Kyoko's Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Manlius

We came here for a dinner to celebrate a graduation. We called to make a reservation for 7 on a Saturday evening at 6pm. The restaurant was not busy when we arrived but it took about 4-5 minutes for someone to come from the back to greet and seat us. They did have our reserved table ready.

We ordered edamame and shrimp dumplings as an appetizer, then 5 different sushi rolls to share amongst the table, a ramen dish, chicken teriyaki and the vegetable & tofu teriyaki.

The edamame was far overcooked & mushy. The shrimp dumplings were good.

It took a very long time to receive our main courses. The chicken teriyaki came out first, and it took a long time before anything else followed. When it did, four of the five sushi rolls were delivered, but we never saw the fifth one.

The ramen was delivered, but not the tofu and vegetable teriyaki. There was virtually no communication from the server, other than dropping things off and leaving.

Eventually, a plate of vegetable tempura came out for the person who ordered vegetable tofu teriyaki (me). I reminded the server that I had ordered the vegetable and tofu teriyaki, not the tempura. She turned around and left with the plate of vegetable tempura, saying nothing. She could have apologized that she misunderstood, she could have left the vegetable tempura, so there was something to eat while awaiting the correct meal to be remade, but she did not.

After another half an hour, I asked the server if my vegetable tofu teriyaki was coming, and she replied that yes, it was coming right up. I then asked her to simply box it up to go, as everyone else was finished with their meal. We also inquired about the missing sushi roll, and after telling us the chef was working on it right now, she then told us that he would work on it after he finished a few other orders. At that point, we simply asked her to cancel it.

I will say that I felt badly for her, and for the sushi chef as they were very obviously understaffed. She was the only server, he was the only sushi chef. I have no idea how many people were actually working in the back where the food was coming from.

I can say this, however: I spent years working in restaurants as a host, server, cook, and manager. I also owned a quick service restaurant for 10 years. The level of concern and customer service was zero. There was no checking back to see how things were. We had to flag her down every time we needed something. There was no apology or accommodation for the fact that one person‘s food never arrived. We would have been happy with some communication and kindness. It was a very disappointing way to spend a graduation celebration.

In summary, the sushi was reported as good by the people who had it. The service was awful, the edamame was overcooked and the tofu vegetable teriyaki was soupy and underwhelming (after eating it when we got back home, via the takeout container).

I would recommend steering clear of here unless you have a lot of time and patience, and low expectations. Our entire meal from start to finish took 2.5 hours - for a table that had the equivalent of one meal per person, three starters, 2 glasses of wine and hot tea between seven people. We were in no way demanding or had unrealistic expectations. As a former restaurant employee and owner, this is an issue of in attentive ownership and under staffing to save money. Very...

Really disappointing. Too bad because the menu looked delicious. The atmosphere was apathetic, like nobody cared. The floor was sticky and the doors to the kitchen, filthy. The waitress seemed disinterested in conversation or even feigning good customer service. I felt bad for her because she seemed unhappy. One of the cooks was in the back packing his cigarettes. I saw while the door was open. Not that it affects the food but it soured the experience a little more.

The food was as lackluster as the restaurant, all of it; a true reflection of the atmosphere. I had a cold pork belly slider on cold bread with the scantest slivers of pickle. Had I not pulled it apart because I'm doing the Keto thing, I'd have gotten a one inch sliver (literally) of broken toothpick in my mouth. Very unf**king cool. It almost seemed deliberately placed because it was hidden in the bread. How does that even happen? I was also served wilted lettuce and was shorted one dumpling. I guess they are trying to go out of business. They're well on their way!

I will never return here and feel like I totally threw away fourty bucks that I'll never get back. I highly recommend avoiding this restaurant. And I'm complementing it by even calling it a restaurant. It was dead in there. The restaurant around the corner was packed. That was the first red flag. The sticky floor was the next. I haven't even eaten there, but I highly recommend going to the place around the...

Having just moved to the area, we decided to try their fare, and after our meal, I felt compelled to write my experience.

The food was prepared exactly to order, delicious, beautifully arranged, and prompt. We tried some options available at other restaurants as well as some items wholly unique to Kyoko. We were left incredibly impressed and very full. Every item was flavorful, well prepared, and surprised me with it's quality. A vast array of options available in a restaurant can sometimes indicate less care given to individual items, but this was absolutely not the case. We ordered 8 items to share and every single item was wonderful.

The greatest treat of all was our hostess Alisha. There are many factors that make a dining experience enjoyable, and to say that food alone (tasty as it was) is solely important would be an understatement. Service goes a long way to making diners feel comfortable, relaxed, and ready to place their faith in the kitchen behind closed doors. Alisha is a rare treat in her line of work, and through her prompt service, kind demeanor, and care for our experience has set a new standard in the industry and deserves to know that. So thank you Alisha, and to our talented chefs, we will most...