OTOBO Sushi & Bar — Restaurant in Bolingbrook

This is an amazing restaurant! The food is so delicious and the atmosphere was really nice. The reason I cannot give this place 5 stars is because of a very embarrassing situation with the waitress. On January 3rd at about 6:15pm, our waitress asked for my ID so I could taste the sake. (She only asked me for my ID at the table.) She looked at my ID for a while and then went and got me a cup. 5 minutes later she asked to see me my ID again. I thought "Okay, maybe she did the math wrong in her head or something and needs to double check. No problem." I gave it to her and she is STUDYING it. Then, I say... "I'm 23..." And she responds with, "This is REALLY you?," accusing me of not having an authentic picture of me on my ID. I looked her dead in the eye and said. "I gained 100 pounds since then." Because that is the honest truth. And I shouldn't have to explain my personal issues to ANYONE let alone a waitress I have never met before. Plus, the picture on my ID is just me with my hair down and make up and a thinner face... like, it still looks like me. Instead of apologizing and turning red, like a nice way to respond, she then said... "I... um... it's just that you are so much prettier in person than on your ID." Which is a complete lie. So all in all, I really enjoyed the food at this place. Everything was AMAZING. Except, this girl embarrassed me in front of my friends and did not even apologize. I'm not even angry, but I want her to know what she said was not okay because I would hate for someone with less self esteem to become victim to a comment she makes in the future. Honey, if you're reading this... I forgive you but I...

My husband and I have been going to Otobo since they opened. Last night when we arrived there were quite a few people waiting for a table and we were told by the manager, Tina it was a 25 minute wait. There were empty tables in the restaurant, bar and on the patio and when customers waiting for a table asked about these tables, we were told they were reserved. My husband and I went into the bar and ordered a drink. While we were standing in the bar, a couple with a table for six invited us to sit with them while we waited. As we sat there, we learned from staff the empty tables were not reserved but the kitchen was backed up so they weren't seating anyone until the kitchen could get caught up on their tickets. We continued to wait and then noticed people coming in after us were getting seated and we were not. My husband then asked Tina if we would get seated soon and she ignored our inquiry. She was angry and gave us a dirty look as she hurriedly walked by. What was she mad about? We don't know. We think it was because we were sitting at a table while other customers were waiting at the door. When we realized Tina was not going to accommodate our desire to dine at Otobo, we thanked the couple for letting us sit and then left the restaurant. It was very sad for us as we have always enjoyed dining there but Tina seems to take out the stress of her job on clientele which is not inviting. We love the food at Otobo but with that kind of management, I don't know that we'll...

I really want to give this place 5 stars for the sushi alone... but I can only give it 3. This is hands down some of the best sushi I've had. Extremely creative rolls, excellent taste. Amazing creativity with flavors. Fresh. You guys COULD really make a killing, but......

On the opposite side of the spectrum was 1 star service. I appreciate the waitress/hostess/cashier/bartender trying, but... you cannot expect to stay in business if you are running a sushi restaurant with 3 people working the entire place. No communication about wait times, barely checked in at tables. NO APOLOGIES for the 75 minute wait for all our rolls,and they STILL weren't all done (had to take them to go). I want to come back. The sushi is THAT good, that I'll give it another go. However, you WILL go out of business if you don't immediately step up the customer service. Talk to your customers. Be honest. Be sincere. Apologize. Food was amazing. However, I've had better customer service at a convenience store & fast food....