El Tataki Sushi Fusion — Restaurant in Tempe

Just stopped in after waiting for about 20 minutes for it to open in anticipation. I waited for this place to open for months last year as it was delayed. The delay was actually publicly handled pretty poorly. Being a consultant in my past and running some of my own businesses, correlating this scenario from the outside looking in, this usually means poor management. With a brand new business especially, this is a red flag because everything trickles from the top down. Which means: poor management = poor staff = poor service = poor food

Well I was in the area and I decided to stop by to give it a chance now that I saw it was open. Hung out for a bit and waited for it to open, which was 11 but waited until 11:10 so I wasn't being obnoxious taking a step in as soon as they unlock the doors

The first customers that walked in ahead of me were two couples on a double date. The short blonde hostess seated them and then came back to me. I never got a greeting but I specifically said "Hello, this place is so nice inside. I waited for it to open last year and I think it was delayed. Now I see why! It is beautiful in here." I got zero response. Nothing but crickets haha. It was kind of comical. The hostess just looked at me and then was doing things behind the hostess stand and ignored me. Then she said "I will be right back" and walked away. I said "okay no worries", kind of confused but whatever right?

She came back, continued to ignore me and let me stand there. So I just kind of hung out and waited for her to be ready to address me 😅. She answered the phone and spoke some Spanish and then hung up. Still didn't address me so I just waited patiently. Then 3 people walked in behind me. She says "Table of 3?" and they say yup. She grabs 3 menus and says follow me. Walks in, and the Guy follows. The two women stopped and said to me "wait are you waiting to eat?" I said, "Well, I think so haha." They then asked why I wasn't seated and I said "I am not sure, you are just as confused as I am." Then they asked me if I wanted to go ahead and I told them no it is totally fine and that I would figure it out. The older woman made a joke and said they were hungrier than I was.

At this point I had a sense to walk out but stuck around to try and figure out what was going on. The hostess came back and just looked at me again. Put her head down and then when she looked back up, she noticed I was looking directly at her pretty intently. She said "Table of 1?" I go, "yeah.."

She walked me in and I sat down. I looked at the menu & then got up and went down the street to Fates Brewing and dropped about $60 or so. Not a chance I would trust this place after that. Will never be back either.

Now I am not sure what happened here. Maybe it was because I was wearing a T-shirt and dressed very casual? Maybe she was new? Maybe she judged me wrongly? Who knows. All I know is that was one of the most awkward and unprofessional/rude experiences I have ever had in a restaurant.

I hate to be the one to do this, but having the experience I do, I would like to show why this is really bad for business & hope management sees this. Or possibly the owner to maybe usher in better management. I tried attaching what I typically spend when eating out alone but Google won't let it post for obvious reasons. So I will just hope you take my word for it. I'm big on food. Especially new places I've never been. I am also very loyal to those places and try to help them as much as possible, because I know what it is like. I also eat A LOT and have completed many food challenges people might be astonished by haha. I normally spend a minimum of $50 on just myself. Typically $50-$100 on average depending on where you go of course. Sometimes much more than that, if a nice steakhouse or whatever. Then I would be in the $200-$300 range.

Looking at prices on their menu, I assume I would have spent around $100 plus tip. One of me a day that walks out is -$3k a month, -36k/y. Might want...

First time eating here today. We have had sushi all over the western hemisphere so we were excited to try this new sushi restaurant here locally. Your first impression when you walk in is this restaurant is it seems way out of place for the older area location on Southern. The restaurant is beautifully done with plenty of seating, beautifully decorated and lit providing a very nice, inviting, clean, and modern atmosphere. The first thing we noticed was the music. I have to say it felt a little nightclubbish, which was weird for a lunchtime service and a restaurant in general. I understand it’s Mexican/Japanese fusion but the music really didn’t do anything for us and detracted from the atmosphere rather than adding to it. I think better options could be found. A needed improvement in service seems to be the reoccurring theme in other reviews. We were seated promptly and our orders taken but there was little follow-up thereafter. It was not very busy. The waitress walked by our table at least 5 times and never stopped and asked if we needed anything or how the food was. We finally had to bring to her attention we needed drink refills. This should be automatic without having to flag someone down for service! Now for what we really came for which was the food. For the appetizer we started with the spicysweet edamame. I have to say it was really tasty with a very welcoming flavor profile. Great balance of spicy and sweet flavor. I kept telling my wife how much I was enjoying this take on edamame. I highly recommend it! I ordered 2 different kinds of Nigiri: salmon and yellowtail. The piece was adequate and both seemed fresh and good quality cuts of fish. They didn’t have spectacularily smooth and buttery flavor and weren’t the absolute best pieces of nigiri I’ve ever had, but definitely fresh, with good flavor, and I was satisfied. We ordered 3 rolls to get a feel across the board for their rolls: the Vegas roll (an old faithful), the Kamikaze (unique traditional), and the Lomita (Mexican fusion). I have to say the Vegas roll was very very mediocre. This one is hard to mess up but it did not deliver like we’ve had in done many other locations. Undersized roll and lacking in taste and presentation. It should really be revamped. The Kamikaze was good, not great, but a solid roll with nice flavor. We would probably try a different roll in its place the next time around. Definitely isn’t “favorite” material. And lastly we had the Lomita. At first I was skeptical as I had never seen cheese used on a sushi roll before. I was pleasantly surprised as it was our favorite out of the three. Very unique blend of flavors, very good roll. We really enjoyed it and would order it again. If I had one recommendation for the owners is when you first open the menu there are just tons of rolls to choose from. Just narrow the menu down significantly your very best of the rolls as reported by your customers. Be great at a few things instead of mediocre at many. No one can quality control that many different menu items. I think you’ll have greater success and more positive experiences if you do this. We’ll be back and hopefully we can find a few favorites to come back to time and time again. This place certainly has the...

So, I went on Friday night, great experience, our server was amazing! Knowledgeable about the menu. Female server long brown hair, service was fast, food came out fast, was great quality, manager was walking Around and involved checked and asked how everything was, cocktails were great.. so I wanted to come back the very next night because my experience was so amazing and my other friends wanted sushi.. I think I have a great spot I was just there last night and it was amazing.. service was slower and not as friendly. We had a male server..about 9 pm.. took drink orders.. my drink sat at the bar for a little while and asked him if he would bring my drink over that was sitting on the bartender well for about 10 mins. I then ordered appetizers and rolls, I am allergic to eggs.. and I am a big believer if you have a allergy and very picky eater you should stay at home and cook for yourself instead of inconvenience others with dietary demands, no nuts, gluten etc. But sushi is always a safe bet and I eat it 2-3 times a week and was thrilled when you finally opened, I love the vibe and the food.. but when I ask, hey does this roll have eggs in it you should be able to answer that question when you are working in restaurant. Be familiar with the menu and when guests have questions or ask you for recommendations you should be able to answer it. I order a carne asada roll, and I ask, does this have eggs in it.. his answer is no. Another reason I ordered this roll is it does not have an asterisk by it. “Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness

It contains eggs, was told it didn’t, so as soon as the roll comes out, i say this has Mayo on the top of it correct? And he says ya., that’s our orange sauce it has Mayo.. so if you work in the food industry, you absolutely should know that mayonnaise is primarily made with eggs. He literally rolls his eyes and I asked for another roll without Mayo, and tell him just to leave it because my party was hungry and service was not as fast as the night before. He goes back over to the sushi counter and proceeded to insult me regarding my order that I specifically ordered with no eggs to the sushi chefs..I had to go to the bathroom and heard him as I was walking in. I also was charged for that roll, it’s not even the money. It’s the principle, if I order something correctly, and it was made incorrect why should I have to pay 18 dollars because of it? I own a restaurant and know how important reviews are but knowledge of the menu is so crucial and shouldnt be charged if the item was wrong on the customers end. Over 2 nights I spent a total around 440 dollars. And will continue to do so because the food, drinks and ambiance was amazing, just know the menu when people ask. Wish you...