Cherryblossom Noodle cafe — Restaurant in Phoenix

My partner and I ate dinner here for the first time last night. While the inside is pretty cute/intimate and the food was decent, we most likely won't be returning. If you have food allergies, please read this.

We both have food allergies, so we we know that dining out can be a bit difficult and are very understanding there are for sure limitations, but we've never had issues with Japanese cuisine since we know what we can't/can't have. Our waitress was totally unhelpful and seemed to not really want to ask the kitchen questions.

Maybe our waitress was having an off night, but her behavior was a bit odd. She was never impolite, but not superhelpful and awkward when we told her about our allergies. In 2025, I haven't faced such responses from wait staff about allergies -- she kept saying "I don't know if that has that in it" and "I don't know" when we mentioned an appetizer for example we were interested in ordering. Which is totally understandable, but maybe they should train waiters to say "Got it, I will ask the kitchen and get back to you. If not, we can suggest some other dishes that are free of X?" It made me honestly not even want to put in an order, I wasn't sure I trusted it to be honest, but we stayed. Fine.

There was confusion about our appetizer order, because I asked for the pork dumplings -- they never came. It was an honest mistake, because she wasn't sure if the shrimp dumplings my husband asked for himself had dairy in them or not/said the kitchen couldn't tell us so my partner couldn't eat it -- totally fine. But I never told her to cancel my dumplings order, and I still wanted the pork dumplings for myself. I guess she just never put in the order at all. OK, I just didn't say anything because we had been back and forth with her about 3 times now and it must have confused her.

I have a shellfish allergy, so I keep it simple with dishes without sauces, etc. Never had an issue before. I ordered the Pork Katsu rice platter. Menu stated it came with miso soup and salad. When my order comes out, there is no miso soup. I ask and the waitress seems startled I asked, then says "the miso soup has fish in it." I never said I was allergic to fish? I also know some miso soup has a fish powder in it, but again, why not communicate that with me when I put in my order for the platter with the miso soup clearly listed on the menu, and the first thing I said was "I have a shellfish allergy?" If she had said the miso soup that comes with it has fish powder, I would've said that is totally fine I am not allergic to that and clarified. Instead, she just decided I wasn't having the miso soup and didn't think I would ask for it even though I paid extra for it-- after we paid, I realized I paid for the salad (which I didn't really want that much, I mostly ordered the platter for the soap) and the miso soup I never got when I could have gotten the cheaper pork katsu with just egg and rice if she had just said something. I guess they got our money with that one.

Again, it probably was an honest mistake and I don't want to make accusations but it felt off because after I inquired about the miso soup when she gave us our food, she backtracked and said she could still bring some out. Unclear whether it had an allergen I was actually allergic to or not, I just let it go, because it also didn't seem like she wanted to go back to the kitchen to ask for anything else for us.

It was just overall a weird experience. The rest of the staff honestly seemed miserable as well, maybe it isn't a great place to work; however, that shouldn't trickle down to the service to paying customers. When we walked in no one greeted us, when I walked looking for the restroom, waiters walked right by me and appeared to really not want me to ask them a single question. I don't expect 5 star service but the vibes were so off.

The food was decent, but not worth putting up with very lackluster service. The sushi rolls...

I've been coming here practically my whole life. The food is extremely good and we're always satisfied. But our server Kenny (tall, white, long blonde hair, full tattoo sleeve from elbow to hand) was extremely rude. We came in around 3:30pm. It wasnt too busy. He came up to us almost immediately asking us what we wanted to drink. I ordered but my partner asked for a few minutes to look over the menu. Before she could even finsh, he walked away. First red flag. We tried to just go on about our lunch but couldn't help overhear him being rude and condescending to guests and other staff. It escalated to him belittling a chef for getting an order slightly wrong. It was going a little too far and I eventually had to step in and start calling him out for his behavior. I blatantly told him to stop being an a**hole. His dementor changed and felt like he was walking on eggshells rather than feeling remorseful. Granted, he seemed extremely stressed and was constantly saying he wanted to get home. Maybe there was something in his personal life affecting his behavior. But it was having an affect on everyone around and my partner and I. It's not cool to bring that into your workplace. His vibe was very intense and doesnt fit the Cherry Blossom I've been coming to for years. He seriously needs a reality check or a less stressful profession. I also want to add this isnt the first time I've heard some questionable behavior from this specific waiter. I've heard it from other friends and family who frequent this place and have for years.

P.S. We're not sure if it was an accident but they tried to charge us for a pasta dish that was nearly $20 that we didnt order. Thankfully we always check our receipt but we cant help but feel it was almost in retaliation for me speaking up as we've never had a problem with things we didnt order being added to our bill. Just be careful with...

My review is a bit critical so for those looking to find out if they should come here: yes. The food is good. I liked the atmosphere, the staff seemed friendly. The service might just be a bit below average. And I mean a bit. Slow service, hard time finding your server if you needed attention for a moment. Stuff like that, but not so bad I'd never come back, I'd definitely come back to cherry blossom.

To get more in depth: Came in for Valentines Day. Food was great but the service wasn't exactly great, I hate to be that guy but the service I experienced was a few steps below average. If I'm being honest it might have been a function of being understaffed? But there were some things that can't be chalked up to understaffing. It felt like our server was spending more time with other tables in terms of checking in on them and taking orders where with us it was maybe 10 minutes before our server came to get our drink orders, another 10-15 (honestly I might be exaggerating here but that's what it felt like) before coming back to get our food orders but before taking our order the server told us the special for the day and tried to rush off again, had to call out to say we were ready to order. All this, and we could visibly see our server and other servers in the same immediate vicinity paying more mind to other tables, at the very least that's what it felt like. Getting our check and getting it settled took a little while too.

I also didn't get my appetizer which was disappointing but it's whatever, they took it off the bill without any issues where other restaurants will try to argue and make you wait while they check cameras.

All in all I would come back, cause the food amd atmosphere were great. Hopefully my issues were an understaffing issue for the holiday and the service is better my...