Sushi Masa Metairie — Restaurant in Metairie

My husband and I had a somewhat strange experience here last night. (The food was great; my review is about the service.) There was an hour wait. We saw open seats at the bar, asked if we could eat there, were told no those seats were reserved. We asked can we order drinks at bar while we wait, were told yes. We walked to bar and ordered a drink, bartender Blaise asked if we wanted to sit at bar to eat. We told Blaise host said we couldn’t sit there. Blaise said yes you can, we still hesitated so Blaise asked host and host said okay so we sat at bar to eat. Guests on either side of us were eating at the bar also. We ordered two Cherry Blossom cocktails at $9 each (yum), large sake for $2 up charge, and both ordered all you can eat for $32.95 each. We ordered food in several rounds - an avocado salad, a miso soup, a total of 4 rolls by the end, a chicken katsu, 8 single sashimi pieces, a single shrimp tempura, a fried rice. (All the food was great.) Here’s the weird part: I’d read before we went that they have lots of surveillance cameras to catch people stealing food; I personally witnessed a hostess repeatedly questioning a guest about the ages of the two kids in their party (and in fact it did appear the kids may have been older than 12); my point is trying to keep people from taking advantage of the all you can eat system is obviously a challenge, I understand that. My husband and I both ordered the AYCE. We did order a good amount of food but we weren’t ridiculous or obnoxious about it, maybe at the midline of quantity people typically order I’m guessing? The thing is - they give you each thing, even if it’s one piece of sashimi, on a separate plate - so our plates just kept piling up - we were at a small spot at the bar - no one, none of the many servers nor Blaise ever offered to remove a plate the whole time we were there - we kept having to move them around and stack them ourselves and try to find room for other things. When a server brought a new plate, they would just stand there with it while my husband and I moved things around to find a spot for it. It was awkward. I realized later I guess this is by design, to discourage you from ordering more? (Yet the guests on either side of us - their plates were being removed…) The last few things we ordered, they didn’t come out, we had to remind Blaise three times (which we did with a smile). The host/manager came and uncomfortably stood right in front of us behind the bar for ten minutes - he may have been washing glasses under the counter I’m not sure - we tried to chat with him but couldn’t get a smile - then I got a text saying our table was ready - I asked him if I should reply “cancel” - he appeared annoyed and said no don’t cancel it - so we now have a reservation showing on Open Table that says “waitlist completed” and “you celebrated an anniversary here” which we did not - I’m guessing all this has to do with some kind of metrics we were unwittingly a part of? Anyway…we wanted to try the fried Oreos but we were feeling unwelcome by this point, and neither of us needs that anyway lol! We were there something less than an hour and a half. Our bill was $94.92 plus we...

I've been to Sushi Masa multiple times since their opening here in Metairie. Every instance has been great overall except for my last experience. First, they charged my 8 year old kid full price for the AYCE. That was fixed after bringing attention to our waitress, who repeatedly placed the blame on the hostess up front. Passing the blame struck me as odd, as a simple "Let me fix that for you," would be more than sufficient. Next, I had ordered hot tea, which had come out tasting like water. No surprise, as I'm familiar with the brand of green tea that they use, "Wei Chuan." (Notoriously cheap and watered down) So, for my first refill, I asked if they could use two bags this time. The waitress said "Of course," and then brought the new cup out. No problems there, and I was quite satisfied. Then comes the bill, which charges for the hot tea for $3.50. Confused, I asked and was reassured that it was included in the AYCE menu. However, because I asked for a new tea bag, the manager agreed with the waitress that I should be charged full price for something I had no knowledge of. The manager eventually agreed to take the charge off, as I was not notified that there would be a charge per tea bag. Mind you, everyone else at the table had simply ordered water. (So, even then, couldn't they have counted the new cup as one of the theirs?) Then, the manager iterated multiple times that they were "obviously not charging for hot water" and that "the tea bags are valuable for the business." (???) What? She kept talking down to me as if I were a child, repeating herself ad nauseum that they would lose money by not charging me for the tea bag. In my head, I was thinking to myself, a simple trip to my local Asian market and I can pick up a box of 100 Wei Chuan green tea bags for $5.99 before tax. That's 6 cents a tea bag, and I'm sure Sushi Masa purchases them wholesale for even cheaper. The whole encounter boggles my mind after multiple great outings there. During the manager's "explanation" she also emphasized how "next time" I would know about these charges. There will be no next time for me. I would rather eat at Sushi Nami or Crazy Hot Pot before coming back. It also did not help that when I mentioned how none of my other visits were I charged for new tea bags, the manager said "Well then, shame on them" twice, referring to my previous servers. Very off-putting behavior, as my previous servers were all wonderful people.

As of right now, I would not recommend Sushi Masa to anyone. To think they would throw away good faith from a repeat customer over a 6 cent tea bag. To put a cherry on top of the whole train wreck of a lunch, I asked if I could just order hot water and bring my own tea bags, which they said "yes," to. So, if you want more than 8 ounces of hot tea with your lunch or dinner, just bring your own tea bags and brew them there. Better yet, just go somewhere else. I...

This was our second time here and the only reason I am giving 1 stars is for the food. We went on a Sunday for lunch and waited 45 minutes to be seated (no big deal, but 8 tables were available). After being seated we waited another 18 minutes for our Waiter, Don, to greet us by saying "I have a table of 45 people they just sat down so if you want to order now we be the time. If you need something and I haven't been here just flag me down." Not a great first impression, but definitely foreshadowing how our service would be. As he took our order he was very inattentive because of the speaker in his eat that he was more attentive to. We ordered the all-you-can-eat dinner for 4 of us. After receiving our 1st order, small plates, we weren't able to order our main food for 34 minutes. Not great if you are trying to get your money's worth for the higher price they charge for AYCE. After placing this order with another waiter, because Don hasn't been seen, it was missing items we ordered. 20+ minutes goes by to request drinks since ours have been empty for 39 minutes and no one asked, so we flagged down the next person. The manager stops by the table 8ish minutes later to ask if we need anything and we say "yes we would like more green tea" she acknowledged and walked off. More time passes, another waiter stops to ask if we need anything and we place an order eith him and ask for green tea that the manager didn't bring. Only half the order comes to the table, no drinks or anyone else that has waited on us at this point. The manager comes to the table again to ask if we need anything, so obviously I said, "yes the green tea we asked you for." She brings a small tea pot with enough tea for 1 1/4 cups (3 of us had green tea and empty cups). At this point I'm done being patient and nice, I'm ready to go and never come back. After 1 hour and 23 minutes Don passes our table looks and walks off with no words spoken. The manager comes to the table to ask if we need anything and I explained everything that is written above along with the final order we still hadn't received because no one put it in. She apologized and said she would look into it. I told her there was no need and to just bring the bill since we have already been here for almost 2 ours and received half the food and minimal service. She brought the bill and explained she took 20% off, well I'd hope so since we didn't receive half the food and service that was needed. It's not like we were expecting 5 star service or 5 star dining, but they couldn't even do the bare minimum. We watched 5 other tables complain and heard the manager explain they were short-staffed. Then don't seat that many people at your tables. Only seat what you can handle. We definitely will be going to Sushi Nami instead since their service is better and the food is the...