Daruma North Sarasota - Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Lounge — Restaurant in Sarasota

If I could leave ZERO stars I would. This is the first review I have ever made of a restaurant. Sunday night was the most embarrassing and degrading experience I have ever had here with my family last night. We have been coming here for many years, and we have never experienced something so horrific before. Management needs to evaluate a situation and think before speaking. We waited almost an hour to be seated just to be denied service for their mistakes. While we waited my family went to the bar to have a drink and their first mistake was not to ask for ID to verify our age. I was in the lobby with my baby having my drink while my boyfriend was at the bar with my family. My boyfriend and I swapped so I could ask my brother how much longer and he said 30 more minutes. After 10-15 minutes that had passed since my partner and I had the drinks in our hand. The manager on the floor came with the bartender asking for my boyfriend and I's ID. Not my brother or parents because we looked young. I went to my car to get mine and proceeded to show mine. My boyfriend didn't have his but did show a picture. The manager looked at the picture and said he needed a physical one. Which I understand. The drink my partner had stayed at the bar with us. We thought he could have it, so my brother gave it back. My boyfriend was in the lobby with my baby when the manger came and took the drink out of his hand without permission or asking if he could have it back in a mannerly way. The manger on the floor that night tossed the drink out and came to my parents, brother and I, saying he can't serve him anymore drinks. At this point we didn't want any problems & we wanted to prove he is of age so since we were still waiting to be seated, | went home for his identification since it was a short drive home. When I came back, I gave it to my partner so he could prove he was of age. It was handed to the manager and the bartender, they both saw the physical identification. My brother then proceeded to say he wanted to speak to someone else and they had said they she had clocked out and went home for the evening. From their everything went down hill. Things didn’t make sense from their part if the manager had clocked out and went home for night how did she show up 2 minutes later?Saying they want us out and to never come back to their restaurant. Money was never the issue here. To them saying my brother has had issues here before but how come he was never aware he could not come back the first time he had problems? To one of the managers putting her hand on him telling him to “calm down” to her telling him “I know where you work” my brother made her aware not to touch him and didn’t pay the tab since they wanted us out and said they were calling the police. My parents are very calm but my mother stood up for us that night. If we were the disruptive ones why didn’t they just call the police from the moment they started kicking us out? And not just that. When we had already left the establishment they sent one of their young employees to go outside and take pictures of our license plate. If they felt so threatened they should’ve just called law enforcement. It was a very unfortunate situation and they handled their mistake very poorly. I have so many questions and very little answers. I loved this place so much growing up but the way management treated and spoke to my family and embarrassed us will never make me forget. It was definitely a situation that they could have been handled better. We wish them nothing but the best...

I have gone to DaRuMa for many years...even when they were located in The Quay in Sarasota. The food is good but the dessert is to die for. We went there yesterday for Mother's Day dinner. According to their email advertisements, "all mothers will receive a FREE Japanese Gift". They must have meant all other mothers because every woman at my table received a Japanese fan except me. Maybe it was just an oversight. Our chef didn't display the usual amount of knife skills or flash and we felt like he was in a hurry to finish our meals. We finished our dinner and packed up the left overs. We always save room for the fried ice cream dessert. It is the best dessert anywhere. We were there with his parents and debating on whether or not 2 servings would be enough for all of us. The waitress interrupted to tell us they were not offering dessert. She said that on "high volume" days dessert was not an option as the kitchen would be unable to get food out in time. Not only were we disappointed, we were very confused. The kitchen at this Japanese restaurant (and most like it) doesnt actually cook food. The food is portioned out and then cooked on your table in front of you. And secondly, the restaurant was mostly empty. The room we were seated in had four tables, two of which were empty and set for the next parties, except the lobby was clear and there were no guests waiting. Not wanting to cause a scene, we left. On the way home, I called and asked to speak with a manager. Ron told me that on Mother's Day and New Years Eve they wouldnt be able to serve 400 tables if they offered dessert. I tried to explain to him that it would be helpful if that information was available before hand - maybe in the emails they sent out or the hostess could mention it when making reservations. His attitude was "this is the way we do it and we will continue to do it this way." I mentioned to him that our party was done eating at 8:30 and the restaurant was pretty empty and we wouldn't have been holding up a table that was meant for a new party and he said that it didn't matter. That was their procedure. If we would have known that dessert wasn't going to be offered, we would have chose to celebrate Mother's Day at another restaurant. It was a bad night and the customer service was worse. There are too many Japanese restaurants in Sarasota and Bradenton to go...

I was the mother of the toddler that was with the Holliday family below and it has taken me some time to sit down and write this as I have never in my life been so disrespected and embarrassed by a restaurant. We made reservations for our family to enjoy habachi and I was so excited to try something new and heard wonderful things. My daughter is 2.5 and eats her own meal and in my eyes wherever we go to eat is a full paying customer and deserves a spot at the table, it doesnt matter if she is in a high chair or not. We arrived and waited and when we were sat we placed our daughter in between my husband and I and were never told via online, during reservations process, or even upon check in of a policy that highchairs are to be put on a tiny corner spot that barely fits a plate and the seat cant even fully scoot up to and not at the main table. Especially for a full paying customer. But the manager told us he wouldnt allow it and that it was a policy (no where written, or adverised, so a rule they make up) and that is where we were frusterated and dissapointed in the behavior of the manager. My father did argue and rightly so as this policy is no where and did not make sense for a full paying customer. My daughter could not fit in the corner and was away from the table and a plate could barely fit, it was hanging over which would cause issues when trying to feed a toddler.. I could understand if she wasn't eating her own meal and just sharing or eating something different than us but she was getting her own meal, we were paying full price for a seat at the table. I am so sad with how it was all handled and so embarrassed to have to deal with this, when we should have never had to in the first place. Someone mentioned they were the family beside us and I'm sorry but you were only there for the last part and the manager was very rude and disrespectful not just to me but I felt toward my daughter. He was not accommodating at all. We will never be back and while I know that does not mean much to these folks in the restaurant business I will just say this place is extremely unfriendly to children, so be cautious when bringing...