Ninja Japanese Sushi & Steak House — Restaurant in Bessemer

Let me begin by saying that I never leave reviews for restaurants, even when I didn’t enjoy the experience. This experience was so exceptionally bad that I can’t not write one.

The server was friendly and attentive. None of this was her fault whatsoever. It was a case of (mostly) terrible food and really bad management.

We ordered pork gyoza and two plates of chicken katsu. The gyoza were delicious. The entrees, however, including the salad and soup that come with them, were terrible. The salad consisted of iceberg lettuce that was somehow both wet/soft and frozen at the same time. The soup tasted like fish had been boiled in it. The first few bites of the chicken katsu were mediocre and tasteless. I kept eating, hoping it would get better. It got worse. I bit into a piece of chicken that was so rubbery I couldn’t fully bite through it. I tried another piece, and it was even worse than the previous one.

When I told the server I wasn’t going to eat the food, she sent the manager over. She came over ready to pounce. She immediately said I’d eaten more than half of the chicken (I had not; I had eaten about 1/5 of it). She then said that it was just a matter of taste and that the chicken was cooked the way that Korean people like to eat it (this is a lie; I’ve had tons of chicken katsu before, and none of it had the consistency of rubber). I told her that I would pay for the whole meal but that I still wasn’t going to finish it and wanted her to know how terrible the chicken was. She refused to acknowledge how poor the quality was, telling me the chicken was delivered fresh daily. She finally offered to discount the meal by 50% but proceeded to tell me it was just because my taste buds were not suited...

I took my son tonight for his 13th birthday. The first thing they said was that they didnt know if they could accommodate us for Hibachi. They took 10 minutes to decide if they could. Once seated, we ordered drinks and a sushi roll (which was very good). The server brought me someone elses sushi as well which I sent back so the proper guest got their order. A couple and their baby were sat. They ordered and we ordered. Then a manager came over and moved them to a different table because they didnt order the right options. Soon after that. A lady with her three sons came. They ordered. The server asked if we wanted soup or salad, but they should come with the meals. Shortly there after the cook came out. He was not very personable.... no show, no noises etc. The food was cooked and the ONLY aspect that tasted good was the steak. The rice was burnt. The noodles over saturated and the vegetables had an odd flavor. I never received a refil to my drink. ($4 for an ice tea is already outrageous) We finished what we could and asked for the check. The bill for 2 people was $83.95..... they had added 18% gratuity which is fine except for the fact that I had cash and did not feel that the 18% was earned. I wanted to find out why it was added to which they explained its in the menu (in tiny font) and their policy. They tried to refuse to take that off the price and said I was welcome to give the cash as additional tip.

The grill that was cooked on had a broke. Piece. Tiles falling off the walls and pictures, literally upside down. I should have known given the fact the wall as soon as you walk in had a hand written note saying dont lean on wall.

First and last time going there. No...

First time visiting and I was NOT pleased. The overall atmosphere is cool, but the service by the server was terrible. The chef was nice and entertaining, and food was okay. We had a hard time finding our server for refills and she seemed very less than thrilled to assist us. Once I got my bill, I saw that they had already added gratuity for a party of 2, I asked the other family seated at the same grill if they had gratuity added and was told NO. I know some places charge gratuity for larger parties but it was just me and my husband and No where on their menu or posted in the restaurant does it say that gratuity is added for sitting at the grill. I felt liked we were prejudged and was treated very poorly by our server. The lady who greeted us and sat us was a nice Asian lady, who came and assisted us with refills, after flagging her down. After she assisted us the server came out 10 minutes later and only checked on the other family seated with us at no time did she acknowledge us until it was time to go and pay. I don't know what the issue was but like I said first time visiting this establishment and I came here with an open mind for some good entertainment and food. I would've like to come back but with this young lady working there, don't think I would want to deal with the disrespect. When it comes to going out I know what's it like to be a server but regardless of what you think about the people walking in the door treat them...