Koto Hibachi Steak House — Restaurant in Pittsfield

UPDATED

This restaurant fully deserves more than three stars for the quality and variety of the food and the festive decor. The hibachi meats are nicely prepared, the sushi is fresh, side dishes (fried rice, etc.) have an authentic traditional Chinese "comfort food" flavor, and the portions of most dishes seem plentiful. The enclosed patio is a fun place to eat, with plastic plants and lively music that give it the feel of a Disney themed restaurant. We very much enjoyed our meal, and the service was friendly and efficient.

So why only two stars? Unfortunately, this restaurant has a couple of pitfalls. The first is that the kitchen used MSG on our meals (despite the owner declining to admit this in their response to my review). Depending on your sensitivity, you may need to take a Benadryl after eating there. My wife and I both had pretty strong reactions, and we had completely different meals and side dishes. The second challenge is that a lot of things seem to be smothered in a sauce of some kind, even when that wasn't indicated on the menu. This makes it difficult for anyone with food sensitivities to navigate the menu...and adds a lot of sugar and salt (and more MSG?) when those really aren't needed. The flavors are fun, but it would be nice to know what's being served.

We have returned several times for the sushi. It is fresh and competently prepared, although a bit expensive for the small...

The food is quite good (and very overpriced for what you get) but the service and the vibe are absolutely terrible. We will probably order take out or delivery, but there's no way we will ever dine in again. We waited 10 minutes to get menus and place our order. We waited another 10 minutes to get our beverages. We waited 20 minutes after all that to get 1 appetizer delivered. After the appetizer we waited 40 minutes for one of our 4 entrees to arrive, and then 5 minutes later we got another entree, and then 5 minutes later we got the other 2 entrees. Table of 4 and we got our entrees in 3 trips spaced about 10 minutes apart. The staff act like they're doing you a favor and don't care one bit to be bothered with you or treat you like a paying customer. We had to get our drinks refilled by the guy that was clearing tables. Our waitress took our order and we never saw her again until she brought our food out in 3 trips, and then once more to bring the check. No one came to check on us or make sure our food was correct, and no one ever asked if everything was ok. Definitely no customer service concerns by the management at this place, and we refuse to eat where we aren't welcomed or tended to...

I used to go to this place all the time during the week for lunch but it seems that either the hours are incorrect in multiple places or whoever is on the phone keeps disconnecting the line during peek hours. Multiple times we have tried to get lunch from here for multiple weeks and it's hit or miss if you can actually talk to someone and place an order. It's unfortunate as the food is good but with the unreliability of the service I can't recommend anyone try as they will likely find out what they want for an order and then be unable to place an order.

You can use doordash to place an order for pickup but will have to pay the increased pricing on most items as the menu items will state one price but then doordash will upcharge it for a fee for using them...