Kabuki Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga

On Saturday, January 19, 2019 at approximately 7 pm, my daughter, Hayley, drove from her home in Eagle Rock to have dinner with me for my birthday (I had a birthday reward). We have been patrons of Kabuki since the year 2000 at your Pasadena location when we lived in that city. We relocated to the Inland Empire in 2003 and were very excited about the Rancho Cucamonga location opening.

We sat down at a two person booth just next to the bar and ordered our drinks. Three intoxicated gentlemen sat down at the bar shortly after, directly beside us (an arms reach away). They were having inappropriate conversation during our entire meal, turning around in their seats to look at my daughter frequently. They were very loud and it was obvious that they were friends with the bartender, Francis. They carried on, loud enough for everyone to notice and hear, bragging to Francis about how drunk they were and how they had been drinking since 2 pm. As we were finishing our dinner and getting ready to pay, they began an extremely graphic, sexual conversation that was boisterous. Francis continued to serve them Red Bull & Vodka (with extra Grey Goose). I let my waiter, Ryo, know that it was not appropriate for the restaurant and the amount of families that were dining at the time and that I would like him to notify the manager. I picked my credit card up, left a cash tip and as we were walking to the front, instead of immediately notifying the restaurant manager, Helen, Ryo told the three drunk gentlemen that I had complained about their behavior. They became irate and started yelling at my daughter and I. I told Helen what was going on and she addressed them by name and said they were her friends (she had been engaging with them during our time there while she was socializing with them from behind the bar). They continued SCREAMING at my daughter and I, calling my daughter “disgusting”, putting their hands and fingers in my face and threatening both of us. Not one of your staff intervened. Helen did absolutely nothing to diffuse what was going on...nothing. Had Ryo not told the gentleman I didn’t appreciate his behavior, the confrontation would have not taken place, (Ryo, too, was friends with these men). As we left, they were still yelling at us, name calling and being aloud to remain in the restaurant.

You are letting young, inexperienced staff run your restaurant like a sleazy bar. Helen should be qualified enough to recognize belligerent patrons and not over serve her friends. Helen clearly knew how intoxicated they were when she was laughing with them that evening. I have never been disrespected in such a humiliating manner in my entire life. My daughter & I deserve better. I wouldn’t want grown men disrespecting a Mother & her child at my establishment. I wish my husband had been there. I felt very unsafe. Walking to our car after the scene was scary. What kind of business are you running? What will be done as a consequence to this mortifying incident? This is harassment and bullying. I am sure that there were plenty of surveillance cameras capturing the entire evening. I hope you review them. I, too, would like to see it unfold.

I anticipate an immediate...

5/26/25 9pm

Zero zero zero zero!

Review: Zero Stars for Terrible Customer Service

I'm extremely disappointed with the customer service we received during our recent visit. We walked in as a group of four adults and three kids, and even though it was not closing time, we were told that we couldn't be seated as one party. We offered to split up to make it easier, but the staff responded with attitude, making us feel unwelcome from the start.

My husband and brother-in-law ended up sitting on one side while the kids and my sister were at another table. There was a clear aisle between us, and all we wanted was to enjoy a meal after a long day. Just as we settled in, a rude hostess Ciera (African American about 20-30 years old) made a comment about the manager saying to keep the aisle clear. Mind you we just got seated. Continuously us feel like a burden.

Rewind, before we came in, I called while in parking lot to see if it's happy hour she states "yes it is until 9:30 because we are trying to close early if not busy" (mind you... they were busy) I said, "perfect we're here" we came in and no one greeted us when she walked up and no smile. Didn't ask how many we had to tell her 7. Then she says "we can't seat that big of a party" so we suggested to split. They could have been accommodating... obviously she wanted to go home she hates her job and is making the place lose customers. If your workers don't want to work past 9 close by 8!!! I'm also a business owner... id be livid!

She walked away when we told her we could split. Which was awkward to make suggestions ... I wish she could have just said we refuse service. Absolutely poor customer service!!! And...we watched her gestures from the sushi bar and it was soooooo bothering to feel like we were definitely not welcome. She looked upset and we haven't even got sat yet!

It was incredibly disheartening to be treated this way, especially considering that we are all nurses who continue to serve others no matter the circumstances. If you're unhappy in your job, perhaps it's time to reconsider your position instead of taking it out on paying customers.

Feeling unwelcome and frustrated, we decided to walk out and went to Lucille's instead. This experience was unacceptable, and I would not recommend this place to anyone. A big zero for service!

Note to owner! Manager! And corporate fix your staff situation they are making customers feel bad for coming in close to closing. They want to go home and they are taking it out on the customers.

We walked out. No one cared. I called to tell her we left out of consideration and she made it a point to show how much she absolutely did not care. Her voice was condescending and entitled... she was gonna put me on hold to talk to manager but I knew I'm be on hold for awhile. Manager looks bad because she kept using the "manager" word for every thing. Hoping that the "manager" isn't as bad and will do something about this!

I don't stay quiet and I don't take these things lightly. I will take it further and write a letter to whoever needs to hear my short experience here!

I...

We ordered two rolls and two ramen. The two rolls were good BUT THE RAMEN IS THE REASON FOR THIS ONE STAR. Two ramen came out, my friends was the miso and mine was spicy beef. The miso came out okay, it wasn't the best ramen ever but it was decent. I don't even know where to start with mine, the noodle was so mushy that I thought it was overcooked at first. But my friend ate it and he was like I don't think this is cooked. And he was right, the noodle was much thinner than his, and it had this uncooked noodle taste. Like it wasn't even undercooked, it was just not cooked at all, how do they forget to cook the noodle? Once we told the server he took it to the kitchen and said they will bring out a new one, it was totally different this time, even the soup tasted different. It was definetly a lot hotter and it had a nice smoky taste and the noodle was bigger in size. I honestly, don't like how they handled the situation, there was no apology, no compensation except bringing a new bowl, which we had to wait even longer for.

We were a group of 2, came here on Friday 7:30 seated at 7:55, so far all good. We sat there for 15 min, no one came by. Another group was seated in front of us, another five minutes passed. A server came and took drink orders from the group that came after us and finally came to us. mind you, we've been waiting for a good 20 min already so I asked if we can put our order in as well but the server said he'll put in the drinks first and take our order after. So we just ask for water, he left, and we waited another 5-10 min and this other server takes the order of the group that came after us first, and finally our order is taken. Before our food comes out, the group that came 15min after us is already done eating.

I just don't think they have a good system in place, I mean obviously from the ratings as well. Their food is decent but they really need to step up...