Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ — Restaurant in Beverly Hills

I normally don’t leave reviews, especially negative ones, but after multiple visits and repeated poor experiences with the same server, I felt compelled to speak up. Gyu-Kaku is one of my favorite spots for a good meal with family or friends, but the service we’ve received from a waitress named Laurice has been consistently disappointing and honestly frustrating.

From the moment we were seated, Laurice seemed disinterested and unapproachable. She carried herself with an attitude that made us feel like we were an inconvenience rather than valued guests. This wasn’t just a one-time issue—we’ve had her as our server before, and each time her demeanor has been the same: cold, rushed, and borderline rude.

What really stood out was how inattentive she was throughout the meal. She never once came by to check on our table, refill drinks, or make sure everything was okay. It felt like we were left to fend for ourselves, and for a place that usually prides itself on good hospitality, this was a letdown.

To make matters worse, during a previous visit, Laurice snatched the menu out of my wife’s hand—an action that was completely uncalled for and incredibly disrespectful. There was no apology or explanation, just a cold look and a walk away. That kind of behavior crosses a line.

On top of all this, we noticed Laurice frequently disappearing into the back—presumably to use her phone—while tables, including ours, were left waiting. Watching a server scroll on their phone while customers sit without service is a huge red flag in terms of professionalism. It gave the impression that she simply didn’t care about her job or the guests she’s being paid to serve.

We’ve had great experiences at Gyu-Kaku in the past, but the service Laurice continues to provide is unacceptable. We come to enjoy ourselves, not to feel ignored or disrespected. Management seriously needs to address this behavior because it reflects poorly on the entire restaurant.

Unfortunately, unless something changes, we’ll be requesting a different server moving forward—or considering other dining...

I've never felt more ripped off by a restaurant.

I like yakiniku, love izakaya grub, and Gyu-Kaku does that fine. Probably overpriced, whatever.

However, our grill had major issues. Only one of the 5 charcoals was glowing. Food was taking 5 minutes to cook properly, rather than the 1 minute to 40 seconds. That resulted in our food either being raw or un-seared gray pieces of meat.

So I complained, said our grill was broken, I thought we need new charcoal. Instead all that happened was the waitstaff trying to convince me that it was fine. They didn't change anything with the grill. So I just thought that this place was an overpriced gimmick that doesn't work very well.

I get up to use the bathroom, and the table next to us clearly has all 5 of their charcoals lit and glowing red hot. And that's when I feel like I was conned. Now I know that it wasn't malicious, it was incompetence.

But the fact is that we complained, politely, several times about the issue, only to have the people who supposedly work there day in day out to tell us we're wrong, when ultimately it was clear as night and day that our grill was broken. It was absolutely ridiculous, and resulted in our food , which is easily 45 dollars a head pre-booze, being either lifelessly gray or raw.

It's fine for a restaurant to make a mistake, I know that these grills can be temperamental. But when the issue was raised, politely, to be brushed aside like we were was disheartening, especially when in the end we were correct.

We had a meal where the main cooking apparatus was operating at 20%. Manager made it all good, right? Nope! 15% pre-tax discount. To be fair, she was great at listening to me rant, and said that is all she can do as she is limited by the larger organization. So go her, I hope she finds a better place to work which would actually allow proper customer service. (She escalated to corporate, if they come through for me I'll be sure to update, happily.)

What a joke....

Food: Probably one of the best, if not the best, quality AYCE Japanese BBQ I have been to in SoCal. My SO and I grabbed their Ultimate AYCE menu. It was already pretty extensive, so unless you REALLY want to have more time to eat or just really love the other extra meats in the Supreme menu, I think Ultimate has the perfect set of time (90 min) and meat selection. Their meats were juicy, tender, and great quality! All of the meats we got, especially the beef tongue was mouth-watering. Getting the smores and ice cream for dessert is definitely the best way to end such a heavy oily meal!

Price: Definitely on par with other Japanese BBQ. I do think for AYCE prices, the Ultimate was the best and most optimal choice for us. Like I said earlier, unless you eat slow or you really love the additional meats you get with the Supreme, the Ultimate is best value for the quantity you get.

Service: Even though my SO and I had made reservations, we still had to wait 15 minutes due to the lack of tables. Since it was valentines weekend, I assumed they were swamped with all the couples celebrating, so service was a bit slow even when we were seated down. It took them another 15 minutes to take our order. But when the food came out , service seemed to pick up? Maybe because most of the other people had left already. But overall wait is worth it ,...