Red Sake Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Columbia

We love all-you-can-eat sushi joints and were excited to try a new one. Here's what you should know before dining here at Red Sake:

TL;DR: Decent food, but misleading policies make your bill tough to predict.

Food was decent and quick. The hibachi chicken & rice was notably tasty, and the sushi & appetizers we had were on par with other quick-service. Like many quick-service places, any "spicy" fish are served minced rather than whole - not a huge deal, but helpful to know if you're sensitive to textures and/or used to menus with only whole fish cuts.

Our waiter was great and kept our drinks topped up, but the floor was underserved overall. Other than the greeter & bartender, I counted five staff on the floor but only two were managing active tables. It was busy enough to warrant a couple more folks. It took us a while to get extra menus & our check (but, again, this wasn't our waiter's fault - he was working REALLY hard).

Here's the tough part: the all-you-can-eat model is a wreck. It was $26/person for dinner, except certain items come with an upcharge (anywhere from $0.50 to $5.00). For me, the enjoyment of AYCE is that I pay a flat price and can try many things. Worrying about surcharges takes the fun out, and I'd rather pay $30/person with no surcharges than worry about what I pick. It's either AYCE or a la carte - pick one.

This restaurant has the strictest "food waste" surcharge policy I've ever seen. It's common for AYCE restaurants to charge a small surcharge for uneaten orders and to limit takeout - otherwise, you could order 20 plates and then ask for a bunch of free boxes! At Red Sake, you're charged per piece of food remaining on your plate. The menu's unclear: each piece of uneaten sushi will cost, and uneaten rice may also be an unspecified charge, AND uneaten kitchen orders will be charged "by portion" (whatever that means). In addition, if you have leftovers and want a box to take them home rather than waste them, you must pay the uneaten surcharge in order to do so. Multiple tables around us were given a "quote" when they asked for a box at the end of their meal. It sounded like the staff was estimating on the fly: "I can get you a box, but it'll be...how does $3 work?". Again, this is entirely unpredictable and ruins the benefit of a flat-fee menu. We didn't end up with leftovers ourselves to compare.

It's also common for AYCE restaurants to serve small portions. I prefer this: I can try a little bit of lots of different things, and if I really like something I can order more. Red Sake's portions were on par with regular table service restaurants. If I were paying per-piece I'd be happy to get a little more, but paying a flat fee I was really disappointed to get a ton of food with my first order. This paired with the food waste policy meant I was stuck: I have to pay for anything I don't eat (whether I take it home or not), I have plates in front of me with much more food than I anticipated, and so I was only able to eat a single order. I can't imagine how upset I'd be as a parent if my kids got portions this big and I was charged again for the uneaten part!. I want to stress again that it was good food, but if I'd known this up front I would not have paid for AYCE. Paired with food waste surcharges, large portions feel like a predatory way to make more money off guests - yikes!

If I come to Red Sake again, here's what I'll do: ONLY order AYCE if I'm feelings lots of nigiri & apps. Kitchen orders or sushi rolls are a la carte only. Ask for extra menus at the start Order no more than 1 or 2 portions per menu (good practice anywhere, really, but especially here)

And, respectfully, some advice to management: Raise your prices and drop the surcharges, or reorg your AYCE menu to accommodate a truly flat fee. Charge per box for leftovers, and fix your food waste policy so it's consistent & predictable. Help your staff out! Our poor waiter was handling half the...

I enjoyed the food but the lack of communication ruined my experience. I have been to this establishment several times. Last night I brought my daughter for her 14th birthday. Near the end of our dinner we stacked our plates then our waitress starting looking through our 18 month old’s plates. She had 3 nuggets and French fries left. We questioned our waitress. Without hesitation she said she would would get the manager. We didn’t even know why she was getting her. Apparently, they changed the rules requiring any left over food must be an additional cost to the buffet. While we knew any sushi needed to be, we did not know everything else needed to be. This is new and not communicated. According to the online menu, it is only sushi. It has not be updated. In our party of 8, all but 1 menu had only food choices to check on them…not an explanation of having to buy left over food. I questioned the waitress about the menus because there was not an explanation. She stated, “there was one menu on your table with it written.” I don’t mind following rules but if rules have changed, it is only right to explain to your customers and for it to be transparent. Post a sign. It is important to explain to your customers when you seat them what to expect during their dining experiences especially if prices have changed.

Also, she could not give me an answer on how they decide the price. She literally said, that would be 2 or 3 dollars. 3 nuggets and fries leftover I was charged $3. My fried from charged $5 for a large plates of hibachi vegetables and 2 Chicken nuggets. Again I am a rule following but I don’t like when someone just picks and chooses what to charge me. If you are going to ch age rules. I need to know the going rate of a chicken nugget. And I want to know the specific details of prices for leftovers. The unprofessionalism was distasteful and will definitely keep me from coming back.

Again food was great but that is not how you run a business. Transparency is...

1st time going to this restaurant and it was worth the trip. The waiter was patient in explaining the menu and the food was very good as well as the service. It was initially slow when I got there, but business was picking up. The right time, right place. I will return... Update: Since my first visit, I have been back to this business 3 other times. Each time, I've had a different server and the quality had slightly dropped off, but not to the point of complaining. The last time was Friday (07-21-23) and I sat at the bar due to the crowd and wait time. The hostess was fine and seated me immediately. When I got to the bar, I noticed that the spot hadn't been cleaned or just not very well. I sat there for about 10 minutes before I was even approached by the server. His name was Grant and I gave him my order and he came back with my water in about 4 minutes. After about about 10 minutes, I asked him if he could wipe down my bar area because it wasn't very clean. He said yes and walked away. About 10 minutes, he brings the first 2 plates. Then he returns about 6 minutes later with 2 more plates. I asked him, why would you bring more food before you even wipe down the area? His response was because that's how the food came up. What??? That makes no sense to me, but now here I am holding up only 2 of the 4 plates in front of me while he tries to wipe off the area...smh. He didn't come back to check if needed anything or how was the quality of food until I had finished at least 85-90% (16 minutes) I told him I didn't need to order anything else. After finishing my food, I waited for the check, which took another 15 minutes. I was not happy with the service, but the food quality is very good and tasty. I reflected the quality of service in the tip. He only got that .41 cents because I didn't want to wait for the change. Hopefully they will read the review and address this behavior. This was the worst of all servers...