SUSHI JUNAI 1 — Restaurant in Austin

A tldr to start because this is a long review: To go service is terrible, if something is wrong with your order or the service provided, expect a lot of resistance from management; who may have to first drive to the restaurant to argue that you are wrong.

My girlfriend and I placed a to go order with high expectations due to the great reviews here on google. The order was placed and made promptly, after picking up the items and driving close to 30 minutes to get home (traffic slow downs due to construction). We open our order to find our sushi rolls unceremoniously tossed into their to go containers. We couldn’t tell what was what and it appeared to be missing a roll (four rolls, three containers). Over the next 30 minutes we attempted to call the restaurant 15 times, no one ever picked up. At this point our food was cold and I had no other option but to drive back out to the restaurant.

Upon arrival, the waitress heard my issue and called her manager, who for whatever reason was not at work on the busiest night of the week, leaving the restaurant without any type of on duty management available. After speaking to her manager she informed me that the order was all there and the manager would not give us a refund.

At this point I pointed out to her how unceremoniously the food was packaged and how it was almost impossible to tell the difference between the packaged rolls. I also explained that this whole trip could have been avoided if they had answered their phone. She said the phone never rang and I showed her my call log. She apologized and understood my concern and need of a refund for the order. At this point she called her manager again and he said he would drive to the restaurant and speak to me himself.

At this point you’ve got to see how outrageous this all is. I mean, the whole issue with the order could have been solved by a two minute phone call, but instead here I was waiting another 10 minutes for the manager to come and try to convince me he could not give me a refund.

He did try, explaining the whole order was intact there and therefore they did not owe me anything. I told him yes, that would have been true if they had answered their phone one time over the 30 minutes and 15 times we attempted to contact them in the first place. At this point the return wasn’t about the order, it was about the service or the lack of.

Eventually, he conceded and threw the whole meal into the trash and processed the return.

On my way out I made sure to apologize to the server as none of this was her fault. She was just at the whim of a very unprofessional manager. I left her a cash tip as her and her crew still did what they could to provide the service they were trained to.

The food going out to the tables was prepared with care and looked great. It’s unfortunate that they do not show the same care towards their customers who order to go (at least in my case).

Two minutes to fix the issue by answering their phone. An hour and a half to wait for a manager to come to the store to argue with me before finally issuing the return.

Show me one manager who would not be caught in awe of the ridiculous nature of this after reading this review.

If you made it this far I...

I just ordered takeout from Sushi Junai for the first time. It is very close to my office and I wanted something quick and cheap for lunch, so I figured I should take a chance. I usually pack a sandwich or leftovers from home so I don't get lunch out much, but today I was short on time and thought I might treat myself.

The only thing I ordered was the Spicy Ramen, so as a caveat I can't speak to the quality of the sushi or any other menu item. However, I was compelled to write a negative review because I'm pretty sure I was just charged $8 + tax + tip for a repackaged bowl of instant ramen. This is without a doubt the worst bowl of "ramen," if you can call it that, I've ever been served by a restaurant. I saw that they served Tonkotsu, which is my go-to ramen order, so I wrongly assumed that they made their own and that the Spicy Ramen must just be a miso-based vegetarian thing that they have as a lunch special. But no!

This is the most bland, MSG loaded garbage I've eaten since I was making late-night snacks during finals in college. There were no vegetables included, despite the description on the menu, and the dead give-away, besides the distinctive scent of the noodles, a la Top or Maruchan, and horrible feeling in my throat that started developing as I began to eat it, was the fact that the noodles were served as a little rectangular brick in a Styrofoam container, still dripping of the broth, while several small pieces of noodle were to be found swirling in the dregs of the broth container as I poured it out. So clearly the broth and noodles were "cooked" together and then separated in the to-go containers.

I called the restaurant and asked them point-blank if they had just sold me instant ramen. The hostess who answered seemed very confused and didn't seem to know what to say. I didn't really want to press the issue with someone who probably wasn't responsible for the ill-devised menu item, so I just calmly explained my grievance and asked that the message be relayed to the "chef."

Now, I realize that $8 is very cheap for a bowl of ramen, so I didn't have high hopes for this meal in the first place, but this dish is down right offensive. As I sit here typing, my unfinished lunch congealing unappetizingly before me, I just can't help but feel duped. Fool me once,...

Yikes!!!!! I've been holding off on posting this, but, I feel like it needs to be known, as it really was unacceptable. We went here for the first time to celebrate my husband's 34th birthday with a group of our friends (a few of which had actually been WEEKLY Sushi Junai customers for a good while.)We had a large (10 people) group. We called ahead and let them know that a large group was coming that night. Sigh* Unfortunately, they were SUPER unprepared anyway and seemed surprised that we all came. The food (what dishes ended up coming to our table, because a lot DIDN'T) was admittedly extremely delicious. The waitress was such a polite, sweet girl and very attentive. A+ customer service on her part, and was so apologetic about the unbelievably slow or missing food, which WAS NOT her fault! They made her tell us they ran out of RICE...RICE, PEOPLE!!! The sushi chef/manager was.... awful. He very obviously and publicly blamed her for the issues our table was having, and just the general hectic atmosphere. She was quite upset (on the way to the toilet, one of our group spotted the poor thing crying softly at the at the point of sale machine) and we all, having worked in food service at one point or another in our lives, and I, having actually MANAGED in food service was appalled at the awful public treatment by that chef of that waitress. It was quite obvious that he was not suitable management material... that was COMPLETELY unacceptable. If I would have been able to speak with "a, the" manager about it, it would've been addressed in the restaurant...but, the manager didn't come over to talk to us. Instead, he chose to send copious amounts of alcohol to our table instead of food as a "make do", and even in a big show, huffed off...but our waitress didn't! HIS poor treatment of his employees is only matched by HIS awful customer service, and in turn, he made our first experience at this restaurant memorable all right, but I'm SURE not for reasons they'd hoped for. Which is really a shame, because the food and the sake (an amount which we would've drank AND paid for, regardless)...