So we decided to try Yamato on a whim while waiting for our son who was at a school party close by…read more
When we walked in, it was not busy at all - maybe another 8-10 people sitting at a few of the teppanyaki grills.
But for some reason, it took almost 5 minutes of waiting by the "Please Wait to be Seated" sign for someone to actually come and seat us.
When we were finally sat, the hostess stuck us in 2 seats against the wall at a completely empty grill table.
When we asked if we could move around to 2 seats along the side of the grill so that we wouldn't be squished against the wall, she told us "no... these are the seats for a party of 2."
Yet we were the only 2 people at the entire grill at 8:30pm at night....
Anyway, we sat for another 5-10 minutes before they sat 2 other people at our grill and then the server finally asked all 4 of us (mind you, we had been waiting 5-10 min at the table already) for our drink and food orders.
The chef who cooked for us was really great, and the food was delicious - shrimp and filet for my wife, and shrimp and Korean BBQ for me.
So no complaints on the food... overall I would say that it was above average for a teppanyaki grill, and the chef was really great...
But after our food was done, the staff immediately started rushing us to finish up quickly and kept asking if we were ready for the check.
We hadn't even finished our food, it was only 9:15, and the restaurant didn't close until 10...
When I asked for some saki, the waitress made a mistake and brought me a glass of wine... when I pointed out that I didn't order a glass of wine, but rather some saki, she was clearly annoyed but eventually brought me the saki that had ordered.
Well at 9:30, they started closing the restaurant down around us - shutting off lights, and at 9:45, while we still had food in front of us and full drinks, they shut off the music and turned off pretty much all the lights, aside from the lights around our table.
It was very clear that they were closing down, whether we finished or not, and well before the 10pm posted closing time.
Since we felt so awkward, we quickly finished our food, and asked for the check.
When the waitress brought the check, she pointed out that the saki was more expensive than what was advertised on the menu, and guess what? That extra cost of the saki just happened to be the same price as the mistaken glass of wine that they brought over...
Coincidence?
Anyway, we paid the check, and left our drinks unfinished.
When I tried to explain our frustration with the host at being rushed out before we finished our food or drinks, she really didn't seem to care and simply said, "thanks for your feedback."
Huh.
So after spending almost $200 between 2 people, we had to rush through our dinner, as they started closing down around us as soon as the chef finished cooking.
Unfortunately even though the food was good, the service was so bad that we won't be going back.