Kobé Japanese Steakhouse - St. Petersburg — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

Terrible.. just terrible. Mother called days prior speaking to a manager to make sure there could be an accommodation for an egg allergy for our table. The manager said there could be an accommodation and that we would be sat at a table in the front. After arrival on December 26, we were told that unfortunately they couldn’t sit us at a table away from others that they are all next to us, but instead of seating us at the very front tables which were away from other tables, they sat us in the very back of the restaurant by ALL of the tables being cooked at and the kitchen. Again this accommodation was spoken about in advanced and told to us by a manager that they could accommodate no problem. *We also were a family of 9 and had our own table. Otherwise we would have ate somewhere else. The family decided Kobe’s would be great for the wife’s birthday since this accommodation was told could be made. Turns out it was the worst decision ever that night. After being sat and ordering food, Our waitress decided to argue with one of our people from our party about her having no noodles and an extra side of white rice. Could not accommodate at all. After the server continued to argue with the entire table in regards to rice, which was shocking, she then got the Allergy info wrong and rang it in as a “dairy allergen “when it should have been an egg allergen, so the chef cooked only one persons entire meal first without butter…. Served that one person his entire meal and then continued on to cook the rest of the families meals. Once the server was questioned about this the server said that she rang in as a dairy allergy and wrote “no eggs cooked on the entire table” , which there was a language barrier between the server and the chef. But the chef said he was confused because she wrote dairy allergy…. When eggs are not dairy. unorganized. After making these mistakes she was continuously talking about the rice and how there was a miscommunication about the allergy. She then asked my wife “why is it that you can have chicken but not egg??”. It is none of the servers business as to why my wife cannot have egg. She got rude and said that she was trying to be educated. If my server is asking why there cannot be egg cooked, and she made numerous mistakes I do not think she needs to be a server is she is not educated about allergies when she should have learned that when she took the State of Florida REQUIRED Food Handler course and pass a test showing that she understands food safety. The waitress who goes by the name of SEAN was very unorganized and unprofessional. And then we were forced with the 18% gratuity when she was very undeserving. After such a terrible experience that she made my sister so upset she had to leave the table twice. Completely ruined a birthday celebration with the family, when we very rarely get to all be together out at dinner. Management was no where to be found until after our meal, Togo boxes, and bday celebration. Very rude very unorganized the entire experience. So much argument when this is hospitality and should have been treated MUCH better for the amount of money that was spent there. We came to this restaurant for the experience and for the accommodation. Will...

Worst experience I’ve had. I’ve never been targeted by a wait staff member for my medical condition before. I usually love Kobe because I have Celiac’s and they carry gluten free soy sauce and will cook things gluten free. We got sat and the place was full, which we expected and did not mind- except my friend and I had to yell to talk to one another, and the chef and the server both talked too low to hear. I didn’t mind any of this until our server Ante asked if we had any allergies and I said I had one to gluten (Celiacs) I went to order my food and he clarified with me- (incorrect items written by him but that’s okay, I understand things like that). However, I went to order the fried rice and he told me they didn’t carry gluten free soy. I explained I had it last time and he told me it wasn’t around anymore. So he said I could get all vegetables and I asked for white rice instead with my vegetables. Soups come out. He told me the clear soup had gluten so he’d grab me the miso soup. I asked for an iced tea to come with it when he had a moment. 10 minutes pass by and everyone’s finished their soup. He comes up to me with the salad and goes, “yeah. So the miso soup has gluten. I thought I could just tell you now and It’s why I never came back”. I asked if I could have my iced tea though. He passes the salads, goes to get tea. 5 minutes later- he brings the tea out and it’s lukewarm/ hot. Feeling like I’m a bother at this point and wanting to walk out- I just drink it and shut up. I was embarrassed by the constant stopping and targeting because of something I can not control. Chef comes out and asks me about my order- which was still incorrect due to the server despite my clarification and him CONFIRMING it. The chef ended up telling me they DID have the gluten free soy sauce and he could make it gluten free. I was thrilled to get my food all gluten free…. Which was then burnt. Ended up taking it to throw it away on the way out. As was my friend’s food. Chef was nice overall.

Server brought to-go boxes over and we asked for the bill so we could catch our movie. He handed out the boxes to the table except for my friend and I and set the boxes for my friend and I on the hot counter… where we couldn’t reach. He goes “I’ll be back in a minute”. Originally, he said could pull the bull up on his Toast POC and began to pull it up before stopping and saying he’d be back.

A person at the same table was nice enough to get up and hand me the box- apologizing for how I was treated.

We quickly paid and left- not having time to stop and talk to a manager before we left for a movie we were seeing. 1.5 hours and worst experience at Kobe I’ve had.

This whole thing soured my experience and definitely made me not want to go back to what was my...

July 2025 Update: The Kobe Corporate Office reached out to inquire further about our last dining experience, and investigated our concerns. We are happy to share that they have made attempts to offer resolution. We will consider giving this Kobe location another chance.

June 2025: We typically always enjoy going to Kobe’s, especially this particular location. We frequent this location often, and it’s usually an enjoyable experience with the many habachi chefs who put on a show. However, we recently visited Kobe's at this location and it was one of the worst experiences we've ever had - at any Kobe’s location. We had a 6pm reservation for 7 people. We were on time. We didn't get seated until 6:40. The habachi chef didn't come to our table until 7:20. The wait was ridiculous! Kobe's overbooked and we were the victims of a horrible experience where we didn't actually get served food until an hour and 15 minutes past our reservation time! But wait, there’s more: We had a member of our party who just had back surgery and is allergic to garlic. Another party at our table also had an allergy to shellfish. Shockingly, our waitress and then manager Ms. Soo Song informed us that they would have to cook our member’s whole meal in the back due to the garlic allergy and to accommodate the other party’s shellfish allergy. That was completely unfair and unacceptable. After 5 minutes of arguing, she finally agreed to have the chef cook the meal in front of us. Meanwhile, we have an 18-month baby who was irritable after waiting more than 1.5 hours for the meal. We requested for our meals to be prepared to go so that we could leave and put our baby to bed. Ms. Song again refused and stated the chef was coming out soon.

Fortunately, aside from that and the manager, we can say that service is usually friendly and attentive. Food is excellent, although they have noticeably reduced the portion sizes while maintaining the same prices. If you can overlook that, the meal is still worth it since it also comes with a miso soup and ginger salad to start. Most meals come with both fried rice and noodles. I recommend not filling up on the rice and noodles before getting your vegetables and, lastly, your proteins. However, overall, given our latest experience at this location, we are reconsidering visiting this place again and may consider other options...