Wasabi Sushi Bar Fairview Heights, #7

I just want to preface this by saying it is my first bad review ever- I do not take making reviews lightly as I also work hospitality and realize there are some things that are out of our control. We came to this restaurant on Tuesday for the $6 roll deal. We were seated and had given our waiter our entire order within the first 5 minutes of walking in the door. The only thing I asked for was to also be brought a drink menu. It took half an hour before we were spoken to again or got a drink menu and still hadn’t even received our appetizer. When our waiter brought the drink menu I ordered a glass of wine and the waiter left again. We overheard him telling the table behind us they were understaffed and the kitchen was very backed up, and offering to bring something to snack on for the table and comp their drinks. This is completely understandable. We were fine waiting for our food and understand a busy time. However we waited another 25 minutes and still had not seen the waiter again with my glass of wine. So to recap we had been there for 55 minutes and had only received water. Our waiter had been to our table a total of two times, when we sat down and to bring me a drink menu. He never apologized for the wait or even came just to check and see how we were doing. I maybe could have lived with this if I saw our waiter working in the kitchen or busy at all. But we watched him stand and talk to other employees in the kitchen and other tables but skipping over ours without even checking on us, apologizing, or giving us a status update on any of our food. Waiting around for an hour and not even receiving a glass of wine is unacceptable. This was just down right terrible service and quite frankly lazy. It’s a small restaurant. If you can’t handle all three of your tables then there is an issue. After an hour and still not seeing any of our food, my drink, or our waiter we got up and left and went down the road to Dewey’s. Which got us in and out in half an hour with great service. I will not be returning to WASABI ever again. I would much rather drive 45 minutes to the Drunken Fish and end up paying double for friendly service.
1 8 years ago (18-05-2018)

Updated for recent visit! There have been huge improvements since my last visit, and it seems as if the management is very receptive to feedback. A lot of seating has been repaired or replaced, improving the quality of the dining experience greatly. Lighting was added in some areas so that it was less dark, and more enjoyable for those seated there. The menu goes through regular updates, and the March specials are DELICIOUS! I loved the spicy calamari and it's now one off my favorite dishes. The waiters love feedback and relay it to the kitchen staff for continuous updates and improvements. They're definitely moving in the right direction. Staffing was appropriate, but I went during an off hour and cannot say if it's improved during rush. I ADORE SAMUEL. He is genuine, pleasant, and cares about your dining experience. He really makes date night special and shows extra attention to getting your dining experience right. A little more attention to cleaning the floor between tables and I wouldn't have a single critique! Thank you for listening to feedback! I'm really happy to have a nice date night sushi place in the metro east with reasonably priced menu items.
3 8 years ago (06-03-2018)

I can't eat seafood but are the avocado rolls and the first ones were good but the rest tasted like it was mixt with fish, couldn't eat those.
2 8 years ago (01-06-2018)

Expensive and subpar. Not usually a good mix. But this restaurant takes it to the next level. Warm sushi...
2 8 years ago (12-05-2018)

Our server was awful, he took ten minutes just to get our drinks then another five just to take our order. The appetizer came out with our meal and was cold at that. Then, my fiancé ordered their lunch special, he did not get the special, but instead he put it in as two separate sushi orders. What an overpriced dump this establishment is, if I could give it zero stars, I sure would. Will not be returning. If anyone likes good service and fair prices, try Seven.
1 8 years ago (23-03-2018)