Jingu House — Restaurant in San Antonio

5/10/24 I want to preface this review with: The manager did take my item off of the receipt and give us free desert which was the right thing to and I do appreciate. She also apologized and handled it about the best she could and I do acknowledge that. I really didn’t want to write this review as I was excited to go here and eat lunch. However, the service here was awful. We ordered our food around 1. I asked the waitress if I could have the kimchi fries as my main meal and she said that was fine. We waited around 30 minutes to get the food and both of my friends got their food at that point. I waited several more minutes to see if mine was going to come out and then at that point I figured they forgot about me. I looked around for the waitress and I could not find her. I finally see her pass and wave her down and explain that I haven’t received my food yet. She goes in the back and comes back and says “They are putting it in now”. So I wait then for at least 20-30 more minutes and by then everyone at my table had finished their food. The server passed by several more times without any acknowledgement. The sever at the section next to mine felt bad and asked if we were doing okay. I had more interaction and acknowledgement from him than I ever had from the server working my section. I can understand if you are busy or if the kitchen is backed up but all I wanted was some sort of acknowledgement or for someone to explain to me what was even going on. It takes less than a minute in the several times she passed us to do that. The situation was embarrassing to have to deal with as we just wanted to have a nice lunch with family out of town. I sat there for at least an hour or more without any food even after I had to talk to the server in the other section. I have never had to call for a manager when eating at a restaurant and I usually can deal with bad service and shrug it off but this was next level. I think that most other people would have made a bigger deal about...

My friend and I visited this restaurant while visiting the Japanese garden and had the worst experience. Since there were a plethora of tea and drink options, we figured we’d both get boba teas to enjoy on the hot day. While waiting for our drinks, my friend’s mom asked to try the slushy the cashier was advertising After giving her a sample, we asked what flavor the slushy was and she didn’t know. Of course, that was annoying, but we decided to just focus on getting our teas. I didn’t realize in the moment, but I saw a 2% milk on the counter and thought maybe the workers were using it for their blended drinks. We both got our teas and headed outside to enjoy them. After a few sips, I was unsure if the drink had regular milk in it. After seeing my friend drink more than half of her tea, I asked her to go ask the workers if they had used regular milk since she is lactose intolerant. Mind you, most people know that if you get boba tea, the tea house typically uses lactose free milk. When she asked what milk they used, the worker confirmed they in fact used the 2% milk! She said, “we do offer oatmilk as well” but the cashier didn’t mention this at all!! I was so upset, and decided to throw away my drink! I don’t recommend this restaurant at all. They aren’t informative of their options and frankly only exist to serve careless food and drinks to patrons of the garden....

Last Thursday, I saw something I never ever expected to see at the Tea Gardens. A bride, dressed in white and holding a bouquet of flowers, was about to descend the stairs and take her wedding vows. Suddenly, a short Hispanic man identifying himself as the GENERAL MANAGER?!, came outside. He began yelling at the bride and demanding she pay a fee. Her friends had already been trying to calm the bride down beforehand, as this was clearly an emotional time. They assured the manager that they would pay, and i heard one of them say it was a simple misunderstanding...they simply didn't know...could he just wait a moment while she said her vows, the asked? Not only did the general manager refuse, but he moved over and stood directly in front of the bride and yelled some more. "You go inside FIRST! THEN you can go downstairs!" The bride began to cry again, but she went inside with him. She seemed upset and terrified but cooperated. I have witnessed a lot of unprofessional behavior in my time, but who stops a bride from taking her wedding vows just to pay a fee?? No matter what, I'm quite sure he could have waited a few moments. To my knowledge, the park is a public place and I've never seen any signs to indicate you have to stop at the Jingu House to ask permission. The GM could have handled the situation better. Now I understand why that restaurant always...