Japonais Bistro — Restaurant in Edmonton

UPDATE: I commend this establishment for taking steps to better the guest experience here. It is nice to have an experience where a negative experience is taken seriously and actually used to create some change. Ella in particular is amazing. She has incredible knowledge. She was very attentive and we had a lovely conversation. Businesses need to value employees like her as this is who everyone should be striving to be. Thank you Ella!

INITIAL: I am incredibly disappointed. As someone with severe Celiac's Disease I was overjoyed to find a place serving truly gluten free options which did not give me an allergic reaction. However, it is IMPOSSIBLE to be served here. I have tried to bring my family here 3 separate times and all 3 occasions I have not been able to get a table. The first time, we were not even acknowledged when we came in. Not a "hello", "just a minute" or anything. We had staff members walk by multiple times without a word so after waiting for 10 minutes we left. The second time I made a reservation online and then called to confirm the reservation. When we arrived at 7:57 for our 8:00 reservation we were told they had seated someone at our table but they knew they had to be out by 8:00. We were then told to stand to the side and wait. At 8:20 we still had no table, were not offered any compensation or even apologized to by staff or a manger for the inconvenience. I was called at roughly 8:35 after we had already left for another establishment. I was told they would make it up to us and they would go above and beyond. So when we came the third time, we were told there were no tables available for at least an hour. I explained our prior experiences and what we were told but still they had nothing available for at least an hour (there were three tables available because of reservations which we were told were not for another hour but they couldn't seat us). I find it interesting that when I had a reservation made, another guest was given the option to use the table under a time constraint (and still go over that time constraint) but we were not offered the same option. I am at a loss. How can we get a table here? As someone who has extremely limited options within the city, it was devastating to be turned away multiple times in three completely separate situations and continually be told they would "make it up to us" with no follow through.

My family typically has to end up where I can not eat. I end up sitting and watching them eat and will wait...

My partner and I were excited to try Japonais after it was recommended to us. We made a later reservation for 9 o’clock, Friday night. First off, they didn’t have a table ready for us. Then immediately we were told that last call was right away. So, we ordered many items quickly as to not hold up the kitchen or our server. The server was great and so was the food. But then when we were about 3/4 of the way through our meal the temperature in the restaurant dropped, they turned lights on, staff started dragging furniture, shut off the music and started speaking loudly. The message was clear and we felt rushed and uncomfortable. We had already cleared up our bill and tipped 20% yet we were made to feel like an inconvenience. I have worked in restaurants and I know it can be annoying to have campers at a table stay long after close. But we weren’t doing that, we were clearly trying to finish up. The other tables had just left. THEY took our reservation and agreed to seat us at that time, they still had skip drivers coming for orders up until we left. We were doing our best to finish up and get out and it was disappointing to be treated in that way. The restaurant should not take reservations for that time if they are not willing to allow the meal to be enjoyed. They need to set clearer expectations for the folks taking reservations. We were not unreasonable with the time it took to eat and we were respectful to the fact it was late. I bet the manager is hard to work for, it seemed like someone irritable, passive aggressive, and rude was making choices and I feel sorry for the staff that have to work with a person like that. If said person is reading this: pull yourself together and be kind, you’re sh*tty behaviour makes the whole place stink. The world doesn’t need more...

I would not recommend Japonais for large groups. I was recently a guest for a birthday party with around 28 people and when we walked into the restaurant they notified us that they would not be allowing people to pay separate bills. When speaking with the person who made the initial reservation they mentioned they were not notified of this in advance. If they do not want large parties, why take the reservation to begin with? Although the food came out in a reasonable amount of time, this made the experience awkward for a number of reasons. People were not comfortable ordering what they wanted knowing that they would be racking up the bill. As this was a birthday, many people did not know each other making it extremely awkward when the bill came. Imagine sitting with strangers agreeing that the birthday girl shouldn’t pay, but having to figure out who was taking on a $800+ bill (they agreed to split the full amount into 2) and asking for emails for e-transfer and pulling out cash. Noting that this was on a Thursday evening, people felt inclined to stay until everyone had either gone to get cash or sent e-transfers to the person who paid. The worst part was that the birthday girl felt bad about the whole situation. You should not be forced to be in that position when you are simply trying to gather with friends to celebrate a milestone.

I completely understand the extra work from a business perspective, having to separate bills for a large group takes extra time, potential machine fees, etc. BUT if you do not feel like you can manage that, and that there is not a benefit to your business, do not accept large...