Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse — Restaurant in Copley Township

Healthy options, upscale, and a romantic atmosphere. This is what I thought I’d be enjoying on my Saturday night as my friend ask his now fiancée to marry him. However, I had no idea what an impact this night would have in my life as well. I decided to order the chicken and shrimp teriyaki off of the sushi menu because I was not that hungry. My daughter who is 10 years old ordered off the kids menu. The restaurant messed up two orders within our large party of 20 plus people. As an understanding individual I waited patiently to speak with someone about my order which was $16 (this is not including the gratuity) over priced. By the time the manager began speaking with me his patients was extremely short and he began yelling at me and even going as far as walking into my personal space and yelling at me in front of numerous customers with their families, friends, and I also noticed there were birthday parties taking place. The manager stated he’d fix half of the error on my bill and he never want to see my face again. He said that several times during our conversation. As a person who work in customer service I understand some situations can be difficult; however, your job is to fix them to the best of your ability. I expressed to the man I ordered the shrimp and chicken teriyaki entree off of the sushi menu and they gave me the chicken and shrimp hibachi instead and told me to pay for it because I didn’t tell them it wasn’t the right order. To make this clear I am not a fan of hibachi food which is why I decided to order something else. I was wondering why the food seemed similar but I assumed that this was just how they make it. Honestly, I myself am a steak house kind of gal and I would’ve known the difference between a porterhouse and a T-bone steak. But being that hibachi is not my forte this is the reason why I had no clue what the difference was with what I ordered and what I was given. The waiter previously told me he wouldn’t and if there was a problem he was going to call the police. Now that I think about it I should have called them when he made that statement but I wasn’t trying to cause a bigger commotion than what has already taken place. At this moment I am now recording our conversation because I am nervous and feeling like I am in a hostile environment. The manager goes on to stat that poor people shouldn’t go out to eat if they can’t afford it and continuously say that several times. I told him to speak up so everyone in the lobby including customers can hear him degrade me. I told him I didn’t eat the food because there was several items I honestly don’t eat but I packed it up for my daughter. I also have pictures of my compacted container of food. Again, I am not a fan of hibachi food. I told the manager I would leave the rice just give me something to separate the food and take this off my bill because I never ordered nor did I want it. Again, he began to laugh at me and say poor people shouldn’t go out to eat if they can’t afford it. I work at an elementary school as an enrollment specialist. I am not rich by all means; however, I can afford my meals that I request. While he is fixing my order he is degrading me and at this moment I am telling him I feel uncomfortable and this is an hostile environment. After I stated my concern he says to me “you better pay your bill”. I would never leave without paying which is why I was still standing there. I go on to pay my bill and he stat “leave the rice” I told him “would you like me to leave it here” (on the counter was a bowl I was referring to) so he stated “ if you leave it there, I will make you pay the cleaning bill you bitch” he then storms off. After again being antagonize by another employee while waiting on my receipt I then asked my friend who came back in from putting our children in the car to call the police. I have a video of all of this please email me if you’d like a copy. I have never written a review before, but I know this story need to be heard. I have never felt so degraded at a...

I made a reservation for 8 people for New Year’s Eve about a month prior to the day. Unfortunately, a week before New Year’s Eve one of my friends found out that she had to work an hour later. I called to see if there was any way to move the reservation from 6pm to 7pm; the manager Paul told me I could not and that I was “lucky to even have a reservation during the prime time”. I said I would just keep the reservation as it was and he replied that it was “a good idea”. This manager was rather rude and condescending but I decided I would try and make the best of things.

The next day my mom suggested I call back and see if there had been any cancelations so I did. When the woman on the phone told me there had not been I asked if she could take my number and call me if there was a cancelation. She put me on hold for a moment and came back to let me know she spoke to the manager there (a woman this time) and this manager was able to get us in at 7pm. I thanked her profusely and took the reservation.

Come the day of New Year’s Eve, my fiancé and I left for the restaurant when I realized I left my phone at home so I had to take the back way that I knew to get to the restaurant. This caused us to arrive at 7:04pm, 4 minutes late; however, the other six people in our party were already there. We walk in and my sister-in-law tells me that the manager Paul had threatened to give away our reservation because of this! They would not even sit the other six people of our party until we got there! I could not believe the audacity that Paul was threatening to give away our reservation when we were only 4 minutes late while the majority of our party was there!

So, we get seated and try not to let this ruin our night. The chef was entertaining and the waiter was polite. We did have several issues with the food. The chicken half of us ordered was extremely dry and tough; no amount of yum-yum sauce could make up for this. My fiancé had ordered steamed rice but they gave him the fried rice instead; we waited for the waiter to come back to have this fixed but it took him too long and so my fiancé just dealt with it. Finally, the lobster tails that came with my parents’ meals were quite obviously not fresh but frozen and tasted fishy. For the amount that dinner here costs the food should be fresh and never frozen.

This experience was simply abysmal. Sadly, Wasabi has lost the business of 8 people because of this. I hope they take this as an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and retrain their manager Paul to be more customer-oriented. If we want to experience a Hibachi in the future, we will take our...

Let me start by staying the food, the chef, and the servers were good and polite at the Wasabi in Fairlawn/Montrose. But I will not return to this restaurant for the very reasons that other reviewers giving low ratings stated - rude hostess staff and long wait time even though we had a reservation. I have a big thing about customer service and maintaining your people face, even when you don't want to.

The short blond at the front and most especially the tall thin dark haired hostess in the front were so unprofessional. If they worked for me, they would be fired or facing discipline at the very least. After arriving for a 3pm reservation for 15-20 ppl, we were told we could not be seated until there were atleast 15 ppl present. Ok, fair. When we clearly we had 15-20 ppl present, we were told that they were unable to tell us when we would be seated because they did not have enough servers. They have a large back room that I have been seated in before that seats well over 20 ppl and when asked about being seated in the large room, the short hostess said she didn't know if the room could fit 15. Finally, at 4p, we were told we would be seated in the large room. I went back to the tall hostess to tell her that we would need an additional table due to the amount of guests and there were a few more coming in. She did not attempt to hide her irritation and blatently rolled her eyes and started walking away from me, saying she had to talk to the manager. When I asked her if it was a problem because she clearly rolled her eyes, she continued walking, muttering about the size of the party. I told her we had a reservation. She snapped "Yeah, for 15." My reply was that they weren't even prepared for the 15-20 we originally planned for. Again I asked her if it was going to be a problem and she huffed off to the manager without even acknowledging me. Sam, the mgr, was quite nice and accommodating, he said he would handle our party for the night and he did. Even though the 2 birthday guests of honor did not get ice cream or sparklers or anything, he helped out with everything else with a smile on his face. I asked who is the corporate owner and Sam said he was the person to talk to and he also declined to provide the rudest hostess's name.

If someone knows how to contact corporate, I would love to have their info. I am certain our party spent $500 or more. We certainly could have taken our money elsewhere and from this...