Shakou Restaurants — Restaurant in Barrington Township

Service was hands down the worst I've ever experienced. We made a reservation for 645pm, but got there earlier and were seated by 630pm on the rooftop where we were told there were heaters in the cold weather. We get there and we are not seated by any heaters. We asked to be seated closer to one but couldn't be accommodated, understandable because it was crowded. We order around 645pm and are freezing, but figured it's fine, we'll get our food, eat quickly and be out. We're starving so we're willing to just deal with the cold. We see all these other tables getting their orders and are wondering where our food is, but figured it'll be out soon. 740pm rolls around and STILL NO FOOD, and by the way, I felt like we were also invisible because nobody came to check on us during that time. This is literally AN HOUR after we ordered and people that came after us are leaving after eating. We go and ask the servers about our food and how we've been waiting for an hour in the freezing with a young child out there. They do not apologize but decide to bring out the trays to put the food on when it arrives, making us think it's coming soon. Turns out, they just wanted to play mind games because we had to wait another 10-15 min for our food. Food arrives and guess what? It's cold. Was the food sitting there ready for us an hour ago and just never got to us? I've got no clue, but I do know we waited over an hour for cold food and also had to pay not only all of the tip but we also were charged to substitute an item in a dish we were not told would be an extra charge for. Did the food decide to just be the same temperature as the weather we were sitting outside in for over an hour? If that's the case, would've been nice to know. I guess I should just plan to bring my own heater and blanket next time (luckily I had blankets in my car so I literally went out to get them as I continued to wait for my food)... And maybe a microwave too to heat up my food I need to clearly wait over an hour for.Completely unprofessional and horrendous experience. Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions. Feel free to also take a look at your security tapes to see how long we were sitting there for in case you think I'm exaggerating. Or feel free to ignore us, because I guess we're used...

every time I get takeout, there is a part of the meal that is too disgusting to eat. Either the sushi has NO flavor, the fried rice tastes like white rice, the shrimp are overcooked and disgusting, or the salad looks like it’s been sitting out for 2 years. yet I still go here, because it’s convenient. But IM DONE going here. Today, I arrived to pick up my food, just to realize they forgot my fried rice. Ok..whatever. I’m waiting for the fried rice, 20 minutes goes by and I ask where my food is. They tell me it’ll be another 10 mins, FOR ONE SIDE OF FRIED RICE! By then, my other food was already cold. So all of the salad, shrimp, vegetable tempura, dumplings, all in the trash. There goes $25. The manager really has no idea how to be a manager, he didn’t apologize for getting my food wrong in the first place, then was giving me attitude when I called (I ended up leaving instead of waiting for them to replace my fried rice..wasn’t going to sit there 30 minutes for one side of rice) and barely even acknowledged their lack of competency. I have NO IDEA AT ALL how this place gets such good reviews, their sushi especially (along with all their food) is truly disgusting and flavorless, their management SUCKS, they don’t value their customers, and they take a year to make your food. If you’re going for a good meal, DONT. Go to Wok n fire in South Barrington, or Sushi Ai in Palatine. DO NOT GO HERE, FOOD IS AS TASTY AS AN ICE CUBE 😂. As I’m reading the other reviews, it looks like no matter how bad your service is, the comment from the owner is always “thanks for your feedback!”, yet doesn’t even change anything that people are complaining about. It’s extremely clear that they don’t care about their customers, AT ALL! They hire horrible staff, and get away with mediocre, flavorless,...

Shakou – Barrington, IL

🚨 WARNING: Don’t Waste Your Time or Money Here! 🚨

Review Title: Absolutely Terrible – Worst Experience Ever!

I don’t even know where to start — Shakou Barrington was hands down one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had. We ordered sushi, braised short ribs, and fried rice, and every single dish was a complete disaster.

The food took forever to come out, and when it finally arrived, everything was ICE COLD. Not just lukewarm — cold. It honestly felt like our meals had been sitting in the kitchen for a long time before the waitress finally brought them out.

The braised short ribs were awful — completely drowned in an overpowering soy sauce flavor. I understand they’re made with sweet ginger soy, but this was so salty, bitter, and unbalanced that it was hard to even take more than one bite. The sushi tasted old and lacked any freshness, and the fried rice was bland, greasy, and flavorless.

To make things worse, the service was just as bad as the food. Our waitress was nowhere to be found, seemed distracted the entire time, and clearly didn’t care about providing even the bare minimum of customer service. No updates, no apologies, nothing.

The only thing that was even halfway decent was the calamari tempura appetizer and the sauce it came with — but that was the first dish we got, and everything after that went completely downhill.

This was our first time coming to Shakou Barrington, and it will absolutely be the last. For the prices they charge, the quality and service are a complete joke.

⭐ Final Verdict: If I could give ZERO stars, I would. This place was a huge disappointment from start to finish. There are far better Asian restaurants in the area — skip Shakou and go...