Uchi Dallas — Restaurant in Dallas

Utterly disappointed. First off I’d like to say that I understand the value of high end cuisine and enjoy paying premium prices for great quality food and service but when it comes to this restaurant they missed the target and in fact weren’t even on paper. I had taken my girlfriend there for her birthday and we’re really excited and got all dressed up for the occasion. Since she’s a Vietnamese owner of an Asian Fusion restaurant so this is the kind of food she really loves. Once we were seated we were a little overwhelmed with the menu and so inquired about the Omakase Chefs tasting. We were asked if we liked oysters or had any food allergies and which we told our server that my gf was allergic to peanuts and perhaps other nuts so we’d like to avoid all nuts. We were told that the meal was for two and consisted of 10 courses with 6 to 8 bites each. When our first course arrived, everything was going seemingly well, it was octopus and was fairly tasty but everything went downhill starting at our second course which amounted to 4 pieces of seasoned tomato with PINE NUTS, not an 6-8 piece course. We never got oysters… Our next course was quail which had a nice flavor but slightly dry and arrived cold. We had a few corses of sashimi 1 of which had small portioned bites about half the size of of typical sashimi and two of which we’re only two bites and came out on the same tray which led us to believe the 4 bites were 1 course but we’re apparently counted as 2. We had another dish which included tuna and another fish which arrived together and were apparently also counted as two courses. By this time, I think that our server realized we weren’t impressed and assured us that our “hot course” was coming soon but when it arrived it was just cold king crab soup enough for a couple bites each. The truth is that the desert was the highlight of the meal. The worst part about it was as we looked around the room every other guest within our view was eating Wagyu, short ribs, shrimp tempura, dishes with salmon roe ect, basically everyone we could see had much better food than we did. My poor girlfriend and I left disheartened, hungry and with a feeling of being duped. We were both so upset that we cut her birthday celebration short and went home early where she satiated our lingering hunger with her own professional cuisine. As a man, taking his beloved out for her special day I was in a predicament where I couldn’t engage the situation and let them know were weren’t happy with the food and risk upsetting everyone and ruining the mood so I tried to stay up beat and positive in the moment. That predicament was compounded by the fact that we weren’t given a rundown of the courses that would be coming out (none of which it turns out we would’ve orders our selves) which caused us to stay in the situation holding out hope for a turnaround. Overall it was for the money ($523.19 including tip) the worst dinning experience either of us had ever had. I feel like this place is easily outperformed by other sushi places, Komodo Loco and RA come to mind and when compared to different types of upscale cuisine such as Eddie V’s, Hibachi, or Bistecca Italian cuisine the value just doesn’t justify the cost. It’s likely I will never go back.

Edit: we tried to call and speak with a manager after we had a chance to discuss it, but we’re told nobody...

EDIT: Megan from Uchi reached out and offered to host us at Uchi again to make up for our previous experience - I was able to chat with her in person and she was incredibly kind. Our server was so sweet and helpful, and it really made up for a previously bad experience. The food was fantastic as usual! It was clear that our previous experience was just a one off bad night for them. :)

It really pains me to write a not glowing review for Uchi. The food is fantastic, and maybe we just had a one off bad night with service. We came here for our first wedding anniversary last night and the service really bummed me out. To preface, we have been to Uchi and Uchiba before and have had great service previously. I absolutely love the Shiso Tini from Uchiba, and knew I wanted to at least see if they could make it for me at Uchi, and was completely fine if they couldn’t (I know they are super adamant about not mixing food menus between both restaurants so I knew that may be the case for the cocktail menu too.) When I asked our server if they could make the martini for me, she said they don’t share with Uchiba because of the liquor license. I was kind of confused but also thought she meant that Uchiba had specific liquors and Uchi had different ones so they couldn’t mix (similar to the food menu line of thinking I mentioned earlier.) I quickly glanced at the cocktail menu to see what I wanted instead and asked if they could add vodka to one of the mocktails on the menu because all of the cocktails had sake (I’m not a big sake drinker and I probably should’ve put 2 and 2 together at this point). She sternly told me they don’t serve liquor. It left a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth to be borderline scolded by the waitress at the beginning of our meal! The other time we’ve been to Uchi I had wine and didn’t even look at the cocktail menu, and frankly, I don’t remember the last time I went to a restaurant and they didn’t have a liquor license.

The service continued to be just kind of disjointed and awkward. We ended up ordering omakase, and we knew that because of the amount of courses, it tends to be a longer experience which was completely fine. With that being said, we would get 2-3 dishes at the same time and then wait for a while (30ish minutes) between. I think it would have been fine if the dishes were nigiri or sashimi, but it was warm dishes like the hot rock, an octopus dish, etc. that we didn’t want getting cold. I wish they would’ve just paced all of the dishes out so we didn’t get bombarded with a few all at once. At one point, the sushi chef served us a dish, we proceeded to eat about 80% of it with our chopsticks and our server then came up and said “Oh you were supposed to eat that with a spoon” when no one came around and gave us spoons for that course. I say all of this because when you spend the amount of money we spent on this meal, you expect a certain level of service. We have experienced that level of service at other restaurants like Lucia or Sister, with or without a special occasion and spending half of what we spent at Uchi. The food at Uchi deserves service that matches its caliber and we didn’t get that last night unfortunately. I’m really hoping it was just a one off experience service wise as we truly do...

As a restaurateur with a deep appreciation for exceptional dining experiences, I must express my utter disbelief and disappointment in my recent visit to Uchi's Dallas location. Having dined at all of their other establishments, I had set my expectations high. I was excited for this meal, but this visit was nothing short of a disaster. Let me save you the agony: if you cherish your experiences at Uchi elsewhere, bypass the Dallas location entirely. You will be severely let down.

To begin with, I was flabbergasted to discover that this location does not serve liquor. Yes, you read that correctly—no liquor. Only sake. The iconic cocktails that you know and love from other Uchi locations? Completely off the menu. A glaring omission and frankly, an insult to the brand's otherwise sophisticated offerings. How they thought this was an acceptable decision baffles the mind.

Now, let's address the service—or should I say, the complete absence of it. At other Uchi locations, you are pampered by attentive, knowledgeable staff who elevate the dining experience. Here, our server seemed visibly burdened by every question we asked, as if we were inconveniencing them simply by being there. And I’ve dined at Uchi numerous times, yet still found myself needing clarification on certain dishes. Imagine the plight of a first-timer who dares to ask about the menu, only to be met with this cold indifference. It was, without exaggeration, a 1/10 for service, and that’s being generous.

What was particularly appalling was the need to repeatedly ask for simple condiments like ponzu sauce. At this price point, these are basics that should come effortlessly. Instead, we were ignored, left unattended, and treated as though we were lucky to even be there. It was downright embarrassing for a restaurant of this supposed caliber.

And then, the final insult: the menu itself. Several signature dishes that Uchi is renowned for—flame-torched beef nigiri, tomato nigiri, bluefin maki—nowhere to be found. When we inquired, there was no effort to accommodate or provide alternatives. Even worse, they were out of key items like bluefin chutoro! A top-tier restaurant running out of its most prized ingredients? Unthinkable.

But the real tragedy came when the food arrived. How this location manages to serve such flavorless, uninspired dishes while sharing the same name as their counterparts is beyond me. The freshness I’ve come to expect? Nonexistent. Even the dessert—the iconic Fried Milk—was a letdown. The usually delicate, pillow-like fried milk balls were stale, lifeless, and nothing short of an insult to my taste buds.

In conclusion, this was not just a bad meal—it was a culinary catastrophe. A restaurant brand should offer consistent menus and signature dishes across all locations to maintain its identity and meet guest expectations. This ensures diners receive the same high-quality experience, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to excellence. I would advise anyone, even the most devoted Uchi fans, to stay far away from this Dallas location. If you decide to gamble on it, be prepared for utter...