Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ — Restaurant in New York

Walking into the restaurant I had to change my reservation from 8pm to 9:30pm the host told me there would be no problem in doing that and so she changed my reservation to 9:30pm. As I waited in the seating area till 9:30 for my reservation the manager was called to inform me that if I was not seated at 9:30 they would have to cancel my reservation which confusing to me due to the fact that the last seating reservation online is till 11pm also was confused as to why the manager had to be called to tell us this information as the host could've of simply told me that. As I get seated and wait for my other party to arrive I order the food because I was told that the kitchen will be closing.Once my party arrived immidiately I notice the waiter looking towards our direction as if they didn't want us there. I got up to use the restroom with one of my friends there was another worker who was there and gave us dirty looks as if we were going to walk out of the restaurant with out paying. Fast forward were still eating and cooking our food the waiter comes back to our table and states we need to pay because the cash register is closing which is something very very unprofessional and left a bad taste in my mouth because I was already feeling like they didn't want us there to begin with which if that was the case they could've gave us a heads up and told us we were going to be rushed . As I end up paying for the bill the waiter asks if I would like to leave a tip and I left a $5 tip as I felt the the service was awful and we were treated poorly and felt as if we were being racially profiled because were hispanic and black. The waiter than proceeds to throw my card on the table and walking away guessing because he didn't like tip. This service was unacceptable if someone is coming into a business and spending a good amount of money there is no reason as to why we should feel the way that we did. The name of the...

So my BFF and I love this restaurant. We usually go to the one midtown east, but feel the the UWS location has better tasting food and we really really love the waiter Kyle. On Tuesday 5/10/22, around 6pm, we wanted to dine there. My friend got their first and she was told that, we can't eat there because all the tables are reserved. My friend also said there was literally 4-5 small parties currently being served with more than 10 empty tables. The restaurant was no where near booked, it was empty as a desert. We went to a sushi restaurant a block away, where I then decided to call the Gyu-Kaku to see if we can get a table because we really really enjoy the food. The woman I spoke to also said they were completely full, so I asked her what is the grace period for reservations, and she said 15 min. At this point it's 6:30, so I said I will call back 6:45 to see if all the 6:30 reservations show. 15 minutes later....I call and a man answered the phone who was disgustingly rude and told us he couldn't seat us before 8pm. At this point, my friend and I decide to walk over to the restaurant, and what do you know.....they literally have, at most, 5 parties being served with DOZENS of tables open and free.

I would have been more accepting of not being seated if I could see it was at capacity or close to being at full capacity. But on a weekday evening to see an establishment closer to being empty and not accepting any walk ins, is unheard of. Also, during a time where many business are suffering financially, it's hard to believe that they would turn paying customers away. To add, there were several other resteraunts, within a 2 block radius that were at 100% capacity.

Gyu-Kaku, please reevaluate how you are handling walk ins/reservations. As a customer, to walk in and see a restaurant more than 75% empty, and to be told no tables are available, is incomprehensible...

My experience here was very disappointing. We changed our reservation to 9:30pm which I didn't think would be an issue since they're last seating is for 11pm, the host called what I assume was a manger who then proceeded to let us know that the kitchen was closing soon, which we understood, but her tone was dismissive and condescending, as if we were inconveniencing them. It felt like we were being rushed to order, while also giving us the impression that we were unwelcome. Upon seating we decided to start ordering as we waited for the rest of our parties to arrive. The waiter Deacon had an attitude the whole time as well as kept giving us dirty looks and side eyeing us as if we were going to steal or walk out which made us very uncomfortable. While we were making our food Deacon also insisted that we pay now as the register was "about to close" which was also very unsettling as I have never had to pay for a meal while eating, he then proceeded to take payment and decided to throw the card on the table very rude on his behalf. There was no effort to accommodate us or make us feel more at ease, and the overall service continued to be poor. To make matters worse, the food didn't meet expectations either, and we felt completely ignored by the staff. It was a really disappointing experience, especially since we had looked forward to dining here. It's a shame that the service and attitude of the staff overshadowed what should have been an...