Crimson Japanese Grill & Boba Tea — Restaurant in Tuscaloosa

Why does this place have this many good reviews?? For starters I ordered teriyaki wings and it came with a side of fried rice. It was like eating a candied apple….yes it was literally candied chicken. I’ve NEVER in my life had a sauce this sticky like melted candy. The flavor wasn’t bad but there is NO reason why I should be playing operation in my mouth trying to get the skin of the chicken from behind my teeth💀. Then the fried rice tasted old and gross!! My friend tasted it as well and said it tasted like old bread….I asked for extra teriyaki sauce (it was an extra $1) to try to eat the rice and the sauce he gave me was absolutely nothing like the sauce on my chicken. He proceeded to tell me the flavor was different because that sauce was cooked on the grill…He must’ve thought I had “stupid” written on my forehead. If what he said was the case I would’ve tasted the grill flavor which I DID NOT. He then proceeded to ask if I wanted a refund for the sauce. I got the refund. I also got the mango smoothie without boba. Explain to me why it was giving powder smoothie flavor. It was nasty to me….I didn’t finish it and when I rinsed out the cup why was there a powder looking film around the cup💀(the cup was cute tho🥰). All in all it was a waste of my money and time. I...

2 stars because the employees were really nice and the place seemed to be very clean. The food was mediocre at best, the dumplings tasted a bit like soap. They have a large selection of teas but I didn't stick around to try one. The place just wasn't inviting, it was unpleasantly warm inside, much warmer than outdoors in April in Alabama. The interior seems geared to encourage take-out rather than dining, the decor is fairly typical asian restaurant stuff but strangely mixed with the ubiquitous and inescapable elements of Alabama football. Given the name I guess I should've expected it, I could do without seeing Bear Bryant or Big Al ever again though, especially larger than life and pasted to the walls of a Japanese restaurant. A TV in the corner was blasting out heavily biased political commentary about the unfortunate legal woes of a former president. I waited outside for my food rather than sweat and listen to political diatribes, this was honestly the most depressing restaurant experience...

I ate here for a weekday (Monday) lunch. The service was quick, not unfriendly and the food was brought to the counter after about 8 minutes. Definitely prepared fresh. With a 15% tip and a drink (drink is extra $2 plus change) the total was just under $20 which is not too bad considering current price inflation and that I got the steak and shrimp combo. I will definitely return and try it again. Atmosphere: Bama themed which is a plus. The place was not busy at all. It reminded me of when Ichiban was in their old location near the old Bama Bowl but with more seating. I would give it 3&1/2 stars due to the sticky table I sat at. Restaurant overall wasn’t unclean, in fact it seemed to be cleaned pretty well. This place definitely competes with the other Japanese places around…plus they...