Haru Ichiban Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Duluth

Waitress made a scene and DEMANDED to be tipped after bad service.

I had been coming here on and off. I go once in a blue moon since. It’s far from where I live and sometimes the food is a hit or miss. Usually the staff are very nice and service is good but today that wasn’t the case. I had arrived late to my table and was the last one to order from my group. The waitress we had would roll her eyes, make certain expressions of displeasure when I would order as if it was a big hassle to take my order. Even getting annoyed that I had called her back after she walked off when I haven’t finished ordering. I was polite and didn’t get upset when one of my dishes came out cold. I felt bad for even wanting to call her back and made sure to be extra polite. In the end I decided not to tip due to the service.

This is where it went downhill. Our original waitress didn’t come back. Instead Another older waitress had brought us our checks and after taking them back she came back and placed my receipt on the table and loudly began guilttripping me and DEMANDING a tip. She wasn’t even our original waitress. Not only was she demanding but she made a huge scene about it. Claiming I never tip when coming in and how in America tipping is REQUIRED. She began bombarding me with questions if something was wrong and that I was taking her lividly hood away by not tipping; I told her politely that I was NOT tipping because of our original waitress and that I was ESPECIALLY not tipping now after she made a scene and demanded a tip. She claimed she wasn’t demanding a tip but still placed the receipt and pen in front of me WAITING. Again I told her I wasn’t tipping and I wasn’t coming back before leaving.

I wouldn’t recommend this place solely because of this. They expect a tip even if service is bad and WILL make a scene if you don’t tip. None of the staff stepped in and watched this all go down. It’s unfortunate that they allowed this waitress to demand tips like this and...

Over the past 25 years we've been making the 60 mile trip to go to this restaurant and normally the food has been pretty good. But tonight 9/14/24, we had some type of grilled chicken shish kebab on a stick appetizer and I don't know if the chicken was sitting under a heat lamp or if they microwaved it to reheat it up but it was absolutely not fit to eat! It was dry and tougher than jerky and not being able to chew it, I actually had to leave my table to go to the bathroom to spit it out in the toilet and flush it! I can't believe they charge $8 for slop like that!

Then we ordered slightly more than a usual amount of food with the intention of boxing some of it up and bringing it home with us. When the waitress came out, she made an Inappropriate comment, maybe an attempt at humor but more like laughing at us and insinuating we were pigs, when she said "that's a lot of food!" So WHAT!! What's it matter to YOU how much food we order at your restaurant?! I'm the customer!! Is the war still on? Are we still rationing food? I wouldn't complain about how much we order because the more we order, the bigger your tip will be!

And when they brought our food out, they brought our appetizers and the main course all at the same time! Servers, you're not supposed to do that! That's the point of an appetizer! It's consumed first before you bring out the main course. I've had a couple issues in the past about their timing of how they serve the food. One time when four of us came, the server was all over the place when it came to serving our food. She bought something like one person's appetizer out and then someone else's dessert before somebody else ate their appetizer and our meals were all over the map! I was wondering if there was some type of hidden camera filming us to see our reaction as some type of for a candid TV program I'm sorry to say but I think this place is starting to go downhill. We may try OK...

Out of Many, Few Stand Out..

I don't know why it's taken so long for me to write a review of Haru Ichiban. Maybe it's because it's been our favorite restaurant for over 15 years... and I'm not sure how to express my fondness for the food and the people who work there without getting emotional. After so much time they feel like family, and I know it's impossible to be objective about the treatment we receive or even the cuts of fish we get. After all these years, the same servers and the same Itamaes are giving us the best they have.

So, I guess I'll just say this: I've been to a lot of Japanese restaurants over the years, I've eaten an obscene amount of sushi and udon from West Palm to New York City... everything from traditional buffet style to $200+ per-head omakase. This place, this humble Japanese diner, stuck out in a generic strip mall flanked by laser-tag and a postal outlet, is still in my top three Japanese restaurants--anywhere.

The service is pretty good when you're "new". After you've been going there for a while and build a mutual respect, the service is nothing short of outstanding.

For example: a several years back, Japanfest had just closed up for the day and there was line 30 people deep to the door of Ichiban and the dining room was full. They MADE a place setting so that we could eat without waiting. You don't just get that kind of service by walking in and ordering a California roll once or twice. Come to think of it, this place reminds me of the old family diners in NJ. Once you become a regular, what you get, and what the "guy off the street" gets are not quite the same.

We love you guys, and pray you can weather the...