Since there are two Yelp accounts for this restaurant, I am re-posting my original review for "Johnny's Red Bowl" (since it's the exact same place) here as well. Yelpers please note: I got a Yelp account specifically so I could share with the world how TERRIBLE this restaurant is. I have visited multiple times, each time hoping for a less horrible experience and each time I was disappointed. Last night was the final straw. Previously I ate here for the lunch special. The food was decent, the price was very fair ($5). The service, however, was spotty at best: empty drinks were ignored, appetizers were forgotten, and our server barely interacted with us (might I mention that the dining area had less than three tables occupied at the time?). I chalked it up to an "off day" on the server's part. No stress. When I returned to the Red Bowl last night for half-off sushi (after 8pm), I anticipated poor service. I was not, however, prepared for how unbelievably awful my experience would truly turn out to be. After we were seated, someone took our drink orders. It took about five minutes for us to get out drinks (not terrible). When our server arrived with our drinks and asked if we were ready to order, we requested a few more minutes to decide. HE DID NOT RETURN FOR OVER 25 MINUTES. We sat at our table with half-empty glasses, twiddling our thumbs, waiting to give our orders. At one point he breezed past our table and as I tried to flag him down HE HELD UP HIS POINTER FINGER (the "one minute" hand gesture) and kept walking. After a few more minutes her returned, took our orders and walked off. We waited for 30 MINUTES for our food to come out. During this time, our server couldn't be bothered to apologize for slow service, make small talk, or even refill our drinks. He completely IGNORED our table. When our food did finally arrive, he left almost as soon as the plates hit our table. We had to search the restaurant for soy sauce dipping bowls, and he never once asked us how our sushi was. The only time he returned was to give us our checks. The food is okay (at best) and I think that you get what you pay for. My sushi rolls were unimpressive and while the noodle dish my friend received was huge, I was very disappointed with the size of my rolls. They were small, slapped together haphazardly, drenched in funny-tasting sauce that muddled all the flavors and textures together. I understand that a slow-moving or backed-up kitchen is not a server's fault. I understand that when you are serving, you can be overwhelmed by orders and demands (although there was easily less than forty people in the "bar area" and this server was helping only three or four tables including ours). But what I do not understand is how you can essentially forget that a table of people exists and be completely unapologetic about it. My friends and I joke about the poor service at this restaurant and are generally good-natured about it, but after last night's experience I can promise you that I will never return. TLDR: You get what you pay for. The food is okay at best. The service is CONSISTENTLY the WORST I've ever experienced. Spend a few extra dollars at Sushi 101 (which is also in the Promenade) or Pei Wei's (in Ballantyne) for better food and better service.
Choose: was this review given positively or negatively?
Select from: (a). negative. (b). positive.
(a).