Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ — Restaurant in Addison

Karen, the manager, was very mean-spirited and aggressive to us.

We were having problems with our grill. The flame was on and it was set to high, but it was not hot and the meat was not cooking properly.

The meats at here are always very good, but with the good cuts of meat, the method of cooking is also important. Because it wasn't hot, it would take 6+ minutes to cook THIN meat. This led it to being chewy and sad... Especially at the price point.... The whole experience was tainted by this.

We had two servers, Clyde and Kai, who were trying their best to help us with the grills. They were great. First, they removed the grill guard, but that did not fix the issue. Second, they noticed that the grill was not straight, so they straightened it out, but it was still not working well. Then they oiled it to make the flame grow, but it would almost immediately die down and cool down. Then we would have the same issue.

Finally, they sent the manager to us. The experience went to bad to terrible.

From the start, Karen was very condescending and combative. She was approaching us as if we were an enemy. I am sure she was having a rough day because it looked like she was fighting with every table. Still, we are a new table, not the one you were fighting with before, so we would have hoped for some respect.

Karen was lying and gaslighting us about our experience and making it seem like we were scammers trying to get a free meal off of her when all we wanted was some compassion for the situation....

Karen puffed up her chest and tried to put the blame on us, "The grill looks fine to me." She said. The meats were on the grill at that point for 10 minutes. Then she said "can i get some scissors to cut the meat" implying she wanted to prove that the grill is working because the meats are cooked and that we are crazy and wrong.

Obviously, as the meats were on the grill for 10 minutes, they were cooked. I don't want to engage in this battle to prove that the grill doesn't work... Then Karen said she could move us to another table if we prefer, but we had been sitting there for over an hour ( at this point only 5 plates cooked...) and we did not want to relocated and resettle...

Then to prove it to Karen, we put down a thin piece of Kalbi and it did not sizzle, but she said "Thats what its supposed to look like" as though we have not been to Gyu-kaku (across multiple states) and as though we do not know what it is supposed to look like.

After 30 seconds we flipped it in front of her to show her that it was gray and not seared or looking like how it is supposed to, but Karen rolled her eyes at us and said "it was only on for a few seconds of course its not cooked." and that she "could come back in 2 minutes to check on the meat"

I have been going to Gyu-kaku for years. Back when they had the grilling instructions on every table, and it says "THIN BEEF CUT 30–45 seconds each side". So yes, if you come in 2 minutes, which is past the time for it to cook, you've already given yourself a head start on your mission to prove that we are wrong and scammers.

I said, why don't you sit and see how long it takes to cook the meat with us, then again, she sagged her shoulders and sighed as if we were giving her the hardest time, and said she doesn't have time for that.

I don't know why she did not want to believe us. Does Karen think that people come to Gyu-kaku and drop hundreds of dollars to have a bad time and to specifically give her a hard time?

In the end, we had two plates leftover and we didn't want to be there any longer so she took it away and removed it from our bill. But we still paid full price for all the other meats that did not cook well and were chewy.

She walked away so proud of herself for being mean to us and making us feel bad. She was so rude, smug, and happy to be unhelpful. When we asked for her name, she told us and smugly nodded asking if we were leaving reviews. Then she claimed the owners came and said the grills are fine, but no owner came to our table so I dont know why she...

Our group of 5 had dinner at Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ last Sunday at 4pm to celebrate a couple of birthdays and just generally enjoy the company.

It was an enjoyable experience, and we would recommend it to others, as well as go back again ourselves.

The seating was a long narrow table that had a grill on either end, with cushioned bench seating against the wall and chairs on the other side. The table was split by a partition to make seating for 4 on one side and for 6 on the other – so each side of the partition had 1 grill.

Service was OK, but the waitress let us know that they were understaffed and apologized for any problems that might cause. I could see that all of the waitstaff and management were doing the best that they could.

Our drink orders were taken, and came out pretty quickly, but we were never offered refills or asked if we wanted anything else to drink during our meal.

Appetizers: spicy cucumber, fried bacon chips, & fried calamari. The favorite was the spicy cucumbers. The crunchy chili garlic dressing was delicious, & we saved the leftover dressing as a dipping sauce for the meats. The bacon chips and calamari were both fried very nicely – not oily, flavorful & crunchy. The portions of the appetizers are fairly small, so don’t expect to get more than a taste if you’re sharing among more than 2 people.

We chose the a’ la carte menu. Meats: beef tongue with scallion sauce, yaki-shabu beef, garlic shoyu chicken thighs, spicy pork, garlic shrimp & miso bbq calamari. Sides: zucchini and mushroom medley, 2 bowls of garlic fried rice & 1 bowl of garlic noodles.

The table seemed much more narrow once all of plates started coming. The appetizers came out first, but they were followed very quickly by the main meal plates. The problem was that the plates were just put down by various servers and nobody really told us what was on each plate. I also had to ask for some instructions for grilling the meats because I didn’t exactly know what I was doing. I was given some brief instruction and handed a how-to card off another table, which gave us at least some idea.

Here's the only issue I really had with the experience. The one grill is small so you could only cook 1-2 items at a time, and it only seemed to make sense for 1 person to do the cooking. Since I did all of the cooking, I ended up eating most of my meal after everything was cooked and everyone else was 90% done with their meals. I don’t know if we were doing it wrong or if this is just how it goes.

The garlic fried rice and garlic noodle bowls were very large and plenty for 2, if not 3, people to share as part of their overall meal. They were both very flavorful and well-seasoned. Highly recommended.

The beef tongue was my favorite - thinly sliced, cooked quickly and was very tasty and tender. The portion was large enough for everyone to have at least one larger slice and a couple of us to have 2 slices. It went very well with the scallion sauce.

The rest of the meats were also very fresh and tasty. The portions for 1 order are not large – it was fine for us because we just wanted a taste of many different things and we had the rice/noodles/veggie sides to round out the meal.

The only thing that was a little disappointing with the food was the calamari. I thought that it was going to have a miso BBQ sauce on or with it, but it came out plain. It was OK, but not what was anticipated.

For desert 2 people ordered the smore’s, 2 of us shared the chocolate lava cake w/ ice cream, and 1 person ordered the Taiyaki w/ice cream. They were all good, but the chocolate lava cake was rich and overly sweet and the ice cream was frozen as solid as a pool ball. We were almost done with the lava cake before the ice cream got anywhere close to being defrosted enough to eat – even with putting it as close to the edge of the grill fire as we could get it. The green tea ice cream that came with the Taiyaki didn’t seem to be as frozen as the vanilla.

So, in summary it was a very good meal with some mostly service...

First time trying Japanese BBQ. I’ve heard that this place was good from multiple friends and finally tried it out for myself. We got the premium holiday magic course for 2 and substituted the pork for a meat of equal or lesser value (that being the teriyaki chicken), the spicy yuzu margarita, the frozen margarita flight (lychee, coconut, kiwi, and pineapple), and a toro beef entree (totaling about $150 without tip).

Each one of the items on the premium holiday combo was delicious give or take a couple dull items.

Miso soup was good. Contained tofu and spring onions. Came out hot.

Gyu Kaku salad was good. Had a Caesar dressing to it. Contained greens, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, and diced hard boiled eggs.

Beef sukiyaki bibimbap was really good. It seems like a beef fried rice with onions. The sauce that they use is amazing and the rice comes in a hot bowl that you need to be careful handling. They mix up the rice for you with two spoons before you eat. I love the bits of crispy rice stuck to the bowl. Highly recommend.

Gyu sushi is sushi with (cooked) beef. They do add a sauce to it. It tastes good but I think I’d prefer fish sushi.

Garlic edamame was good. The garlic feels more like garlic salt. The platter that it comes with is plentiful. I could eat it all day and would have but got too full eating the other entrees.

Prime Kalbi short rib is really good. It’s one of the best meat options on the course. Meat is tender, juicy, marinated to perfection and flavorful.. Even without any dipping sauce, the exquisiteness is there. Highly recommend.

Sukiyaki bone in kalbi is also really good. There’s so much flavor, tenderness, and juiciness. It’s easy to maneuver around the bone, unlike regular short rib. Even without dipping sauce, exquisiteness is there. Highly recommend.

Filet mignon is bland, only seasoned with salt and pepper. Meat is tender and it’s not bad but other meats rated better than this one; this one rated the worse. I don’t recommend getting any steak meats here, they taste dry and bland—save that for a steakhouse.

Bistro hanger steak is really good. So flavorful, juicy, tender… Also a top meat selection. Tastes amazing even without dipping sauce. Highly recommend.

Teriyaki chicken is really good. Moist, flavorful. Friend said it’s the best chicken he’s ever had in his life. Highly recommend.

Garlic shrimp is good. They’re huge. Nothing wrong but we prefer other items. We don’t regret getting this tho.

Broccoli with cheese fondue is good. My friend loves cheese and says the cheese fondue is amazing. The broccoli is steamed in the aluminum bag whenever you cook it. Smooth cheesy flavor, good quality broccoli.

Toro beef was delicious. I would recommend. Crispy, tasty, juicy, flavorful.

Mochi boba icecream is brown sugar Mochi icecream with frozen boba bits in it. Seems store bought. Kinda grainy. Comes with toothpicks with cows on top for you to pick your icecream up with. We should have gotten the s’mores. I guess it’s ok if you’re looking for something cold to finish off with.

All the drinks we got were strong.

Spicy yucky margarita was good. Not too spicy. Setting.

Each of the 4 frozen margaritas in our flight was strong. Pineapple and kiwi were delicious flavors. Coconut and lychee were good but not as good as the other two flavors. My personal preference: pineapple kiwi lychee coconut. If I had to order another flight, I would get the pineapple, kiwi, and try two other flavors. I recommend multiple people drink from the flight. Drinks are strong.

The staff work hard. All are polite.

Ambience is nice. Dining is clean. There are instructions and descriptions. Staff are friendly and willing to help.

They also offer take out boxes for any of...