Leilani Asian Fusion — Restaurant in Aurora Township

Service was so bad, it almost seemed deliberate.

This was our third and, unfortunately, final visit to Leilani Asian Fusion. While we’ve never been wowed by the service in the past, we kept returning because the food is genuinely good, sometimes great. We hoped that perhaps we had just caught them on off nights before. After yesterday’s visit, however, I can say with certainty: we will not be returning. The experience was that bad.

I have never written a one-star review before, but as they say, there’s a first time for everything. I understand the chaos of restaurant service (I was a server and bartender in previous jobs) and try to give the benefit of the doubt, but what we experienced warrants a serious callout. For a restaurant that positions itself as upscale, with corresponding prices and flashy decor, the service was astoundingly poor, almost to the point of being personal.

When we arrived, the hostess attempted to seat my husband and me in the front lounge area by the large windows and front door. This space seemed clearly designed for casual drinks rather than dinner, low chairs, a more relaxed layout—not what you'd expect for a comfortable dining experience. From the hostess stand, we could see several booths available in the main dining area, so we politely asked if we could be seated at one of those instead. Her visible annoyance at this simple request set the tone for the rest of the evening. She had to “check” if that was possible, and only then did someone bus a booth for us, despite there being multiple uncleared but empty booths in plain sight.

Once seated, things started off well enough. Our server, who we later discovered was also the bartender, took our drink and appetizer order. Drinks and appetizers arrived on time. I’ll save you a mistake: skip the Mai Tai. It tastes like artificial berry syrup mixed with bad medicine. The Sunset Sipper, however, was refreshing and well-balanced.

What followed was a series of prolonged waits and strange neglect. And honestly, it wasn’t that busy in there to warrant this experience! After finishing our first round of drinks and appetizers, we waited... and waited. Our server made multiple rounds to nearby tables, clearly noticing our empty glasses placed at the edge of the table. Yet she never stopped to ask if we’d like anything else. It wasn’t until the food runner brought our main course, about 40 minutes in, that someone finally asked if we wanted another drink. We said yes, but it still took another 10–15 minutes before the server acknowledged the request, and even longer before we actually received the drinks. By then, we were already wrapping up our meal.

To be clear, we were not rude, demanding, or entitled. We simply asked for a booth, something many patrons would reasonably prefer. But from that moment on, it felt like we were being subtly punished. Meanwhile, every other table around us seemed to get timely, attentive service. It was baffling and disappointing. As for the food, it’s still quite good.

The Adobo Fried Rice was so good as it always has been and that's coming from a Filipino who has grown up on the authentic versions of this dish. The NY Steak was slightly over-charred on the crust, but the sauces helped elevate it. So yes, the kitchen is doing something right. But at these prices and with such an intentional-looking design aesthetic, you’d expect the service to at least rise to mediocrity. It didn’t.

It took another ten minutes after asking for the check for it to arrive. By then, the experience had left such a bad taste in our mouths (despite the decent food), we just wanted to get out.

Leilani may want to reconsider where it’s investing, perhaps less in the trendy lighting fixtures and more in service training and staff attitude. If you’re curious about the food, maybe try UberEats. At least that way, you won’t be subjected to the bizarre and dismissive dining experience we...

So my husband and I decided to give this place a go because we live relatively close and wanted to try something new. Let me start off with saying that the staff were amazing, my review has nothing to do with the atmosphere or customer service with this establishment. Everything comes down to the food (which is why we are here). We had gotten a good variety of small plates. We started off with the dumplings(i give it a 6/10), they weren't hot but the flavor was ok, and very oily. We also had gotten the Korean fried wings(I give it a 5-/10); the outside was actually very good and crispy, but unfortunately I had gotten a partially uncooked wing and it really turned me off. We also had gotten the honey walnut shrimp(I give it 8.5/10, so good and flavorful! An upscale version of Panda Express! We also had gotten the sea and land sushi (might not be saying it correctly) but that was OMGoooodness! 9/10 with the flavor, and the wasabi was actually super good! We also got the adobo rice, we all give it a 1/10, the flavor felt like they just threw in a whole bunch of weird seasonings and terriyaki sauce , the texture was like a rice pudding and the egg was weird , it felt like it was made out of rubber. We also gotten the New York Truffle Steak. I was simply not impressed, I've had steak better at Golden Corral, there was no zing or pizzaz at all for this $40 steak, and the potatoes were actually too salty, I give it a 5/10. And lastly we got the pancit noodles, they were ok I give it a 6/10, nothing special.Was it the worst food I ever had? No, but do I recommend my fellow people to spend their hard earned money on something that was simply not good and over priced? Also no. Also my waitress was not there 70% of the time . We had more people bringing the plates out then actually seeing her, I couldn't even show her the uncooked chicken because she just wasn't there. My husband and I love good food and don't mind paying a pretty penny (hence why we spent $175 on mostly just the two of us) but the portions are small and the price is high and the food is mediocre, which is sad because we wanted Aurora to get noticed, I think I would come back only for the sushi . But the hostesses and possibly the manager(she had glasses) were SUPER amazing and kind and honestly come back just for them! And the photo was dark cause of the lighting but the chicken was in fact pink and not cooked all the way through. I'm unfortunately very disappointed that we wasted money and...

Food was AMAZING, service was a joke honestly. I had secondhand embarrassment for the staff, clearly they were not trained well. All started with the hostess.

We came for lunch last Saturday 8/31 with a reservation. Took 15 minutes to get seated; the hostess was just bopping around the floor. When she was finally "ready" to seat us (the table was open the entire time), she stood there until I saw it click on her face that SHE had to lead the way to show us to our table.

When we were finally sat... this is where everything else starts going downhill re: service. I understand it's a new menu and servers are still trying to learn, fine, it's not that. I ordered the Miso Cauliflower, the server asked me twice to clarify, and I repeated. Guess what came out? Miso soup. The server looked confused and said I ordered the soup. GIRL. I said cauliflower twice... it seemed like she didn't even know the item existed at all.

The staff delivering our food was an insane & laughable experience -- we were annoyed at first, but it ended up becoming such a joke to us. Not once, not twice, but FIVE TIMES staff ran food to us that we didn't even order. We also noticed a few times that they were delivering OUR order to the table next to us.

I'm sorry -- do they not have table numbers??? Or did the server just not ring it up correctly??

Another issue. My mom ordered a side of rice and the staff said he'd go check, came back 10 min later to drop off another order, my mom asked about the side she ordered again and he just looked at her and laughed??? We never got it.

My favorite part was staff giving us to-go containers with lids that didn't match :)

I didn't notice until after we left, but someone in my party said he caught our server giving us dirty looks. Not sure what that's all about, but it's not our fault you ran 5 items out that weren't even ours? It felt like they were just auctioning off food? Did I mention it took 40 minutes to get the orders out?

I've been in the industry as a bartender and server, short staffed and opening a new restaurant. I know how staff should be trained. Honestly I felt bad for them, seems like they were just picked off the street and thrown into the job. They were so friendly and have so much potential. There's no way majority of the staff are this incompetent; it all begins with management.

If the food wasn't amazing as it was -- not to be cliche -- but I would give -5...