Kanpai Izakaya — Restaurant in Milwaukee

Being a returning customer, I was excited to turn someone on else on to such an authentic sushi experience. Like the first time I came there, seating was ample, plenty of staff on hand for accommodating the only two tables with customers. This time however, my immediate attention wasn't the beautiful mural or ambiance.

It was the stench of a recently mopped floor with stale and stagnant water and mop that needed to be bleached or replaced. It was simply overwhelming.

The menu is superb, a treat, in an area that one might not expect. However, if you're not a sushi expert, or pals with Food Network's Chef Morimoto, you might be facing a labyrinth of a menu without any help. Can't see how that would be fun if one were on a date or trying to impress the in laws.

A part of the sushi experience or of dining in general is feeling comfortable asking questions about what is available, preparation, and the overall interaction. Didn't get that from our server. Although she was friendly, she missed more than one, three actually, opportunities to help navigate the menu. She did recommend the wonderful selection, the Love Boat, but unfortunately the timing and temp of service was not. I waited for tbe miso soup for longer than expected, for what I am assuming was already prepared, and then rushed me by coming out with the salad before I was halfway done with the soup. Nothing irks me more...

Silverware was not offered wgen it was clearly needed. Here I was I was trying to teach chopsticks 101 while the server walked on by before I got her attention to request a fork. Earlier, I had requested a knife to cut the sushi that was to be shared.

Also, the wine pour was initially very skimpky for the wine and price. The server was sure to make the adjustment after and it was appreciated.

Half the fun of going out with friends or on a date is trying something new. Indulging in different cultural traditions and learning about the cuisine from friendly staff that encourage such interactions are important components of the overall experience. Anything short of this reduces the chances of recommendations or repeat business which would really be a shame.

My recent experience was what I am assuming an isolated one. It shouldn't overshadow the food or beauty of the...

I would first like to say that Kanpai has fabulous sushi, and my husband and I have tried to look past the negatives. I also rarely write negative reviews, but enough is enough....My husband and I have ordered from there numerous times because sushi places are far and few between in Milwaukee. If you actually go to the restaurant, the service is fine. Unfortunately, we are unable to do this often, so we started ordering delivery or carry out. However, if you try to order online, chances are the hostess will have forgotten to put paper in the fax machine so your order will have never made it to the actual restaurant. Therefore, you will actually spend more time waiting to go pick up your sushi to find that your order never made it. Then you'll have to wait another 30-40 minutes at the restaurant while the hostess tries to figure out how to put paper in the fax so that your order can go through. If you try to call Kanpai to put in a delivery or pick up order, you will spend 30 minutes on the phone with them while they try to figure out who you are, what you want, put you on hold 5 times, forget who they were talking to, need to start your order over again, and then by the end of it forget if you want it delivered or if you're coming to get it. If you do want it delivered, plan to spend another 10 minutes on the phone with them while they retake your order and get your address. The online ordering system is super easy to use on the customer's end, but it's basically worthless if someone on the receiving end isn't able to put paper in the fax machine. Calling the restaurant seems to be the more reliable option, but when you call and they have no clue what is going on it becomes super frustrating almost to the point of comical. It also seems like the only people who do care about the well being of the customers are the servers who end up doing the hostess' job. I have never seen a manager there trying to train anyone or problem solve for them. Like I mentioned at the beginning, the sushi is great, but I do not think that I will be ordering or visiting Kanpai again. The hassle...

We came for lunch on a rainy Tuesday. It was not super busy (probably because of the weather), but I noticed there were a lot of pickup orders. That's usually a good sign that the food is good, especially if it's worth braving the weather. I ordered green tea because it was wet and chilly out. I am not a big green tea person, but the green tea was really good! We ordered sweet and spicy gyoza, miso soup, tamago rolls, ebi, ana ebi, and masago rolls as our appetizer. It was all excellent! After that promising start, our eyes were a little bigger than our stomachs, and we ordered several rolls. I got the rock n roll, spider, and crunch munch rolls. My boyfriend got the ninja, dancing dragon, California dragon, MKE, OMG, and Badger crunch. We shared so we could try everything. My favorites were the MKE and the rock n roll, and I liked the Badger crunch a lot too. My boyfriend's favorites were the dancing dragon and California dragon. We both loved the tamago as well. We also got green tea mochi ice cream for dessert, even though we had to take home some leftover sushi. Everything was awesome! Our server was polite and friendly, and we never felt like we needed to use the "call for service" button next to the table, although that was a reassuring touch. She gave us enough space to enjoy our date, but we never felt ignored either. Our sushi chef talked to us at the end of the meal, and we felt very welcomed. We thanked him for his skill and craftsmanship, and could tell he had a lot of pride in his work. The atmosphere and decor was fun and relaxing, and I really enjoyed looking at the mural on the wall. Thank you so much for an enjoyable date night! It was our first time here, and since we had such a nice time, I'm sure we'll...