Kabuto Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Charlotte

I went to Kabuto for Father's Day after we were unable to secure a table from Nakato. The wait was about 30 minutes, which I didn't find unreasonable for the holiday.

Once we were inside, there was one chef that ruined the entire experience for me. I had been hesitant to go out to dinner at all due to my having an anxiety disorder that I was worried might be triggered by the noise of the crowds. It turns out I was not even able to hear the patrons over the chef, who was at a completely different table. I would say he shouted the entire time, but that would be an understatement - he BELTED. Anyone in my high school drama class would have marveled at his ability to project. At a couple of different times, he shouted to a chef at a table near ours, and that chef shouted back, but his voice was a poor match for the first guy's. The loud man then proceeded to clang metal spoons against the hibachi stovetop and generally seemed to try to make as much noise as possible. No one in the restaurant seemed amused by his antics except for the two children directly in front of him.

The atmosphere was pretty dreadful in the dining area, with poorly placed halogen lights permeating the overall dark area. That was a shame, considering the bar you had to walk through to get there actually seemed quite cozy and comfortable. The food was quite good. It was much like that of Nakato, but the miso soup had small bits of chicken that added texture, and the salad seemed to have a bit more veggies. Sadly, I was unable to converse with my dad at his celebration due to all the racket. At one point, I had to go to the restroom because my ears were hurting. As for our chef, he didn't try to talk to us much. I'm not sure if that was because he sensed our overall uncomfortable mood, or because he didn't want to try to compete with his coworker. We have been to hibachi many times, but a newcomer might have been disappointed.

All in all, the food was better than Nakato. However, I won't be switching anytime soon, because I would rather leave feeling like I ate at a comfortable restaurant than a machine shop. I did end up having a panic attack on...

I wish there was a rating that I can give that's less than one star. The service at this place was absolutely horrible! My family and I visited kabutos tonight to celebrate my grandmothers birthday and her night was ruined by the experience. We made a reservation for a party of 15 and when we get there we were seated at a table that only fit about 8. We asked to be moved to a location that would accommodate us. We then sat down to enjoy our meal, the server gave half of us a soup and the other half came out about 15 minutes into the cooks presentation and it was only brought out because we asked for it. Our salads came out after our food was already plated, we had to ask for that as well. Meanwhile who I later found out was the owner, Rick, watched the entire ordeal and stated that he knew our service was bad. Our server brought out to go plates before we could finish our food and again Rick sat back and watched. Not once did he come over and offer assistance or any sort of apology. When we asked to speak to the manager once we were leaving he came over and let us know that he knew our service was bad. I couldn't for the life of me understand why he never came over. When questioned he went on to tell us about some irrelevance that was going on in the back but we never got an apology until we asked for one. He asked "What do you want me to do?" .... I can go on and on about this experience but I won't. I would not recommend this place to anyone nor would I go back there if I was paid to. My family drove out from South Carolina to celebrate what was supposed to be a great experience since it was our grandmother's 1st time at a hibachi restaurant and it turned out to be the worst experience any of us have ever had. Next time we'll drive out a little further and go to Nakato's the service there has...

I could not wait to leave tonight! We normally go to the Kabuto's on WT Harris and have the best experience but this location needs to close shop!! From horrible service to a Hibachi Chef that clearly did not want to be there... I had to wonder if him being a hibachi chef tonight was a fill in for the real chef who called out!! He may have said 6 sentences the entire time he was preparing the food. And the food!! Not even on par! The shrimp had not been properly cleaned so I ended up eating sand the entire time. The veggies were basically raw. The rice.. How do you go wrong in rice. It was quite difficult to stomach. The sushi was terrible! I ordered a roll specifically for the exclusion of certain types of fish to then have the chef actually add the fish that I was trying to avoid. I think it may have been in effort to possibly exercise some creative liberties. That may have been fine if I ordered the Chef's Choice roll or the Suprise Me roll ( just being facetious), but I ordered from the menu with a description of the roll. Interestingly enough, he did not add it to the entire roll, he added it to only certain pieces.. Weird!!! How is this place still in business. The manager on duty,, absolutely not a pleasant person. After he came to my table and was quite rude, I absolutely understood why everything from the service to the food was poor. He sets a poor example! He should figure out if this is the job for him because he lacks the customer service skills necessary to be in this field. To the owner.... This guy is going to ruin your business!! I could go on and on but to sum it up..... either go to the one on WT Harris or just go to...