Sakura — Restaurant in Columbus

Why did I give this a one star? Because of the service and attitudes of the place. We went at 6:45pm on a Friday night, memorial day weekend.

First, we waited to be seated. NO ONE was there. A guy kept coming out to fold napkins and saw us on 3 separate occasions, but did not tell anyone we were waiting to be seated. He was more interested in his smartphone and "pretending" he was working. Another server was also playing on his smartphone near this guy. At that point, I was going to leave but my husband said: "give them another minute". Finally, a lady came out of the kitchen area to seat us. STRIKE ONE! TIME to SEAT: 7 minutes with NO ONE waiting and only ONE table in the whole restaurant occupied, the staff saw us but didn't care to notify anyone we needed to be seated.

Second, we saw the bar area. We were going to sit at the bar and have a drink & maybe eat there, but NO ONE was there! It was a poor excuse for a bar, only a few bottles visible and it looked like it doubled as a storage area. When we were eating, we saw the same woman that seated us go back and forth from the bar to the dining area to make and deliver drinks.

Third, after being seated, no one explained hibachi experience, how many people needed to be set at a table in order to get the food started etc. Everyone was pretty much silent and didn't offer any information or enthusiasm. We just kinda waited until finally the food got started.

Fourth, the menu said they had sushi. Even though it was all "cooked" sushi, we were going to order one roll, but they said, "sorry, we don't have any sushi". So a whole page on the menu was not applicable to the restaurant. Ok then, next!

We got the "Feast for Two" which included chicken, steak, and lobster, rice (fried rice was extra) bean sprouts, veggies, shrimp appetizer, soup, and salad (and a drink and a ice cream that was never given or offered to us). The hibachi chef was fairly entertaining and good. The food was average but still ok. Our server was just average, nothing impressive, just doing a job and we could tell he wanted to get back to his phone. We did not get the drink OR the dessert as advertised to go with the meal.

Fifth, they added a 15% gratuity to the bill automatically. They state this on the menu that they will do this. They must have a LOT of lousy tippers and want the chefs compensated. Unfortunately, the tip came out to be ONLY around $11.25 with this. NOW.. we would have tipped a $15 or a $20 automatically, but since the tip was already included ON the bill, we just left the tip as to how it was. Now we could have given more, but the poor service of the staff and the restaurant half looking like no one cared led to us not leaving anything extra.

Overall, the restaurant looked like it could have been something pretty cool. But the floors were horrible and it just looked like no one really cared about maintaining the place and it looked to be falling into neglect and disrepair. This, along with the poor customer service and the attitudes of everyone there acting like the customers were an annoyance or a chore, led to my poor review. We found it interesting that others who came in were looking for staff to seat them as well.

Recommendation:

1. Clean up the place!
2. Don't use customer viewable areas as storage.
3. Have staff that is eager to get a customer.
4. Keep the staff OFF of their smartphones in front of customers.
5. Get a bell or buzzer for seating if no one can be present so no one needs to wait.
6. If you are going to have a bar, stock it and make it look inviting.
7. If you are not going to have a bar that is truly a bar, then cover it up and use it as storage or drink prep area.
8. Look like the business really WANTS business!
9. Modify the menu to have what you actually offer.
10. If you advertise getting a drink and dessert with a special meal, then...

We have been going to hibachi restaurants for years and have gone to Sakura many times. The last couple of times it has really gone down hill. This past weekend my family and I went for my son’s birthday. I unfortunately do not have enough time in the day to list the complaints. It was so bad that I will never walk into that place AGAIN. RUDE RUDE RUDE. The food was just okay. The hostess, Anita was probably the rudest hostess that has ever greeted me. (I worked in the restaurant industry for years so my standards are pretty low because I understand everyone has bad days.) The chef came out, did not say hi, did not talk AT ALL. He had already started serving food without passing out the sauces. I asked for the sauce to go with my shrimp and he told me to wait. Wait for what? Our food to be cold? Then he handed everyone one of the sauces a few minutes later and I asked for the other sauce. He looked at me and said, wait a minute. Kept cooking and handed me the sauce. I had to ask for him to give everyone else the same thing. The rudeness continued throughout the meal. The girl that was refilling water was listening to headphones. My mother tried to ask her for another drink and she never even looked at her, because she was listening to headphones!!! By the end of the meal, the only thing that the 6 of us and the other couple at our table were talking about was how bad the experience was. It was such a shame as it was a special occasion and we were looking forward to having fun and a great meal. When Anita came up to ask us how we wanted to split our checks. I expressed my disappointment in the evening. I am well aware that it is better to know when a customer is unhappy so that you have a chance to make things better. Then you don’t have someone posting negative reviews and telling everyone they know about their horrible experience. After telling her a few of the reasons we were all unhappy, she looked at me and said, oh sorry, how do you want your checks split? That was her idea of making a customer happy. So between the 6 of us, we spent almost 200$. After my family went to the car, I found her at the hostess stand and asked if the manager was there, she told me no. I asked for the manager’s card and to write her name down. She grabbed a card, wrote down a name and literally ROLLED her eyes at me when she handed it to me. Writing this review is literally making me boil again so I will stop with that much information. For a restaurant that wasn’t even at 50% capacity on a Saturday at 6:30 and has a lot of completion, good luck staying in business with staff like that. Good riddance, maybe someone that knows how to run a restaurant will buy it when...

I'm about to spend some time writing the better business bureau. I knew when I went there, this time; gratuity was required. But then the menu states party of 4. Well we were a party of 3. 2 adults and a 4 year old. So you would think we didn't fit their requirements for gratuity. This is not my only issue or I would of just over looked it & paid because it I expected gratuity. I'm a returning mistreated customer prepared for gratuity. I learned from the last time, when they stole the person I was dining with 2 dollars change from her bill. Gratuity due on separate bills? This is about the 3rd time they have been shady with me. I eat out and I tip. I can give Yaw a list of places, I'm a reg & they know...take care of her. Yes, I know someone in there knows who I am. "The lady with the child that's scared of the fire; who cried & ruined everyone's dinner....but she still insist on eating here." & we TAKE her crying baby money. I made sure she was tough enough this time and she didn't cry. Well, neither SAKURA or her will have to worry. I really don't know who is going to hurt the most. They charged me for extra shrimp when I ordered extra shrimp appetizer for 3. Well, they gave me 1 extra shrimp appetizer & 2 extra shrimp servings. But I ordered the lunch speicals??? Really! So repeat your order 15x's. I will go downtown if I decide to even spend my money @ another Japanese Steakhouse. SAKURA has made it bad for everyone. Besides, me not coming back spending my money @ any of them....let's see how.....This is the first time, in a very long time; I felt the chef earned his tip. I'm the customer who tips the waiter and the chef. I want Ronnie to know he should take his boss talent somewhere else. Ronnie management ruined Ur tip today & it wasn't about gratuity or how good you were preparing our food; it was about SAKURA always being defensive. Everyone's not out to hustle them for a meal. Unfortunately, I was a regular unsatisfied customer; who has finally had it with this place. I hope you build up the nerve to put the manager on the phone tomorrow when I call. Sounds guilty 2 me. You can't spend nor count what's in my pocket. It is sad you say ppl were not tipping so I have to. Sounds like ur running away good customers because of a few bad ones. Being I have given SAKURA so many chances. I think ppl were not tipping because of the service. I'm ready to make a sign & stand outside of this place cold and all. They just don't know, I'm Boycott Momma! My family talks me out of a lot of this kind of action by begging me to just a...