Sushi Ato — Restaurant in Colorado Springs

Theres been talk of Sushi Ato having the best Ramen in the Springs, so I had to make the effort to head out there to try it for myself. First and foremost, that talk is certainly worth the hype.

Starting with the weakest point, the sushi served here is slightly above average for the area, which means it is still worth getting, but it won't be the best you'll find here in the Springs. That being said, the only sushi I ordered was the "Lion King", which was Shrimp Tempura, Cucumber, shredded Kani, avocado, tempura chips, tobiko, spicy mayo and unagi sauce. So, there might be better picks than this to make a generalized assumption on the sushi.

But moving forward to the main attraction, the Tonkotsu Ramen - the one everyone has been raving about - is absolutely phenomenal. It is far and away the best Ramen I have had in the Springs, and upon further consideration, anywhere I've had in the US.

The creamy, hearty and rich broth elevates the ingredients to a level unmatched by any other Ramen place in the area. The pork belly is tender, juicy, and packed full of flavor. It cuts with almost no effort at all, like butter. The Ramen noodles themselves were fulfilling in that they were cooked to perfection, and did not overtake the dish. The egg was a wonderful addition that spent just enough time in the broth to pick up its best qualities, such as a slight sweetness that took it to another level of fun.

There is no doubt in my mind that if you order the Tonkotsu Ramen here, you will not regret your choice.

The atmosphere was fairly spacious, and had plenty of room to feel as if you can detach from the rest of the crowd and focus solely on you and whoever you bring with you. It is fun to look around and see how the interior design comes together, and makes you feel like you are in a bit more welcoming environment than your average joint like this.

The service was also pretty good. It seemed like there were appropriately timed check-ins throughout the meal, and it was served extremely quickly - even the sushi, which at most places takes a pretty long time to make. The only slight setback was that right around the time that the meal was finished, the service seemed to be a lot more sparse than it was at the beginning. The crowd did not seem to be any more or less crowded than when we were seated, but from the time it took from finishing the meal to getting the check was about 20 minutes, then another 10 from getting the check to walking out.

All in all, this is a must-go Ramen experience. You won't be disappointed in the Sushi by any means, but the Ramen is the real star of the show....

3.5 stars. The food is VERY good. The service is not. When my friend came in initially to see if there was a table for 6 available, she was rudely told to wait until the whole party got there. And while waiting until all of us get there is absolutely fine, you can be nice about it.

Once we were seated, we ordered our drinks and main course. We had the hot house sake, the heart attack and monkey brain rolls for appetizers and the Vegas, Air force, Tijuana Ninja and Lion King rolls for the main course and the Chirashi bowl. The drinks came quickly, the sake being quite good. We also got the initial soup which was warm and optimally salted. And then nothing. People who were seated after us, including a party of 6, got their food before we did. At about 45 mins post the soup (I know because I checked in on Yelp so could track time), one of our party went to look for our server who was nowhere to be found. When she was, we were told, the food's being made right now. Umm, 45 mins later? Really? Ok, fine. We waited still. Another 10-15mins and still nothing! When we finally did get the food, the bowl was delayed. We could see it sitting on the counter and had half a mind to just go pick it up. What bothered us more was the lack of apology on the server's part, as if it's absolutely ok to keep you waiting for even the appetizers for a good 60 mins.

Onto the food - the Vegas rolls were the best. These were followed by the tijuana ninja (size aside, just not possible to dip these gigantic pieces in the little soy sauce pans) and then the lion king and the air force. I think the air force looked better than it tasted. Among the apps, heart attack came with a spicier more avocado version which I loved and a less spicier more fried version which was ok. The monkey brain was simply delicious! Def take it. The Chirashi bowl was good as per my friend. Not the biggest fan of lots of fish myself, so I didn't have a taste.

For dessert, we shared a mango moshi and the comment from a friend who's had traditional moshi was, "this is good, but not like traditional one I've had". For me, it's not something I enjoy but I liked it. Two our group took shrimp tempura and rainbows home and these were devoured by the families.

It is an upscale place. For the above food, we paid $226 with the tip. Nice ambiance too.

So yes overall, excellent food, bad service. We'll just get takeout next time.

FYI: don't know if it matters, but ours was an...

The food was great! The service was great!

Here lies the problem: they forced gratuity without notice.

I worked the industry serving tables for over six years. Current/former servers always tip well. My family tips well.

I wasn’t even going to look at our bill. I just gave the server my card for payment. She said: Ok, just so you know I put gratuity on it. That was weird. So I looked at my receipt and it had typed on it “Gratuity 20%” and it was crossed out and written “18%” in pen.

I called to ask about this, because after a perfect dining experience that left a bad lasting impression.

I very politely let the manager know a customer’s perspective on that. She stated that their servers “feel obligated to add gratuity to guarantee they’ll be paid” and “I’m going to refund your gratuity because you’re arguing with me about this” I was not arguing in the slightest. I said calmly that I’m just trying to let you know how this comes across as a customer. I wanted to tip generously by my own choice.

The manager said she knows it says 20% but it is actually 18% because they add the gratuity before tax. 18% did not match any variance of the total ($142.90 + $11.72 tax + $28.58 gratuity = $183.20)

I know there is a lot of controversy over tipping, in general, but tips are not required. The manager explained that it is their policy to add gratuity and we should have been told that when we were seated (and not when receiving the bill) so customers could decide what to do. Decide what to do? Leave if they want to choose their own tip amount? She said she doesn’t know what that means because everyone is nice and tips. Why have a forced tip policy if everyone is nice and tips? (“So our servers can guarantee they’re paid”) We’re nice, polite customers. We tip well. There would have been absolutely no issue with the evening had we received the bill, tipped the $30 we had intended to tip, and left.

Instead, this whole situation was totally awkward. The conversation with the manager was totally awkward. We had a great time and this dampened the whole experience.

Also, the bathroom garbage can was overflowing onto the floor under the sinks and there was a lot of toilet paper on the floor in the stalls. Bathrooms should always be clean; most especially in...