Shogun — Restaurant in Louisiana

My boyfriend and I decided to go to this hibachi restaurant on a whim only to discover how discriminatory they were. We were the first two people to be set at a hibachi table. We placed our order and receive our first dish which was soup. Later a Caucasian couple came in with their two daughters who were set at the same table next to my boyfriend and I. After they order their food, we realized that we had not received our salads yet. When our server returned to the table to give the Caucasian group their soups, my boyfriend asked the server about our salads. She was very short with him and said it’s coming. My boyfriend and I had to wait until the Caucasian group was finished eating their soup before the server brought all the salads for everyone at the table. When the chef arrived, he greeted the Caucasian group. He did not greet me and my boyfriend. He didn't even acknowledge us until he reviewed our order. Then he made crass jokes that was extremely offensive to my boyfriend and I. Once the chef started cooking, he gave larger portions to the Caucasian group. Me and my boyfriend were at the table first but the chef prepared the Caucasian group’s meals first. I watched him skip over our food on his cart and go all the way to the bottom of his cart to grab the food and cook it for the Caucasian group. He cooked our meal after he was done with theirs. We had white rice with our order but the server never brought it to us until I mention it to the chef and he told her to bring it to me and my boyfriend. After the chef finished cooking the fried rice for the Caucasian group, he boxed the remaining fried rice portion in a to go box and placed it beside the Caucasian man. After he finished cooking the shrimp I ordered (dead last) he placed the remaining shrimp on the Caucasian woman and the Caucasian mans plate. He did not give it to me and I ordered shrimp. They ordered steak and chicken, not shrimp. After we were done eating the server asked did anyone need a to go box. I said, "yes" and the Caucasian woman said "yes." When the server returned she gave me the to go box but then she looked at the Caucasian woman next to me and said, “ ma'am, would you like me to box that for you?” The Caucasian woman said, "yes." The server did not ask me that. I did not get that option but the Caucasian woman did. Lastly, the server brought the checks to my boyfriend and the Caucasian man at the same time but she picked the Caucasian mans check up first. The Caucasian group paid then left while my boyfriend and I were still waiting to check out. My boyfriend and work hard for our money. We deserve the same dining experience as any other person that comes into that restaurant but that's not what happened. This was by far the most blatantly racist dining experience me and my boyfriend have ever had. We will never return to such an awful place and we do not recommend this place, especially if you're of African decent. What makes matters worse is the food was subpar at best. Never again,...

UPDATE (04/04/2025): Norovirus & Ecoli are what you gonna get if you decide to dine here. Don't be fooled by the owner's comment that sounds like they care about your experience or what happened to you. Speaking from my own experience, they reached out to me about what happened and said they are working with their insurance. Then this is when they started playing games and it seems like they dont want to be responsible for what happened to me and my family. I suggest you also contact Jefferson Parish department of health to inquire about their food handling violation. Their freezer failed the required temperature and hence, their fish and meat are not stored correctly.

UPDATE (02/27/2025): It is irresponsible from the manager/owner that they only reach out to us when they see bad reviews on social media. My wife did reach out the next day when I was in the emergency room and talked to the manager/owner. However, they only told us just go to the hospital...without addressing any concerns as mentioned in the reply, even though my wife informed them that our two toddlers were being affected as well. So if you guys dont really care about the food safety of your customers (regardless of ages), I think it's time to change the ownership.

I will give this place a zero star if possible. My wife and I and my two toddlers dined in for lunch on Saturday. We ordered capparcio, tonkotsu ramen and beef teriyaki lunch set. That night I started having diarrhea and so did my oldest daughter. I experienced the worst because I ate most of what we ordered. I had to go to the emergency room because I went to the bathroom a lot and felt nauseous and then followed up with a gastroenterologist on Monday. Worst restaurant and experience! I hope this will serve as a warning for everyone else who considers trying...

Sorry to say, it's the end of an era for me as far as Shogun restaurant goes. I am close friends with the original owner of Shogun restaurant, Ms. Peggy Kamata of Osaka, Japan, who sold it a few months ago after decades of working so hard in the business she founded and shaped into such a successful venture. I drove last week to Metairie from Baton Rouge to eat there and say good-bye to my long time friends, the Japanese manager and Japanese chef as they were departing due to sale of the business. The manager had, in fact, worked there 43 years, an amazing feat.

I ordered my sushi lunch, but all I got was the soup and the bean sprouts salad. The waitress was very kind, but clearly was in a trial by fire due to the sushi bar staff losing their tempers, she said, when she asked several times about my order. It was going on 40 minutes and yet no sushi in sight for me. The people at the sushi bar were being served ahead of me, the waitress said, and she apologized profusely for this situation. Finally, I left as I didn't want to wait any longer and didn't like the vibe. It wasn't the waitress' fault at all that this occurred, but the people working at the sushi counter, and I felt so badly for her as she was doing her best in a trying circumstance. This NEVER would have happened at the Shogun restaurant I knew and loved for decades when Ms. Kamata was in charge.

I won't return to Shogun despite having been a patron for decades and having had so many memorable experiences there, including hosting a dinner for an extremely famous Japanese artist for whom I curated his exhibition at Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans and worked with in Tokyo long term.

Sayonara, Shogun. All good things...