Blue Ocean — Restaurant in University City

I wanted to thank you for the great experience my family had at your restaurant last night. We arrived at 8:45 and ordered some appetizers and fried rolls, and they were delicious.

Our waiter was super excellent and friendly. He did a fantastic job ensuring we were cared for. We were delighted that we decided to go back. We came into the restaurant and were excited about the sushi and drinks.

We sat at the bar with one other woman, which was cool because it wasn't packed. It was just three people; me, my friend, and this woman.

We waited ten minutes before going out of our way for the bartender to acknowledge us at the table to take our order. Strike one.

I showed the bartender, who had long, faded, dirty blond blue hair, the drink I wanted from their IG page. I asked the bartender if there was extra juice from the fruit that I may have added to my drink. His response was overly sarcastic and rude, stating, "I don't know. However, much juice comes from a blueberry."

Ok, so I let his slick comment slide. He could have said, what kind of juice would you like me to add because the blueberries come pre-frozen?

Nevertheless, I let it go. Strike two.

We receive our food. We ordered two appetizers and four rolls. We were enjoying ourselves. Five minutes passed, and we were not even 1/4 of the way finished before we received our check. Ok, strike three.

We reluctantly ordered another drink before picking up cookies from a nearby establishment. The bartender begins yelling at the waiter passing by about being unable to restock his area because he has to leave. (showing off in front of his girlfriend) The waiter sounded flustered and responded that he would help him. That threw us off because, as a bartender, your responsibility is to get your area ready for the next day, and why are you yelling at a server when you still have customers at the bar? Strike four.

At this point, I'm ready to go because the energy from this bartender is off-putting. To lighten the mood as we began packing, leaving, and paying. I stated that the drink was delicious. I needed a little more alcohol. Humor goes a long way. Right?

The woman who is at the bar decides to comment, stating. "That's my boyfriend. I saw him make the drink, and how dare you beg for money?"

Ok, now I have a rude dry bartender and his weird delusional girlfriend in cahoots with each other—a bad combination—strike 300.

I wanted so badly to give this place four stars. But customer service goes a long way. Why would you put a dry, negative person in the front at the bar? They are the face of your establishment.

Despite my negative review, I'm sure this is not his first time being rude to customers and staff or having his girlfriend talk irrationally to customers and running them off.

Food is cool. The dude behind the bar and his girlfriend have to go. Bad...

I have been coming to Blue Ocean since I found out about this gem about two years ago and after my other favorite place changed ownership and lost its quality. Until last Monday (December 3rd) I had never had a problem and always complimented the staff on their service and cleanliness and quality of food. I have brough multiple friends and business partners to dine with me while in town visiting and handling business just as well. December 3rd I arrived with 3 very dear friends of mine that I had not seen since I moved from St.Louis a couple years ago and we wanted to enjoy sushi with Blue Ocean. Now being a Monday this was one of their days for their all you can eat option for dining at dinner and per the past this is what we had wanted to do. However the hostess and one of the waiters (did not get either of their names, sorry) said that they no longer did the “all you can eat” dinner option, regardless of it saying clearly on their website and one of their menus. I was told the menu was out dated and the website was being updated as well and didn’t show their current status of the restaurant. Not being able to say or do different, we left. Now almost a week later, a friend of mine told me she and her fiancé had dinner with Blue Ocean in the same week and had no problem with the selection of getting all you can eat sushi for dinner, and in addition to that, the website still says it’s available as a dinner options on those select days.

I am going to be back in town this week on the 12th, with plans to get dinner the 13th and maybe at Blue Ocean if their AYCE is available?, (after I’ve settled in) with those same people or assume I’ll just have to find a different location for us to catch up and spend time together, unless I find out ahead of time the “All you can eat” is available. I wish this could end differently, I love their food, and I love what Blue Ocean is, for quality and atmosphere altogether.

The owner responded, asking me to get in touch, of which I will Tuesday of this week via phone to speak and see if we can resolve the misunderstanding. I will update...

The food was great, but the service was very poor. I was part of a group of 9 and the waiter, Nathan, gave an attitude from the start. We thought he was kidding with us at first, but as it continued then it became more uncomfortable. He also asked for a selfie with one of our people and was a bit creepy about it. After our orders were taken, then the service pretty much stopped. It was always a long period between visits from the waiter to check on us and he would generally ignore us to talk with his co-workers. Later in our meal, the store got a bit busy and so we could understand the delays then, but that was the point when we were being completely ignored. The most frustrating part for me was that my check was given to me before before part of my order. I kept hitting the buzzer (and being ignored) to get someone so I could let them know, Then someone came over and started taking checks instead of attending to me. It was a while and took me holding down the button for someone to finally come over (the same person who took checks) and I told him that I was still missing part of my order. Nathan then came over to address my concern with the excuse of waiting until I was ready for it. A poor excuse considering the lack of service. I understood the automatic gratuity because of our group size, but we did not leave an extra tip due to the treatment. They were called a month in advance and the day before to ensure that they were aware of us (we called for 15 and even came with less than that number) and still got attitude for coming in a group. It was also rather inappropriate for them to call the organizer of our group to tell her that we were being inappropriate and too loud (we kept our volume in check the whole time). I can understand calling a customer to check in on their review of the location, but calling a customer to scold them is highly unprofessional. They are only getting 2 stars instead of 1 because the food...