Soo Cafe RALEIGH — Restaurant in Raleigh

I’ve had a horrible experience ever since I first walked into Soo Cafe. I am a minor and was looking for a job, and was graciously recommended by a friend who was employed here. When I walked in for the interview he asked me to start that very day, without any paperwork or questions about my experience or qualifications. Immediately I was suspicious.

Working there was nice at first, with friendly customers and weekly pay. One day, I received a large table that had an African American family celebrating a birthday. Before taking the table, the owner and chef, Young Jo, pulled me aside into the kitchen and told me (an African American girl) that “those people with my skin color” would likely have many complaints about their food, ask for extra accommodations, etc. He also said that it would be likely they would only order the fried chicken! I was stunned by this comment but diligently served my table. The kitchen was a bit busy that day and their food was taking a long time to come out, so one of the woman at the table asked me to cancel one of her orders as she did not want it anymore since it was taking so long. When I reported this back to him, he was very frustrated. After the table left, he pulled me into a private room with no cameras, and told me that I was not allowed to take “African” tables anymore. I asked him why this was, to which he responded, since we have the same skin color they would feel like they can ask more of me. I should’ve left after this. This was only the start of racist comments he has made!

For several weeks, we had the restaurant shut down and only opened for take out orders, since there were renovations being done. When I walked in one day, I did my daily tasks of cleaning both restrooms, and commented to him about the color of the paint in the mens bathroom. He asked me to stand against the wall and, as confused as I was, I obliged. He then commented that I probably liked the color (a reddish-brown) because It was the same color as my skin. He followed this up with asking which of my parents were darker in skin tone. I felt very uncomfortable by both of these comments but laughed it off.

It is not only to me that he has made racist comments to, but other employed there. There is only one white staff member, who happens to be the friend who recommended me. He constantly told me and once another hispanic waitress that we needed to be more like her, giving no constructive criticism to follow up. Everyone employed at Soo Cafe besides the waitresses and his family members speak little to no english. I’ve constantly overheard him yelling at and berating them, and during the time of construction, I witnessed him physically assault one of the dishwasher/janitors employed. This is not his only count of unwanted physical activity. Several of the waitresses have reported that he has touched them inappropriately, and all of the waitresses are very young! By this, I mean giving unwanted hugs, standing very close to them when speaking or giving direction, and on several occasions “accidentally” touching their breasts to which he gave no apology. He also has asked me and others very personal questions, including details about personal life at home, addresses, etc.

Now to mention the sanitary issues. I have never seen a completely clean dish at Soo Cafe. Of course this is partly a fault on the dishwashers, but all of the cups and plates we are expected to serve to customers have some sort of stain. This has affected my serving time having to pick through the shelves to fine the cleanest dish I could. There are roaches in the bathrooms, kitchen, and dining area. When filling the ice one day, I saw a roach and jumped back, dropping the bucket. I told him this and he shrugged it off and told me to get back to...

I love Soo but had a very disappointing to go experience they other day. I called in an order for beef bulgogi and as soon as I hung up I realized I didn’t request a spicy version. I called back four times and could not get an answer (it kept going to a voicemail, busy maybe?). After waiting ten minutes I tried again and got someone on the line, I let them know that I knew it was too late to change my order but if they could just include a spicy sauce on the side. They said they could do that for me. I was originally told a 20 minute pick up time and arrived right at 20 minutes later. I waited an additional 30 minutes after that before I asked for a refund. The young lady working the front went to get a manager for the refund and he magically came out with my food and handed me a 20 ounce coke, which I don’t drink, for my trouble. They usually aren’t that busy so they staff minimally but it really bites them when they start to get some business. Overall Soo is great, they have small plates or large plates which makes it a lot more affordable and the small plates are plenty. I love the spicy beef Bulgogi, vegetable tempura which is very affordable, and the crispy chicken wings are out of this world! With larger order of wings you can get multiple selections of sauce. They don’t give you multiple small sides like some other Korean restaurants but the plates come with a small salad and soup. It’s hit or miss whether you will get kimchi with to go orders so I always order extra. I would be hesitant using them again for a to go order which is disappointing because that’s all I’m comfortable doing during...

I placed a to-go order for 10 tenders and they gave me 10 wings. (They're not the same - after a time, the wings get soft and chewy and the tenders do not.) I called the restaurant that evening about 10 times and, according to the restaurant, the person there chose not to answer the phone (and there's nothing they can do about it). I called the restaurant back the next day and they told me to reach the owner who was not the "real" owner - I had to call back at another time to reach that person who I still haven't spoken to until this day.

When calling today after several days of being unable to reach who I needed to speak to, they told me there is nothing "legally" they can do about it. This is not a legal matter. It's just a pretty terrible business practice that they have to be able to mess up any order that is placed and refuse to do anything about. I have been hung up on by the owner of this business after demonstrating I tried reaching them since the day of.

I have already filed a complaint with the BBB and I will never do...