Kanpai of Tokyo — Restaurant in Spartanburg

I've been going here since high school and it has usually been very good. My biggest grievance is they no longer serve hot tea. At first they had green tea instead of black, which sucked but I thought it was just a shortage from reopening but the last time they had nothing and according to our server, they have no plans to rectify the tea situation.

Why 2 stars instead of 3: The last time I came was an early reservation, right before the usual dinner rush. The chef we had must have been new. I can get over the fact there was no performance or banter. I mean everybody has to start somewhere, but he did not even seem prepared or equipped to provide anyone at the table the right food, let alone entertainment. He didn't even offer us any sauces. Everyone had to get his attention and ask for what they liked. Even after three different guest did this, he still did not inquire around the table to see if anybody else would like any. Meaning, I had to get his attention four separate times just to get ginger sauce and then for shrimp sauce for me and my two sons. After this (the most disappointing experience we've had) the server added automatic gratuity to the the bill even though my party wasn't 6 people (as stated on the menu) we were 5 including a 15yo and a child. So it wasn't even like it was five grown people and she miscounted. As a former server myself, I usually over tip but this was the first time I can remember I was upset with my father for not pointing it out because our service had been just as bad, if not worse, than our chefs (non)performance. It may have been the first time my father ever over-tipped someone, lol

Edit: I do want to say that they do have some really spectacular chefs here. When I took my son for his 8th birthday the guy was amazing and made the meal very...

Honestly super disappointed. We have gone to and loved Kanpai for many years. We went this past Sunday for a nice "date night" and when we walked in the waiting area it was about 85 degrees. We went to put our name down and there was a very unprofessional waitress leaning over on the host stand chatting to the host. No regards to the customers that just walked in. We contemplated leaving due to the heat but they said it was cooler back by the tables. It did get a little better, maybe 80 degrees so we decided to eat. Our table was sat and we got drink orders taken 10 or so minutes later. The waitress didn't know liquor and sushi were not sold on Sunday. She didn't tell us we would not be getting our sushi until we were already eating our Hibachi that was cooked in front of us (45 min to an hour after ordering). That was after us asking about it once and she said her manager was supposed to be bringing it out to us. Our soup and salad came out together 30 minutes after we ordered and the soup was cold. The chef did a great job and our food tasted good but our whole table was too mad to enjoy a bite. The manager did give the table 20% off our tabs for the long wait which was a nice gesture but didn't make up for the severity of the situation. The ladies bathroom was out of tp. There needs to be some major changes and staff training before we will be returning. It seemed to be a better experience for the table next to us who had their Hibachi cooking before we had soup or salad and they sat down a good bit after us so possibly the issue is isolated to...

Yesterday evening my wife, son and I decided to eat Kanpai . Typically it is one of our favorite restaurants. We even had our two good friends join us. The night started off fine we got our sushi very quickly and it was good, but things began to go downhill. We ordered sake and two glasses of water and it took 20 min for that to come out..so we asked if we could go ahead and place an order. We had 2 hibachi chickens and 1 hibachi steak. Very simple no add ons nothing. As we waiting patiently we began to notice tables that ordered after us began getting their salads and soup. 20 minutes of waiting we decided to ask one of the servers then she proceeded to tell us they were out of dressing and asked if we still wanted the soup...we got our soups shortly after. About 10 minutes later the steak hibachi comes out and no chicken they said it will be right up....another 25 minutes go by and someone finally asks us if we needed anything. We let her know that we were just waiting on the hibachi chickens that were ordered. Several tables that came in and ordered after us got there food before we did. Finally we gave up and just asked for the check...because we had our son who still hasnt ate and at this time it is 8:15. One of the servers was very apologetic and said something went wrong in the kitchen, but to say we were disappointed in the overall experience is an understatement. Hopefully one day they can get back to how they were, but at this rate it wont be...