I was really looking forward to trying this place, but unfortunately, the service was incredibly disappointing. We were seated and given menus, and our drink order was taken but after that, we waited for 25 minutes without a single check-in from our server.
What made it worse is that the restaurant wasn’t even busy. Besides our table, there were only two other parties, and they were also clearly frustrated, waiting a long time just to receive their bills.
To top it off, we could hear the staff’s conversations through the restaurant while guests were unattended. Very unprofessional. We had no choice but to get up leave & look for another restaurant. Needless to say, I won’t be coming back.
David Matthew Rodriguez
Great location and blonde manager
Jinn Dragon
I really wanted to like this place. Decent food, and horrible service. Every employee is either on their phone or playing around with each other. We wanted to order additional pork belly, but after spending 30 minutes staring at the fire with no meat and no staff in sight, we lost our appetites.
Ann-Helén Schmidt (Anni)
The servers were amazing! Best customer service I’ve gotten in a restaurant in a long time. The food was really good as well. We got some ramen and the broth was delicious. However I got horrible stomach problems after eating there :(
Andres Parra Arze
Disappointing AYCE Experience - Not Worth the Price
I had high hopes for this AYCE restaurant, but unfortunately, it fell far below expectations. The biggest issue? The ridiculous amount of time it takes for food to arrive. When you're paying for an "all-you-can-eat" experience, every minute counts, and wasting half of your dining time just waiting for your order is unacceptable.
It wasn't even busy, yet the service was painfully slow. When the food finally arrived, it came out in small portions, forcing us to order again and endure another long wait. By the time we could even start enjoying the meal, we were already frustrated and running out of our dining window.
To make matters worse, the staff seemed indifferent to the delays, and the overall service did not justify the price. AYCE should be about efficiency and value, and this place failed on both fronts.
Save your money and go elsewhere—this was not worth the time or cost. A truly disappointing experience.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
Jose Belloso
I came here yesterday 11/30 with my kids and we experienced some of the worst service we have ever had in a restaurant. We walked in and Anasofia the hostess was speaking with Andy the server and we waited about 3 minutes for them to stop talking and acknowledge us and get us a table. There was no sense of urgency to greet us or assist us. Once she sat us we then waited for over five minutes again without a hello or anything from our server. No waters or anything. A lot of empty tables so it wasn’t like they were crazy busy. I got up and asked them for someone to assist us with our order and asked for water and I was given an “we’ll be right with you” dismissive response. When Andy finally came with the waters he was acting so casual and unprofessional. He took our order and never came back to see if we needed water or order more meat. Nothing. He made it clear that we were not welcomed there. This place needs corporate to get involved. It’s in Santa Monica and there’s a level of service that’s expected when you’re paying premium prices in a restaurant on the 3rd street promenade. Anasofia and Andy were awful. Save your money and don’t give this establishment any of your business. Trust me, I won’t be back.
It's decent, the food is good enough, really fatty, and the sweet soy sauce is the best. The servers here are kinda forgetful forgetting my soup and that we are even here. We waited a little bit and then had to go ask the waiters here to take our order. The Miso soup was okay.
The food is not clean! The mushroom has a lot of dirt on it. We have to ask them clean it twice. The meat was too fatty and has too much tender. Hard to chew. It’s crazy for a $100 dinner.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
David Liang
Worst GyuKaKu experience ever.
Service: 1
Vitalii Shevtsov
So don't trust these people, I waited a very long time for my order, they kept saying 5 minutes, I came after 7 minutes, they told me another 2 minutes, I said I don't have time, they ended up giving my order in half an hour, and initially they said 5 minutes, come on, no one does that, I wasted my time
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Laura Sisti
The food is great, the service was good too, the only thing I found so-so was the atmosphere, the bathroom wasn't super clean and the seats were damaged. But overall, I think it's worth it
It was fun
Love getting lunch here. Great food and service.
Food was great and high quality service!
I was really looking forward to trying this place, but unfortunately, the service was incredibly disappointing. We were seated and given menus, and our drink order was taken but after that, we waited for 25 minutes without a single check-in from our server.
What made it worse is that the restaurant wasn’t even busy. Besides our table, there were only two other parties, and they were also clearly frustrated, waiting a long time just to receive their bills.
To top it off, we could hear the staff’s conversations through the restaurant while guests were unattended. Very unprofessional.
We had no choice but to get up leave & look for another restaurant.
Needless to say, I won’t be coming back.
Great location and blonde manager
I really wanted to like this place. Decent food, and horrible service. Every employee is either on their phone or playing around with each other. We wanted to order additional pork belly, but after spending 30 minutes staring at the fire with no meat and no staff in sight, we lost our appetites.
The servers were amazing! Best customer service I’ve gotten in a restaurant in a long time. The food was really good as well. We got some ramen and the broth was delicious.
However I got horrible stomach problems after eating there :(
Disappointing AYCE Experience - Not Worth the Price
I had high hopes for this AYCE restaurant, but unfortunately, it fell far below expectations. The biggest issue? The ridiculous amount of time it takes for food to arrive. When you're paying for an "all-you-can-eat" experience, every minute counts, and wasting half of your dining time just waiting for your order is unacceptable.
It wasn't even busy, yet the service was painfully slow. When the food finally arrived, it came out in small portions, forcing us to order again and endure another long wait. By the time we could even start enjoying the meal, we were already frustrated and running out of our dining window.
To make matters worse, the staff seemed indifferent to the delays, and the overall service did not justify the price. AYCE should be about efficiency and value, and this place failed on both fronts.
Save your money and go elsewhere—this was not worth the time or cost. A truly disappointing experience.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
I came here yesterday 11/30 with my kids and we experienced some of the worst service we have ever had in a restaurant. We walked in and Anasofia the hostess was speaking with Andy the server and we waited about 3 minutes for them to stop talking and acknowledge us and get us a table. There was no sense of urgency to greet us or assist us. Once she sat us we then waited for over five minutes again without a hello or anything from our server. No waters or anything. A lot of empty tables so it wasn’t like they were crazy busy. I got up and asked them for someone to assist us with our order and asked for water and I was given an “we’ll be right with you” dismissive response. When Andy finally came with the waters he was acting so casual and unprofessional. He took our order and never came back to see if we needed water or order more meat. Nothing. He made it clear that we were not welcomed there. This place needs corporate to get involved. It’s in Santa Monica and there’s a level of service that’s expected when you’re paying premium prices in a restaurant on the 3rd street promenade. Anasofia and Andy were awful. Save your money and don’t give this establishment any of your business. Trust me, I won’t be back.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
My salad had mold on it...
Food: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
It's decent, the food is good enough, really fatty, and the sweet soy sauce is the best.
The servers here are kinda forgetful forgetting my soup and that we are even here.
We waited a little bit and then had to go ask the waiters here to take our order. The Miso soup was okay.
Vegetarian options: Veggie grill option
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Sauce, Gyu-Kaku Kalbi Chuck Rib, Takoyaki
The food is not clean! The mushroom has a lot of dirt on it. We have to ask them clean it twice.
The meat was too fatty and has too much tender. Hard to chew.
It’s crazy for a $100 dinner.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Worst GyuKaKu experience ever.
Service: 1
So don't trust these people, I waited a very long time for my order, they kept saying 5 minutes, I came after 7 minutes, they told me another 2 minutes, I said I don't have time, they ended up giving my order in half an hour, and initially they said 5 minutes, come on, no one does that, I wasted my time
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
The food is great, the service was good too, the only thing I found so-so was the atmosphere, the bathroom wasn't super clean and the seats were damaged. But overall, I think it's worth it
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
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