Akai Hana Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Carrboro

Tonight was my first dining experience at Akai Hana, my friend was very excited about the sushi and I was excited to try their chicken teriyaki.

Upon arrival our server seemed very flustered and we had to wait about 15 minutes to order drinks, which I was completely fine with as I am a bartender, and have been a server before for many years, and understand being in the weeds.

The soup and salad came out very promptly, as well as an appetizer we had ordered.

When I got my food, (chicken teryaki) the vegetables tasted frozen, the chicken was cut up into little cubes with no flavor, and the sauce was basically water with some soy sauce and a little sweetness. Very disappointing. It tasted like a TV dinner.

Our server was not very attentive, and seemed almost bothered by our presence and even had a slight attitude when I asked her for a fork. Our water was never refilled, she never asked how our dinner was.

My friend ordered a Pinot Grigio, and it tasted corked or that it had been open too long. She felt bad and tried to drink it regardless, but it was very bad, I even tasted it. She ordered a beer, and just pushed the wine to the side, with a few sips taken out of it. When our waitress Sarah came to clear some plates, she asked "oh did you not like the wine?" to which my friend replied "I'm so sorry, it just doesn't taste right I tried to drink it but it might be old." Our waitress said, "I'm so sorry, are you ok with the beer" which my friend was enjoying and thanked her.

Then she came back and dropped the checks off, and said no rush whenever you are ready. We wanted to see dessert menu, and my friend wanted to get another beer but we felt rushed, so decided to move on. When we looked at the check, the wine was on the bill. My friend said to our waitress "I am so sorry but I don't feel comfortable paying for a wine that was not drinkable." To which Sarah our waitress replied "well you drank over half of it, and I know how much I pour so you have to pay for it. Do you want to talk to a manager?" and we said sure.

She went inside for about 10 minutes, and stormed back over and said in an aggressive tone "He took it off. but just so you know if you are ordering a wine you have not had before please order a taste next time, instead of wasting a whole glass. Its not my fault YOU don't like the wine," and walked back away before we could even reply. We were all literally stunned.

I have never seen such a rude interaction between a server and a customer in my life, and it was sooo uncomfortable.

Not only will I never go back, I will let people know please avoid this place. The worst experience. I work all week with customers, and although it can be an inconvenience if someone doesn't like a dish or a drink, it is my job to make sure that they are satisfied and enjoy their experience. Sometimes when people send back wine it lets me know, oh it might be corked, I double check it, and alot of times it is. We send it back to the distributor not problem.

Please do yourself a favor and...

Akai Hana is, hands down, my favorite restaurant here. It was part of my introduction to the Carrboro area when I was only just visiting. Now that I live here, my boyfriend and I try to drop by at least once every few weeks. The sushi, sashimi, and dessert are all so delicious. It can be hard to get a table, if you show up after 5:30, but at worst we have only had to wait about 15 mins. The service is almost always perfect, except for maybe our last visit, where our waiter seemed more interested in killing time than being attentive, but we have had far more positive experiences that we are not deterred. On a previous visit, one thing that impressed me was this: I had dropped a chopstick, and I figured it might be a few minutes before our server could come around (it was quite busy that night). The front-of-house person, appeared moments after the incident, asking, "did I just hear chopsticks hit the floor?" 🤣👏👏. She had a replacement with her. I know it is maybe a little thing to some diners, but I loved that she was so attentive. My boyfriend & I will always come back, though. The food is always reliably delicious. My only thing is that I wish they'd reconsider bringing back reservations. That being said, I'm sure no-shows ruin it for the rest of us, so I understand...

I rate sushi on a scale of “Better than Harris Teeter” to “Worse than Harris Teeter.” This place is definitely worse than the sushi at Harris Teeter and I find that disappointing especially since I wanted to have a special birthday lunch with my daughter. We couldn’t finish our meal I was so bummed out. I get it, we want to support out local businesses, but let’s have some standards. Nice service, though.

Edit: after the reply below from the establishment I would like to clarify why I’m giving this place one star. First the sushi was warm and we couldn’t finish it. No freshness whatsoever. The shrimp noodles were made from low grade ramen and the shrimp had a rubbery texture and was not fresh. It was by far the worst sushi place I have been to. I was not trying to be as harsh but the reply makes it seem like I am being picky. I rate Harris Teeter sushi a 3 out of 5. This restaurant gets a 1 out of 5. I was so close to asking for a refund but I didn’t want to embarrass my daughter. That’s unheard of for me I do not like wasting food. I hope this can further highlight the issues for potential customers so they can...