Samurai Restaurant - South Lake Tahoe

Eat well, service is a little hit or miss. The interior is dated, and the bathrooms are dirty and old. It's not great in a sushi restaurant. Or in any restaurant. I would like to support this place because it has been so long and the owners are nice, but they need to update and clean.

Great sushi, prices arent crazy, friendly and accommodating staff. The sukiyaki soup is on the menu one of the best soups I ever had. Tuna quality is always good and consistent, and the owner is the man! All Sushi kitchens are experienced and know what they do.

We sat down and immediately the waitress told us it will take a while to get our food and asked if we wanted to order appetizers while we were waiting. We didn't. The food was good even though we ordered sukiyaki and ordered all the other sushi. The food lasted 50 minutes. If you are ready to wait for food for almost an hour, you should give free edamame or miso soup. The majority of people waited long for their food. It looks like this place has to be either limited as many people can sit or rent extra chefs.

I had come to Samurai a few times before the pandemic and it was a great experience. I wanted to try again since I had time and wanted to have great food and experience. Man, I was wrong! When I came to the restaurant, it was about 6:00 and it wasn't busy. I give him two stars because the food was good. When we entered, it seemed like there was a waitress who is inexperienced or new. She sat me and my wife downstairs and then we asked after her drink menu she said they had Saki or beer. I asked her if she was still making cocktails and she informed me that they didn't do that anymore. This waitress was rude when she said it. We told her we were stuck with water and she left. It took 15 minutes to come back and take our order, we ordered the food and at this point the restaurant began to fill. We ordered 4 rolls and sashimi and it took about 35 minutes until the food finally comes. The waitress did not know which roles where and what were missing 2 roles. We started eating our food and about 20 minutes later we got our other 2 reels I understand it was busy. The waitress wasn't aware how we didn't get soy sauce when we asked and forgot them. I had to ask the bus for some and she didn't see us. The other waitress came and checked us instead. We had asked her for the bill so we could go. Our waitress had us wait for about 15 minutes and another 15 minutes until she was picked up after 15 minutes. I signed it with additional tip because we know that tips are important. The food and the other waitress was helpful. The waitress who served us must get a proper training and know how to treat customers, at least be kind. The food was okay, like I didn't say anything special, like it was. This place used to a city favorite now it is a disappointment. I'm gonna go somewhere else for sushi from now on.

RESPONSE TO THE RESTAURANT OWNER: 1. THIS IS FACT: we ordered their most popular foods taking them 1.5 hrs to complete. So simply don't come if you want their most popular food. 2. THIS IS FACT: We said we wouldn't pay until the chef apologized for his rude yelling behavior. Actually, we didn't hear any apology in the end but we still paid them. Also, we didn't yell at all, and we just communicated to request for a reasonable discount due to the unacceptable 1.5 hr wait time. 3. THIS IS FACT: Tell me where asian hate showed up in my comment, so ridiculous. LMAO. Original comment: I would put ZERO star if google allows. Really bad experience. We have been waiting 1.5 hrs for our food. The waiter told me the average wait time is just 1.5 hrs. I can?t believe it. The chef is really rude, showing no respect to the customers.