Had to argue with the hostess to seat our group for our reservation. She made it clear if we all don't show up we can't be sitting in our reserved table. After we sat down in the half empty restaurant, they were out of quite a few items we wanted. Server looked ragged, and the food was sub par. Definitely a step down from the Vancouver locations. I wouldn't recommend this place
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
sheri mohamadi
My husband and I love Gyu Kaku and been to other locations but my first time at the Santa Monica location and had a horrible service experience. We had to look for our waiter many times and we had to ask for something several times. This location needs to be managed properly.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
蕎麥
We ordered two people (all u can eat premium package). If u want high quality, not here. Well, if u r here because of friends or u r just super hungry, please come and eat loads. The ice cream was rlly bad. The dessert was chocolate brownie with a vanilla ice cream was just meh… it’s like Cheesecake Factory dessert..
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 4
Zack Boonjue
Staff needs training and some sort of supervision. Never before had I had good food with such bad service at this price.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
김예인
Never go. Not even 1 star is a waste.The service is rubbish, they don't even seem to know anything when you go in, and the food is very slow.The server stopped at us and told us to take the dishes we were eating, put the dishwasher on the customer's table, cleaned it up, and waited with his hand raised to pay, but he never came. When we went to the front desk, he didn't even tell us how much it was, so he took the card, gave it to us with one hand, and covered the amniotic fluid. They didn't even put it in, so they just gave it to me and left right away without saying hello haha.Oh, I really liked it when I went to Gyukaku in Vancouver, so I came back, but it's really a waste of money. Please don't go.I went there because I wanted to eat yakiniku even after seeing the bad Google reviews. No matter how much you really want to eat, just hold on. This is my first time leaving a review like this. Haha, boss, reflect on yourself.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Unfortunately I was not happy with the service from this location. The server was rude with my friends, making fun and being sarcastic all the time. He forgot about an item and we have to ask for it so many times. It was my friend's birthday and they literally said that the dishwasher was full and he couldn't bring us a knife to cut our cake, so instead he brought us a broken scissors for our cake. This was unpleasant cause I love this restaurant and it was my friends first time eating there. Unfortunately we had a bad experience.
We have been here many times and this was an absolutely terrible experience. We were over charged for several items that we ordered but did not receive. Our drinks came out after food was being served. We were not given anymore water than what was initially given to us. There were only two waters for three people. The fried rice came out after desert. I can't see enough about how terrible this was. Our server did not even come back to check us out let alone check on us at all.
Always a wonderful experience at this location. The staff works fluidly together and are always so happy. The chefs do great with picking immaculate cuts of meat! Love coming here.
Scott Torres
Very disappointed to say the least for some reason this location can’t get it rightSeems like all the workers don’t wanna be thereI’m a a huge gyu kaku supporter but last night was the final strawFirst we had a reservation at 845 which took us 15 mins to be seatedSecondly we only saw our waiter three times one time to order our food two times to drop off our food third time for a checkNot one time did the person check on us ask for us for anything refills napkins more food etcI had to flag a buss boy to get a waiter which took another ten minutesI understand it may be busy and hectic but your customer should always the first priorityOften time the staff are gossiping among themselves instead of helping peopleLastly its so dirty in there not one person cares go clean in that placeSadly I won’t be coming back to this location
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Aimé Cos
I went with my couple for V-DAY, it "looked" like a fancy restaurant and a good option for a romantic dinner. I couldn't have been more mistaken.I spent more than 100 for the full service for both and IHOP has a better service than this, the food was really good, yes, but you have to have more than good food if you charge so much. The whole restroom was terribly dirty, I had to clean it myself, they never asked anything and I had to tell them the basic things I needed all the time, as you can see in the picture they give paper fast food cups.But the real proboem I had was when by the middle of our course they turned all the lights on at max and started putting on terrible music at full volume in the kitchen for the rest of the evening. I had to stand two types of bad music loudly and bright lights on what I hoped was a romantic dinner.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 4
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: BBQ, Steak, Beef, Japanese Fried Chicken Karaage, Gyu-Family Meal for All, Edamame, Japanese Chicken Karaage
The cleanliness was very disappointing. When we arrived for our reservation, there was a mop bucket with dirty water at the door near the bar, trash can full of trash, walked to the bathroom & food was left all over the floor in the walk aisle. When we sat for our dinner, our table was missing oils for our food (upon receiving them they were sticky from being used by others had to asked for them to be wiped off), table was wet from being wiped off, grill made a loud noise and fire could only be set at high as the waiter had informed that the grill has been giving them problems. But was offered to switch tables but we obliged to stay where we were due to the uncleanliness of the floor near the table we were going to be moved to. The restaurant needs to truly focus on cleanliness as a TOP priority especially during guest hours. Only down fall.
Server was not good at all, he messed up the check when it was time to pay. And brought it to us before we were even ready to be done eating. Seemed unorganized and all over the place.
Nicholas K.
Never had worse service in my life, had to beg for a refill of water (all other drink options were sold out), to replace the grill for a clean one was a battle for the ages. Our server didn't come a single time to ask if we needed anything either. Food was alright nothing special but wasn't horrible either. Definitely wouldn't recommend though!
Warren V.
The food is decent. I've had better and cheaper in K-town. The service is terrible. 90 minute limit and I spent most of it waiting for the waiters to take my orders. Ambiance is also terrible. I spent my entire meal hearing other tables complain about bad the service is. Next time I'm going to k-town.
Everything was amaizing. Family had the best time. The manager was informative and accommodating. We were 5 people. Waiter was polite, very helpful, and checked on us often. Recommend 10 out of 10 
Had to argue with the hostess to seat our group for our reservation. She made it clear if we all don't show up we can't be sitting in our reserved table. After we sat down in the half empty restaurant, they were out of quite a few items we wanted. Server looked ragged, and the food was sub par. Definitely a step down from the Vancouver locations. I wouldn't recommend this place
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
My husband and I love Gyu Kaku and been to other locations but my first time at the Santa Monica location and had a horrible service experience. We had to look for our waiter many times and we had to ask for something several times. This location needs to be managed properly.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
We ordered two people (all u can eat premium package). If u want high quality, not here. Well, if u r here because of friends or u r just super hungry, please come and eat loads. The ice cream was rlly bad. The dessert was chocolate brownie with a vanilla ice cream was just meh… it’s like Cheesecake Factory dessert..
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 4
Staff needs training and some sort of supervision. Never before had I had good food with such bad service at this price.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
Never go. Not even 1 star is a waste.The service is rubbish, they don't even seem to know anything when you go in, and the food is very slow.The server stopped at us and told us to take the dishes we were eating, put the dishwasher on the customer's table, cleaned it up, and waited with his hand raised to pay, but he never came. When we went to the front desk, he didn't even tell us how much it was, so he took the card, gave it to us with one hand, and covered the amniotic fluid. They didn't even put it in, so they just gave it to me and left right away without saying hello haha.Oh, I really liked it when I went to Gyukaku in Vancouver, so I came back, but it's really a waste of money. Please don't go.I went there because I wanted to eat yakiniku even after seeing the bad Google reviews. No matter how much you really want to eat, just hold on. This is my first time leaving a review like this. Haha, boss, reflect on yourself.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Unfortunately I was not happy with the service from this location. The server was rude with my friends, making fun and being sarcastic all the time. He forgot about an item and we have to ask for it so many times. It was my friend's birthday and they literally said that the dishwasher was full and he couldn't bring us a knife to cut our cake, so instead he brought us a broken scissors for our cake. This was unpleasant cause I love this restaurant and it was my friends first time eating there. Unfortunately we had a bad experience.
We have been here many times and this was an absolutely terrible experience. We were over charged for several items that we ordered but did not receive. Our drinks came out after food was being served. We were not given anymore water than what was initially given to us. There were only two waters for three people. The fried rice came out after desert. I can't see enough about how terrible this was. Our server did not even come back to check us out let alone check on us at all.
Always a wonderful experience at this location. The staff works fluidly together and are always so happy. The chefs do great with picking immaculate cuts of meat! Love coming here.
Very disappointed to say the least for some reason this location can’t get it rightSeems like all the workers don’t wanna be thereI’m a a huge gyu kaku supporter but last night was the final strawFirst we had a reservation at 845 which took us 15 mins to be seatedSecondly we only saw our waiter three times one time to order our food two times to drop off our food third time for a checkNot one time did the person check on us ask for us for anything refills napkins more food etcI had to flag a buss boy to get a waiter which took another ten minutesI understand it may be busy and hectic but your customer should always the first priorityOften time the staff are gossiping among themselves instead of helping peopleLastly its so dirty in there not one person cares go clean in that placeSadly I won’t be coming back to this location
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I went with my couple for V-DAY, it "looked" like a fancy restaurant and a good option for a romantic dinner. I couldn't have been more mistaken.I spent more than 100 for the full service for both and IHOP has a better service than this, the food was really good, yes, but you have to have more than good food if you charge so much. The whole restroom was terribly dirty, I had to clean it myself, they never asked anything and I had to tell them the basic things I needed all the time, as you can see in the picture they give paper fast food cups.But the real proboem I had was when by the middle of our course they turned all the lights on at max and started putting on terrible music at full volume in the kitchen for the rest of the evening. I had to stand two types of bad music loudly and bright lights on what I hoped was a romantic dinner.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 4
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: BBQ, Steak, Beef, Japanese Fried Chicken Karaage, Gyu-Family Meal for All, Edamame, Japanese Chicken Karaage
Restaurantji Recommends
The cleanliness was very disappointing. When we arrived for our reservation, there was a mop bucket with dirty water at the door near the bar, trash can full of trash, walked to the bathroom & food was left all over the floor in the walk aisle. When we sat for our dinner, our table was missing oils for our food (upon receiving them they were sticky from being used by others had to asked for them to be wiped off), table was wet from being wiped off, grill made a loud noise and fire could only be set at high as the waiter had informed that the grill has been giving them problems. But was offered to switch tables but we obliged to stay where we were due to the uncleanliness of the floor near the table we were going to be moved to. The restaurant needs to truly focus on cleanliness as a TOP priority especially during guest hours. Only down fall.
Server was not good at all, he messed up the check when it was time to pay. And brought it to us before we were even ready to be done eating. Seemed unorganized and all over the place.
Never had worse service in my life, had to beg for a refill of water (all other drink options were sold out), to replace the grill for a clean one was a battle for the ages. Our server didn't come a single time to ask if we needed anything either. Food was alright nothing special but wasn't horrible either. Definitely wouldn't recommend though!
The food is decent. I've had better and cheaper in K-town. The service is terrible. 90 minute limit and I spent most of it waiting for the waiters to take my orders. Ambiance is also terrible. I spent my entire meal hearing other tables complain about bad the service is. Next time I'm going to k-town.
Everything was amaizing. Family had the best time. The manager was informative and accommodating. We were 5 people. Waiter was polite, very helpful, and checked on us often. Recommend 10 out of 10