Helena Hokkaido Ramen & Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Helena

Didn’t even get to try the food. Was kicked out after taking an approximate 4-5 steps from the time entering the establishment, to the point of actually sitting down at a table where people were waiting for me without correctly dawning a mask that a hostess handed to me. I put the mask in front of my face and I was already at the table before I could dawn it fully since my table was right next to the hostess booth where a party of 4 of my peers were sitting, maskless. As anyone with any sense would do being as I was already at my seat at the table before I would have had the time put the straps around my ears and been up to par with your mask dawning regulation. The table was that close to the front door and hostess booth. As veteran, I completely respect this private businesses wish and decision to refuse service to anyone, including myself. After taking my seat for all of 5 seconds the manager came over to the table very aggressively, stating to me, at a very elevated tone, that when his hostess tells me to wear a mask I need to wear a mask when I’m not at my seat. To which I replied “I’m at my seat” with much calmer tone than he. His response still with an elevated tone and at a (dangerously) close distance he aggressively responded “Sir, do not argue with me or you can leave”. To which I responded: “I’m not arguing with you” which prompted him exercise his right to force me to vacate. Which I did respectfully. Now in a quiet place like this, he made a spectacle out of the situation. Which was completely unnecessary. Fine, i didn’t dawn a mask in accordance with your standard, I was wrong. I’m sure that as the manager of a noodle factory it comes with the territory and you are putting your life on the line day in and day out managing the sale of noodles and foreign cuisines. That’s why you signed up for the job. I get that some people who have had zero control over most of the aspects of their lives who get into any position of power can easily be consumed with power and obtain a false sense of authority that makes it easy for them to treat people in a disrespectful manner within the small confines that that authority is actually able to reach, in this case not very far. I just want you to understand that it’s not ok to be that aggressive towards people in that type of situation, it doesn’t matter what sort of power you may feel that you have, the one thing to ask yourself is if you were in any other situation, outside the confines of your short reach of authority, would you approach me with the same aggressive demeanor then? I highly doubt it. If it wasn’t for my respect for your very small reach of power, or let’s say you approach me with the same disrespectful outpouring of uncontrolled emotions, due to your overwhelming concern or passion for your own or others safety, in a situation where your limits of authority fail to reach, it would at that point become a personal issue between you and I. In such an event I would never allow you to speak to me as that of a petulant child throwing a tantrum. Most people wouldn’t. That is not only how I perceived you but how you were also perceived by my peers who were allowed to complete their dining experience. You embarrassed yourself and the company you represent. You also embarrassed my peers even though they were fully compliant with your mask dawning regulations. I had every intention of leaving if the dawning of my noodle factory issued mask wasn't up to par. Which is exactly what I did. I left peacefully and respectfully without objection. I’m writing this review purely based upon the lack of respectful I received as citizen and as a contributing member of L&C county, a local, a veteran, a man, but most of all as a human being. As far as the food goes I can’t rate that honestly I wasnt allowed the chance to partake in the dining experience. But according to my peers who were there that day, who consumed your product, according to them, 3 stars for the food....

Note: After 4 years this remains the restaurant with the worst food and dining experience I have ever had.

The lemonade wasn't good and tasted rotten (as customers at the table are allowed to share drinks, if they desire. Pandemic or not), the food was okay, but the server took our food to a different a table then yelled us out once they got it right. (It doesn't help when the waitresses are calling the food 2 different things). If you pay in cash you should know that they won't give non-paper change which they fail to mention and don't have posted anywhere. The cashier said "we don't have change" when I went to ask for the rest, as they brought back partial change. This was after our 2 groups of 4 were charged an 18% gratuity, each. Server was rude to our table and it wasn't appreciated.

Edit: I would like it noted that what the owner responded with is inaccurate as I did not throw the receipt at the waitress and we never made comments disparaging the military though we did mention how the Air Force has better food than the other branches. There was also no occupied table near our own for the duration of our meal, other than the 2nd table my party occupied to follow state guidelines. We NEVER had a problem with the rules as we were led to 1, 8 person, table, and only AFTER we started sitting did the waitress point out the 2nd, 4 person, table which we quickly moved to. Your quote must be fictitious as I nor did anyone in my party state that other places allowed us to fit 8 people at 1 table. We did mention we were aware that the state mandate stated no more then 6 people per table but were curious if we could fit 8 or be close together, which we thought was okay as you led us to an 8 person table. To comment on one thing the owner stated in his reply, ONLY after ordering drinks DID one of our members change tables but the waitress brought his drink directly to him. We ordered our food in the SAME seat we were in during the time it was served. It wasn't until the food came out did our servers get the food mixed up due to each dish having multiple names leading to confusion on all members, staff and guests, involved. If someone orders a dish by its name they WOULDN'T respond to taking a dish of another name, nickname or not. As for this review of a less than truthful restaurant, its purpose is to shed light on the rude customer service as well as the owner who leaves paragraph length responses berating them for negative, yet truthful reviews. It might be that this business is failing to thrive due to customer service such as this. Good luck with that. This review is as true as can be and I can't in good conscience change it based on...

My friends and I have been coming to Hokkaido for years now. We went recently and it felt like there had been a recent and drastic change.

Before, we would arrive around 5:15 and close the place out with their having delicious sushi, appetizers, and incredible, rich tasting ramen. In addition, their tap selection and willingness to pour a beverage we’d “created” (1/2 Pinkslip and 1/2 Poor Farmers) was honored and brought consistently and thoughtfully. We would order an appetizer round, a sushi round, and a ramen round. It was a place I’d recommend to any one.

Our last visit had us in and out in an hour.

We asked to be sat outside, because we know when the drinks flow, we can be louder than the normal group, we were met with “absolutely not.”

When we ordered, our server seemed more like we were an inconvenience; thankfully, the appetizers of bang bang shrimp, crab rangoons, and gyoza were good. We kept our menus and then ordered sushi, which was decent, though it’s hard to mess up a Bozeman roll, as it’s preassembled and then covered in tempura and dunked in hot oil. Our server was reluctant to leave a menu for us but we convinced him to leave one, because we still wanted ramen.

I ordered the garlic tonkatsu.

I’m from Seattle, I have a higher bar, and the thing is, one hot day does not a summer make- I came to Hokkaido because it had great service and really good food. Had. My ramen wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t hot. The rich depth of flavor is come to know and love was replaced with a mild, watered-down flavor and while the noodles were cooked, it just felt rushed and lifeless.

I was surprised- my friends noticed it too; something had really changed. The servers we had known and presence we had enjoyed were gone and had been replaced by some very green newcomers. The misses in flavor and the energy in the restaurant had clearly changed.

It was only later that I found out ownership had changed earlier in 2024. This has not been for the better. I’ll try them again when I’m back to Helena in the future, but this experience wasn’t up to the standard that Hokkaido had set in past experiences. I won’t be recommending them until I...