ringing nonstop and nobody to host. The customers were being the host to people that walked in after 5:30 telling people theres nobody to talk to and they’re full for the night. The host, who is actually the manager, runs around frantic and snippy to everyone. To prevent overbooking, chaos, and extremely upset customers - reservations are needed.They currently have only 2 chefs for their 12+ tables that they have, a table that seats 8 and we were scrunched in to fit 9.Hours of wait time, NOT worth it. Will be going to Kobes in the future.Sit down dining in 2022 is already dying, but this was just sad.
We arrived at 5:00 pm and was told we would be sat at 6pm. We waited and it kept getting later. My husband checked at 7pm and the hostess said we were next to be seated. 7:32 we were finally seated. We were sat with a party of 7, mind you that the table top seats 8 people. The party we sat with was great and we had a great time talking to them. The waitress did an amazing job and so did the cook. Our food finally started cooking at 8:10pm. By the time we ate and got the check it was 9pm. I asked someone at the sushi bar to speak to a manager. I then found out that the hostess was the manager. I said oh you are the manager and she said yes. I explained to her everything that happened. They had seated another couple right after us and their reservation was at 8:30. They got seated early. She said people lie all the time and I promise that isn’t true. She said go ask other people that are seated now what time their reservation was. I was being very nice and she was getting rude. I told her you are getting rude with me and I am speaking to you like a person. She calmed down. I told her the people we sat with were supposed to be sat at 6:30. She said they were rude and obnoxious. Said they were loud and had hit a tray. The manager didn’t care or want to hear a thing I said. She said she learned her lesson and would put out the sign at 5:30 saying no more reservations when they open at 4. The people that sat with us came over to let her know it was the worst experience they had ever had. She didn’t even care. We have never waited that long to get food. I think it’s time for new management. We left the waitress a great tip because she did amazing and she kept apologizing. I think she knows how her own boss is. So sad a place that can have such good food can have such a horrible manager. Oh and she was even racist. She told me to go over to the white table to ask them what time their reservation was. I looked at her and said are you being racist? I said you could have just said the far table and then she corrected herself. I’ve learned my lesson and will go to Kobe’s.
This used to be one of the best places to eat but has sadly gone way down hill. We tried to call to see how long the wait time would be but just a recorded message to say no reservations and no call ahead. No worries, we went to the restaurant, got there just ahead of 7pm and were told nothing till 9pm - and also that people had being coming in since 4pm and putting their names on the list and then leaving. We did the same as we really wanted to eat there, but why not let us just call in?So we got back to the restaurant around 8:30pm so we could have a drink at the bar. Bar area was very messy with dirty glasses left laying around. The drinks menu was falling apart with more than half the items scrubbed out in sharpie. Got a beer and the hostess came over and told us she had a couple seats at a grill. Great news, seated a little quicker than expected. Got to the grill to find everyone else there had already had their soup, salad and placed their food orders. Come to find they had been sitting there since 7pm - nearly 2 hours!!!!Finally the chef showed up and confirmed our orders and checked how we wanted steak cooked. All went well till we got to the end and everyone else had their protein but mine hadn’t been cooked and he started cleaning down the grill. I asked him and he apologized and thanked me for reminding him! Pretty poor in my opinion not to realize that you have missed cooking someone’s meal when they are sitting in front of you without anything on their plate AND there is an uncooked steak on the trolley.The food is nice, and the staff are pleasant - just seem to be short-handed and undertrained. The whole restaurant clearly needs attention, chairs are falling apart, bathrooms are filthy with overflowing trash cans and smelly.Sadly, don’t think we will bother going again and have already advised some friends who planned to go next week, that they should make other plans.
I used to love Sumo. I frequented this restaurant back in the mid 2000s before they got their nice new location on east 13th. After living in another part of the state for the past 15 years, I decided to try this restaurant again while in town visiting family. We arrived at 6:15 and were told that our table would be ready at 7:30. 7:30 came around and we were told they were 20 minutes behind. No big deal. But then we didn't get seated until 8:50, and the chef didn't start until 9:20. The chairs were run down and in need of repair or replacement, the plates were not well cleaned, and neither was the cooking surface. But the worst part of all is the chef's behavior. He commented on my beauty which didn't bother me and seemed innocent enough, but when it was time to toss the shrimp, he tossed it fine to everyone else but when it came to me, he was low on the toss. Okay, well no problem, surely it was a mistake and he would correct on the second try. Oh, he corrected alright: straight down my shirt! Now THAT was inappropriate, and certainly on purpose. I felt violated. Rest assured, I will never return to this establishment.
Food, as per usual was great! We had a couple of apps, some amazing garlic fried rice, and sushi. The reason for 3-Stars is the cleanliness and air quality in the restaurant. They have to do something about the fans at the grills. The air was so thick with smoke and oil that all of our clothes, hair, even shoes smelled of oil. It was even hard to breath by the end of the meal. Still wheezy as I write this review. Doubt we will be going back until this is addressed.
Until today I would have given them 5 stars without hesitation.Today, I called to place my order and was referred to delivery.com because they don't take orders over the phone any longer. (I'm sitting in the parking lot to pick up my order.)I downloaded the app and the one item that I wanted was not on it.. I called the restaurant back to find out how to handle it and she put me on hold.She came back and said yeah we don't know why it's not on the app but we're calling to have it put on there. There's nothing I can do to help you today. We don't take orders over the phone anymore.I don't have the words for how ludicrous this is.