This was the worst dining experience I have ever had. And that is saying a lot, as I grew up in New York City, and I have traveled abroad extensively as a producer and a reporter. My family's experience at Ohana was terrible and stomach-turning. I ate at Ohana on April 22nd, 2017, around 2:00pm. We came here by chance, and I regret it so much in no small part because I had just come from the west coast to see my parents, and - it was my mother's birthday. The service was beyond awful. It was sadistic and depressing.
Firstly, the waitress kept asking us to repeat what we said. She then kept asking if we wanted a large sake instead of a small. "Small," we had to repeat, "Small." She then questioned my order because I just ordered some sushi rolls. But hell, that's not so terrible, is it? But wait! It gets so much more awful. When the Hibachi Chef came to our table he didn't crack a smile, he looked depressed. As this was my first Hibachi experience, I wondered if this was part of his "shtick". (I also want to add that I did not come to this place looking for a playful Hibachi experience. We ended up at Ohana because there was a wedding party at the restaurant we initially planned to go to). I wasn't looking for a show, just a modicum of friendliness. But 5 minutes later, the chef knocked over 2 plates of sauce and a glass of water all over my parents. My father is 83, and walks with a cane. It's very hard for him to stand up. I helped him stand and - get this - no one came over to help us. My husband and I grabbed napkins to clean up, and 1 young woman just stood by the doorway to the kitchen area and stared blankly, as if she had no soul. And when our waitress finally appeared she stood there. I said, "Can you please help out?" (Water was still dripping from the table). She muttered something unintelligible. I said, "Can you please do something, or at least get a mop or something?". In retrospect, perhaps the waitress was high on dope. I seriously still cannot believe how gross the whole scene was. If someone had videotaped what happened no one would go to Ohana again. It was so maudlin, I had a moment where I wondered if we were being punked. (Also I should add that a few minutes earlier, we saw a Chef at another table fling a spatula on a lady's bag, narrowly missing her body by less than a foot). When our waitress came back to life, she said she would replace our order of calamari, which was drenched.
At some point my father mentioned that he ordered something different for him and for my mother. I pointed this out to our waitress and she started saying that this was because it was hard to hear because of the exhaust fan or something! Unreal.
As if this all wasn't enough, our chef never cracked a smile. Egg shells got into the eggs that he was stir-frying. And at some point, while cooking, he just pointed at my husband and said, "He love you long time." Then he pointed to my dad and said the same thing to my mother. He said those words in such an uncomfortably weird tone that we all had to laugh. But it wasn't funny, it felt horrible, maudlin, and cruel. I had no appetite. I also felt like I needed to watch out for my son because perhaps this Chef was so angry or disgruntled that he might try to hurt us.
When we got our bill, the restaurant merely took off 10%. This is unreal. Please note, that earlier, after I found out the waitress had messed-up our orders, I went and spoke to the manager about it. And I also told him about how the Chef dropped sauce and water all over my parents (he was nowhere to be seen when this happened. I had to go ask someone near the kitchen to find him). You would think the manager would have the decency to take off a discount that meant something, a discount that would pay for - at the very least - dry cleaning. But no, a measly cheap 10%. My guess is that the manager - who wasn't properly managing - didn't want to take off more because then he'd have to explain to his employers all the hell that happened that day. Because my husband wanted to treat my parents to a birthday lunch, and thusly didn't want to make a scene, he didn't say anything about the bill. I was livid. I went to another room to talk to the manager, and I gave him an earful. The waitress joined in and started saying stuff about the exhaust again. The manager then, and only then, started talking money, perhaps because I mentioned that I work as a reporter. But here's the thing - - no amount of refund could compensate for making us all feel so gross. No money will make up for messing up our lunch on my mother's birthday.
The owners of this place need to seriously look at the staff who worked at Ohana in the early afternoon of April 22, 2017. Either those kids are doing drugs, or they just don't care. And ultimately the owners of the restaurant are responsible - for hiring this staff. My advice: do not eat at Ohana, for you risk being treated horribly, and then have to pay for that abuse. read more