Wasabi Express — Restaurant in Owensboro

My experience at this restaurant was less than enjoyable. I will not be returning, as I do not feel my business is appreciated and valued. I cannot speak much to the subpar cuisine, nor the lackluster ambiance when dining. Aside from the insect infestation in the restroom, my main concern is the terrible service from both staff and management. Upon arrival, our group of seven people was appropriately seated and our drink orders were taken. Everyone in the party was over 21, with the exception of our designated driver who was 19 years of age. The rest of the group bordered 30 years of age, well over the legal drinking age, and well over the appearance of being underage. As the waitress took drink orders, she requested to see everyone’s driver’s licenses, a legal and precautionary norm for any restaurant following the rules of liquor license ownership. As she viewed the licenses, she collected them and brought the bundle of ID cards to her manager, outside of the typical norm of giving them back immediately. Instead of returning to the table, she sent the manager who promptly let me know he believed my ID was a fake, although almost everyone else in the party had the same state’s license. I assured him that I was well over 21 (28, actually) and joked that I had been able to drink for quite some time. The manager restated the fact that they could not serve me due to my “false” ID. I asked for them to scan the card, because, surely, if they were able to spot and turn away a fake ID, they had a device that would be able to prove authenticity. The manager’s tone was not polite in any way, and he continued to argue with me, ultimately refusing to serve me.

In most cases, I would not care that I couldn’t enjoy an alcoholic beverage with my dinner. I would generally shrug it off if the following circumstances were not true: everyone else in the group was served- an unfair standard to be set, the manager created a spectacle of our group in the general dining area, and most importantly he did not seem to have any strenuous policy surrounding the decision. If you are going to turn someone away, at least invest in your business enough to have a device that aids you in said decision making processes. The actual act of declining my beverage order is not the reason I will not return; I have a choice in where I spend my money and to whom I give my business. I will not return to an establishment that goes out of its way to make me feel like a fraud, ruins the experience of my other guests, and provides an overall demeanor and disposition that they are not grateful for my business. When you treat customers like they are suspects, or continue to speak to them in a degrading and disrespectful manner, you will not keep a returning diner. I will not be back based on...

Really poor experience on what should have been so simple. I ordered over the phone and was told it would be 10-15 minutes. Drove up, paid, and was told it wasn't ready yet and to pull around. 10 minutes later, I go in to the pickup area, and was told it still wasn't ready. There are 4-5 employees consistently walking in this area, bringing other food out, and I stand there patiently waiting. Another 10 minutes go by, and nobody tells me anything. So I ask how much longer and they say it's still not ready and that they're checking. Another 10 minutes, and it's still not ready. And nobody says anything to me. No updates or explanation, nothing. Again, I'm just standing here waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Nobody thinks to take the initiative and fix what was a simple solution, except the manager, who finally shows up with my food.

Mind you, this wasn't during a busy time. This was 3:30. So we go from 10-15 minutes to nearly an hour. Which really wouldn't have been a big deal at all had someone just explained to me what was happening. I don't know what's going on, I don't work there. I just know I paid and am standing there waiting and waiting and waiting and not making a fuss. Just someone communicate with me. Make eye contact, something. Anything. For goodness sakes, just tell me something.

The waitress bags our food, hands it to me, and rolls her eyes. I'm sorry, what? I've been nothing but patient and kind. So I speak with the manager (I know....) and explain what happened and how long I waited and the unnecessary reaction from the waitress. I could have lost my cool like other customers would have, but I try to empathize with these frontline workers. Until you roll your eyes at me. And yet, I still didn't make much of a deal about this except have a discussion with the manager. Other, less patient people would have lost their minds.

The manager was apologetic, which I appreciated. The food, as always, was good. But the service was just awful.

I'll drive a bit further out to 54...

Yesterday I had placed an online order for steak hibachi, and an order of sushi. I was in Evansville so I set the ready time to 40 minutes. My promised time was 6:15pm. I arrived there around 6:20 and gave them my name. The worker told me it will be just a minute. 15 minutes pass by and I finally asked the workers if anyone can tell me when my food will be ready (I needed to go get my son food as well). No one said anything. About 5 minutes goes by, and a worker tells me they don’t know what happened to my order, it could’ve got mixed up with another customer. Weirdly, I never received a confirmation email about my order whenever I placed it, but it was taken out of my bank account. I asked how long it will take to remake, she said 10 minutes. I told her ok and I will be back (I was already there for 20 minutes waiting for my food, so I left and got my son food from McDonald’s). My food didn’t end up being done until 15 minutes later. So, I ordered at 5:32pm and had it set to be ready at 6:15pm. I finally got a phone call that my food was ready at 6:56pm. It took 1 1/2 hr for me to get my food. Also, it didn’t seem like there was many vegetables in my steak hibachi. Needless to say I will never order...