Chima Steakhouse — Restaurant in Charlotte

I came here to celebrate my boyfriends birthday and the experience was a rollercoaster to say the least. I have food allergies, so I called ahead a few days before to ask questions. The person I spoke with was friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. I was so excited to eat here based on this interaction alone (typically, when I call I met with a lot of confusion, annoyances, etc.)

On the day of we arrived at about 6:40pm. We were told to wait so I walked across the room in my big celebration heels only for the hostess who was standing there when we checked in to say follow her. She then proceeded to BOLT up the stairs and once I got to the top, I had to look around to find her. She sat us next to the bathroom which is less than ideal. We wanted to ask to move but suddenly there were no staff around. After a few minutes my boyfriend got up to find someone and the moved us without a problem. Several minutes later, our server comes to greet us and I tell him I have allergies and he hands me a book with all of the allergies/ingredients. I was very impressed. I explained it was my first time and I wanted him to explain the process. He said he would come back (though he was literally at my table and could have at that moment..). So, my boyfriend and I waited for about 20 minutes for him to come back before we could start eating. Finally we started service. The food is fabulous. We loved all that we got to try. The problem is- several items we didn’t get to try because they didn’t come around. We found ourselves requesting items multiple times and to multiple people before they showed up. My cup stayed empty for much of the evening. I have no idea where our server was. Finally at about 8:20 after we sat there finished awhile, he showed up and asked if it was a special occasion. I told him it was for a bday celebration. They brought us a cheese cake to celebrate 20 minutes later. I had already asked for the check at that point. I received the check at 9pm and handed it right back. At 9:25 I checked my phone to see if my bank app alerted me that my card had been charged, it hadn’t. Where was my server? We asked ourself this all night long. We finally got the bill paid and walked out of the restaurant 3 hours later when we probably spent just over an hour actually eating. For the price, I expect better faster service, but the food was so good I can almost forgive the slow service. Having my partner upset about being ignored at his birthday celebration was not my idea of a great evening. This doesn’t seem to be a place you go if you have plans after. I’ll be back eventually, but hopefully with a more...

Well overall we had an OK experience. We had a reservation for 645 pm...that I had booked a couple weeks ahead of time. I did have in the notes of my reservation that we had a baby with us and it was a celebration for my husband's birthday. When we arrived they told us they had no tables ready and we would be notified when one was available, despite having my reservation. The lobby was crowded and VERY LOUD. I had brought an ice cream cake for my husband and the hostesses took it and said they had to keep it behind the counter and would let our server know once we were seated where it was. So 50 mins later we were finally seated upstairs. We did have our server come fairly quickly and get us going. She brought our waters fast but the bar was behind and our ordered drinks took 20-30 mins to be brought out. I told her about my ice cream cake and she said she would get it into the cooler. Then she came back and brought our ordered drinks and I said "How was our cake"? She said oh I'm actually going to check on that now. So basically about an hour and half my cake sat down there before it made it to the freezer/cooler. We were able to go ahead and start on the salad bar and hot bar and by the time all four of us had gotten our plates we still had not had any meat come by. Finally the gauchos started coming more steadily but we had to request several different cuts as the same things kept coming around. It took about an hour for us to get about half of the "available" cuts. The food we did get was definitely amazing! And the ambiance of the place was nice. It's fancy and feels nice going out with family. It was very loud the whole time but it was a busy Saturday night so that was expected. When we were finally ready for our cake the server brought it to us and it had completely melted. Couldn't even open the box. Keep in mind it was frozen solid when we arrived...I had just purchased it. They gave us a "complimentary" tiny piece of cheesecake (that we were charged for and they had to adjust the ticket to remove). I asked how we could be compensated for the loss of our cake. The manager did give us $10 comp per person so that was an ok way to rectify the entire evening. And our server was friendly and apologetic for how it all happened. The gauchos were nice too. And their grilled pineapple was to die for!! Never had that before but it was incredible! And the stairs make for a great pic to round the evening off! We might try this place again but maybe on a week night. Oh and I forgot...my husband had to dodge a floor full of vomit in the...

The food here was great, and the drinks were amazing as well. One critique would be the way they notify customers when their table is ready—they just yell out your name, even if you’re upstairs at the bar. Despite having your phone number, they don’t text you or try to come find you. Both we and another couple waiting at the bar were very confused until we heard our names being shouted from downstairs. Not a huge deal, but still something that could be improved.

The only real issue we had last night was with our server, which was unfortunate because the food and drinks were outstanding. Our server, Christian P, was almost completely absent for most of our visit. We had to ask a supervisor how the process worked with getting the meats at the table and the rest of the self-serve items. Christian never really explained anything to us, despite us letting him know it was our first time there.

On top of that, I waited 20-25 minutes before I finally got frustrated and asked a nearby server for our check. After I asked her, I saw Christian come out of the bathroom for the second or third time since we sat down, grab the check she had printed, and bring it over. By that point, we hadn’t seen him helping any of his tables in the last 30 minutes.

All of this was truly unfortunate—and in my opinion, unacceptable—for a restaurant charging $184 for two people. I would have been extremely happy with the experience if we had been served by the woman I asked for the check or one of the other servers nearby. I had started to keep track of how often other servers were checking in with their tables after it became clear Christian was missing in action from the moment he dropped off our drinks.

All said and done, it’s not the end of the world—just very frustrating, especially since I used to work in the restaurant industry myself, and I love tipping a server well after they treat us well. If we’d had any other server, this would have been a 5/5 experience. The drinks and food...