Kobé Japanese Steakhouse - New Tampa — Restaurant in Tampa

THE absolute worst experience my family and I have ever had at one of these establishments. From the get go, the staff was incredibly rude and unpleasant. The place was completely empty (for good reason now experiencing this level of service) yes, we were shortly late for our 7pm reservation but didn’t get seated for another 30 mins past that.

Another 25-30 minutes go by before we’re acknowledged or even greeted, asked what drinks etc. My father walked up to the host stand to find Kayla, who was irritated by my father’s frustration and asking for the manager and responded to him with- “patience is a virtue, maybe you should get some.” The manager named Oscar finally arrived at the table and was equally nasty if not worse ARGUING at the dinner table with my father in front of all of us, other customers, and my sister when it was her birthday! An entire new level of rude and unprofessional truly lacking any understanding of what customer service means. He actually ended the conversation with saying if you have a problem with us you can go and try and find a different restaurant. WHAT?!

The place was dirty, the staff was rude and lazy, telling us they didn’t sell sushi to where I myself went and found sushi menus to order from? The server kept ignoring drink refills to where I asked literally any other staff member to refill our drinks, forgot my moms onion allergy for her soup and bringing twenty mins late all together, our sushi app came out way late in the meal, and did I mention they gave her a bowl with a straw wrapper still stuck in it from someone previously and sat us at a table with food still on it from the previous service?! Gross!

I watched my drink sit at the bar for several minutes before the bartender Jazmin actually walked it over herself, ice melted and all. The same girl who originally was on her phone not paying attention to me standing at the empty bar by myself for several minutes is actually the only saving grace this establishment had of the evening. Thank you for that jazmin.

Needless to say, my sister’s birthday as well as the other little girl’s birthday at the other end of the table were ruined. I can’t speak for them, but you couldn’t pay us to return to this place.

The entire staff needs to be cleared house aside from the damn bartender starting with the management. Good riddance.

We arrived at dinner at 5 mins till 7pm for a 7pm reservation and didn’t leave there until after 10pm with this...

I used to love this restaurant, but the new location is terrible! We had a 5:30 reservation for 7 people. We checked in on time and waited a half an hour to get seated. People who came in after us and walk ins were getting seated before us. It was 6pm before we got to our table. The two people they sat us with just walked in at 6. I found out they didn’t want to seat us until could fill the table (10). So because no parties of 2 or 3 were available they wouldn’t seat us. What’s the point of a reservation??? When we finally sat down it took 10 mins for a server to come over and take our drink order. The chef was good, but they definitely don’t do as many tricks as they used to-2 maybe 3. It was an extremely short show. He couldn’t cook fast enough. They forgot my husband’s sirloin which had to be cooked at the end and b/c chef was in such a rush it was raw!! I mean, still cold in the middle. We didn’t start eating dinner until 7pm. My kids were starving so I had to order French fries to hold them over-just an added expense. The tables are not big enough for 10 people. You’re practically sitting on top of the people next to you. Everyone has to get up just so you can get out to go to the bathroom. It is so freaking loud too. Forget about having a conversation without saying “what?” Over and over. It was just so disappointing and since it was my son’s bday even more so. Thankfully the food was good otherwise it would have been a total bust! By the time we got home it was after 8pm, absolutely ridiculous for a 5:30 reservation. It’s disappointing they only seem to be about turning tables, cramming as many people in a table as possible and just all about the money rather than the experience of their customers. We should have been seated at 5:30, our reservation time whether or not they had enough people to fill the table. The servers should be much quicker to greet the table and take drink order. The chefs should not be rushing thru the cooking. Isn’t that the whole point? That experience? I felt so bad for my son. We will definitely not be returning any time soon. Who wants to pay that much money for a subpar experience?...

I’ve been waiting for Kobe in New Tampa to open for a while. Finally got to try it on a Saturday night. Reservation was 5:30 and there was about a 5 minute wait to be seated. Once we were seated, the power went out. Emergency power was on but only lighted emergency lights. We couldn’t order drinks or anything food due to this. We were given water. Nicki was very nice and helpful and you can tell she really didn’t know what to do as there was nothing to do but wait. Staff worked very hard to accommodate guests during this time as well as try to figure out what the issue was and get the electricity back on. 20 minutes or so went by until the power finally came back on, at the exact moment the other party at our table was getting up to leave but they stayed. Randy was our chef. Great chef. Nice presentation. Onion soup was surprisingly flavorful. Salad was good. Rice, veggies, and noodles were all huge portions. So much so, I didn’t know where any of the proteins would go. Dad had the trio, lobster, scallops and shrimp. All delicious and he rated it a 4. Mom had filet and lobster which she said was good except two small issues. Her lobster was chewy and she wouldn’t order lobster again and the steak pieces were too big and no knife was provided. Otherwise she enjoyed her meal and gave it a 4. I had filet and shrimp it was exceptionally good. I give my food a 5. However my mom did note one thing that I also agree with, the protein portions were small in comparison to everything else and for the price. The restaurant did comp us a nice amount on our check due to the power outage and delay which was nice but they add 18% gratuity on every check no matter the size of your party and still expect a tip on the bill plus we tipped the chef which has always been customary at any hibachi restaurant I’ve been to. I wish this review was 5 stars but I had to give it the 4 strictly because of the delay with no electricity and for protein portion size. I will 100% return to this location and can’t wait to do so. The food...