Sushi Iwa Apex — Restaurant in Apex

Typically love this place. My family loves the food and we have been going here since it opened. Lately it has been different. We went there to eat on 6/21/19 and were sat immediately but waited 10-15 mins for anyone to acknowledge us. That we chalked up to just a bad night, especially since we know what it’s like behind the scenes having worked in the restaurant industry. However, I ordered to-go over the phone tonight and was not impressed. The order was correct and was ready when I picked it up. After I left I realized that the price seemed off so I called back to confirm that I paid the correct amount. I explained to the staff member on the phone that I have ordered this in the past and looked online and the prices didn’t match up. She told me she would get the manager. What she didn’t do was place me on an actual hold or mute the line. The phone was clearly laid down and in the background I can here her going back and forth with the manager about what “she tried to tell me” and I could tell that I was clearly a source of irritation... I could also hear employees dropping the f bomb in the background, which while it isn’t the biggest deal, it also isn’t professional. The part that upset me was when I spoke to the manager. I get that dealing with complaints isn’t fun, but that is part of what a manager’s job entails. He could have cared less that I was upset. The price issue was resolved and was a misunderstanding on my part since the price had changed, but he agreed to credit me the difference this time. However, when I tried to tell him I didn’t appreciate hearing his staff talking about me and to give him a heads up that I could hear them swearing, he ignored me. While cussing doesn’t bother me, customers probably shouldn’t hear that and some people would be offended. He didn’t acknowledge what I said, in fact he cut me off and talked over me and continued to repeat “in the future the price will be..”several times. I finally asked him if he was going to acknowledge what I said and his response was that his “staff was just explaining the situation” and as far as the cursing “he doesn’t know what I heard but sorry”. If you don’t like dealing with customers...don’t be a manager. I typically would not complain, let alone leave a bad review. Just disappointed at the lack of interest in hearing a customer out, especially one who consistently eats at this...

Three stars because I'm torn between the good and the bad.

The good: The sushi is great. The portions are great. The sushi platters are great and BOGO ordering is great. The take-out is the best sushi take out in the Triangle. I'd argue this is actually some of the best sushi you can get in the Triangle.

The bad: The way they overcharge you for eating in. If you order two or more meals, you'd obviously charge yourself less online by putting the expensive rolls together in the BOGO and the cheaper rolls together in the BOGO. I tend to get two $14 rolls and my fiance tends to get two $7 rolls. So, online we pay $21 for our rolls. But when we eat in person, it's $28 for our rolls. That's 25% more. Not to mention the drinks are about $4 each, making it $36, plus service tax for eating in. It's $15 + tax + tip more expensive to dine in than ordering online, which really rubs me the wrong way, since I've been eating there for ~4-5 years and they've only started taking advantage of their BOGO pricing in the past year or so.

The location is also way too small to accommodate the large amount of guests it has accrued for having it's well deserved reputation of the best sushi on this side of Wake County. 30-45+ minute waits are common around dinner time on weekends, and 15-20 minute waits around dinner time on weekdays. Hopefully they find a larger venue soon and move out of their hole in the wall in...

"Absolutely vile — and that's putting it mildly!"

We were visiting from Dallas and spotted this place across the street. Looked decent from the outside, so we decided to give it a shot. Big mistake.

Right from the jump, we stood at the entrance waiting to be acknowledged — five whole minutes, while employees walked by like we were invisible. The place was nearly empty, maybe six diners total, so there's no excuse.

Once seated, things just kept getting worse. The menus looked like they’d survived a hurricane — torn, stained, and falling apart. The table was sticky, and the floor beneath was so greasy I thought I might need skates. We hadn’t even ordered yet and were already regretting it.

Then came the water... with a bug floating in my wife’s glass. Seriously. And the look the waitress gave us when we pointed it out? Like we put it there. No apology. No replacement. Just attitude.

Still, we tried to tough it out. But then we looked at the menu. $20 for a rainbow roll? $23+ for a volcano roll? That’s beyond overpriced — especially when it's 50% more than the top-rated sushi spots in town.

The final straw? The calamari. Chewy, rubbery, tasted like it came from the back of a freezer that hadn’t been cleaned in years. It was like biting into seafood-flavored gummy bears. At that point, we were done.

We walked out and will never be back. If you're thinking about going —...