Umi Sake House

11/21/09

nope- no reason to return

by eating0drinking at Citysearch

Made reservations a week in advance. Got there at 5, didn't get to order until 5:45. Wow, a whole 15 minutes to utilize the happy hour prices. Went with a group, Umi wouldn't split the check so we ended the evenging with our calculators dividing up the bill. It is always fun pointing out to friends that they need to throw in more money (sarcasm!). Need to hire more staff b/c our waitress was too busy for us.

• Pros: pretty decor only goes so far
• Cons: need to focus on customer service

11/04/09

Slow and Over Rated

by mike taylor at Citysearch

Sushi should not taste like smelly fish. When I asked the waitress to smell it, she commented that it must be good or they would not serve it.

We left. Will never go back, Just don't understand this. Found a better place in the neighborhood called Gamba's Japanese and French restaurant. Plus much more affordable.

• Cons: Service, smell,

04/12/09

Horrible Experience

by MikeLawrence at Citysearch

Our party walked in off the street at 6:40pm on Friday night 4/11. We had a party of 6 with no reservations and were told it would be a 30 minute wait. We headed for the bar where we got a round of drinks and proceeded to wait for a table to open. Much to our surprise, at least half the tables were empty. There was one set up for 10, but the rest were tables of 2 or 4. We figured they would be filled soon so we just decided to wait our turn.

After about 45 minutes we noticed that those tables never were filled. At 7:45 (over an hour) I decided to go ask the hostess when we could expect to be seated. She was apologetic and explained that there were reservations for those table and that we'd just have to wait, but it should be soon. I explained that it sure looked strange that half the restuarant was empty and had been since we came in over an hour ago. But I went away to wait to be seated.

By 8pm we were still not seated and those empty tables were still not filled. I found a woman who I approached and asked to speak with the manager. She said she was the manager and I explained that we had been there now over an hour and 15 minutes and not only had not been seated but that all those tables were empty. She said those tables have reservations and we'd just have to wait. She was very short with no suggestion of any empathy or understanding.

About 10 minutes later, a man came up and said he had heard I was upset and that he was the manager. I once again explained the situation and that the tables still were empty (now about 8:15). He also said we'd just have to wait but he'd see what he could do. He was also very short and didn't seem to have any ability to understand our predicament. I was there with my mother-in-law and had now been standing around for 90 minutes.

As the manager attempted to see if he could find us a table, I asked my son (who standing about 6 feet away) to call Wasabi Bistro to see if we could get in there because I had had enough. The waitress walking by said we were disturbing the customers and we needed to talk more quietly. She was exceptionally rude and condescending. This when we were in the walled-off bar and the only tables close were still empty!

After that our party left never once having the management made any effort to try to make things right. We're not going back, which is too bad since the food looked pretty good (as it went by as we watched longingly).

• Pros: None
• Cons: Extremely rude with poor service, particularly from Managers