Kyoto Japanese Steakhouse — Restaurant in Bellingham

I went for my birthday in November and with 3 alcoholic drinks, an appetizer and 2 meals it cost about $90. We went back a few days ago and for some spring rolls and the 2 hibachi plates our bill was over $130. There was only 2 of us on our bill, for $130 we should’ve just drove down south and went somewhere nicer. This place used to be one of my favorites, i’ve never had a bad experience there (only have been there a handful of times) but this last time was enough for me to not be returning. It wasn’t nearly as busy as i’ve seen it before but yet this was the longest we’d ever have to wait to even see our waitress, after about a half hour of sitting she finally showed up with waters. A table sat down next to us about 10 minutes after we had sat down and they were completely served and getting their food by the time we were finally able to order our appetizers, we came for the sushi and when we went to order our waitress told us the sushi chef “doesn’t feel like making sushi right now” excuse me? is that not the job title? he gets to pick when he makes sushi and for what tables get it? few seconds later 4-5 plates of sushi get delivered to the table next to us. we waited another 15 minutes for our soup and salad and by the time our chef finally made it over he barely said 5 words, and just seemed angry to be there. Mind you we have a 5 o’clock reservation time so we weren’t coming before close. The floors were insanely sticky and the trays the food were on were stacked on top of OTHER FOOD. I’ve worked in restaurants and know how gross it can get back there, after seeing the bottom of a tray stacked on top of the raw chicken he was about to cook us grossed me out. Plus after this they still want to add a 20% gratuity?!? absolutely insane. every restaurant i’ve gone to that adds gratuity I normally can see why, it’s clean, money is being put back into it and the wait staff is super pleasant, but this was by far one of the most unpleasant experiences, after reading too many similar reviews to the time i had there, kyotos is...

I called and made reservations for my partners birthday on Monday evening for the following Saturday. Today a person in my dinner party called the restaurant and they said they had no reservation made for my party. I called this establishment myself to see what was going on and the gal asked me to hold for a moment while she talked to the owner. I was not put on hold, and I could hear what was going on in the backround. The owner then starts talking to the gal who answered calling me a liar and saying I was calling and lying to get in since they were busy. The owner was being extremely rude and blunt and raising his voice to the gal and kept calling me and my family liars for calling and being upset about our reservations that were never made. He claimed that people liked to do this to get a table. The gal then came back on the phone and did not realize I had heard EVERYTHING that was said. I told her I heard what was just said between the two of them and her response was "I am so sorry" I then cut her off to tell her how dare she call me a liar when it wasn't my fault they didn't book my family. I told her I had phone records to show when I called them. I then told her to forget about it and that my family and I would NEVER be returning to such establishment and how dare they call me a liar. I am posting this to warn others of the truth. I have NEVER been through this before, and frankly it ruined my families evening as we always enjoy going here for birthday celebrations. I was most upset about always being a honest citizen and hearing the OWNER talk to the girl about my family and I being liars. This business conducts in a very unprofessional manner.

I truly hope nobody else has to go through...

We made a reservation and when we got there they said there wasn’t one. But got us in anyways. It was super packed and cramped. The chairs and tables are waaay too close. Our Waitress was ok but our cook, seemed mad he had to be there. He wasn’t friendly really or even talked to us. The last place we were at like that, he laughed and made jokes and tricks, not this guy. He seemed crabby to us. Then when we ordered they told us we couldn’t order any sushi. That the chef told our waitress he wasn’t doing sushi. That’s the reason we wanted to go there is for our 2 kids birthdays. They LOVE sushi. They were super excited for it. Yet 10 minutes later the table next to us got to all order sushi. They even gave them sushi “on the house because they made too much”. So we asked again if we could order sushi and we got the same thing. He’s not able to make sushi… We didn’t start eating until an hour and a half of being there. The place needs a total upgrade. They need to put money back into the restaurant. It’s been there for decades. The light was broke in the bathroom so they put up a clip on desk lamp and even that was broke. The mirrors were peeling, the floor and front door creaks. Feels like the front door is going to fall down when you open it. We paid almost $700 for our bill there and we could have eaten at a 5 star restaurant for that price. We all definitely will NOT be going back. I wish I would have read these reviews before going. We were reading the reviews while we were waiting for our food and they were all similar to our experience how it was...