Ponzu Sushi and Grill — Restaurant in Omaha

When you decide to go out for a nice dinner during this economy, you come with an expectation of being captivated by a unique and delicious culinary experience. I decided to visit Ponzu since I was in the area and wanted to check out new restaurants in Aksarben. Ponzu failed to meet any sort of minimal expectations with the main dish, let me explain.

To begin, the service upon walking in was rushed and uninviting. I came during a slow hour, so I have a hard time giving the benefit of the doubt that service was lackluster due to it being busy.

The appetizers and drinks were good, nothing out of ordinary, just simple stuff that could be replicated by any restaurant.

I've kicked myself in the butt for ordering the wrong things at certain restaurants before and this time I decided to opt out of the sushi, none of the sushi options seemed appetizing. Much of it was a sort neo-sushi menu aimed at a American palette. Many of the options were unique, they appeared to have character, but I was in the mood for something a little more simple...and that's unfortunately what I got.

I ordered the Teriyaki chicken dish which cost approximately $14 if I'm remembering correctly. This dish was just an utter disappointment considering the price. It was lazily put together and garnished with bland asparagus and a cilantro rice. The chicken was a thin sliver of breast, dry and unappealing. The teriyaki sauce, what should've been the staple of the dish, was just poured over the chicken. The acidity was a little overpowering and the flavor didn't taste fresh. It tasted exactly like the Kroger Teriyaki sauce I bought a couple weeks ago at Bakers. There was nothing that stood out from this dish, it's a simple recipe that falls short at Ponzu.

I'm trying to figure out what went through the mind of the head chef coming up with this dish. I feel as if this dish was neglected in some way, perhaps nobody ever ordered it and someone forgot how to make it? Was this supposed to be a fusion of Mexican (cilantro rice), American (asparagus), and Asian? Whatever the vision was, it was lazily thought out and executed poorly. There's no way anyone should be paying $14+ for this. I can name any other restaurant that serves better and cheaper teriyaki than Ponzu.

I wouldn't come back here again after...

My wife and I started going to Ponzu since they first opened. The food is awesome and the first few years the service was very good. But in the last couple years the service has dropped some of the worst we have ever had.

We have had many times been overlooked by the wait staff as they talk with each other or just disappear for 10 to 15 minutes. They very rarely have a bartender which means the wait staff has to make the drinks.

Today my wife and I went there for lunch. There were not a lot if people there but service again was the worst. We ordered drinks and it took over 10 minutes to get them. The waitress said she had to make the drinks. But does it take 10 minutes to make drinks? We the ordered 2 appetizers. The waitress brought one of them 15 minutes later and said there was a problem with the 2nd appetizer and would be a few minutes later. It took at least another 10 minutes to get to us. I ordered a second drink. After that our waitress stoid outside on the patio talking to a group of people for over 15 minutes while I was still waiting for my drink. Remember, she had to make our drinks so again it was a few more minutes after chatting with the people at the patio table for her bring my drink. By then we were so disgusted with our treatment by the staff we asked for our check and left. I didn't even finish my drink.

My wife and I are both 60 yrs old. Maybe that is why we are invisible to the staff and they prefer to wait on younger clients? In the last 3 years we have seen tables of younger clients get served their food before we get our food even though they arrived after we placed our order.

As much as we like the food, we will never set foot in Ponzu again. This was such a great place to go to....

We decided to try this restaurant on Tuesday night. It was mostly empty, and we were seated quickly. However, we waited for about 15 minutes to have the waitress take our drink order. The food was excellent. We ordered the sliders which were ok. Not as good as I expected. The hostess looked to be responsible for cleaning off the tables and the table next to us sat dirty for the entire hour or so that we were there. Several tables were that way. The hostess was standing at the podium by the door on her cellphone for nearly the entire night. The dirty tables brought down the atmosphere and made it feel like they do not care enough to keep their restaurant clean. Our waitress tried taking out plates before we were finished and then she brought our check and set it down and walked away. We had to wait for her to come back after some time to order dessert and a to-go item. She acted put out and made us feel rushed to get out. It was about 8:30 or so at this time. The food was excellent, but the service and attitude of the staff was enough that we will not return and we will be sharing our experience with others. I am disappointed as I had heard such good reviews about this restaurant. It wasn't even busy, there was one other party there besides us. Please train your staff to stay off their phone if they are going to be at the front of the house. The hostess couldn't even be bothered to answer the house phone as it...