**Absolutely terrible experience -- first time, huge disappointment (for a birthday no less).**…read more
My friends and I went to this restaurant for the very first time today to celebrate my friend's birthday. We were genuinely excited--so excited, in fact, that we drove an hour and a half just to try something new. We made a reservation, told the host it was our first time, and even specifically asked to sit in the hibachi/cook area because we wanted to experience the show in front of us (and we wanted the birthday girl to have the best view). The host agreed and sat us in the middle seats for "perfect viewing."
At first, the server had an attitude the entire time, but we tried to ignore it because we were still looking forward to the experience.
That's when things got worse.
We all ordered the same thing because the lunch package showed a variety of food, and we wanted a little of everything. The cook was actually friendly, and he was the only genuinely good part of the experience. But we immediately noticed he wasn't cooking our food. He was focused on the couple next to us--meanwhile, we were still sitting there waiting, confused and wondering why we hadn't gotten anything yet.
Eventually, the cook tells us what we ordered comes from the back kitchen and he doesn't make any of our food.
To be clear: **that is exactly why we asked to sit there.** We told the host it was our first time and asked for hibachi. We told the server too. We were excited to watch the chef and have the birthday experience. And somehow none of them communicated that our order would not be cooked at the hibachi table. No one warned us we were choosing something that came from a completely separate part of the restaurant. Why would we be seated in front of a chef who isn't cooking our food, and why would nobody think to tell us that before we ordered?
We were awkwardly stuck waiting through everyone else's meal. The couple next to us ate first, and we were just sitting there the whole time like we were invisible.
When our food finally arrived, we were already so frustrated that we didn't even want to enjoy it. At that point, we didn't even want our drinks anymore. The experience felt ruined--our appetite was gone. We left extremely disappointed, and honestly upset that we drove all that way and still ended up feeling like we barely ate.
And the food wasn't what we expected either. Our rice was just plain white rice, while the couple next to us had the better fried rice, this is exactly what we assumed we ordered based on the lunch package and what we were watching in front of us. We barely ate, got everything packed up to go, and couldn't even finish our drinks. It felt like we wasted food, time, and money.
What makes it even more insulting is the lack of communication. Three staff members knew it was our first time. None of them took even a moment to explain how the menu works or clarify that hibachi seating wouldn't apply to our order. Because if we known we would've ordered something completely different!! Then at the end, the server acted like it was no big deal and basically said, "Oh yeah, it's on the menu," like we were stupid for misunderstanding. But if it was that important, they could've explained it--especially since they knew it was our first visit and we were specifically requesting the hibachi experience.
So yes--we paid the tab, left, and we were all extremely upset. We drove to another place afterward just to get fast food because we still didn't end up actually eating what we came for.
I've never written a bad review about anything before, but today was honestly one of the most disappointing restaurant experiences we've ever had. If you want an actual hibachi show, just be careful--**because apparently the "hibachi seating" experience doesn't mean your food will be cooked in front of you.** And nobody bothered to tell us until after we already waited through the whole table experience.
We later on google the menu and nowhere is it stated that the items we selected would be cooked somewhere else.