Incident occurred on 06.27.26, 8:00 pm-9:30 pm…read more
The most negative restaurant experience my family and I have ever had.
We came here as a party of four after a long day, hoping for a relaxing dinner. Unfortunately, every aspect of the experience was atrocious.
From the moment we arrived, we were greeted by an incredibly unfriendly staff member named Ken. We were seated in a booth with peeling upholstery, and the general cleanliness left our party with less of an appetite than we came in with. Every bowl was poorly washed (stains, dried food), and every ice cream cup available was stained, forcing us to use paper cups instead.
The food quality was also noticeably worse than in the other locations. The salmon sashimi was extremely fishy, and many of the meat selections were pure fat; nothing tasted fresh. Compared to the other two locations we have visited, this was by far the worst.
Service was entirely nonexistent. Ken did not acknowledge our table a single time and repeatedly took away our menus, requiring us to get up ourselves whenever we wanted to order additional food (check camera footage). Ironically, the only time he became friendly and talked to us was at the very end of the meal when it was time to pay.
When we received the bill, my father initially thought we had been charged for alcohol included with the dinner menu. Upon closer inspection, we discovered an 18% service charge had been added. I knew the restaurant policy stated that parties of **five or more** are charged an 18% service fee, so I checked the menu to confirm. We were a party of four (as shown on the receipt and check cameras).
When I brought this to Ken's attention, he immediately responded, "This isn't me, it's my manager who tells us to do this." I explained that we were not a party of five, but he abruptly walked away in the middle of the conversation, not allowing me to finish my sentence.
Moments later, another table, a mother and her son, asked me, "Did you get charged the 18% service fee too?" They showed me their bill, and sure enough, their party of two had also been charged.
Earlier that evening, two men had also questioned the fee. One of my family members overheard Ken telling them that it was "just a normal expensive San Francisco charge." They were clearly unhappy but ultimately paid and left.
After witnessing multiple tables being charged the same fee despite not meeting the stated requirement, I informed Ken that I would pay the bill itself but not an improperly applied service charge. Once again, he insisted, "It's my manager who put it there. Just pay it."
I requested to speak with the manager. After spending several minutes avoiding the issue, moving things around behind the register, Ken went into the back room speaking Cantonese, then came out and handed me a phone connected to someone he identified as his "manager", Serena.
I explained the situation to her in both Mandarin and English, making it clear that several parties of fewer than five people had been charged an 18% fee despite the restaurant's own policy. Her response was simply:
"How much are you going to tip then?"
There was no misunderstanding or language barrier; we had the conversation in two languages. I explained to her that her menu is misleading, and restated that many parties tonight were charged a large party service fee. She then replied again
"Okay, how much are you going to tip then?"
When I returned the phone, I told Ken that adding an 18% charge to tables that clearly do not qualify under the restaurant's written policy is dishonest, misleading, and illegal. He agreed, again blamed his manager, and eventually printed a corrected bill without the fee.
For context, my family comes from a long background in food service and restaurant work. We are generous tippers and routinely leave 20% or more, even when service is lackluster...we all have bad days at work. This was never about avoiding a tip. It was about being charged a mandatory fee that, according to the restaurant's own menu, should never have been applied to us and the other diners in the first place.
My suspicion is that evening staff, with no management present, are adding service charges to increase compensation. If that is the case, ownership should be aware of it immediately. If this is truly management forcing staff to add 18% service fee, this will be an easy report to the California Department of Consumer Affairs and the San Francisco Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
I sincerely hope this was an isolated issue involving specific employees rather than management. Either way, it left a lifelong terrible impression on this business, and I will be recommending everyone in my community to go elsewhere.