Thyme — Restaurant in North Andover

We have been going to Thyme for New Years hibachi dinner for several years now and every year it has been a wonderful experience and something we always look forward to. This year was less than wonderful. The food was mediocre at best, the sauce used for my steak hibachi was so salty it was borderline edible. The service was rushed, and the chef did not engage with the people at the table as they usually do at a hibachi dinner. Some of the people sitting at our table ask for the Saki that they usually squirt in you mouth, but they did not do that either. As we were near the end of our meal, with food still on our plates and people visibly eating, the wait staff kept asking "are you finished" and they started removing the plates as each person finished. While we continued to eat, to make it even more uncomfortable, the waitstaff started cleaning the table and bringing out the table settings for the next group. We ended up taking the rest of our food with us to finish at home. The family seated next to us were experiencing the same thing. Their small children were halfway through with their meal and the staff were cleaning their table. At one point the mother asked for another drink and was told she could not have it at the hibachi but had to move to the other area of the restaurant. To make it worse, they brought the poor woman a "to go" container. There was a conversation between her and the wait staff and I am not sure what was said, but the mom said " but I am not finished eating my dinner". She then put her food in the "to go" container and moved to another part of the restaurant. I understand it was New Years and the restaurant was busy and they were probably short on staff. However, when you book a reservation with the expectation that you are going to have a nice relaxed meal, that should be provided or we should have been told when we arrived that we had a certain amount of time to eat. It was very upsetting to be treated so poorly on what was supposed to be a fun and relaxing evening and we most likely will...

Went for lunch and food was ok. Not the best but definitely far from the worst. My only issue was with the Bento box and how confusing it was. The bento box had 4 options A) sushi roll, B) tempura C) teriyaki and choice of protein and D) sashimi and on top it had option for gyoza or shumai and miso soup or salad. The pic even shows a box with all options sectioned in it. I got through and ordered what I thought were choices and was informed that it was A, B, C , OR D, NOT all. So I adjusted and ordered an additional 2 rolls, the same ones that was offered as an "option." Come to find out, the server was somewhat wrong because out benton came with a sushi roll as well. There server could've stopped me from ordering the extra if he knew that. Or he could've came back and said he made a mistake, but nope, just put the order in. Food came out and we were confused as hell. Granted, it was cheap because it was lunch time. But I just dont like how they advertised 1 thing with pics, and im told otherwise, and still get what was advertised but now certain things were randomly placed because I didnt pick an option. Also, my brother is vegetarian by choice at the moment as a religious sacrifice and had ordered a side order of sushi rice along with his miso soup. A bowl of sushi rice with furikake and bonito flakes came out and now he cant eat it. Luckily i had a bento box with plain rice that i could switch out n with him.

Server was a young kid that needed to be more knowledgeable. We still ate paid and didn't complain to them because it was not...

You should go to Thyme if you haven't been. Their food is excellent and I was quite surprised and impressed. Their miso soup was great and their pork gyoza are amongst the best I've ever had. I can't remember the name of the sushi roll I ordered but that was excellent as well. The dishes had very appealing presentation.

I think they are working harder than the competition with special food so I hope you go and support them. It would be sad if they didn't make it. For my criticisms below, they have tremendous potential to fix them and be superb.

Food is the most important factor for me when I go out but I have to admit it wasn't the most pleasant experience in other respects.

Service: The waitress was extremely attentive but she didn't know the menu which was hard considering it was our first time there and needed someone to show us the way. She made up for it in attentiveness and to be honest, she was probably new which makes sense considering how new the restaurant is.

Decor/Ambiance: The restaurant is large and modern but the decor is confusing. It shifts between Japanese characters and that tacky "Italy" / "wine" art that you find at Marshalls. The music was blaring like in an empty nightclub and it was mostly Asian pop. The guy in the song we heard definitely just discovered autotune and was making us all suffer through it. I think if they turned down the music and had more appropriate decor, they could have a really special restaurant over there. They definitely scored points with...