Little Kobe — Restaurant in Cookeville

Be mindful of eating at "Little Kobe" of Cookeville. I visited their establishment today for a quick lunch only to have the worst dining experience I have ever encountered. There was only one of the usual workers and an empty dining room. Once seated I ordered two salads, two Cookeville Rolls (Salmon, crab, cucumber, and cream cheese topped with eel sauce), and one Mexican Roll (Shrimp, crab, and cucumber topped with spicy sauce). Upon receiving the sushi rolls, specifically the Cookeville Rolls, I noticed a difference about their usual feature. I've been eating at their establishment for many years and have had no complaints. I then requested the server to come over and asked if the protein displayed in the pictures was "salmon." He began stating that it in-fact was salmon and proceeded to show me a piece of raw salmon from a cooler nearby. I've cooked salmon for over 5+ years I have seen the textures of cooked and raw salmon. This protein inside of the roll was not salmon, or at-least any salmon I have ever come across. He then began stating he could make new ones, and I told him it was fine that I would just eat the Mexican roll. I didn't want to go through the trouble of making more sushi, especially if what he claimed to be salmon was also just going to be in the new roll. I ate the rest of my Mexican roll and scooted the plate, (also displayed in the pictures) to the edge of the table. Once at checkout I had noticed he was charging me for the uneaten Cookeville rolls and requested to not be charged on the account that I had not eaten any of them and told him I did not want a replacement but just to take them off my bill. He began telling me I had to pay for them even though I had clearly stated I did not want them. He then proceeded to call the cops stating I was refusing to pay for my food. I wanted to pay for my two salads, and Mexican roll just not the Cookeville rolls. Once the police officer showed up, I explained the situation and he reviewed the plate of food still sitting on the booth and began asking the manager/server if there was no policy on food being sent back. The manager/server kept repeating that we must pay for the food even to the officer. I finally realized this situation was going nowhere and knew that this was wasting my own time and the officer on duty. I paid the bill and left with an apology to the officer for wasting his own time with this situation. All in all, be very careful about ordering food from this establishment because if you are unsatisfied with anything you will still be required to pay for it, or they will call the police to try to settle the bill. I was a very proud supporter of this little local restaurant but now I fear I will never return over this untasteful visit. I do apologize for the long description of the situation, but I do feel like the people of Cookeville deserve to be aware of what could also happen to them in...

Do not eat here, period!

Our family had a late lunch here and we should have adhered to the reviews on food quality. The place was also completely empty and void of customers at 2 in the afternoon. We are a family of 6: 3 adults and 3 kids. We were greeted very brusquely, handed menus at the door and told to sit. We then waited another 10min for service.

We ordered the Giesha special with chicken and steak, a chicken hibachi and chicken nuggets and fries. The hibachi dinner comes with soup, salad and your choice of rice and veggies. They did not have noodles, only rice (odd). First off, the soup had a weird taste to it and was salty. When we asked what or how ot was made, the kept waffling between chicken stock and just mushrooms. The salad was brown and the yum yum sauce on it was questionable. This should have been an indicator of what’s to come.

They told us the chicken nuggets was just chicken tjey cut up and they dip in batter and fry for the kids. Ok, no biggy, however that’s odd as most places actually have nuggets for kids as they can be picky. They bring out the food: the veggies are mostly onions with very little squash, mushrooms, broccoli or anything else. The rice had no veggies in it, other than carrots and very little egg was added.

Now, the meat… when it was brought out it looked fine. However when we started to eat: the chicken was very stringy and had a very distinct flavor like it had turned or was about to turn and like a flower 🌸 taste to it. The steak, did not taste right at all and was almost rancid. We told the kids to stop eating and we informed the cook and the waiter: the cooks reply “this is fresh, very fresh and no issues before. I’ve been cooking this a long time.”

We got up, paid and left. Now we’re watching our kids closely for food poisoning. The food quality and meat and will be reported to the Health Inspector. This is not acceptable for a place to allow this or even serve this...

My family and I visited last night for our daughters birthday. The service was terrible, and the food was over cooked. The steak was supposed to be Medium Rare, came out Med Well, the veggies were burnt and the chef was rude to my kids and wife. My 7 year old was never old happy birthday, my 4 year Olds food came out after everyone else had theirs, she ordered chicken nuggets, and my 1 year old disnt have a high chair with clips to buckle her in. The family next to is got up and left because it took more than 20 mins. to get the soup and salad. The waitress actually came back about 15 Mims after we had ordered and asked if we even wanted the soup and salad that come with our meal. Then she brought out our soft drinks. We were there for another 20 Mims before they came to cook the dinner for us. For $20 a person, I got about half the amount of rice, veggies, shrimp, and steak as the woman sitting beside me, because she had been there before and the chef remembered her. The meal she ordered was about $15. I felt cheated, unappreciated, unwanted, and as though my family and I were an inconvenience. I spent $80 before tip and got about $20 worth of good food and service. Will NEVER come here again. 1 server, 1 cook, on a Friday night at 6:30? Terrible management. Great...