Bar Oni Izakaya — Restaurant in Cleveland

Walked in and was greeted by the person behind the bar. Asked where we should sit and waitress/hostess responded "anywhere except for the large booth". I asked where is the large booth and she pointed to the booth behind us and yelled "don't sit there". We thought that this was a bit strange but proceeded to a different booth. Our server yelled "greetings my dudes" from a far while walking towards where my girlfriend and I were sitting. When he arrived at the table, asked us what we would like to drink. We said water. We then overheard him complaining to someone else at the bar about us ordering water. Then, we overheard him cursing (mainly the F word) and yelling loudly about how things are going, in general, at the restaurant (talking about closing down the bar). After a long and hard week, we were hoping for a more accommodating experience. Unfortunately, we felt uncomfortable. We decided to leave when the yelling and cursing continued (volume of the staff's voices were above the music playing overhead) from behind the bar. We had been meaning to try this place for a long time based on the other reviews but this was disappointing.

In response to owner’s response:

What isn’t clear to you?

We anticipated a pleasant experience and were met with a hostile one instead. Ironically, we’re not the only ones to leave this kind of review within the past several months.

Also, an opportunity for growth might include asking for a second chance and/or apologizing for the disappointing experience. Not trying to justify the behavior. We have worked in the service industry too and we can certainly tell you this is not how you earn better reviews or...

So I’m extremely disappointed in this place. I’ve been a couple times and the food and drink are amazing. Last night we did a wine tasting down the street and we wanted to come here afterwards. I noticed they were only open 6 PM to 10 PM (so four hours). That’s fine, it was a quarter till nine we were about 10 minutes away. I thought no big deal. I called twice. The phone rang each time until voicemail picked it up. We rolled the dice and still showed up. We got there literally six minutes after nine. There was no one in the bar. We were told the kitchen closes at nine. So you’re only open four hours a day and out of those four hours your kitchen is only open three (and a strict 3)? You can make the excuse that Business doesn’t support more hours but Business will never show up if you’re only open three hours a day. We took our business down the street and the manager there gave us some local insight. Apparently the previous owner sold the business and started a new art gallery/bar down the street. The new owner had made the hours so spotty that locals don’t even bother to go to Bar Oni anymore and he claimed the food had gone way down hill too. This is a shame. It was a really unique spot with good drinks and good food and unfortunately it looks like it is being ruined by new ownership that really doesn’t care or is too lazy to care. The only reason I give it two stars is that hopefully it will come back to its previous glory. Sorry but 4 hours a day really!?!?!? That’s a joke and ignoring me calling when you’re sitting at the bar drinking is not...

The food was excellent and I loved the atmosphere. When we made the reservation we told them we had 5 guests, and they said no problem at all, “one would have to share the pot”. The service was literally the worst we have ever had. The waitress never explained anything about the menu or the food choices, she took our order for 5 people. When the food came she said two people had to share one dinner, and the portion for 1 is small as it is. The waitress was never around, it was so bad the bartender was leaving the bar and coming to our table to try to do her job. She spent the entire time talking with a man at the end of the bar and could care less about us AT ALL. We had to beg for water, drinks and had to ask her more than 4 times to give us a fork, she never apologized for the lack of service. The icing on the cake was she charged an automatic 20% tip, and the tip was over $100.00!! She never told us at any time nor is it written anywhere that this is required!! The tip should be based on the service you receive not mandatory!! I have never been to a restaurant when 4 people (remember we had to share a meal) are REQUIRED TO GIVE a mandatory 20% tip if the service was atrocious!! This is exactly why she gave us this type of service and spent her entire time with the man at the end of the bar because she knew she was getting $100.00 tip no matter what service...