Kobe Teppan & Sushi — Restaurant in Live Oak

If I had done this post two weeks ago, they would have received five stars. I'd only been when the place is less crowded and the food is always delicious and the service is great. I take every single one of my friends that comes in from out of town to this place and they have all loved it too.

But since we are now fully vaccinated against covid, my family and I decided to go on a Saturday night. It was very full but since we had a new friend that had never tried it, we decided it was worth the wait. My daughter is celiac and she has very limited things that she can order. She ordered a roll and when it came it was panko breaded and fried which was not noted on the menu. She had also ordered some sashimi and one other item that I can't remember. The waitress very kindly took the roll away and said they could make it without the breading and frying. My daughter had not received any of her other items nor had my husband nor my friend received their stir fries when last call was made. We did not order anything else because we knew when we got our other items we would be satisfied. My daughter's roll was served and I asked about the other things. The waitress came back and said the manager said we could not have the items because it was past last call. I asked her to check again because we had ordered them well before last call or to at least lower the price of my daughter's meal to that of a single roll since that's all she was served. The waitress came back in tears and said we could not have the remainder of our food and that she, herself, would pay for my daughter's meal. Now, they were slammed that night and I can understand mistakes being made. This young waitress had worked her butt off trying to serve all of her tables, and while she made a mistake of not noticing the back of our order sheets, it was understandable because she was so very busy. Of course we would not allow that and we actually tipped her more than 20% because she'd work so hard. But I think it was a terrible call by the manager. They had made plenty of money that night and it would not have hurt them to lower the price of our bill in the spirit of goodwill. We didn't even ask for the meal to be comped, just to be fair. And honestly, the hibachi grills were still working and the sushi chefs were still working. It was still 30 minutes before the official closing time, so I don't understand why we couldn't just be served the food that we had ordered well before last call.

So, while I still encourage you to go to Kobe, my advice is to go at a time when it's not busy. And if you are celiac, ask about the menu items and don't just trust what the written description is.

And I will probably raise my my stars in a few weeks when I cool off. I've never left anything less than 4 stars to any business because I try to be positive, but our feelings were really hurt by a business we trusted...

Group of 5. 3 adults. 1 teen. 1 small child. We were seated within 5 min even on a busy saturday night. Staff was friendly. They didnt rush anybody. Moved empty plates quickly. Refills on drinks at the halfway mark. Offered 2nd alcoholic beverage at the halfway mark. Joked with friend about the allergy. Kept asking if he wanted shrimp playfully. No malice detected. Onion soup was pleasant. Ginger dressing on the salad is made in house. Rice was well seasoned. And a wonderful mix of partly carmalized soy sauce coated rice and soft fried rice. My mai tai was deliscious. The kids enjoyed everything they had. My friend with the allergy was pleasantly surprised that no attitude was given for his accomadations. My other friend enjoyed everything he ordered.

Negative thoughts The veggies were a smaller portion than im accustomed to. Sometimes i forget how full of negativity the world can be. Part of that atmosphere is strangers which can go really well. In theory everyone is there to have a good time and to be kind and considerate of others. So typically this is a non-issue. If you can mingle in the waiting room and request to sit with like minded folk do that.

Our experience was hindered by another party who started their complaint train from the first cracked egg. It was upsetting that our friends first hibachi experience was riddled by someone that clearly should of been at home preparing their own perfectly manicured meal. If you get one of these at your table do your best not to hop on that bandwagon. That person tried to get everyone else in on their complaints. They appeared to be upset that we did not agree with them. Hey to each their own and misery loves company, Unfortunately they weren't getting ours. We still enjoyed ourselves. It just would of been a better experience if we didnt have to listen to that person the whole time. We will be sure to fill the...

We really wanted to like this place. We went one time and it was great (hence the 2 stars), but the past 2x we have tried to go have been a HUGE disappointment.

The first time we called when we were 2 minutes away and asked if they had tables. We were told that yes they did. We arrived, unloaded the kids, walked in and they told us there was a 40 minute wait. We actually thought the hostess was joking because we had just talked to her two minutes prior. Ok so maybe there was a misunderstanding, but we couldn't wait 40 minutes with 2 hungry kids so we went elsewhere.

The second time was today (and with more family), and we will never go back again. We called (6:30 pm) before going and we wanted to make a reservation. My husband asked if they had anything for 7:30 pm (we were trying to avoid any miscommunication by calling ahead), and they told us we didn't need a reservation and to go ahead and come in. My husband said that we would be there at 7 pm and they said they would have a table ready for us. When we arrived the hostess told us the next available was 8:30 pm, 1.5 hours! We had just spoken to them 30 minutes prior to arriving. And yes, we arrived exactly at 7 pm. Also, the second time it was a DIFFERENT hostess, not the same as the previous time.

I feel like we are talking to people who don't know how the restaurant operates. Don't take your kids if you cannot wait, because they will tell you what you want to hear just to get you in the door. The fact that it was two different hostesses that misinformed us BOTH times either shows incompetence or that they are told to just get people in the door.

Needless to say we will never go back. We like the food, but the disorganization is...