Happy Shabu Shabu — Restaurant in San Francisco

This place is alright but a little shady and lazy. They definitely dont have all you can drink and they bring you water and sake in the same plastic jugs that looks like they came from a dollar store. They didn't even let you know what type of sake it was or give you any choices and it tasted like vermouth. They waste a lot of plastic by giving you the tiniest amount of sauce in single use plastic containers that are usually only used for togo orders in other restaurants so I alone had 12 in one meal so in a given night they are using hundreds of these little plastic cups, that end up in the trash, instead of washing real sauce dishes. It seems wasteful and lazy. Food is pretty good. The lamb had dark spots that was gross but I didn't get sick so thankful for that. Broth is a little watery and the pots only held one type of broth. Most places have those 4 way pots so you can have multiple types of broth. They say they close at 11 but they came by and told us they were shutting down the slicer at 10:13 and kind of were shoeing us out. They use a waiter instead of tablet system so the waiter can hide in the back and you get less food while waiting or have to go in the back and get her. There was a lot that just seemed lazy. They need to get tablets for people to order from and actual real glass or porcelain water, sake, and sauce containers. The plastic it tacky and cheap and lazy. I don't think Id come back here or recommend it. They need to take down the picture of the menu on google that says all you can drink. Thats literally what we came for. If they are going to be all tacky and lazy with bad sake in a plastic jug they could at least have bottomless drinks as they advertised. Sake was not...

I had the all you can eat beef and my 2 buddies did the same. The beef was great, the broth was very tasty and just a little too salty. Veggies were pretty run of the mill. Over all, we were all very happy with our meal. However, the staff was indifferent bordering on rude. They had to be tracked down for EVERYTHING, not just for more meat which I could understand. We got up to get refills on tea, to get water and to get our bill! Then, my buddies were charged the correct amount while my credit card was charged for the entire meal! I was flying back home so didn't have time to call and a actually spaced it for another couple days. When I checked my statement again, it had been corrected but still, one more mark against them. If the food had been anything other than very tasty, I wouldn't be giving them 4 stars. As it is, it scratched the Shabu itch for me but I will be looking for another option next time...

Makes me feel like I'm home it's so welcoming. Service was fast for us, but I could see how it would be slow as it's just a few people (and a robot?) working their butts off and still being extremely kind and warm. There's someone in the comments complaining about the plastic drink containers... It made me laugh because the second me and my partner sat down I pointed them out and said "this is going to be good". They're the ones you see at any old-school Korean restaurant or many restaurants in Korean! Obviously this is japanese, but if you know, you know. It's not a fancy joint, but it's a clean hole in the wall with so much personality and the sweetest salt of the earth people working.

Meat was very very good. Broth is simple and tasty but you could load up on the dipping sauce if you want something richer. Excellent value for money and one of the warmest experiences...