Sake Express — Restaurant in Gastonia

Alright. Let me start out by saying I was not impressed by the simple and basic set up for the indoor dining experience. However, the knowledgeable and friendly host/cashier was very encouraging and made me want to stay. Additionally, there is an opportunity for a nice rewards program. Overall decent experience for a fast-food spot with a Japanese theme. 8/10.

It is NOT a traditional Japanese Steakhouse with a Hibachi grill. All the cooking is done in the kitchen as opposed to right in front of you at a classic Hibachi grill.

In addition, I ordered the steak and shrimp combo plate totalling just shy of $11.00. Soup and salad are add ons unlike traditional Hibachi/Japanese Steakhouse style dining. Pricing = 9/10.

I was slightly unimpressed that me and my best friend's food arrived to our table in under 10 minutes, yes under 10 minutes. I was later reminded that they are drive through service which helps clarify my confusion behind speed of service and questioning the quality because of this. They literally brought out our drinks, our salads, soups, cheesecake and combo meals all at once. Inspite of my critiques, good experience overall. Probably wouldn't come back if I find the food still tastes like plastic from a water bottle.

UP'S: -Our server was an absolute doll. Very fast, focused, attentive and had a nice smile. I noticed the other servers on staff that night were the same way. This is encouraging. Though slightly distant and ready to get the heck outta here and go home to watch Netflix. -My steak was cooked to perfection, medium. Cooking steak properly is not an easy task. 10/10 for me. -Chicken was amazing. -Sweet tea brewed absolutely fresh. It was amazing as well as my lemonade. Not overly sweet or tart. -Philadelphia Cream Cheese cake was so wonderful. I almost gave birth to baby cheese cake right there. My goodness. Yes Lord. So good.

DOWN'S: -Nearly everything on my plate, aside from the beef, mushroom and carrots, tasted like plastic. Utter miss. The shrimp, brown rice and broccoli all taste delicious as far as seasoning and were cooked well. It was just unfortunate that it all had an overpowering and odd taste of plastic. Like constantly refilling a water bottle and tasting the plastic in it over time. -Food came out too fast. I like to enjoy my dining experience. One thing at a time, slow and easy....

On Saturday 4/12/14 I took my sister (her first time, my second time) to Sake Express.Having just discovered Sake Express in Belmont a week before I was excited to take my sister who has nursed me back to health for weeks on what wast to be the best meal I ever bought for her!(Well, so I thought)!The week before my experience at the Belmont location was so overwhelmingly good, I ranted and raved about it on facebook for days.When my sister came from SC I didnt even want to tell her where we were going or what her meal was going to be.(I was going to order the very same thing I had before)Filet with scallops and mixed vegetables) $20.00 each.I told my sister"Go get a both, I'll order)I gave my order to a very nice young girl who was in training and supervised while she took my order. I had her repeat it so I knew it would be correct and she did.A few minutes later our plates arrived and my heart sunk! Neither of us can eat rice and that is EXACTLY what they sent us.I politely explained it tp the waitress and explained "If they just scrape the rice off and cook new veggies, then all the Au Jus(those excellent pan juices" would be lost and the steak would be cold and dry" She said "Oh no sir I'll tell them to redo it all' A little while later here came our plates.Hot delicious veggies and cold steak and scallops that were bone dry.Cause they didnt start over. I asked to speak to the Mgr. and calmly expressed to her this entire event just as as I've written it here.Her "remedy" was a "free desert" I said "No, we don"t eat deserts" I said "Why not give us what we ordered at the price we paid and give me a break on the cost of a "California plater to go"?(a $5.99 cent value) She sais"Oh no, I can't change the price of sushi thats not allowed" I said well I've purchased$40.00 worth of food that does not meet your own standards, so you need to do something"She said "I''ll be back" a bit later she returned and said"This is the best I can do,heres a $10.00 gift certificate you can use at any of our locations if you don't want to come back here" And I said "So your just reducing the cost by $5.00 a meal on 2 meals?" She said "Sorry sir, have a nice...

READ BEFORE LEAVING TIP AT REGISTER! 1st let me start this by saying I am in love with the food and service provided to me over the numerous trips I've made here over the years but I just witnessed something at Sake on Franklin Blvd that upset me. There is a jar at the cash register that reads, Tips Appreciated! Considering its the holiday season and a Friday night, the jar was extremely full of money. My husband and I were going to leave a nice tip until I asked which person would be receiving the tip because I wanted to make sure the person who took our order would the receive the money. Much to our surprise we learned the cashiers DO NOT RECEIVE ONE DIME! THEY ARE REQUIRED BY THE OWNERS TO PUT THE TIP MONEY IN THE DRAWER AT THE END OF EACH NIGHT! HOW LUDICROUS IS THAT! The jar specifically states Tips Appreciated but they DO NOT tell you the the cashiers don't get any of the tip that you leave for them. So I just felt like people need to know that this so-called "Tip jar" IS NOT TIPS FOR THE HARD WORKING EMPLOYEES BUT TIPS...