Kobe' Japanese Steak House — Restaurant in Independence

Veggies, steak, shrimp, and scallops were all visibly burnt. Chicken was extremely dry. When we mentioned it to the chef he just said sorry. When we said it again he said he would make some more scallops in the kitchen. The server checked on us later and we mentioned the various burnt things to which she also just said sorry. She returned a moment later with the check and asked if we wanted boxes. When she was told no, the food is burnt she said we could go talk to the manager if we wanted to. We replied "can't she come over, that is what would typically happen in a restaurant". When she came over we pointed out examples of the burnt items, particularly the scallops (the original burnt ones, the replacements never showed up) and she responded "oh, you don't like them?" We reiterated that they were burnt and showed that they were even difficult to cut. We also mentioned the dry chicken and she argued that it is white meat chicken breast so it is always dry. The party of three were talking amongst themselves and missed this part of the discussion. They mentioned their dry chicken and she told them the same thing, word for word. She clearly has to explain their overcooked chicken a lot. She eventually said she would remove the scallops from the bill after trying to change the subject a couple of times. She then left, making sure to physically remove just the scallops from the plates before she left & take them with her, and walked away still saying under her breath that white meat chicken is always dry. Service so so, food was bad, management was terrible. Food would have been fine if they just cooked everything 5 minutes less. Soup was okay but could have used more green onion. Two final notes... First, the chef had trouble cutting the meat because his knife was so dull. Second, the salad was drenched in dressing tho the point that each bowl had a puddle in the bottom after it was eaten. If you eat here be sure to ask for it on the side. We won't need to since we will never...

This was my first time at Kobe, but my 4th hibachi restaurant. The gold standard, as far as I'm concerned, was Denver's Gasho of Japan, which closed its last location (an amazing, old-fashioned, Japanese farmhouse building) many years ago and is still missed. I haven't found one to compare to it, yet, but Kobe is still good and worth a visit, though I will probably try another place next time I want hibachi. Here are some pros and cons:

CONS: A reservation can still mean a wait. We waited about a half-hour to be seated, despite a reservation made days earlier. The waiting area was VERY crowded, tight, and uncomfortable. On a nice day people would have stood outside, but this day was too cold. Very early or very late reservations are my suggestion; ours was at the height of a Saturday dinner hour. The table we ended up at was in a chilly part of the restaurant; you may need a sweater. I don't think the salad and soup were any more Japanese than I am, and the salad was drowning in what seemed to be a ranch dressing (at least mine was). Tasty, but not what I signed up for. Very noisy, crowded dining room. Other restaurants I have been to have soothing partitions that break up the space.

PROS: The chef was cheerful and fun. I've seen showier hibachi cooking skills, but we enjoyed this one anyway. Huge portions of food--you definitely get your money's worth! The teriyaki chicken had a delicious sauce, and everyone in my party seemed to enjoy all their food. We were mercifully seated in a far wing of the dining room, which was in view of but separate from the rest of the crowd. It was chilly until the grill got going, but it was much more pleasant over there. I'm not a sushi person, but if you like it, there is a separate sushi side with less wait and crowd, which is a nice perk to this restaurant. We had a birthday boy in our party, and the chef made him feel special with a fun...

Took my family here for my daughter’s 7th birthday because she loves sushi and I thought the hibachi experience would add a fun twist she’d never had before. Unfortunately, from the moment we walked in, the experience went downhill.

Six of our 8-person party arrived a few minutes early for our reservation, waiting on the last two to join us. Immediately, an older man at the front desk (manager, I assume) told me he’d refrigerate our cake but made it clear we were not allowed to consume it in the restaurant. At first, I thought maybe this was due to quick table turnover, but the way it was delivered set a negative tone. We were then told—rather rudely—to move out of the waiting area, and while we waited, we were hovered over uncomfortably.

When our full party finally arrived, there still wasn’t a table ready. No big deal, but the staff seemed unorganized—first starting to seat us at one grill, then changing their minds and moving us elsewhere. Once seated, service was noticeably slow.

We ordered hibachi all around, along with several rolls of sushi. The hibachi show was decent, but the food itself was underwhelming—bland, a little overcooked, and overall not worth the high cost. Drinks were capped at 3 per person, which felt unnecessary, especially since our group was just there to enjoy a birthday dinner.

The final straw was after dinner. We asked for our cake so we could celebrate my daughter’s birthday. Not only did they refuse to let us eat it inside, but they wouldn’t even bring it to our table—we had to pick it up at the door on our way out. By that point it was nearly 9 PM, there were no other parties waiting, and we had already spent several hundred dollars on food and drinks.

Needless to say, I will not be back. For the cost, the food was mediocre, the service was unfriendly, and they flat-out refused to allow us to celebrate my daughter’s...