Shogun Japanese Steakhouse — Attraction in Bentonville

I called this evening to place an order as I’ve always done for nearly 2 decades, I don’t ask to speak to a manager to ensure it was written And prepared properly for a simple accommodation Based on the severe impact, it would have prepped otherwise. The “Manager of 10 years- Jose”— Who is currently in a minor management position, debated and ARGUED with me for nearly 45 minutes In order to have my requested accommodated, I would need to be at the restaurant to place the order as opposed to calling in it (keeping things simple here) hence- They requested that is not need to go order was simply prepared on a Teppanyaki grill and not in the kitchen, so could be properly cleaned based on the circumstances, I’ve never had an issue with this request. Furthermore, as a manager for him to ask me to come in waste the hostess, the server and then take up occupancy at a table to get a order to go in the way that he wanted me to do. It is one of the most absurd Order of procedures To ask of someone, When this has been accommodated many times prior. His excuse was “I’ve never seen it done that way.” If a manager cannot make a small accommodation that could ultimately result in life or death for A customer based on allergies, Or regardless of the magnitude here. I don’t know where they accommodating anyone pertaining to having great or good hospitality. I’ve never had the luxury of meeting this gentleman, after asking the owner, how long he had been a manager has brought to my knowledge, “not long”. Furthermore, the secondary excuse he gave was aesthetically. What did it look like for a shift to prepare or place food items in a box while other customers were or would be at the table dining- My response to him was that it’s accommodated all the time when I come in and sit at the grill and then I have a Secondary order that I place “to go”- The chef prepares it along with the rest of everyone’s meals and boxes up the portion for that order, Our server will always bring the compliments such as a soup and salad outside from the kitchen area to add to box/bag for take-out. As someone who owns an operate, a local business associated with hospitality, I always make sure my guests, clients or customers are met with whatever their needs may be especially something feasible. To my advantage, gentleman had no idea who I was leading with that would’ve been tacky/lacked couth on my behalf of the business woman, regardless. I don’t want my relationship or status in the community to affect the quality of customer service. I get when it should be an equal opportunity business. I’ve seen a time and time again a restaurant can Have immaculate execution in every area and poor management will absolutely run it into the ground every time. Sadly, I recognized this with the restaurant over the last 6 years Furthermore, with shutting down other locations, the lack of business, etc. We can’t blame it all on Jose, but There’s something missing somewhere and it’s simple things like this that make a huge difference in someone’s experience And representation of the business itself. In the event, you may counter a conflict or something that you would have to to speak to management about. I would avoid this location at all costs, Sam And Steven had the Fayettville location have always been spectacular in the customer service area. Bentonville has been struggling for quite some time, again…… These are the things. Word of Mouth is the best advertisement, I’ll be sure to use what influence I can to defer people’s interest in this location seeing that we have other options New and local in the area. Aside from Google, which is just consumer friendly so I came here first I’ll be posting it on other social media platforms tens of thousands of followers, yelp, TripAdvisor, etc., anywhere that curious guests or customers would seek information pertaining to a Experience here and what they...

BLUF: Not Gluten Allergy Friendly and WAY overpriced!

Recently visited Shogun in Bentonville. We were expecting a classy Japanese steakhouse. My wife and daughter are extremely allergic to gluten; they can sense it almost immediately. We rarely go out to eat because despite gluten sensitivity being on the rise in the US for reasons that can only be attributed to companies like Monsanto, many restaurants in the South have not made a real effort to service those of us with this allergy.

Regardless, we were invited by friends and we went, hopeful that maybe we could order something besides steak and salad. When we arrived, we were informed that "we could order anything off the hibachi menu, but it would be prepared in the kitchen". Well that was hopeful. We assumed that that must mean they had a clean space and gf soy and teriyaki options.

Well, we assumed wrong. All it meant was that we could order "Japanese" grill items such as Tepanyaki Chicken WITHOUT any soy or teriyaki... in other words, basic grilled entrees with seasoning. So, we asked if they could maybe make the sushi special order without ingredients that have gluten... NOPE.

Finally, not wanting to abandon our friends, my wife and daughter ordered the $34 "NY Strip Steak" with the only gluten free side available: steamed rice.

What came out of the kitchen though should put the owners of Shogun, or any decent restaurant, to shame:

About 5oz of what should have been 8, cut into a handful of bite-size pieces, sitting on top of about $.25 worth of shredded cabbage, with about $.50 worth of plain steamed rice.

My guess is that including the Dr. Pepper, this pathetic meal cost the restaurant between $8 - $10 and cost us about $38. You do the math.

Bottom line... If you have a gluten allergy, DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.

If you don't have a gluten allergy, the food was on par with a typical Japanese Steakhouse, but certainly nothing to...

I am going to break this into three areas. Food, Service and overall appearance. The food was perfect! The Hibachi chef was top notch as well, so from the food department...5 stars! He was entertaining and the food was prepared very nicely and the final presentation was great. Now atmosphere; lacking in general. The entrance to the building has several broken and loose tiles on the walkway which look terrible, and I think would be dangerous to folks using canes or wheelchairs. The exterior from a distance looks fine, but there is a lot of wear and tear that needs to be tended to. Inside, there were pile of boxes on tables, presumably stored there as they appeared to be semi-permanent. The silverware was less than stellar with smudges on a few pieces. Now the service; for an expensive dining experience, they failed this time! Several people ordered steamed rice but instead were given fried rice. Some ordered noodles and got steamed rice. The waitress seemed like she would have rather been anywhere else that day. She struggled with nearly every aspect of service from the drinks to the food orders. The biggest issue was that this was a wedding party of 16, and the bride never received her meal! I personally, along with at least two others, called out the mistake several times. You would think it would be a easy fix...just put the order in again. But she never did, and the bride was left sharing other's meals. Just despicable! When she was called out at the end of the dinner, all she did was remove the missing meal. So until they can get a few things fixed around there, this Shogun in Fayetteville should be avoided. I will revisit in 6 months for a refresher, but until then, go to Rogers and...