Kabuto Japanese Steak House at Lake Norman — Restaurant in Huntersville

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE!!!! Four adults had a 6:30pm reservation. Arrived at 6:25pm. Was told by the waiter we would be seated shortly. At 6:45 the Mgr., comes over to tell us it would be a while longer. At 7:05pm we were finally seated. Let me add they have a sign hanging at the check in desk, anyone with a reservation will not wait more than 10 mins. We were seated but had to wait on three adults to leave and two more to be seated at the table before they would serve us or take our order. At 7:30 the order was taken finally after they seated two more people. My husband and I had Hibachi Chicken and my husband added Scallops to his order. My family members, one order Shrimp & Scallops and the other order Fillet Mignon and Salmon. The cook comes out reviews the paper ticket with the patrons, then begins to put the food on the hot grill. We noticed there were no scallops for our order. The cook goes back to the kitchen to get them. As he returns to the table the other party informed the cook they had scallops also. He had to return to the kitchen a second time. While my husband was eating his appetizer the waitress proceeded to pickup our plates and dipping sauce.

Fast forward to the meal being served. The beef that was supposed to be Fillet mignon was anything but that. This meat was extremely deep red purple with a white sheen. The person who ordered it asked for his wife and brother in law to try a piece of it. The meat was very Wild tasting and chewy. The chicken wasn't cooked all the way through. My sister had to get up in the middle of the meal and visit the restroom she was so sick from the food. We quickly settled our bill and left without eating our meals. No one asked if we had any issues, liked our meal or anything. As we left and were planning to go see our parents in Mooresville, we had to stop so two of us could use the restroom in an emergency situation, (if you know what i mean). The following day all of our stomachs were sour, and we had diarrhea.

Our view was of the nasty kitchen and the dishwasher with a hoodie over his head, all the dirty dish carts coming past our table.

I must say this is the worst experience any of us have ever had at any restaurant. Needless to say we will not be returning. I added this review so that others possibly do not go through this same experience. Thank you,

Dear Response Person - Your response is a joke. My party of four was ready to be seated at 6:30. The rude hostess maybe didn't tell you that, but we were there. There isn't anything you could say or do to change the fact that your restaurant is less than acceptable. Please read all the negative comments in your reviews (I wish I had read them prior to coming) and correct what is going on, if not you will fail because word of mouth is the best business you will get. WORST FOOD AND SERVICE IN...

A VERY poor experience. Sorry for the long review, but I seldom give "1" or "2" ratings and felt it deserved explaining.

We have dined here in the past and had a good meal, but tonight was different. We were celebrating our combined August Birthdays tonight so we've been looking forward to going. But while there were some good points, it was an overall disappointment.

1.) The food: My wife ordered hibachi chicken and I decided to "splurge" by ordering the 14oz "Angus Beef". It was the typical teppanyaki dinner with fried rice, noodles, veggies, etc. The rice and noodles were good. The yum-yum sauce was great as was the ginger dressing on the salad and the soup was exquisite. Then it took a turn down. The onion and zucchini was nearly raw. Conversely, the "angus" beef was supposed to be med-rare. There were maybe 1-2 bites that were cooked right, but the majority was medium-well to medium. Even worse, it was tough and chewy. This was NOT a quality piece of meat. It m a y have been flank steak ar best. To add insult, it was priced north or $38.00! However, my wife's chicken was actually decent.

2.) The Chef: While IMHO he did a decent job with the food, he seemed a bit disorganized. It started out well, but then he got in a hurry and undercooked the veggies, while overcooking the proteins. My steak was overdone and some of the mushrooms were downright burnt. Its like he was told to cook the meal as fast as possible. He even forgot the classic "alcohol onion fire volcano" until after the meal was served and the grill was cleaned - and only after a little girl from another group asked about it. This kinda explains...

3.) The service: Our wait person was very friendly and pleasant, if not a bit scattered. I had to ask for salt a couple of times and she forgot to bring my to-go beverage (though she brought my wife's). They also didn't have any large takeout containers so we had to use 4 of the small desert containers. But I think she did a good job considering it was clear she was being pressured to push us out the door as soon as the cook walked away. Before I coukd even scrape the leftovers out of the plate a bus boy was trying to take it. The waitress had brought the bill and 3 min later was asking if I "needed more time" ...with a fork and plate still my hands. She came back a few minutes later and apologized, stating that she was being pushed to get the table cleared. OK, i would understand that in a busy restaurant, but they WEREN'T. There were more than 5 empty grill tables.

The atmosphere at this restaurant has changed. Not sure where the problem lies and I hope they work it out, but we won't be back...

Place is INSANELY dirty, and massively over-priced for what it is. Grills have old food stuck in all the catch trays. Floors between and under the grills haven't been cleaned in a decade. Bathrooms were disgusting, and the smell lingers out to the lobby. They "ran out" of steak and forced everyone to have filet... Then, they charged everyone in our party of 6 extra for all the "upgrades." Chef was really good... But the waitresses paid no attention to us. Just a horrible experience all around! We've been here a couple times hoping it would improve... But, with Tsunami now gone, Nakato is about the only decent option left around here. Or, skip the chef cooking gimmick and just go to Mr Tokyo. WAY better value for your money, better service, and much better quality sushi! We've been to the other Kabuto near University and it is equally gross and over-priced.

Edited (and in response to the owner below): No, I have no interest in contacting you so you can further argue with me and berate me for telling the truth about our experience. A professional response would have been an apology, an offer to make things right, and a list of things you are doing to improve! You clearly have no idea how to run a business, and instead would just like to keep arguing with reviews in a desperate attempt to still draw in customers somehow? The restaurant was disgusting, and the bathrooms smelled and looked like they hadn't been cleaned in 10 years. You could smell them all the way out in the lobby where we sat until 8:27 for our 8pm reservation. There are many similar reviews repeatedly saying the same thing about how dirty the grills and floors are. This has nothing to do w covid! On the steak, again, your response makes it even worse! How about telling your customers before hand? How about being transparent and upfront w PRICING and not surprising them with upcharges galore because you can't properly manage your inventory and supplies? It's not our fault you ran out of your most popular entree, so why should we have to pay extra for your incompetence? Lord knows that there is enough markup in your normal prices to cover it. All your responses are doing today is reinforcing why nobody should come to your...