Izkina Restaurant & Lounge — Attraction in Dallas

Don't believe the hype from social media pics/videos (as I did). Read reviews from the REAL customers. THIS PLACE IS TRASH!! From the poor service, to overpriced food, to food quantity AND quality. Despite some negative reviews, I decided to give this place a try for myself, as the food looked amazingly delicious. Randomly dropped in on a Tuesday for happy hour. Let's just say.. this place gives the feeling of someone investing in a resturant business who then hired all his/her young family members. To begin, I was greeted by a thin build, light skinned, young aged lady w/glasses who stated her name as Jasmine, representing herself as "one of the managers" (upon being asked for someone else who could assist me in a more mature manner). As her attitude & condescending responses to my questions regarding the resturant was enough to make me want to walk away the moment I stepped in. In regards to DRESS CODE, I was informed that my crocs were not allowed (remind you it was a Tuesday, happy hour so wasn't expecting a dress code). Being a bit confused, as the appearance of this place gives far less than an upscale vibe. Not to mention a few of the female customers who walked in with thong sandals (slides) shoes and "cheeky" shorts. Of course I was a bit disappointed after fighting thru the congested traffic on the back roads of 8th & Corinth streets to finally arrive, just to be denied entrance. But hey, their rules are their rules and I can only respect that. So I kindly asked Jasmine why their dress code attire was NOT reflected on their website, as most resturants do when attempting to maintain a certain type of atmosphere. She responded with "well people usually call the restaurant to inquire about the dress code before arriving". While this is true, remind you that the restaurant doesn't open until 5p (which is the start of happy hour that ends at 7p) so getting someone to answer your call beforehand, on the day of is not likely. She then stated "we'll get this info posted on our website". Moving forward, we opted to order food to go instead, since we had taken the time to get there and wanted so badly to try things out. Also because we had a brunch planned here on the following weekend. To begin, the prices were ridiculous. $15 for TWO tacos only w/NO sides. Tacos were greasy w/ small shreds of meat and large clumps of cheese (as pictured). $14 for FOUR deviled eggs and so on. Lamb chops were tasteful & tender though. PLUS the 20% gratuity AND 3% service fee added on a TO GO ORDER.. like what?? Really!! Very LIMITED FREE PARKING near the building, which accordingly to (Jasmine) is usually taken up by restaurant staff. Otherwise, you'll have to utilize the paid parking lot and walk up the block to get to the restaurant. Ohh, and let's not forget the two staff members (including a short, male security guard) standing at the front counter going in on full plates of food and distracted with cell phones as customers walked in. The male security guard seemed to be on some sort of "power trip" as he felt the need to add his two-cents to the sarcastic, short answers that Jasmine was already giving. All in all, It's definitely 2 thumbs down for me. The exact reason why many BOB business fail. You must remain humble and implement better service and professionalism if you want to keep customers returning. After all, it is your customers who determine the success of your business. Needless to say, we cancelled our group brunch plans and chose to take our business elsewhere. A place where we would be more...

My apologies for the delay, I'm just getting around to this. I had a reservation for 2 on Sunday, January 21st, at 7 p.m. When we arrived, we were immediately greeted and led to a table. We were set to the right side of the venue when you first came in. The table that we were sat at was a large oversized booth that could sit at least 5-6 people. The table was sticky and dirty. It had crumbs and residue from the previous guests. The menu card was also very dirty and sticky. There were empty drink glasses in the windowsill that had not been cleaned up. After being seated, there were two guests to the right of us who were being serviced by a waitress. The waitress came by 3 times to address those guests, not once saying a word to us. After 35 minutes, I did flag a guy who stopped by the table next to ours to bring those two ladies their food. I captured his attention, and I let him know that no one had assisted us thus far. Maybe 10 minutes later, still no service for us, I got up and walked to the Bartender, I explained my frustration about us being seated for 45 minutes without anyone coming to service us, bring us water, or sit us at a clean table. The bartender made it happen because it seemed as almost instantly after I sat back down, the waitress that had been assisting the table next to ours came by. She did apologize and said that she thought we had been helped. While I didn't acknowledge that statement to her, I was thinking to myself she should have asked. Our first request is for the table to be sanitized. She said ok. The guy that brought the ladies next to us their food earlier came and wiped down the table after 10 mins. Our water and cocktail were another 20 minutes. I had issues with that, too, but I won't even mention that process. We finally placed our order, and I ordered the lamb chops, greens, and mac n cheese. The lamp chops tasted like cinnamon. They weren't awful, but I mostly tasted cinnamon, and I did not like that. The greens were extremely salty, and the macaroni was bland. My sister ordered the same sides as me, but her entree was a salmon. It was ok. Nothing fancy, but ok. I think this place has potential. The vibe was nice. It was exactly what I was looking for in terms of environment. However, the food and service were distasteful. An added insult was the 20% gratuity. We spent about $115 for the two of us, and we were not satisfied at all. I hope someone actually reads this and uses it as well to better organize their facility. No customer should experience what we experienced. I usually ask for a manager, but this time, I literally wanted to see if they could correct this on their own, I was definitely wrong. I can't say if I'll try them again or not, but I do want to see them win, so I hope they get...

A nice lounge in downtown dallas but the customer service training was definitely missed here. I came in here due to a suggestion from a new friend who brought me and my girls here. We entered establishment and were welcomed by hostess at booth showing us where to go to enter main lounge area. We sat at an empty booths looking forward to enjoying our time there. Minutes later, a server came towards us stating the booths were reserved and you must go online to reserve them. The booth we sat at had no reserved signage on it as a few other booths also. I tried to reserve booths online but was having trouble doing it. I decided to go to hostess at front to ask if a manager could assist us in case someone canceled reservations. The hostess simply told me that you must reserve booth online and there is nothing she could do. When I asked to speak to a manager, a African American gentleman stated he was one of the managers and there is nothing that can be done. Simply go online to book booth. When I asked his name he said he won't give it to me and simply either go in bar area or reserve booth if available. He was very rude, not engaging at all. He simply showed no interest in assisting us. The hostess was just as rude. Being a member of the National Press Club of Washington DC and a Black Card member, I look for great places to enjoy, spend money and tell others about in my reviews and written articles. I will simply say this isn't the place to spend ANY of your money. They have no skilled customer service, no customer engagement and simply don't care about the customer. They were also playing on their smart phones more so then trying to assist anyone. I will actually take the time to write a news article on this as I want to inform everyone of the lounge not to go to EVER!!! The manager was at the front entrance by hostess desk on Saturday at around 5:30pm to 6:00pm in case the owner wants to discover who he was that misrepresented his club establishment and made me decide to write this negative review. Especially in this economic times of finance, you should never treat a customer like this who has the ability to determine where to spend your money. I left without spending any money from my black card and went to Saaya instead who treated me with amazing customer service and customer engagement. I highly suggest you go to SAAYA instead and never go here to spend your money. All they care about is money and nothing more. You know I take pride in writing thorough reviews and informing others where to enjoy themselves while spending their hard earned money. Do not ever consider this place for anything. Trust me as it will only be a...