Restaurant Review: Akita Sushi & Hibachi (Woodbury, MN)

I usually don't rip apart restaurants in the first few weeks that they open and I try to give them the benefit of the doubt that there are a few things they perhaps need to iron out, but there was so much wrong with the service at this particular restaurant, aside from firing their entire staff (including the pretentious but equally clueless manager) and starting over again, I'm not entirely sure what else they could possibly do.

The idea is probably a good one...set price for all you can eat sushi. It really irritates me when restaurants hit people up for an "all day" dinner price on Sunday...when lunch on a Saturday is $14.00. Just because it's sunday all of a sudden the same lunch is $21.00. Anyhow.

I should have taken all of the cheesy flag banners out in the parking lot as a sign that they might be trying too hard to drum up business. I entered the door and the hostess was nice enough although annoyed that I didn't want to sit at the bar. (being short, I tend to not sit at bars because typically the high top chairs are uncomfortable in which to sit...I don't like perching on a chair without being able to anchor my feet on the floor or at least the side of a chair.)

I was seated and asked the waitress to explain the menu...which she did poorly. I'm not a big fan of that Nori seaweed wrapper and I specifically asked her among the choices which one had the seaweed...she looked at me like I was nuts and proceeded to tell me to order the wrong thing. I hate wasting food so I just picked apart the rolls and ate the rice and salmon around the seaweed wrapper.

The food was okay. I've probably had better teriyaki beef at anywhere else but here. Stringy beef, overcooked without much flavor. Once I figured out the menu I did enjoy their fried food (but really who doesn't like something dipped in batter and deep fried?) And the sushi was okay too. The hostess seating me did warn me to order a whole lot to start with as the cooking is very slow. And so, I ordered four items...and sure enough it took them about 15 minutes to get the items to turned to the table. Which when you are talking about one deep fried shrimp and a couple of sushi rolls...and a nearly empty restaurant I don't think it should have taken that long.

I wanted to try edamame and didn't really know how to eat them, so I asked the waitress and she looked at me like I was growing three heads and said you just stick them in your mouth and eat them. They served them in this larger bowl and truthfully I knew there was no way I could eat them all so I asked for a small container. The waitress came back with a container that would hardly hold 6 or 7 of these beans, so I packed them up and decided to not make a fuss. Then another waitress came by to chastise me because they do not give containers for food. Which seriously...I could see reprimanding me if I ordered a complete round of sushi to take home however the 7 or 8 beans that would otherwise probably been thrown out where hardly worth the effort for which to be reprimanded. Needless to say, I was mad at being chastised so I left the darn container on the table and took my check to the cash register to pay.

The pretentious manager who was wearing a single rose in his lapel walked up to the register to see if he could help me. He did not appear to understand how to use the cash register. He answered the phone in the middle of the transaction and instead of quickly putting the person on hold and finishing up my transaction, proceeded to talk to them about their problem. Nor was he all that personable. He also couldn't wait to remind me that lunch during the week was only $14.00.

If ever there was a reflection of poor service it was that manager...who sat at the bar most of my meal and didn't seem to really direct his staff. He didn't really have the host mentality and that was clear in his staff as well. I must have had four or five waiters/waitstaff, but none of which were all that stellar.

I don't require much, just a friendly hello, prompt service, or a prompt reason why service was delayed, a knowledge of the menu that extends further than what I can read on my own, and just a common courtesy to know when to say something like the whole container thing or when to just let that sort of thing slide by.

Needless to say, this is one of those illustrations of you never have a second chance to make a first impression. They will not have another chance, and based on the reviews I've read, and judging by the look of my fellow diners, I imagine this will be one storefront that will become vacant within a year.