Nikko Japanese Restaurant

10/08/08

Food good, service bad

by karamelkutee23 at Citysearch

I visited this restaurant this weekend to celebrate my friends b-day and we did not have a great experience. It all started when we arrived and there was an hour and half wait after we were told we didn't need a reservation. They told us there was no wait if we sat outside or in the bar area. They were going to align 3 high tables for dinner for a party of eight? How comfortable would that be? So we decided to sit on outside on patio. They put together two tables, which were uneven and wobbly. We brought this to their attention and they advised that they would bring another table, but never did. The owner decided to bring over a table napkin to balance the table?? Very unprofessional in my opinion. The night only went down from there. The waitress was too busy taking care of tables on the inside to take care of us. She only took out orders and never returned to refill drinks or ask how our meals were. One friend was not pleased with her meal and another found a hair in her meal, so we asked for the manager. He came over and basically said that the one friend had to pay for her meal and the other meal with the hair would be taken off. He later changed his mind and decided she had to pay after they took her plate away. He didn't even offer replace the meals. Then had the audacity to ask us to never come back again. Well, he doesn't have to worry about that. I would rather spend my money at a restaurant with better service that appreciates my business.

10/01/09

Don't waste you're money

by Sebastien at Citysearch

Well I went here for my birthday after hearing so much about how wonderful this 5 star restaurant was.

First issue I had, I called to make my own reservations and the music was so loud the hostess could not hear me. When I got them on the phone she said to me "You're phone is messed up I can't hear you" and hung up me, so I called again then she said "I can't hear you" and hung up on me AGAIN. So I had a friend with four bars on her phone call and the same issue happened. The music was absolutely too loud.

Now when we got there, there were no reservations for us so I asked to speak to the manager and told her that I had called multiple times as did my friends and we were all hung up on. She did seat us right away which made up for a little bit. Then it took 25 mins to get our drinks and orders, another 45 for the food that was not even worth my time. I told them it was my birthday and was told I would get a nice desert which never came. The waitress ignored us unless we put called her to the table.

Horrible.

• Pros: None
• Cons: not worth the money, terrible staff

05/26/09

Disappointment

by tomzered at Citysearch

Went to Nikko's after having heard about it for so long, and I can't hide my disappointment. The restaurant is cool with a great design, in a nice neighborhood, and the ambiance is fun. However, the food is just plain average. Uninspired, sauces were store bought quality. Not a place to go for sushi connaisseurs.

• Pros: great ambiance
• Cons: food is horrible

02/25/09

Greatest sushi in Charlotte

by thomascapolli at Citysearch

I recently visited Nikko on South Blvd about 2 Weeks ago, and I must say it was amazing. We had a reservation for 6 on a Friday night. When we arrived we were promptly sat in a round booth in the middle of the restaurant. Our server was great, the food was outstanding, and overall our experience was very pleasant. We tried the tuna crunchy roll at our server's suggestion, and it was incredibly delicious. I will tell all of my friends about this place, and I will definitely be back.

P.S. Order the Saki Bombs, You wont forget it!

• Pros: Everything
• Cons: None that I can think of

02/21/09

POOR SERVICE UNEXPECTED

by FranOConnor at Citysearch

Poor service. Unprofessional treatment. Had 9:00 reservation for back room for 20 guests (Surprise 30th birthday). Arrived at 8:30, NOT SEATED BY 9:00. Questioned hostess who reported 7:00 reservation did not arrive until 8:00, and had just been served. Were not seated until10:45. Service very poor. Mnanger/owner had agreed to comp a round of drinks. When bills arrived this had not been done. Owner had left the building. When we complained, staff threatened to call police. Food was good as always, but attitude of owner and staff uncaring and irresponsible.

• Pros: Food
• Cons: Service and Customer Service

02/11/09

Worst restaurant in Charlotte. Worst owner in the world.

by bamyourmam at Citysearch

I find it interesting how nearly everyone that I know that has gone to Nikko's has had an obscenely horrible experience. These experiences range from; the bar staff, hostesses, waitresses, the food, management and of course the famous resident narcissist Korean cowboy owner Johanna. It?s truly a shame that this website still promotes Nikkos as a 5 star when ALL the reviews clearly show an overwhelmingly negative experience and an average around 2stars or less.

Bottom line, Nikkos is and always will be everything that is wrong with the Charlotte and gets the ultimate thumbs down.

• Cons: The staff, owner and hostesses are the worst in charlotte. If you don't beleive me... go see for yourself.

01/31/09

dining in a CLUB????

by greatereater at Citysearch

if you like eating in a loud loud clubing music, you would probably like it. Food quality is good, but the price is at the same time very high. Very distracting eating atmosphere besides the loud music. You always see the lady with the cowboy hat on running up and down the restaurant, dancing and drinking. I feel like I was dining out in New York city...

• Pros: good sushi
• Cons: expensive and loud

01/16/09

Center of Attention

by laura28202 at Citysearch

If you want loud music in a neat atmosphere...less the owner running up and down the aisle with a cowboy hat yelling, this is the place! Feels like you are in New York until you ask for service!

• Pros: Food is pretty good, ambiance
• Cons: service

12/22/08

If your not into chic, then take yourself somewhere else

by sh21 at Citysearch

Went to Nikko again (one of dozens) this past Friday. Pulled up a seat at the bar with a couple of friends and ordered some good drinks. Bartender (forgot his name) from Jersey was good conversation without being invasive and poured some good drinks. We ordered some edamame appetizers as well as a chicken and shrimp dinner...All fantastic, as usual.

I'm not sure why all these people complain about the noise and atmosphere of this place. If you are from around here you have either eaten here or know someone who has been in the place, if you dont want to dine "big city" for a night, then dont go. I really dont think they need your business.

The types of places like Nikko and the Epicentre are helping charlotte grow.

• Pros: Great atmosphere, Great Food, Good Looking People
• Cons: Can get a little too busy

12/19/08

The food is irrelevant - you just pray for they'll turn down the deafening music.

by SAL999 at Citysearch

Nikko in South End used to have good sushi in a pleasant atmosphere. Those days are gone. Now they're in sleek noisy space - not my favorite, but I can handle it when it's reasonable. Not here. The owner apparently has trouble getting enough attention in the larger space, so she has to periodically turn the bar music up to a deafening level and run up and down the aisle in a cowboy hat banging a tambourine. Seriously! Apparently this is to celebrate some feat of drinking at the bar.

Picture yourself eating sushi seated directly in front of a speaker at your favorite club. If that appeals to you, Nikko is your place.

Best I could tell, the food was adequate, but the noise was so unnerving we had trouble focusing on it.

Valet parking is available; if you don't want to give your keys to a stranger, be prepared for an adventure getting to level 4 of the parking deck.

• Cons: Parking, NOISE, horrible "ambience"

12/16/08

Rude/Horrible Service-- BEWARE of MENU!!

by LittleKO at Citysearch

I visited Nikko's for the first time and ordered Chicken Fried Rice. However when the bill came I saw that I was charged for a Teriyaki Chicken. I requested a manager.

To my surprise, the manager told me: ?We have a ?You eat it, you buy it? policy here. You ate Teriyaki chicken, so we?ll need to charge you for it.? I explain to him that I understand an ?I eat it, I buy it policy,? however I was not aware that I was being served something other than what I ordered!

Now, I realize that Chinese and Japanese cuisine are different, however to make a comparison of what I expected versus what I got?here it is: I?ve had Chinese Chicken Fried Rice before. It consists of: fried rice, vegetables (usually carrots & onions), and chicken. What was served to me, and what I believed to be the Japanese version of Chicken Fried Rice, was: fried rice, vegetables (carrots & onions), and chicken!

This argument obviously, did not convince the manager because he proceeds to tell me, ?Well you should have known by the portion size and the fact that you were served a soup and salad b/c that meal doesn't come with that.?

First of all, as a new customer I would have no idea what their portion size is. Secondly the meal IS listed as coming with soup/salad. I even show him this on the menu. However he continues to try and be ?right." He said perhaps the menu was ?misleading", but it really didn't come with a side. And in fact he tried to take my friend's credit card back from her after she paid b/c she had the Seafood Fried rice, which came with salad, and he insisted she should be charged for salad!

I told him he was ridiculous and I would be sharing this experience with others and took a picture of the menu that was given to us where it indicates our meals came with a soup or salad. He told me he did not care if I reported it or took a picture, and he still was not going to fix my bill. *So glad to know he ?doesn?t care? that I?m reporting all of this :-)

• Pros: Food is excellent.
• Cons: VERY RUDE management/poor customer service