Araki Ramen & Bubble Tea — Restaurant in Centreville

The most positive thing I can write is that I'm very happy I'll never be tricked into attempting to dine at this "restaurant" (sarcastic quotes supplied for dramatic effect) again. I'm pretty sure, based on the absolute emptiness of the place, the disgusted and angry overall tone of what appeared to be the elderly male manager and middle-aged male apprentice assistant manager, and the "please help me" look in the eyes of the girl who bused our table, that food service is only the secondary or tertiary business of this purported dining establishment. It's the only way to explain the macabre, thoroughly sinister dining experience that followed, or the very real fact that anyone who manages any restaurant in the fashion and spirit of the current ownership would surely not expect to make money by offering food to customers.

Allow me to elaborate.

A friend and I chose this spot because it is a midpoint between our two homes. The menu and decor seemed decent: wide variety of bubble teas and other light menu items, fake cherry blossom trees, cozy wooden booths.

Ah, but looks can be deceiving! After being seated, we were asked several times, in our first few minutes there, by the increasingly annoyed apprentice manager, what we would like to order. He wouldn't actually take our order, mind you: he pointed to a tiny video screen awkwardly bolted into the wall at the far end of the booth for completion of that particular mission.

We screen-ordered two bubble teas.

Several more times while attempting to enjoy our teas, the increasingly distraught apprentice manager asked what we'd like to order. After about 20 minutes, with teeth clenched, and what appeared to be barely concealed subsurface sarcasm to hide what was probably a full-blown ragefest, we were told "drinks are for takeout only: if you sit down you need to order food." This stern warning / threat was followed by a Houdini-like disappearing act. Which was as surreal to witness as it was ridiculous for this fellow to utter.

So, $8 individual drinks don't buy you more than 20 minutes of sit-down time, at this delightful family eatery. Actually, $8 drinks don't buy you ANY sit-down time, according to the apprentice manager.

So we decided, against our better judgment, that to extend our stay at the empty Araki Ramen, we would dutifully order food. Two overpriced, undercooked appetizers and an entree later - which all tasted exactly like they had all been thawed and microwaved out of a frozen box - plus another $8 drink, we were now into this abandoned haunt for about $54 and change. $24 in drinks and $30 in food. Surely this would now buy us some time to relax and chat, right?

No. In fact, that's when things got real. Because the Araki of Centreville brought out the heavy artillery: the elderly owner / manager! A master, as we were to learn, in the ways of sarcasm, uncomfortable staring, grunting, and reluctantly agreeing to take money from customers for the privilege of disturbing his life and trying to engage in the outrageous but generally accepted notion of entering a restaurant in order to, you know, pay money for food and beverage "service" (again with the sarcastic quotes).

What ensued was this gentleman, again, walking by and asking if we wanted food. Not MORE food, but food. The facial movements of chewing and swallowing completely escaped - surely on purpose - this elderstatesman of the establishment.

Finally, after several attempts, complete with eyerolls, hard stares, and utter disdain and disgust, to get us to order additional items, the owner / manager was clearly at the end of his tether. So he twice - for good measure - gave us his verbal finishing move: we were told the place was "...preparing for dinner." As he said this, he motioned towards the door. Nowhere near closing time, and after a family (because nothing screams "family fun" quite like Araki Ramen of Centreville) had just entered and been seated.

It goes without saying, but I cannot possibly un-recommend this...

So first and foremost- this place leaves a lot to be desired for the outside just based on the location that it's in. The shopping center looks very run down and I honestly wouldn't be overly inclined to eat at any of the places in this shopping center if it weren't for Google reviews. So while that's not really in the control of the restaurant itself, maybe something a little more attractive on the outside might help to draw some interest. For those of us that are lucky enough to make it through the front door, you are instantly greeted with an incredible ambiance that makes you completely forget the outside world you just stepped out of. The lighting, the art, the cherry blossom trees and the smell of broth all fill your senses and the rest is history. I haven't actually had a ton of ramen out at restaurants before, so I won't compare their food to that of other places, but what I will say is that their broth is ON POINT! It's so incredibly delicious and I think that's the most important part about getting ramen right. The pork I had in mine was perfectly cooked and easy to chew- packed with flavor as well. There wasn't one thing about the meal that didn't check the box for me. They have tons of special tea options on the menu, almost another specialty of theirs it seems, but I stuck with coke so I wouldn't get too full.

The only part of this review that I didn't give 5 stars was the service. The servers were attentive, but they lacked personality/interaction. When I'm eating at a new restaurant that I've never been to, I like to hear from the server what their go-to meal is and why, etc and in a way, I like to be made to feel welcome. The servers we had today were nice, but very quiet- one didn't speak a single word to us and our main server spoke so quietly, it was near impossible to hear him. So maybe that's a personal preference on my part and this doesn't matter to others, but to me, it's all part of the experience.

But overall, VERY satisfied with the visit. The price point is as expected and did I mention that the broth was out of this world good?? And then the beauty of the decor in the restaurant leaves me speechless so I tried to include as many photos as I could without making more people uncomfortable. Highly recommend and I will be back to eat...

I had a craving for ramen this evening and decided to try this place based on the good reviews and its location in the area.

Unfortunately, my experience was far from positive.

Each table has a tablet for placing orders, and we selected the Shoyu ramen. It was only after sending the order that we realized it defaulted to chicken. We called the waiter right away to request a change to pork instead. After our conversation, I got a feeling that there might be some miscommunication on something.

So when the ramen arrived, yes, one piece of pork Chashu on that. Before starting our meal, we confirmed with the waiter about the cost, and he said it was “THE SAME PRICE.” However, when we received the bill after our meal, there was an additional charge of $3.50 for the pork chashu. We asked the waiter, who explained that when he said "same price," he meant that the tablet itemized the cost correctly.

Meaning that "TO CHANGE" = "TO ADD-ON," not a substitution for this restaurant. So, we were charged $3.50 for the pork Chashu, and the chicken was removed.

We felt that this charge was a result of the miscommunication and didn’t think it was fair to pay for it.

When we brought this up, the owner/manager came to our table but only made things worse. Instead of resolving the issue, he spoke to us rudely, with a disrespectful attitude, and eventually said, "THAT’S FINE, YOU CAN PAY WHATEVER YOU WANT!” followed by a sarcastic "ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?"

To make matters worse, the owner tried to excuse the situation by saying that the waiter’s English wasn’t good enough. This was absolutely disgusting—just admit it was a miscommunication and the rules at your restaurant make no sense in the real world!

I feel bad for the waiter, who has to work under such a disrespectful boss. I would never blame someone for their English; I respect the good communications. I blame the owner’s attitude. I know the waiter did his best, and it’s shameful that his boss would throw him under the bus like that.

This was the ugliest customer service experience I’ve ever had. I will never return to this restaurant.

This experience deserves negative stars, not even one for the service (from business owner/manager...