Kanpai of Tokyo — Restaurant in Greenville

ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!!! WILL NOT RETURN!!! Took my fiance and children in on Friday night because the kids wanted to experience the show and atmosphere while cooking. The normal cook they've had amazing experiences with was off. But, I promised the kids we'd still eat there due to there excitement and my fiancé's guarantee of quality from their prior visits. Ordered 2 kids dinners and 2 adult ribeyes with shrimp. The cook did absolutely nothing he flamed the griddle threw 10 pounds of rice on it and vegetables with butter stirred them and threw them on the plates. No tricks or interaction with anyone. then threw kids steak, ribeyes, along with shrimp on the grill and cut steak into squares non chalantly and threw them on the plates. everyone was waiting for him to do like other cooks in there and flip the spatula, do volcanoes with the vegetables and put on an experience and show. The most impressive and only trick was the amount of food spilled between the grill and plates on the table and the speed in how fast the grill was cleaned and how quickly we all got sick to our stomachs. I ended up in the bathroom sick 3 times after a few bites then in the parking lot sick. Now my fiance asks for a manager after I paid $115 and she's telling him how horrible it was and our lack of experience and explained if we wanted $115 of our experience to be based off of only food and quality of steak with shrimp, then we would have gone to an actual steak house for the food experience and we came in for the atmosphere and for the kids to see a show put on and his response was I'm sorry for your experience and I'll talk to the cook and offered no refund or compensation. I was to sick to deal with anyone and tried calling immediately from the parking lot multiple times before leaving and received no answer. I then decided to wait until Saturday to call again. I spoke with the same guy who said he was a manager and was our hostess who spoke to my fiance. I explained i can deal with less quality food at that price because I'm paying for the experience and if i didn't want the experience i would have ordered from their small hibachi location where you just get food cooked in a kitchen then served at a cheaper price. But to receive horrible service, food, experience, and attitude for expecting to receive the experience everyone comes for and pays for. Definitely wasn't worthy of the price paid and I felt deserved a refund at the least. the manager insulted me and our experience when he reassured me that after our bad experience he spoke with the cook and server and they did a better job for everyone else that came in after us. I'm glad it cost me $115, disappointed and confused kids wondering why everyone else was getting a show with their cooks with interaction and not us, then getting sick from the food so everyone else after us could have a good experience and get what they paid for with that cook and server !!! We were only worth a half ass apology and reassurance that everyone else after us got a better experience and what they paid for at our...

We used to really enjoy eating here. Today, however, was the last day I’ll have set foot inside.

So, it’s Father’s Day. We had a reservation for 1:30 and we weren’t seated until 2:30. We had a large party with two children and two toddlers, who were amazingly patient and well behaved. We’d have left sooner, but all the kids were hanging in there and we knew it’s not really anyone’s fault about the wait - if customers hang around and talk and open presents or whatever, there’s just no available seating. That part was sort of expected, not a huge deal. It was pretty hot and stuffy in there, but we thought that was from all the people waiting so close together.

However, when we were seated in the dining area, the thermostat on the wall read 85 degrees. My sister-in-law asked (a manager?) if the A/C was broken, and she replied that it just ate Freon and she was tired of paying for it. The temperature climbed to 95 degrees in the 45 minutes that we waited for our food (we got drinks and salad in a timely fashion and the wait staff was great - so no problem there). It was ridiculously hot and the smoke from the stoves was unpleasant to breathe, but we knew it would be so much longer if we tried to all go to another restaurant. As long as the little kids were doing okay, we could tough it out because we were really hungry. We had invested so much time there already and it would be a huge hassle to try to move our large party to a different restaurant. Eventually, though, my two year old niece was soaked with sweat and after about two hours of good behavior from all the kids (ages 1, 2, 4, and 7) they began to, understandably, melt down. When the kids got upset, we finally decided to pack up and leave. Our chef arrived as were were getting our stuff together, and he understood and was apologetic. I feel bad for everyone working there - I’m sure it was that hot all over the restaurant. We overheard a party from a different room leaving because it was 103 degrees in their room. It can’t be sanitary for it to be that hot - raw meat doesn’t do well around that temperature and bacteria can begin to grow very quickly.

At the very least, a sign should be posted that their A/C isn’t working so people can make the decision ahead of time not to eat there - it’s summer in SC, so no air...

Kanpai is a great place to go with large groups. We had a party of 10 celebrating a birthday party for lunch on a Sunday. Considering the full experience, you can't beat the price! There is plenty of parking and the look of the building truly brings the Japanese theme home. I'm not sure that reservations are required, but we always make reservations. This time, we were able to make them the day before, no issues. Once your complete party arrives, they will seat you. Inside, the Japanese theme draws you in even more. Our server was Trey, who did a great job. He was very attentive to all our needs. One thing to keep in mind with Kanpia, this is not an in/out in a jiffy type place. The point is the experience. From start to finish we were 1hr and 20 minutes. In the first 30 minutes, your drinks and salad or soup are served. Our chef was running a little late and joined the party after 45 minutes. Again, we are not expecting a rush meal when we come here. I ordered Beer for my drink, Salad, Shrimp, Chicken and Scallops combination. This comes with fried rice and grilled veggies (zuchinni, onion, mushrooms). Our chef was really funny as he served us and treated us with a few tricks. Typically, they don't perform as many tricks during lunch as dinner. Everything was delicious! I also really enjoy their sauces. You can get ginger sauce, mustard sauce, shrimp sauce (creamy), teriyaki sauce, soy sauce. The mustard sauce I like best on the steak. All the other sauces will go with anything. We always have a lot of laughs during the meal and it's nice for the whole family to sit together and be able to watch a chef prepare all your food in front of you. We don't go all that often, but have gone enough to get a reward card. Once you get enough points you get $15 off your meal. This was one of those times... NICE! Typically, we always have enough food left over for supper as well. Be sure to ask for sauces to go. They will also give you a cup to take your water or soda to go. Highly...