We will not return to this restaurant.
We thought that going to this hibachi restaurant would be a change of pace from our normal fine dining selections for restaurant week in the Charlotte area. Boy were we correct!
Like responsible and considerate people, we made reservations a few weeks in advance. Our error was assuming that having a reservation would entitle us to being seated in a reasonable amount of time. Our party of five was seated at 8:20 for our 7:30 reservation. We started seeing our food prepared at around 9:30.
The chef for our table was talented and entertaining. He was the bright spot for our evening.
The social media manager told my wife that the terrible wait was due to snow the previous weekend, and it being restaurant week. I'm sorry, but that is unacceptable. There are ways to professionally manage reservations, even for a busy restaurant. It is accomplished successfully every day at hundreds of other restaurants. The hostess's line "we are clearing tables right now" to our exasperated party when we asked how much longer we had to wait was quite aggravating after group after group were seated in front of us.
The terrible service in the front of the restaurant far outpaced the passable fare. I blame myself for allowing Kabuto to treat me this way and dampen our evening.