Tendon Tempura Carlos Jr — Restaurant in Pasadena

If I were to rate the food alone, it would have been a 5/5. However last night my group and I have been skipped for seating a few times over late shows or last on the list parties.

I’ve been a customer to the Torrance restaurant for a while now and I was excited to have the restaurant open up a location nearer to my office. Last night was my second time coming to this location and I already knew ahead of time that the wait is going to take a while. Normally if you’re not on the waitlist by 7:30 they close it out to those arriving late. At the same time they would go through the list and if they called your name multiple times they would mark you as no show and give priority to groups that have were there.

We checked in around 6:30 and we were a little past halfway through the list but still far from being last. The server have gone through the list multiple times and have crossed out groups that didn’t show up in time regardless if they signed the waitlist before or after us. By around 8:30 we were close to being next but suddenly two previous groups that were late an hour and half an hour respectively begged the servers to let them in despite the fact their names were called multiple times and crossed off because of no response.

At the time we didn’t mind but later on we started noticing groups that checked in after us were being seated first. When we talked to the servers they admitted that they completely forgot our group even though they marked us present during their multiple check ins. Afterwards, two more groups who were after us on the list but were marked no shows during the roll calls were being seated before us. We were visibly frustrated until the server told us that we were going to be next for seating and that they will take our orders ahead of time when they will clean the tables to save time.

When we were called to the front and the waitress was taking our orders before seating, the other waiter stepped in and told the waitress that they want to seat the two other parties (who are the last two on the list that signed up closer to the 7:30 cut off time vs us who’s been on the waitlist since 6:30). When we asked the waiter why they were doing that, they just kept saying that they wanted to fill the tables with the smaller parties (two groups of two) vs giving it to us (one group of four) to hopefully close faster. We waited another 15 mins and when they called us in they told us that because of the other customers they could sit us now but would have to split us into two tables because the other bigger parties were still talking and taking up time in the restaurant. We got upset and told the waitress that we literally waited longer than more than half of the group they seated before us only to ask us not to seat together so they can fill the tables in time. She apologized and tried to make amends by asking the bigger group that was just sitting around talking after their meal if they could wrap up soon so we could be seated. We asked why they weren’t following their previous rule of prioritizing those who waited in time over the no shows and they kept saying that it was company policy to fill the tables faster with the smaller groups over putting a couple tables together for a slightly larger party.

We didn’t get to our seats until 9:15 and were obviously the last party of the day despite the fact that we were 10 groups before the last group who signed up and they allowed 6 parties (two who were late on their check ins and four who were in the list after us) to go before us. Luckily they did serve our food right away and we ate the food under 10 mins because we were extremely hungry and frustrated. Their only response when we were checking out was telling us that we don’t have to tip them anything and that they will try to fix the waitlist system in the future. While we left the restaurant full and our hunger satisfied, we weren’t happy with the service prior to seating.

I really want to give this restaurant a great review because the food is fantastic and just as good as the...

__ SEP 5, 2025 : 5-STAR 1-STAR We love this place. We love the food here. During our decade living in Japan we have known the Japanese to be the kindest and most considerate people in the world. Society is built with social cohesion in mind. Japan is our second home with the friends we maintain to this day.

We ate at Tendon Tempura Carlos Jr. this past Friday. And it’s packed as usual because of the great food. We recommended it to curious passersby. Hands down the Best Tempura in LA bar none. But the service leaves a lot to be desired. Yes I’ve read some of the reviews praising the service staff. But honestly, the staff is rude and lacks empathy. In particular the woman with the high-pitched voice who is consistently cold, callous, and at times rude to most guests. But this occasion tops the cake. There was a disabled senior couple who’s been waiting for almost 40min. We helped them check-in and watched how unpleasant the whole experience was for them. They were continuously ignored. The experience was so unnerving that we could not enjoy the food. We even offered to switch seats to accommodate the wheelchair disability. We and other fellow customers worried more for the elderly couple, as they kept being ignored and the old woman kept suffering. We didn’t see a single moment of compassion from the staff. Finally I spoke Japanese to one of waitress (the one with more EQ) to at least acknowledge and tend to them, at the minimum make them feel welcome.

The tables were mostly all free. The issue being they are short staffed and the waitress is the one bussing and cleaning tables. We’re attuned to the challenges behind this. But honestly speaking, they were just inefficient, inconsiderate and “Tone Deaf”. The old couple proceeded to leave in the woman’s wheel chair after her husband tried 4X to check on their table. So we prompted the kinder waitress to do something. After pausing and conversing with us for a minute she decided to ran after them. We encouraged the older couple to come back. The food is worth it.

But if the service will be like this it ruins the whole experience. It’s hard to sit through. As much as we want to come back because the food is good, we actually don’t want to.

There are other famous places like Golden Deli who have long lines. But they have a system down packed. Where people don’t feel ignored and disrespected.

We seriously hope that the owners of Tempura Carlos Jr reads this and rectifies the situation.

People deserve common decency. That’s non-existent here now with the current staff.

__ DEC 2024 : 10months ago : 5-STARS Absolutely the best Tempura in the USA. We lived in Japan for 10yrs and love this place. Takes it to the level of...

Summary:

The tempura was advertised as the best in SoCal. It was VERY boring, and nearer to the worst in SoCal. This place has a case of ‘the emperor’s new clothes’

Diatribe:

I’ve been on a diet for several months now, so I was very hesitant to splurge (calorically speaking). I was lured to their side of the street by their sign stating best tempura in SoCal. I love tempura… it was my day off… so, I started looking at reviews. The complaints were almost entirely about the wait. Since I was there before opening on a Tuesday there was only a few minutes to wait. The rest of the complaints were about cost. I almost never eat out these days, so $20 for tempura wasn’t an issue… at least if it’s tasty.

The food arrived promptly, but that was the best bit. The tempura was noticeably greasy with oil soaked into the paper below. The batter was very bland, and thin. Thin to the point of practically getting absorbed into the vegetables. The radish dipping sauce was sweet and devoid of character. The sesame celery was equally mundane.

Shishito pepper $1.75 = very small (two small bites), no flavor whatsoever, no discernible batter enjoyment

Eggplant $1.99 = a barely intact rectangular pile of mush. The tempura was absolutely nonexistent. Boring, creepy, and bland af

Zucchini $1.49 = blah at best with a fleeting ghost of a tempura shell

Maitake mushrooms $3.99 = best of the lot. A lil bit o crunch, but lackluster flavor

Pumpkin $1.99 = under done with a touch of crunch to the tempura

Upon finishing 2/5 of the meal (approximately 9 bites of tempura) I decided that I would rather burn $25 cash then eat the calories

I pushed the plate away

The waitress asked if I was done. I told her I didn’t care for it (in detail as above). Her takeaway was that it was soggy. I said sure, it was soggy. She said, “I’ll tell the chef”. Which it looked like she did. Then she brings me the check. I paid the $25 plus tip, and left.

That eggplant will forever haunt my dreams.

My love for tempura...