Osaka Sushi & Hibachi Steakhouse — Restaurant in Coon Rapids

On Saturday August 20, 2016, I met with my parents to have a dinner and catch up with them over a busy week. My fiancé made Saturday’s reservations on the previous day for 6:30 PM.

At 6:20 PM, my fiancé and I made our way over to your restaurant to check in for the 6:30 PM appointment. My parents arrived shortly after. My fiancé checked in with the person at the front desk and they said we’d be seated shortly after as the party of 4 was at full strength and ready to dine.

At 6:40 PM, the front desk became vacant as it appeared that the staff were running around to the best of their abilities. I overheard they were running a bit tight that night and thought nothing of it. More groups for later reservations began to arrive and the lobby began to resemble a cattle pen; the crowd in the lobby began to make the bread lines of the 30’s look like a group of neighbors getting together for a game bean bags on Thursday night. The gentleman came back up to the front desk and said that they were running behind and that he’d be seating the 6:30 parties shortly. Other 6:30ers made their way to the front desk to re-check in, and I did the same. The man excused himself to assist a waitress with some drinks and disappeared into the fray.

At 6:50 PM, the gentleman resumed his post and observed the hungry masses assembling around the door. He took an adjacent family of 6:30 reservationists to seat them and stated that he’d be back to seat the rest of the 6:30 parties. My family got up and waited to be seated. I went up to the desk at 7:00 PM, and stated that we were all set to be seated. He told me just a moment and waved me off. He then took a group with a 6:45 reservation, whom he’d just been talking to, and seated them.

After he came back, he saw me and looked irritated that I was approaching him. I told him that we were a 6:30 PM group. He told me to deal with it and that I’d get seated when I’d get seated. I told him that we’d been waiting for some time and he walked away before letting me finish. He then went on to seat a party set for 7:00. Feeling my stomach cave in, my family and I left and decided to treat ourselves to a different venue for our birthdays.

I get how restaurants work and I appreciate the amount of time and patience it must take to answer the needs and endless calls for soy sauce or associated condiments when running an establishment. Customers can be exhausting and incredibly demanding. I understand that it’s certainly not the end of the world if things are not running on time, however, I do care when it’s not just my time, but also my family’s time that an individual blows off. Furthermore, I do not care for rudeness. I was under the impression that a restaurant would actually want to seat patrons. My fiancé and I were set and primed to not only binge on chicken and steak, but to also aid and abet in my parents love for such food as well as sushi.

I know that Osaka of Coon Rapids is a pretty busy place, but if a party of customers makes a reservation, is it not required that the said party arrives on time and stands by ready to be seated? I believe we were in line with that general consensus of our obligation at that point. If a reserved party is ready to be seated, shouldn’t they be seated in the correct order of the queue? I am pretty sure if I ran an establishment like yours, the last thing I would want is hungry parties that made previous reservations mistakenly entering my premises with the intention of exchanging money for food. You should probably have that on your front door instead of the welcome sign. Otherwise, people might read the word ‘restaurant’ and mistakenly think they are actually welcome to eat. Going forward, I’d probably encourage your staff to work on their manners.

Oh, and fill the koi pond. Don’t do it for the long-gone fish that were probably eaten by patrons whom were never seated; do it for the people you keep waiting there for an eternity. (Humans can only go so long...

We had a 6pm reservation. We arrived and the place is in like a strip mall type area , looked a little run down. Hopeful, We went inside and got seated. Our waiter kept coming back and saying he would be right back and it took 40 mins of us waiting , he asked if we had coupons for celebrations he was really hard to understand I thought he asked me when her birthday was but he wanted to know when coupon was bought. He left and then finally came back to take orders , very rushed, told us to hurry ordering we all ordered hibachi except my sister who is vegan and he didn’t want to take her order he said hibachi orders first only but then she insisted and he rolled his eyes said ok. Based on his reaction I asked him if it’s ok to order sushi he said fine . Then he was about to leave and we had to ask him for our drinks because we had not even received water nothing at that point . Our soups and salads arrived about 20 mins after with drinks , but then another 30 min wait before our hibachi chef came, he was awesome and friendly. The food was ok. The waiter didn’t come back a single time to ask if we need napkins , more refills , nothing . I had to wave him down to ask for refills and chili sauce. By the time he brought it we were pretty much done eating. He said again is anyone celebrating I said my daughters birthday. And the lady at our table also had birthday. He at some point came back with the kabuki hat he puts it on the wrong person , played the music and then left mid song , so my daughter didn’t get a proper birthday song. He kept thinking it was my sons birthday all night . He brings the other lady at the table a pink crown birthday hat and not my daughter . We brushed it off just wanted to leave and he comes to take coupon, he leaves and then comes back to our table and starts yelling at me and saying to get up now we going to manager to talk and Im confused he tells me really loud to get up , everyone’s watching around the other tables my kids are scared, and I go to talk with manager he says I lied about my coupon , apparently you can’t use it the same day but his thick accent made me miss that part , I apologize and say I don’t mind paying full price , well he keeps going and going and I tell him to stop going on about it and that it’s ok. I mention the poor service since he wants to attack me and the lack of birthday song , he says let’s go do the song again , I’ll do again . And I decline . I stay quiet from then on cause he’s rude and doesn’t stop talking . the manager doesn’t say much he just rings me up and I go back to my table, now humiliated and wanting to cry. we leave . My daughter said this was worst birthday dinner ever, and I agree not worth 150$ . We should of gone to Benihana much better service and food...

Ok firstly, we were trying to meet up with our party at the OTHER Osaka and had gone there first. So we had a drink before realizing the error. It was very busy at the Riverdale one and the manager over here said he'd give us a discount if we drove there rather than make our group come to us. So that's how we ended up at this Osaka, which we had never gone too before.

My first comparison: the bathrooms. I went in both because we drove an hour and I gotta pee. So I got to try out both Osaka bathrooms in the same night! This one was sooooooooooooooooooo much nicer!!!!! I can't say that enough. It is dark, sparkly and clean. Very roomy, tons of space for extra people to wait if necessary. NOT AT THE RIVERDALE ONE. So much smaller and just weirdly shaped. No room to wait if necessary whatsoever. Ugh.

Second comparison: the atmosphere. This Osaka is more modern feeling with a darker lit room and more blues and grays. The Riverdale Osaka is more themed and brighter with reds and golds. Both are great depending on preference! But crowd wise?? This one was no wait, no crowd at the door, just..... Nice. It was a nice atmosphere from the moment you walk in. Loved it.

Final comparison: the staff. Riverdale was much busier but the hostess continued to walk away and did not take names or numbers or anything as we waited. The bar staff was fine but the hostess really came across as distant or... Unapproachable. Now enter "Jimmy". Jimmy, or as he chose to be called, was the manager that said he'd give us a discount if we drove to THIS Osaka despite that we had been waiting for a good while already at the Riverdale one. And Jimmy was ready for us! He sat us immediately with a very friendly, very inviting personality that was spot on for his job title and role. He nailed it from then on. He checked in regularly, make sure the food was good, apologized profusely and took the blame like a champ when the white rice came out nearly last, and finally, Jimmy went above and beyond at the very end of the evening. Not only did he honor his agreement and give us a discount but he gave us a coupon that is basically a BOGO for a hibachi dinner. Which is nuts to me. But then he asked us who's driving tonight? And then proceeded to make sure that we were drinking water or that more water be brought out. No one has cared about my safety after dinner like Jimmy did last night. No one! What a thoughtful guy! Such a nice, simple thing to ask a group after dinner! It made my whole evening a thousand times better for him to have asked that. We found out later he's not the owner, he's the manager on duty but wow. Just wow.... Jimmy you are such a delight!! Thank you for a...