Kintaro — Restaurant in Fairview Park

Yesterday was the last time we will ever go for All You Can Eat Sushi. In the past, we have had sub-par experiences, but never has the food quality been so poor. Every single roll we ordered was packed full of panko as filler. Every version of "spicy X" is no longer a blended fish. It's maybe 20% fish and 80% panko - literally just enough fish to color the panko. Of the 7 rolls we ordered, only 2 of them had whole pieces of raw fish on or in them.

The atmosphere yesterday was horrendous. The temperature in the restaurant was barely 65°F, even in the far back of the dining room. The restroom was so cold my wife had to come back to the table to get her coat just to be able to pee. They do not sell hot drinks, so there was nothing we could order to warm up. The only TV in the restaurant was showing an asbestos class-action suit commercial on repeat, and no music could be heard anywhere. It's as though they are trying to make their customers as uncomfortable as possible.

Previously, we would order drinks with our meal, but that stopped when I received a French Martini with no Chambord in it. (A French Martini has THREE INGREDIENTS, and they managed to forget one.) You are not even allowed to sit at the bar, it's just a fancy prep area for the sushi "chefs." I did not bother complaining any of these times because we have never had a waitress who speaks English well enough to understand our complaints.

The service is otherwise terrible. In all the times we have been, not a single time has someone checked to see how our food was, cleared plates as they were emptied, cleared ANY other trash from the table before we left, or done anything besides refill your drink without asking before taking your cup and walking away (that's right, they won't even bring you a fresh cup, probably because they know they won't clear the previous cups until you leave your table). Never has a manager come by to see how our experience was.

Finally, they do not accept the coupons they regularly send out in the ValPak mailers. We receive them EVERY MONTH, and finally this time I remembered to bring it with us only to be told the coupon only applies to certain locations even though it does not say that ANYWHERE on the coupon itself. Once again, it was impossible to explain this to the waitress or even ask her for the manager because she did not speak English well enough to understand me.

Dinner is overpriced. It MIGHT be worth it to go for lunch and only order basic rolls that only come with actual fish in them, but at the dinner price there is no way I can justify paying for rolls filled with mostly panko when I could get the same amount of sushi with 100% better quality just down the street for $20 more in total. If you know what good sushi is and that is what you expect, don't waste your...

Here are my thoughts and I have few. I had not been to a hibachi place in a long time, never in Ohio. So on a whim my husband suggested this place.

Upon entering it seemed as if the hosts where um, rough and dry and I mean in personality. But after advising that this is our first time she stated that there was an all you can eat and an a la carte options. We choose the all you can eat but then they drill in your head that there will be additional charges for the excess food or something. Now I can somewhat get this since it's all you can eat and not you eat all store restaurant. Quite frankly we're not those types of people anyways. You get that sense of intimidation even before you hit the dining room. But we proceeded with caution.

We ordered what we could eat. Mind you I have a foodie of a 6 year old who enjoys almost every type of food. She did pretty good however did have some left over. I do not like being wasteful so when we went to pay, asked for a takeout box for her leftovers. Waiter stated that he would need to call manager and immediately without taking a breath, grabbed his walkie and requested for her. Both myself and my husband where looking at each other in confusion.

So, YOU CANNOT TAKE YOUR LEFTOVERS HOME! I do not like this option since it just doesn't feel right being so wasteful. You need to pay for that or some other charge....idk. We were just so confused. So her plate was about $10.99 for the all you can eat. In order for us to take her leftovers home, she suggested the a la carte which was $7.99 and would give us the take home box. Ummm.... whatever!

The food. It wasn't bad. It was good at the time. We didn't over stuff ourselves but afterwards not so hot.

Now the day before we had been at Angelo's in Lakewood and the food was amazing! Had told my husband that I was weird having pizza that was not greasy and didn't feel fat nor sluggish. After having this hibachi we almost kind of regreted it. We all felt super sluggish, bloated, heavy. Even my 6 year old was laying down in the car looking somewhat food drunk and not in a good way. 🙃 My husband suggested we all need to workout and did a 4 mile bike run to burn whatever that was out our system.

Finally, can't say I'll be back. It wasn't cut out for us. As mentioned before, if you have never been here, kind of takes the joy of dining at this place. Not sure if it's culture but a lil smile won't hurt. The look of being annoyed if you did all another question was noticed in their expression. We enjoy food but not at cost of feeling, well, ugh!But at the moment the food was good and that's all I really took from it. Remember don't ask for a take home box. The cons outweigh the pros...

I’ve been to kintaro about 200 times and that is not an exaggeration . I eat here anytime I’m craving sushi and I’ve spent birthdays, celebration dinners and other important events here. I’ve been to every one and they all know me and are generally very kind and nice to me. This one in particular used to be my absolute favorite because the sushi was always fresh and I never had a complaint.

Costumer service is not the best here…

Two days ago I went it (I go by myself sometimes when I’m feeling depressed or having a bad day) and ordered the same thing I always get. Unfortunately my sushi came out with old avocado and while eating one piece out of my role the sushi was mushy and basically just exploded in my mouth. It was completely unappetizing and made me literally gag. I debated on saying something because I knew it’d be a problem, but because the other rolls I had were filled with brown avocado and had similar bad texture and taste, I said something and assumed that they’d understand if I explained. I would’ve been satisfied if they replaced my order, or just remade my rolls, but the manager who was HIGHLY disrespectful and rude, Immediately came up to my table and insisted that I was making it up and said the sushi looked fine. I suggested he try it, was very calm and told him I wasn’t looking to argue or make a scene. He told me I was going to pay for wasting the food and that if I didn’t he’d call the police on me, so I picked up the phone and dialed 911 myself letting him know he was not going to force me to pay for unappetizing food and also threaten to call the police on me. He also said I was not made to eat sushi and that I was embarrassing myself. I let him know it was embarrassing that he was trying to force me to consume sushi that was bad and nasty, based on an assumption that I ordered more than I could handle. Now I’m not really one to get upset in public places but why is it that everytime a black person has a problem with service or just disrespectful actions towards them and they address it that they’re considered “bad?”

I was shocked that as a paying customer who literally spends a lot and goes there often, tips well, and always brings extra business, was verbally attacked and threatened all because my sushi was not up to par. The kintaro on vine street would never in a milli treat me this poorly.

I will legit never go here, and I suggest if you want good sushi and hotpot, go to another location, preferably the one on vine street because this location is legit for the birds and has the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced and I myself work in costumer service. The manager can straight go seek counseling and God because he was...