Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ — Restaurant in New York

My family and I dined here yesterday to celebrate my brother completing his training for the CBP. This is one of his favorite places to eat and he's really been looking forward to coming here once he returned home. I've been going to Gyu-Kaku since 2016 and had pleasant experiences at all the locations I've been to. I've been to this location many times, so I was shocked and disappointed at the service we received that night. My reservation was originally for 10, but dropped down to 7. They were still able to accommodate us nonetheless. We were seated in a cramped corner with one grill. A female server took our order for drinks and was never seen again. After asking were the original server, we were told that they switched out for the night (which was understandable, but we wish we were told when it happened). My family and I ordered things a la carte. The portion sizes were small, the beef sukiyakis were mushy (we sent them back), the drinks tasted like they've been watered down with either club soda or water, and the food kept getting burnt because the flames were too high. On top of that, the service was slow and the server kept either bringing us the wrong items trying to pass it off as our items, or forgetting what we ordered. When it came time to pay the bill (which was over $350), we only wanted to leave a $30 tip since the food and service were bad. We were then told for the FIRST time that parties of our size would be charged a mandatory 20% gratuity. Mind you, this was not stated on our receipt or any of the menus. We asked to speak to the manager (who was cold and rude) since we felt like we shouldn't be obligated to pay so much for subpar food and service. When she didn't want to help and became combative with us, we then asked to escalate this to the general manager. The general manager then had the audacity to lie and say that the hostess told me this before seating us. We were waiting 10 minutes for them to put the table together, and at no time during that period did anyone mention this to us. We ended up paying at the end because we didn't want to cause a scene.

These people took what was supposed to be a celebration and turned it into one of the worst dining experiences we've ever had. I truly hope that this isn't the direction that this restaurant chain isn't heading towards. I would sincerely think twice before visiting...

I've been wanting to check this place out for awhile as I live in the neighborhood. Decided to swing in for a late lunch to see what it's all about.

I've experienced plenty of Japanese BBQ joints in Japan as well as Korean BBQ restaurants here in NY, Walking into this location, I was surprised to see how big it was and the atmosphere was nice. It felt like a proper yakiniku restaurant.

Since it was a holiday, I was unable to partake in the lunch special, so I ordered some things a la carte. Unlike Korean BBQ restaurants, none of the meats ordered come with anything. There are no "banchan" to snack on and you don't even get some lettuce or simple veggies to go with the meats. It's simply the meat. Vegetables must be ordered and cost a few dollars each. Even a bowl of white rice costs $4. This was unexpected considering the prices of the meats. You'd think they could afford to give a bowl of rice for free. But I digress...

The experience itself was enjoyable. The portions of meat are about 3.5oz each order. Considering an order of meat costs anywhere from $8-15, it's not much at all if you are a meat lover. If you come as a pair or a group, it is definitely worthwhile to take advantage of the course meals or group combos to get a bit more bang for the buck.

My gripe is the service was slow. After taking my order, I saw my server exactly twice after that. The first time to bring me the meat I ordered and the second time to bring another dish that was slow to come out. Not once did my server stop to check in on the food or how I was enjoying my meal. When I was finished, my server was no where to be seen. Other employees walked by my empty table and did not ask if I needed anything. Eventually, I flagged down someone and asked for the bill. I was eventually given the bill and the process of paying just felt rushed and unprofessional.

The place was not super busy so I can only imagine they were understaffed or just not very attentive. I'd like to come back again to give the AYCE a try. 90 mins doesn't sound like very much if the service is as slow as it was today. But we shall see.

All in all, the experience and food were good but was tainted by slow and un-attentive service. Maybe I was...

I would not recommend sitting by the bar at this location. Two friends and I stopped in to grab a quick drink. It took forever to even order a drink and all of the bartenders behind the bar had a major attitude problem. We all wanted the sake tea cocktail, which my friend verbally ordered, and pointed to on the menu. What we got was just plain tea. When we went to complain, the bartender started arguing that we only ordered tea and couldn't fix our drink, and then we would just have to order a separate thing of sake and pour it in ourselves. Eventually, we paid the difference and she did fix our original drinks, but not before the bartender started arguing with her colleague (yes, in front of all of the customers). I normally love going to Gyu-Kaku, but this experience ruined it for me - at least for this Times Square location.

UPDATED REVIEW JULY 2022

Honestly, you can usually never go wrong with Gyu Kaku. It's Japanese BBQ for a reasonable price, and huge portions. Our group of 5 came in with a Friday reservation for 7 pm for a birthday celebration. We ordered the Yakiniku Party set for 4 people (it was either 4 or 6) and it was more than enough food for us. We even had some leftovers. The set came with a bunch of meats, sides, and some apps (chicken karaage, chicken garlic noodles, spicy tuna volcano). My favorite is always the spicy tuna volcano. I always order this whenever I go. I would prob just be happy eating two plates of this as a meal.

We didn't make it in time for happy hour but I like that they also have happy hour pricing on food in addition to the drinks.

Although this is the Times Square location, it’s kind of located off to the side street, so you don’t really have to deal with the Times Square crowd too too much. Believe me, I try to avoid Times Square whenever possible, but don’t let that deter you from coming to this location. Happy to be a repeat customer of Gyu Kaku. I've been to various locations, and the quality is pretty...