Chi's Japanese Cuisine — Restaurant in Oak Ridge North

Food is great, kitchen is fast. Wait service is hit and miss.

The waitress we had tonight was definitely a miss. Firstly, she brought a completely flat soda, and I didn’t have a chance to ask for another until I had almost choked down the first one.

Additionally, for some reason (without any prompt from us) she brought us forks. For gyoza and spring rolls. Not one other table she served did she provide forks to. We didn’t touch them because we use the provided chopsticks and have every single visit. It came off as insensitive and rude.

I’ve gone multiple times and asked for a specific roll with jalapeño taken out, and even at the busiest times, the good waiters will do it. This most recent time, we've gotten a waitress whom we’ve gotten before, who seems to have issues with this request.

The first time we had her (about a year ago) she told us the roll was premade and the jalapeño could NOT be removed. End of story. We had only requested this one time before so we gave her the benefit of the doubt, that yes, the roll is premade when busy. However, we’ve gone in plenty of times since and for whatever reason, only her (and possibly one other waitress) refuses to do this request for us. Even on a busy Friday or Saturday night.

I should mention I believe this is the third time we’ve had this waitress. The first time, we gave her the benefit of the doubt and didn’t say anything, and just picked the jalapeño out. Its mostly a preference but it does irritate my stomach, just being cooked with the jalapeños in it. The second time, I said something, and asked her to ask the chef (as we had been in plenty of times since and nobody else seemed to have an issue taking care of the request). She refused. This most recent time, I didn’t say anything after she said the rolls were premade, because of how the interaction ended last time. I picked the jalapeños out again, but the taste and unpleasant feeling is still there.

She brought the check, and then seemed to amble around picking up the dishes to check what I was going to tip her. It was pretty much the most time she spent at out table. She almost spilled soy sauce all over me, my date, and the check.

The fact that she wouldn’t even check and lied to my face based on my experience with other wait staff, along with her general attitude with this experience caused me to decide not to tip. And generally, I tip pretty well. I will say (because I’m im sure they’ll mention it) that the last time I had her, I also did not tip. Her general attitude about her job makes for an unpleasant dining experience.

After I signed, she immediately grabbed the check, and as I went to leave, she came up to me and asked why I didn’t tip. She mentioned she remembered me from last time, so clearly she remembered the previous interaction. I told her about these issues, the fact that she wouldn't even try to take a request, the fact that she gave us forks when we didn’t ask and there were already chopsticks provided , while not giving anyone else forks, why she was unable to do things that every other waitress can do. She told me thats what the chefs told her, despite almost every other wait staff member meeting that request, regardless of date and time. She told me that she’s paid on her tips and has to tip share. which I completely understand. However, if your service makes my dining experience completely unpleasant, why would I tip you? Normally, if I have a waitress who tries her best, and cant make a request, I’ll still tip well. But a waitress who is dishonest and doesn’t even attempt to take the smallest of steps to attempt to accommodate someone not doing her job and is not going to receive a tip from me. She told me she no longer wanted to serve me, which I said was completely fine, because I didn’t want her to serve me. I also told her I will not be returning to this location. And I likely won’t. I would have requested a new waitress but I felt uncomfortable

To be clear, I have no issue with this restaurant, nor most of the wait staff, the review is specifically for...

Saw the sign ,hit the brakes did a hard right turn .this is my favorite place now, there is nothing on the menu ,I do not like. I told the server to take me on a culinary trip through their menu ,she did not fail me . Every sampling was excellent ,I tried everything on the menu at least 1 item of each the cooked items in 8 piece so ,we had to do this. I have to say the server guided us through a great food adventure

Chloe was so helpful in our culinary sampling ,thank you Chi Japanese Cuisine. ,. Returned. August 13 2017. Again for another try at the menu but was going to find a different place to try, My saw the sign an hinted let's go there again. Guess what we did Monica waited on us with this huge friendly smile. We were seated across from the prep bar an was able to watch sushi chef's with smiles working . If you haven't been here yet they have this all you can eat menu which has everything they make listed, you just select and they keep serving until you can't select any more. (Note) you can change to any item an they will keep bringing it. I've been able now to try 50'% of the menu. I can not find anything I would not try again. I have this thing to like or dislike a food sampling you need to try it 7 times. ,no problem I can't find anything I didn't like . I've added 17 more photos . Chatted with people at the next table ,it was their second time and they loved it. Well I am a huge fan an so is my wife and she doesn't like sushi . We are hooked. Enjoy the new photos

Note Now to those bad reviews I have read hey 1: what's with you only noticing the seating try the food. 2: Smelled fishy. (( It's a sushi bar)) yes it does smell fishy . 3: If the waitress wasn't smiling ! were you ? ,try it watch the atmosphere change.

Returned our 3rd visit September 21 2017

With a new extremely friendly waitor, but this time we were remembered by the staff an Manager. Hey this is just one friendly place, they will stop an chat with you an exchange humor.

Our new waitor Andy "I highly recommend him" is very very helpful explaining the difference of your food journey.

Added a few more pictures enjoy. June 17 2018 Returned for father's day and another great meal , .New waitress Tina was great. Tried the peppered tuna roll plus all the Sashimi as always great I order 3 of each plus the smoked octopus. Again we are never disappointed.

Jan.14th 2019

We had to come an celerbrate my wife's birthday , an again the service was excellent. They have a new menu to scan through. Keep it up Chi's we love you...

Last night I went here with a large group of friends to celebrate a friend's birthday. We were split up into two tables of seven and we had two different waitresses. We arrived early for our 9:30 reservation and seated at about 9:40. Both tables got drinks ordered and delivered quickly. The table I sat at waited till about 10:30 for our waitress to come and take our food order while the other table's food order was taken roughly five minutes after their drink order. Their food came out ten to fifteen minutes later, and they continued placing orders which were promptly brought out to them. Our food did not begin come out until 11:10 and our order was incomplete. While our waitress had come by two or three times to apologize for the wait and assure us our food was coming soon, she made a lot of excuses that didn't make sense. We asked to see a manager and she got very defensive and made more excuses, but eventually agreed to bring over the manager. The manager explained that our waitress had lots of tables and that's why our food took so long. This upset us quite a bit because the other half of our party was receiving excellent, prompt service, and if this waitress was struggling, some of her tables should've been offloaded to someone else. If our waitress had explained to us that she was overwhelmed initially we would've been far more understanding, people can only do so much, but all she did was make excuses. The manager offered to let us order more food and three of us did order a little more because we were starving. We were given a 20% discount, but because they charge 20% for gratuity, it really didn't do much. We did not expect our meal to be comped, but considering the massive discrepancy in service we experienced and the fact that it was all you can eat and we got to order twice, we expected a little more compensation than paying essentially full price. The manager was friendly, the other table's waitress was fantastic (shout out to Amy), and we were allowed to take two rolls to go, but overall our experience was bad and upsetting. If you get a nice, not overworked waitress who communicates, it's a good time. Unfortunately you don't really have control over that so I wouldn't recommend coming as the quality of service is...