Kona Grill - Cincinnati — Restaurant in Liberty Township

I was hoping to speak with someone regarding my experience at your establishment located in Cincinnati Ohio on 02/14/25. Which was expected to be a great night out to enjoy our date night turn into the worst experience ever. To start I had already scheduled reservations for this specific night. We arrive a little early but nothing to major. But when granted told it would be about a 45min to hour wait. I was then told if we’d like we could sit at the bar it was full service. So seeing as we drive about 30mins from our hotel we went ahead and sat at the bar. Took swole to even get our first drink after finally getting the servers attention we ordered a drink and then was awhile again before we were able to even place a food order. After finally getting a food order placed 5 mins or so go by and the server days would you like another drink because we are about to close to remind you we just put in our food order not even 5 mins ago but bite she’s saying she can take our final drink order and ID advising us to go ahead and pay our bill. So at this point I’m completely confused on why I’m paying for food haven’t even had an appetizer brought out, still working on on first drink but being advised to post my bill ahead of everything. Why would a place in which you made reservations for be rushing me to pay and I haven’t gotten anything? The glasses were completely dirty and sticky in which the bar drinks came in. I paid over $100 for food I hadn’t even yet seen or tasted. I wasn’t able to enjoy my drink while i ate due to we waited nearly two hrs before our food finally came out in which at this point the food was dropped off not by our server and we were not approached again by anyone from the staff. To start with the food. We ordered dumplings as an appetizer that ended up coming with the food which was 2 hrs after we arrived, they were completely cold as if they were just sitting the whole time, my fiancée ordered the steakhouse burger in which she ended up with a basic plain cheeseburger no condiments out anything, the steakhouse burger alone I’d $27 not $9.99 completely wrong. The French fries were hard for the most part. I order the wagyu steak fried rice which has barely any meat in it to the point i picked through it with the h fork and nearly any piece o found was like fat piece no actual meat. I say all this to go back to note understanding the rush to have us pay, they served us absolutely crap in which we already paid for it no one was going to follow up to see how everything tasted even before we left we noticed our server standing towards the back never made any edgier to police about the service ask about the good or anything. I’m highly disappointed as Kona is typically one of our favorite places in our home city. We figured it would of been a great place to enjoy our night out of town which turn into a complete disaster. It’s so much more I want to say in further detail. Food 1 star bc we know the Kona Columbus has as well been great experiences vs this one Service 1 star bc literally there was barely any that made the occasion pleasant and atmosphere 2 star simply bc you can tell everyone around seemed to be having the same type of experience. To remind you we were from out of town made reservations ahead of time drive over 30 mins from our hotel and was on time for the reservation to not even be served food for over two hrs after our reservation and the wrong and also cold food. Smh I’m...

I was holding back tears by the time we left. My mother flew into town and my daughter graduated college, so we wanted a special dinner to celebrate graduations and mother day. We had a reservation for 245 and were not sat for 20 minutes. Once we did get sat, the server was upfront with us that the kitchen was falling behind, and that food was taking about an hour and appetizers were taking 30 minutes, and gave us the option to leave. By this point, a half an hour had passed, and my son had to leave in an hour for a performance he was in. We decided it was too late to try to get in anywhere else, and that we’d stay and he could eat appetizers with us at least. We put in all our food at once. The three appetizers came out at varying times, with the first coming out 35 minutes after ordered and the last being an hour wait. We felt horribly for the staff. They were taking the brunt of everything. There weren’t managers greeting tables and apologizing, so servers were being berated. Managers only appeared when requested or flagged down. After an hour and a half, we overheard servers telling new people being sat that food was taking about 2 hours now, which we had not been informed. We also noticed other tables were starting to leave before their food was served. We eventually flagged down a manager after 2 hours as she was on her way back from another table, and asked her honestly how long she thought our food would be. She came back and said approximately 30 minutes or so. Our server told there were 4 tickets still ahead of us. So we asked for our check and left. We received no comps on our order, which I don’t expect, but know other tables did receive after reading reviews. We left at 515 and went to a fast food joint instead. As horrible as I felt, holding back tears, I really feel worse for the servers. They were facing the absolute brunt of everything. My server was on top of things and trying her best. There was no visible support on the floor from management, no one apologizing to tables to take blame away from servers, and so many tables were leaving without their food. We, for starters, took up a table in her section for two hours, and had a significantly smaller bill compared to what it would’ve been with food included. We tipped referring to the total bill including food, but I know many other probably did not. I hope the management gave these workers something to make this shift worth it for them, because when you work for tips, this little “mess up” that you have no control over can destroy your entire night. Especially when you pay into a tip pool. Also: tables were still being sat AND reservations were still being offered online!!! I am so...

We went here on the weekend, Saturday to be specific so granted they are busy. We walk in around 8-8:15pm and are told we will have to wait an hour. We saw plenty of indoor and outdoor seating but their kitchen was backed up. The hostesses were rude acted like we were a chore to assist when all we did was say we wanted a table. Our friend made a comment about sorry for coming in so late and then the brunette hostess snapped at him saying "We close at 11pm" we wondered why they seemed so bothered about us being there if they closed in 3 hours . After 45 minutes our friend put in a reservation online for 9pm to see if that would help us gain a table. A girl with highlights called over a short blonde server and very clearly and loudly said "do you want to take this table? You don't have to if you don't want to." And pointed at us I thought that was super rude and made us feel like they didnt want us there. The first hostess got very upset seeing we put in a reservation. A blonde hostess sat us outside even though we said we prefer inside they claimed we would have to wait longer then maybe another half hour. I still have bugbites and the seats were uncomfortable. They sat us next to a play area where kids were screaming and the music of the restaurant and kids bop dj were clashing. We ordered everything at once because we just wanted to get the hell out of there. They put bacon in my friends food he doesn't eat pork and told the server this so that had to be fixed. Our other friend didn't get his food until our dessert came out even though he and my husband both ordered the same thing. This place is mediocre food for way way too much. Their sides (Bok choy, brussel sprouts and rice ) were nasty. The bok choy was like rubber and the brussle sprouts just tasted like they were brined in soy and vinegar. They gave us a puny slice of frozen tasting pumpkin pie that cost $17. (Think Frisch's but dry) We had 5 of us and 2 of us was a $200 check with tip. The ONLY reason they get 2 stars instead of 1 is because the fish and sushi was good and the server wasn't THAT rude but he seemed passive aggressive. The chicken was dry and tasteless rice was hard and nasty. Just don't waste your time money or efforts at this place. I would have talked to the manager but he was occupied with another table who also had complaints about their experience. We will never give this place our...