It pains me to have to leave a 2 star review for anybody but the service at this place this past Friday was atrocious. It was so bad we thought we were apart of what used to be MTV's Boiling Point show. Drink menu and food menu were both lost and we were never notified. As a result, we did not have drinks for close to 45 minutes of us sitting down. We got loud, we made a ruckus, but nothing seemed to help speed up the process. Our original waiter must have been new and was well over his head. This was, again, Friday night. No excuses. The food and the hibachi chef were both very good. They gave us a free round of drinks and complimentary desert. This is worthy of the extra star. read more

I've been to this place a dozen or so times, but after going today it was solidified as the best hibachi in north jersey. Their filet mignon is pure hibachi perfection, and even if I say medium and it comes out medium well I'm still just as happy because the juiceyness of the meat remains. I rarely eat shrimp but I enjoy a few here, and never do I eat more vegetables than when eating kiku- always flavorful and amazing with the mustard sauce (double up on this!) Also, today was the first time my daughter was old enough to appreciate the experience and magic that is hibachi. The look on her eyes reminded me why sometimes you just need a more lively dinner, and the constant Mmmmm's from her little face made it all worth while. The staff is always pleasant, and the sheer size of the dining hall always surprises me with two giant beautiful chandeliers. I will be coming here as long as I live in the area. Don't forget to tip your chef's! read more

Service sucked, waiter came 2xs and never came back! There expensive ... And the quality of the food wasn't worth price. Will never come here read more

Kiku Alpine Restaurant - Wouldn't come back - Japanese Near Me - Alpine, New Jersey

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The women behind the front counter is by far the most rude women i have seen in a restaurant. Ignored our reservation of 4 as we waited by the host and then raised her voice in a very angry tone towards us for asking why we haven't been seated after arriving 20 minutes before our 8pm reservation (restaurant was very empty). She demanded we go search for the host who was no where to be found. Finally he came back and told us there we must wait longer and wait for those to be seated who showed up after us. He then continued to call us rude for asking when we would be seated and called our group other a variety of other disrespectful things. We have been customers of Kiku alpine for over 20 years. Very unacceptable behavior for the employees. Will not be going to this location again. read more

Good food, horrible service. If you appreciate hostesses treating you with disdain, this is the place for you! I brought my family to the restaurant to celebrate a family member's birthday. The women in the front seemed irritated that anybody had the nerve of walking into the restaurant and inconveniencing her for barely a minute. We were seated at a dirty table with dried rice and egg all over and when we asked for the table to be cleaned, a busboy barely wiped a towel on the grill with a single hand movement. We requested a different table, which was followed by an obnoxious "no." The chef and our waitress was the only saving grace of the night. I was very disappointed that our family was treated so poorly when we barely interacted with the hostess. read more

ZERO stars was not an option. My wife, kids and friends made a reservation to eat here on Valentines Day. We made a 7PM reservation 2 weeks prior. We arrived at 6:45 for our reservation. My buddy and I dropped the kids and wives off to find parking. The lot was a nightmare with nowhere to park and no Kiku personnel outside to help. There were eight cars/trucks searching for parking. After 10 minutes we decided to park on a yellow curb and let the manager know there was an issue. We walked in to a packed waiting area and no order in sight. We moved through the crowd to get to the front and our families. The wives were noticeable upset. I approached the "manager"...Sook. She ignored me when I tried to explain her parking issue. She insisted I was wrong and even walked me through her dining room to show me how wrong I was. When she saw for herself that she was wrong she ignored me further and walked back to the front. At 7:30 I began to get aggravated. I asked a few people that were being led into the dining room if they had reservations. They said no. I approach Sook again to ask why we weren't seated yet. She literally turned her head away from me and answered a phone that was not ringing. At this point there were 30 - 40 people waiting. As a goof I called them from my cell phone to ask if I could "come in now with 8 people". The person that answered the phone told me yes and said come right in. Finally after 50 minutes Sook, clearly annoyed, pointed at us then pointed toward the dining room. The dining room's high ceiling were covered with a thick layer of smoke. from the overcrowded room. The smell of hibachi was overwhelming. We sat. Finally we were sitting and our patience would be rewarded. Our waitress came to take our drink order. We insisted she take food as well. We never saw her again until I flagged her down an hour later for the check. No white rice, no second drinks, no nothing. The "chef" was pretty clearly a "fill in". He was inept and lacked all the flair you expect from hibachi. On the way out the door I could not hold my tongue. I wanted an apology. Sook stuck to her "ignore everyone" method. She was an absolute nightmare. A miserable experience. read more

After reading the reviews I was moved to write a review... And also make a strong suggestions for the yelp community: please do not write your reviews on your experiences on your visit during holidays (i.e. Valentine's Day, Christmas, mother's/father's day..,) having been around restaurants all my life, I just don't think it does them justice. At the same time I agree 120% that if the restaurant cannot handle the holiday volume or if they are not properly staffed then shame on them but yelp should not be a vehicle to vent during the holiday experience... Just saying. Food was mediocre but the staff were very friendly and the show was entertaining (even if it was the 120,000 time seeing the onion train *sorry for the spoiler Gel rear place for family read more

This is a poor quality restaurant that cooks Hibachi with all the smoke coming out without a ventilation system. Imagine putting a 10 barbecues in the middle of your living room and grilling for 200 people with windows closed. All the smoke and fat lands on your hair and clothes and your skin. By the time you get out you stink so badly that you want to go back home to take a shower and shampoo your hair multiple times. Disgusting! If the owner of this disgusting place knows this despite the numerous complaints, think how high quality those ingredients could be! Ah by the way some other reviewer says you can take your date here. What kind of date would want to come here and stink all night long? read more

I love hibachi, and this is better than most hibachi places I have been to in NY and NJ since I moved up here 7 years ago. It's not the best I have ever had, but it is on the right path. Got the chicken hibachi with fried rice, chicken was perfectly cooked as well as the rice and veggies. My hubby got the filet mignon and that was definitely more flavorful. It comes with soup, salad, shrimp appetizer, and noodles so with the fried rice it became quite a big meal. The service was good, not over the top, the show was standard nothing to write home about it. Would I visit again, yes for the food as it is better than Benihana's food. However the show is more impressive at Benihana. The search continues for the best hibachi! Suggestions welcomed! read more

The location is amazing. I felt like I was in Japan. The restaurant is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by greenery. The restaurant is rather large with multiple sections. One area has the sushi bar and private rooms, and the other area has the hibachi stations. We sat in the one of the private rooms, and it was perfect for the kind of dinner we were having. It allows a lot of privacy and intimacy for quiet conversations. The low rating comes from the food. We only ordered sushi, and it was okay. It wasn't bad, by any means, but it certainly wasn't amazing. I don't think I'd go out of my way to return to Kiku based on their sushi. Perhaps the hibachi is better? Service was great though, and if Kiku is in your area, I can definitely see it becoming a family favorite. read more

Beautiful atmosphere and excellent food. Besides that it's not worth the trip. Service absolutely worse than poor.

This used to be my favorite restaurant...so I brought my husband and two couples to enjoy the fun. 7pm reservations - seated at 7:30. It's 9pm and we have no food on the table and no chef in sight. Very disappointing. No apologies from management. Incredibly disappointing. read more

My father and I have been sitting here waiting at our table for over an hour and a half with no chef that has come over. The waiters said 15 minutes 30 minutes ago. The customer service is awful we haven't heard any apologies for the long wait. Save your money and find a less expensive place. read more

The evening started off with the realization that our reservation was a myth....while they take reservations on the phone, the reality is that seating is done in in the order you arrive (reservation or not). So the entrance way was full of angry people, and the receptionist was surly at best. After waiting thirty minutes we were seated, and waited thirty more for our order to be taken. The wai t staff continued the tone of surly and distant. Waited a while for the cook to roll up and do the show....maybe another half hour. This guy was tired, went right to business....no real showmanship. So lets add disappointed kids to the experience. The food was solid, not the best, but not the wosre. But we were just to exhausted to really enjoy it. We passed on the desert, and opted for another venue. Frankly this place is jacked, and jus just a factory. Great location. however there are better places that are better with customer handling, wait staff,and have better food with perhaps another ten minutes of drive time. I'd opt for ANY other choice. We will never be back. read more

Great Hibachi. The food was fresh and meat so tender. Abu our chef was awesome and very friendly. Our teenagers loved it.

Stopped in and had a nice dinner, their Kiku Steak was cooked perfectly, but seasoned so-so. The best thing I had last night was the Tempura. The cold soba was soggy. Their miso a bit fishy. Both the salad & handroll were good. Great tea service, and attentive service in general! Futomaki was alright, just passable. read more

We come to.kiku pretty frequently. Each time the service is very friendly and they don't rush you out. We have been to quite a few hibachi restaurants and this one is our favorite. I would recommend the filet. Also if you ask the chef for special cooking they usually accommodate you. We use to ask for extra garlic with our food and we were recently informed that the management told them not to use garlic which we thought was odd. If you are looking for a strong fruity drink order the zombie. read more

I understand that there is a shortage of food industry workers, so with that being said, we waited well over two hours just to sit down at our 7 pm RESERVATION. The Waiters we had where so inattentive that they forgot our drink order multiple times. The restaurant was actually not busy like it usually has been when we have gone there. There was No reason for the waiters to be RUDE to us the way he was.. The eye rolls and attitude where notes. The experience we had was unforgettable in all the worst ways. To say the least, it will definitely be the last birthday was celebrate at kiku in Alpine. read more

Been coming here for years! Love the filet mignon hibachi (so tender)! Great staff. Descent sushi. read more

The only reason I'm giving this place 2 stars is for the food - it is always excellent. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the service and the staff in general. While our waitress was nice and attentive, our cook gave a vibe that he didn't want to be there and that just brought down the vibe of the evening. At the end of the meal, the guy who was packing our leftovers spilled half our plate of scallops onto the grill. Shouldn't have been the end of the world (it was clean) but instead of packing it in with the rest of our meal, he threw them out! We were outraged but didn't even get an apology from him. When we brought up our issues with the manager he didn't seem interested in making anything right...the only apology we got was from our waitress, the only one who did her job correctly. This was the last chance Kiku had for us since our previous visit we received terrible service as well. After this, we're done. Next time we'll be going to Mount Fuji. read more

We waited an hour past our reservation time to be seated at a dirty table that had not even been wiped down from the last people who had sat there. Half an hour later they said we wouldn't have a chef arrive at our table for another hour at least (2.5 hrs past our reservation time). We left. We were not the only ones. Terribly run. Dirty. Unfriendly. read more

We had a spectacular visit 6/4/18. Everyone was so inviting. Food was made fresh, and served hot. GREAT staff! We left with happy memories, and are already planning our next visit. Wonderful place for the whole family. The scallops were to die for, and the green tea ice cream was the perfect closer. read more

Kiku Alpine Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Alpine, New Jersey

*** This is an UPDATE *** I came here again, so apparently they said our number and we somehow didn't hear it even though we were standing right in front of the lady the entire time... so I go up to her, after waiting again for another 15 minutes, and she says with an attitude "I don't know. Just wait. There's no tables." If I weren't with kids who were starving I would have just left. Don't go here. Employees are rude. read more

Great fried rice .. Good food...service is getting better noticed a younger more attentive staff now .. Shrimp is really tasty .. Pricier than most hibachi places but I think they warrant it .. read more

Kiku Alpine Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Alpine, New Jersey

Zero Stars. I've held off posting bc I really want to love - even LIKE - this place these days, but... Something changed for the MUCH worse here in recent years. Not sure what but whether week night, weekend or holiday, it's always something: understaffed, basics requested several times i.e.) water, forks for kids, napkin/chopsticks for all (if six seated, four given then effort to get two). Cold food. Wrong food. Even no food - servers vanish. Often, fellow in-limbo patrons gaze at each other, endeavoring to geolocate help within the monstrous building. I practically grew up in this restaurant. Before it became KIKU, it was Italian and preferred by the area's Soprano-types. It used to be GREAT. Our parents would take us several times per month. Now we bring our own kids and my parents (now grand parents) and keep hoping that NEXT TIME they'll get it right again. Unfortunately, they don't. Think getting back with your on again/off again ex: with highest hopes and unexplicible amnesia, you go there and when in the midst of experiencing the same ole crap, you re-remember why you jumped ship in the first place. On New Year's Eve, we broke up again. This time it's forever. We arrived at 6:40 for our 7 pm rezzy. Red flag when seeing cars parked on 9w as no spaces were available in the lot. 'Overbooked' is an understatement. Inside, people packed the staircase, lobby, bar, and into the sushi side. 5:30 reservations hadn't been seated. Someone leaving said there were just two hibachi chefs for all the tables. At 6:45, we were told 10 minutes. At 8:15, we were still waiting. 6:30 reservations were too. A man who'd been patient actually called the restaurant while standing in front of the overwhelmed hostess, asking for a reservation and if there was a wait. She said come in, only a 10 minute wait!!. This blew our minds, especially bc every other restaurant I and others were now calling to attempt a plan B inducated a "sorry, booked, can't guarantee seating." Seven "10 minutes!!" later with five parties ahead of us, at 8:15 pm, we requested a table on the sushi side. They told us we'd get a private room. Great! Now that's progress!! To the room we went...and, it wasn't empty. Apparently, another party had been moved there 45 mins earlier and forgotten about: no one had provided menus, place settings, water. One mom from that group followed us back out to the dining room and pleaded for service. Several times during our meal, she reappeared, waving her arms above her head to gain the attention of a waitress, like someone shipwrecked on a remote island desperate to flag down a passing ship. We (10) were then offered one table for six. She insisted we could do it tho the chairs didn't all fit. P.S., for what was to be a $500 dinner, no one should be eating uncomfortably. Take 3: our party was split into two tables. Drinks and dinner order taken together. Oddly, all appetizers came out one after the last was finished. Like one chef cooking one app, sends it out. Starts and finishes the next. Sends it out. Except one: main course sushi came out as an appetizer. Six times we asked for forks for the kids. Asked for forks each "course" of appetizers, then salad. They ate their apps and salads with their fingers and tried stabbing with one chop stick. Main courses arrived. Still no forks. Or drinks. Or water. Finally, my husband got up and walked into the kitchen. Stunned to see no one, he called out "Helllooo!!???" Someone appeared -- to hustle him back to our table. "I have asked six times very politely for forks for our children. They need them to eat their main courses. I've lost my patience and i want them right now please. And water." "Ok. We'll go get them." "No. Right now, so the kids can eat". The hostess overheard and she ran over to pour water. First time she stepped out from behind the desk that we saw. 2 hours 45 minutes sitting: our mains arrived, cold. After we finished eating, out came our white rice, the server asking if we wanted it boxed to take home and noting it was "on the house", which i remarked was not true because its part of the entree as stated on the menu. The manager then came over to our tables. He didn't ask a question. He just stoooood there lingering, confused and obvjously having no idea what to say. My husband had to ask HIM "Can we help you?? and he stood silently so hubby conveyed how disappointing this was and that we would not be returning. The manager's response? "What if you got a bowl of ice cream, on the house?" Ooh boy. Good bye. BTW, two of the kids ordered virgin pina coladas that arrived at the end of the meal. Both vomitted soon after. That's the only thing that was different for them. Maybe someone else was sickened from something too bc there was vomit on the floor of the men's room -- and not cleaned up during our time there. Check came and we paid. Tipped standard 20% and left, over $500, plus tip. Worst dinner ever. read more

This restaurant is always good. The chefs put on a great show, the food is fresh and the portions are large and flavorful. The chefs also take special requests and go out of their way to please their customers. Think of Kiku as Benihana on steroids - bigger and better. read more

The food is consistently good. Shrimp, filet, lobster, fish, sushi...all good options. The rice, lo mein, veggies, salad, and soup that come with your meal are all very simple yet yummy. I have always had good or great experiences here. Its certainly a better experience with a group of people filling up the table. Encourage the chef/performer cooking and everyone gets into the experience catching food in your mouth, watching the pee toy shoot oil into the volcano...ask for 2 volcanoes why not! It can get a little loud in good fun but it's all part if the experience. 7 or 8 people to a table is a perfect group as 9 gets a little tight. It's still a nice experience with less people and the food is good but the experience can become a little blah. I have also noticed in my years of visits that groups get way better service, but service is never bad because you can always ask the chef at your table to shout out to a server. Only thing I find somewhat annoying is that loud freaking noise maker of a symbol that's hit for ever birthday over and over and over again GONG GONG GONG GONG... Dont let that stop you it's worth the visit... I am a typical 20% tip kind of guy for average service when nothing is bad, but nothing is great. I usually tip a little extra at this place directly into the chef's hand for a job well done. Out of probably 30 visits to this place only a few times the assigned chef was a lackluster performer who did not deserve the extra. That was typically with smaller dinner parties that I am guessing the chef didnt really care to do a great job. Go with a larger group, smile, have fun, get into with the chef...and it will be a wonderful dinner. read more

Great atmosphere good service and good hibachi food.

I don't like leaving bad reviews but the service in this restaurant is absolutely unacceptable, we get to are hibachi table someone comes to take our order 20 mins after seating us. I proceed to tell them I am going to be ordering sushi and appetizers Are waitress starts jumping ?? And says you need to speak with a manager she brings the manager to the table they were visibly arguing bc he does not want to come to our table to speak with us. A nice waitress comes and takes are order without a problem.. are chef arrives the waitress never comes back my husband starts choking the same manager walks by with no other waiter/waitress in sight I ask him to bring us a coke he tells me while my husband choking he doesn't take orders and walks away !???? This place is ridiculous I am never coming back. The Indian host is the rudest person I ever met in my life if he's here don't come read more

Food was decent but the staff was not very professional. The chef and waiter had an altercation at our table in which the finger was given in front of my five year old child. We were also charged triple for something and they argued with me about removing the items from the bill. Also I took my child there for a "show" not the food. Our table didn't get one but the other tables were having the full on hibachi experience. My five year old kept asking why nothing fun happened at our table. There were too many poor experiences to give this anything but one star. We will never go back to say the least. read more

In general food, service and atmosphere were good. The only problem was that when we had just finished our dinner and we still had time to sit, one lady gave us our check when we just thought about ordering the ice cream... :) read more

Outstanding service -- professional and attentive. Hibachi filet is top-notch; I'd rate their cut a notch above Benihana. Very friendly staff; this should be emphasized. Was treated extremely well. read more

Unfortunately there is no takeout Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Nevertheless, the Hibachi Chicken with noodles and vegetables is a favorite. Sadly, phone skills are lacking and can often be perceived as rude. Go for the show - good entertainment for groups and special occasions. read more

There was pretty good food and the chef was nice. The waiter for our table also didn't hesitate to refill my group's drinks. Although the night was off to a great start, we were there for a birthday, and we did inform the hostess that seated us. By the end of our meal, one waitress had already placed new utensils at our table and didn't speak a word. Oh you expect us to leave? We asked again about the birthday celebration, only to receive attitude. We all decided to just get up, pay, then leave. It seemed like every employee at this point had an attitude problem. The lady at checkout was literally grabbing our money, clipping it onto the board, then chucking it next to her. You're welcome? She was giving all of us unnecessary sass, which just made all of us want to leave sooner. We were a fairly big group, which may be stressful to deal with, but everyone was being cooperative and we are still giving you business! This was my second visit, and I'll be sure to check out other hibachi places in the area first before returning. read more

FDA should be out for a report. Meat on floor from cook at table he then picked up moved his cooking cart to other table and began cooking we got up in left read more

Really tasteless ... enough to say that we found a dead tiny cockroach on one of the plates !!! Sorry for the time and money I wanted

I gave it one star because the food was good but the service here was terrible!!! manager has little to no experience in customer service. He was very rude when we called to make the reservation and kept the same energy once we got there. we waited almost a whole hour to be seated after him telling us that if we got there later than 8:30, he would cancel the reservation. the bar tender was very rude as well. Told my friend that he was too busy to even take her order and when we asked about a drink he just said no and kept making other peoples drinks. While the cook was making the food, not one waitress or waiter could be found. we had to ask multiple times for the cook to find someone to refill our water or even get us drinks. After we ate and got the bill we proceeded to leave AND THENNN (this is the best part) the MANAGER and our waitress (that we only saw like twice the whole night) CHASED US TO THE DOOR arguing with us and asking us to leave more tip!!!!!! (we tipped the cook in cash because he was the only one who did his job) this was truly the worst experience i have ever had in a restaurant and i do not recommend this to anyone !!!!! please save yourself the headache and go somewhere else! read more

This is one of the worst places for service. Kiku says it opens at 5:00 on Fridays, however, every time I go to make a reservation for 5:00 the manager says sorry we don't open until 5:30... I don't get it. Why does the sign say 5:00 if they don't want to serve people until 5:30. The manager is rude and could care less to be nice to his customers. The food is average at best and the waiters and waitresses aren't friendly either. Tonight it took until we were in the middle of our meal to bring water for the table. We did ask at the beginning of our meal but because the server wasn't good we didn't receive it until the middle of the meal. This place is not worth the money. Don't waste it here. read more

Food was amazing. Great service and ambience. The lunch sets were delicious. We ordered the salmon bento teriyaki chicken bento and the sushi udon combo. At the end of the meal they gave each of us a bowl of green tea or red bean ice cream read more

I have been to Kiku Alpine ever since I was a little girl. I loved every memory there. This Valentine's Day, my boyfriend and I made a reservation there and we were so excited. It was the biggest mistake ever. The service was ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE. We made reservations for 7:00 pm and my boyfriend was trying to talk to the hostess and she would not even look at us. She was rude and not welcoming at all. The second hostess was also very rude and nasty. We ended up having to wait half an hour and watched people get seated that came in AFTER us. Kiku is a great restaurant but the service is really terrible. We decided to leave because the food was not worth how we were being treated. I do not recommend this place at all. I always remembered Kiku for how great the experience was but .. this was just not it. Not to mention there were tons of other people upset and leaving as well. read more