Sekisui Midtown — Restaurant in Memphis

Terrible Management!! We have been going to Sekiseui for over 15yrs. As of late, Paige has been our server the last few times and is delightful, has excellent customer service skills and is always a pleasure. Last week we dined in, and a very nasty girl named Alisha came to our table and attempted to wait on us. I asked if Paige was available and wanted to request her. Alisha that was attempting service immediately got an attitude with me and said that Paige was not going to help me, and that she was ready to take my order.

I have had mediocre service before, but have never taken the time to leave a review. The hatred and negativity that we experienced was unprecedented!

After her initial negativity, I went to the bar to ask for a replacement server. Alisha comes up to me with an extreme attitude and says “Is there a problem here?!” Very unprofessional, zero communication skills, poor form all around.

She then proceeds to tell me that she will be waiting on us anyway, despite my request to have a different server.

The shocking part is, the Alisha turned out to be the manager. I even asked politely to speak to the owner Jimmy, but she refused and said she was the only manager I could communicate with. She refused to give me the owners info and when I insisted, she gave me a wrong email address. She also refused to give me her name. I had to do some research to find it myself.

I calmly explained to Alisha that I simply didn’t want to deal with her and went back to my seat. She had the audacity to bring my drinks out anyway and glared at me with an evil smile.

After she walked away, my family and I got up and left. This person is going to cause Sekiseui to go downhill quick. I would be very sad to see that happen.

Jimmy, please hire better management for your Belvedere location. The future of your restaurant depends on it! We love the food and have enjoyed this place for such a long time. I had to report this.

There is no excuse for that kind of attitude and behavior. I am a business owner and would fire someone like this immediately if they disrespected one of my clients this blatantly. Alisha is bad for business. Period!

I hope this message reaches...

I've been coming to this Sekisui my whole life. The managers used to be so kind and knew my family. Recently, I've gone twice during the pandemic to support, hoping to sit on their outdoor patio, since I've been trying to only eat outside at restaurants for safety purposes. I've gone twice and been denied patio seating, despite the patio being open and the temperature only being about 50-60 degrees. Last time I went, the host said she thinks the patio is closed today, then I asked nicely again that I'd really prefer patio seating because of COVID. She glances over her shoulder at who I assume is a server, who laughs and meanly says "It's too cold and we have no tables set up." It was only about 50 degrees outside and the tables were set up. The server girl said "No one is in the restaurant, so you can just sit inside." I felt pressured to sit inside and really would have preferred outdoor seating. I felt as if she made up that the patio was closed, since I've gone here when it was actually cold, around 40 degrees, when that particular server/manager wasn't working, and was able to sit outside. I feel like she just didn't want to take the effort to walk outside...

OH MY GOD!!!! THAT'S ALL I SAID WHEN I SEEN A ROACH FLY UP AND LAND ON THE SUSHI BAR RIGHT BEHIND MY FRIENDS PLATE OF SUSHI SHE GRAB HER SAUCE BOWL AND COVER THE ROACH FROM CRAWLING ANY CLOSER TO HER PLATE. NOW WHAT MADE THE EXPERIENCE EVEN WORST WE HOP UP FROM BAR IN TOTAL SHOCK TO TELL A EMPLOYEE OF THE RESTAURANT ABOUT THE ROACH, THE SUSHI CHEF BEHIND THE BAR JUST HANDED THE WAITRESS A NAPKIN LIKE IT WAS NOTHING TO KILL THE ROACH RIGHT IN FRONT OF US I WAS SO DISCUSSED LIKE (EEW ) AND THEN OTHER EMPLOYEE HANDS THE WAITRESS A SPAY BOTTLE TO SPAY THE AREA I RAN FROM THE BAR CLOSER TO EXIT TO LEAVE AND FRIEND WAS STILL STAND AT THE BAR THINKING MANAGER WOULD COME TALK TO US ABOUT THE ISSUE NOBODY SAID ANYTHING THEY JUST THOUGHT WE WHERE GOING GO HEAD EAT THERE, WE JUST LEFT OUT OF RESTAURANT IN TOTAL SHOCK NOW MINDED YOU THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME EVER VISITING THIS SEKISUI AND THEY LEFT A BAD TASTE IN MY MOUTH AND MY FRIEND SHE IS A REGULAR AT THE SEKISUI IN MIDTOWN THAT NEED CLOSE DOWN THAT JOINT AND CLEAN IT UP !!!! IT WAS...