Sushi Rebel — Restaurant in Texas

I’m writing this review with great sadness because I was so excited about the opening of Sushi Rebel in Springwoods Plaza. After an exciting opening and very high hopes as a sushi lover, I began to sadly realize the atmosphere within Sushi Rebel (fostered by the ownership) is not interested in catering to African American individuals who love sushi but, rather those who have a perceived level of importance and respectability to the owners of the restaurant (e.g., non-black patrons). Like many new restaurants, everyone experiences growing pains, however; the growth that needs to be fostered is the learning, understanding and undoing of unconscious bias.

When I arrived at Sushi rebel’s sushi bar, the waitress in my section passed me multiple times, however; she did not come over to take my order for the duration of my meal. At first I thought this was an oversight, but when she began to take the order of the non-black couples seated to my right and left – I realized that this was either intentional disdain or unintentional absent-mindedness (the former proved to be true).

After an extended period disregard, the sushi chefs (who I am immensely grateful for) noticed the disregard of said waitress and the owner and began to take my order and ultimately served me for the duration of the evening (even though this was not their responsibility).

I received my food and beverages sporadically while I noticed those around me receiving expedited service (with the assistance of the owner and said waitress). Even though there was a waitress, 2 owners present and a manager on staff- they proceeded to assist, cater, and deliver excellent service to everyone-with exception to myself. The manager personally catered to: large parties, recognizable corporate personnel, individuals wanting pictures as clout and most importantly- patrons who were not African American.

As the manager made his way to various tables asking them about the level of service with great care and concern (as well as delivering food) he passed by me multiple times without saying a word. The two times he and I had an interaction was when he first silently delivered my soft drink (at the behest of the sushi chefs and without the same level conversation he so easily engaged in with others) and second at the end of my meal.

One of the hostesses brought my bill over and explained that they removed the edamame since they thought I never received it (the edamame was the first thing that I received). I began to explain to the hostess (and the owner as he recently walked up) that I received all of my food and that was not the issue – the issue was the inconsistent service that was being given to me compared to other patrons. My concerns fell on deaf ears- disappointingly, but far from surprised.

After our conversation ended, the owner turned around to the table behind me and began explaining to them about service delays, growing pains and apologetically making sure that they were OK – all while my experience was not given the same level of respect and acknowledgment.

While there are great individuals who work at that location sadly, the failure starts at the top. Organizations cannot take flight and be successful long-term if the foundation is rotten. My suggestions are as follows:

Do not judge a book by its cover. In this Covid environment, many individuals may dress casually but have the same (if not higher) corporate positions as those who you cater to. Remedy your preconceived low expectations. Treat people how you would want to be treated. Even though this is self-explanatory, the unconscious bias training will definitely enhance this area of your understanding. Invest in unconscious bias training. As owners, operators and creative directors of other Bayou city sushi restaurants- it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle of restaurant management, however; as your businesses continue to grow, so does your requisite outlook and understanding about your patrons.

Do Better… and...

I recently dined at Sushi Rebel, and unfortunately, my experience left much to be desired. Despite the restaurant's visually appealing ambiance, the overall poor customer service overshadowed any positive aspects.

First and foremost, the server lacked a sense of urgency throughout my visit. It took an unacceptable amount of time to receive both my to-go box and the check. I understand that restaurants can get busy, but a 20-minute wait for these basic items is excessive.

Furthermore, the server seemed inattentive and disinterested in providing a satisfactory dining experience. They rarely checked in on our table, which left us feeling neglected and unimportant as customers.

In terms of the food, it was disappointingly average. There was nothing special or memorable about the dishes I ordered. Considering the abundance of sushi restaurants in the area, I expected a more remarkable culinary experience.

One issue that particularly bothered me was the discrepancy in the bill. As a habit, I always double-check my bill, and this time was no exception. To my surprise, there was an item on the bill that we had not ordered. It raises concerns about their attention to detail and accuracy in billing. It is essential for customers to carefully review their bills to avoid any unnecessary charges.

Even the soda I ordered had an unpleasant taste, which further added to my overall dissatisfaction with Sushi Rebel.

Regrettably, the only positive aspect of my visit was the restaurant's nice ambiance. However, when customer service is lacking to this extent, it's difficult to overlook the other disappointments.

Based on my experience, I cannot recommend Sushi Rebel to others. The poor customer service, lack of urgency, average food quality, and billing issues make it challenging to have a satisfying dining experience. I hope the management takes these concerns seriously and makes necessary improvements to enhance the overall...

We walked in, and there were 3 hosts staring at us. When the bartender greeted us from thirteen feet away, we then smiled at her and looked at the hosts and said hello, how are you. They then asked us if we had reservations, this was 5:20 PM. ( I know it's Valentine's Day, but it's still early) We said no, looking around at the four people in the restaurant at the time. They stumbled around like it was going to be a problem to seat the two of us for an early dinner. At first impression I thought wow, this place is nice. You gotta have reservations, but after they handed us our dirty menus and gave my partner her drink and a gnat landed on it, I quickly realized it was not a nice place. I thought Wow couldn't afford pesticides and then saw the prices on the menu. We ordered appetizers, some sashimi, and handrolls. The appetizers and shimi came out at the same time, and the hand rolls came out twenty minutes later. I was extremely saddened when I got my sashimi. The portion was very small for $15. But when the hand rolls came out that were $5.50, they had the exact same portion of fish in them as the sashimi. I was extremely upset but ordered another hand roll anyway. After 30 minutes of waiting, I decided to cancel the one hand roll order and get my check and leave. It was a very, very awful experience. The only thing we had to go on for this place was our sweet waitress. Thankfully, she was very...