Matsuri Izakaya on Mill — Restaurant in Tempe

Went with a work group for the soft opening and they knocked it out with probably 20+ of us. Food was great. Easy tableside phone ordering. Weird at first with a group but more of a new feature with a learning curve... you get the hang of it after a few minutes. Ramen was amazing. Will definitely go back. Update August 2023 comments-I wanted to make an update to my post from a few months ago. I brought a second group of employees for a lunch recognition in August and this next visit just seemed weird. I dropped our service experience to a three because frankly, there was no service. We again were seated, advised to use our phones to order. No one offered water so when I asked someone who worked there, he pointed me to a water gallon. I was trying to be kind to my employees and get them all water and the idea of having to carry 9 cups seemed like a lot of back and forth without a tray. The man that worked there eventually saw what I was attempting and offered a pitcher.

When we went to order it was again, the same confusion with using their online system...did my order actually go through? I forgot to add a drink, can I go in and change? Was the order under my name or someone else at the table? Food came out and my guests weren't sure what food was theirs or someone else's. Food comes out at different times so two meals were mixed up and eaten by the wrong person until the other order came out. We ended up missing a drink order. It was a hot mess and we spent more time confused than enjoying our company together. To add, we were to pay online to close out our bill. This required yet another server, which there are none coming around, to ask that everything be put on one bill so I could pay for it all. I had to send people back to work while I stayed to pay because the entire process took so long. I do like their food, and may go back solo, but after these two visits, taking a large group is not...

I came with another person and we thought the food was delicious. The best ramen, udon, gyoza, toriten-chicken and karaage I had in Arizona. The old fashioned and ramune was also delicious. Everything was warm and pleasant to eat.

The ramen broth was delicious and the chasu and noodles were the perfect consistency. I don’t usually like udon but the beef udon was delicious. The broth was a nice balance of sweet and salty, the beef was soft, and the udon was soft but still had a nice bite. The gyoza was nice and crispy but it didn’t taste like much until you dipped it in soy sauce. The karaage was nice and crispy and had spicy mayo on the side. Like the gyoza is doesn’t taste like much until you dip it in spicy mayo. The toriten was crispy as well and had pickled ginger and salt on the side. The only problem I had was that I ordered the beef curry udon and I’m pretty sure the udon I got wasn’t the one with curry as the base.

The service was good and everyone was very nice and informative. I liked ordering from the QR code. It allows me to take my time and also order as much as I want since you can keep the tab open. As an introvert this type of system and atmosphere helps me a lot.

The atmosphere was brilliant! The decor is so nice and makes you feel like you’re in an izakaya in Japan. The colors were vibrant and the LED lights were a cool touch. They have two tv screens one playing anime and the other playing Japanese tv shows. I like that it feels authentic and that they are paying homage to their roots.

Overall, after ordering the Ramune, Chicken Karaage, Crispy Gyoza, Matsuri Niku Miso Ramen with Chicken Chashu, Old Fashioned, Beef Udon, and Toriten the bill came out to $64 with tax and without tip. I will definitely come back and...

I tried to go to this spot twice this weekend. Once later Friday evening once early Saturday evening.

On my first visit my party of 2 and several other parties were standing in line to get checked in. Several times wait staff came by and asked people standing at the front if they had received notice from the wait list. After 15 mins of not being addressed or being able to sign in someone who seemed higher up in management came and told us we shouldn't be there if we weren't already on the wait list. Would have been nice if the other waitstaff had said something sooner. The AC was out and they were closing early, I understand stuff happens but communication goes a long way.

On the 2nd visit we tried to call ahead to see if things were resolved buy there is no phone number listed on Google. The same person later told us that is by design. Poor design in my opinion. We decided to try anyways. We go and there are a lot of people waiting. He tells us there was a TikTok about the restaurant and business has increased. 45 min wait seemed daunting so we asked if we could order carry out. He said no. I don't know if this is regular policy or just because of busy circumstances but I don't think I have ever been anywhere you couldn't order take out.

I normally wouldn't review a place I haven't eaten but 2 aggravating circumstances I'm a row...