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Jul 23, 2009
How sad to see a once great venue decay to such abysmal depths in both quality and service. Having been a good and loyal customer from the beginning, I am sorry to say that Japonais has deteriorated in every way. My experience there a couple of weeks ago is a good, if tragic, example of this.
The filet mignon (which I've enjoyed many, many times before) came out burned to a crisp and as leather. No one bothered to check on us to see how our meal was (we were on the outside patio), and I literally had to carry my plate to the host stand and wait for a manager to come out. By the time they had re-cooked it (the restaurant was practically empty), my guest was completely finished with her sushi.
Under the circumstances, any fine restaurant would have comp'd the filet or at least offered dessert on the house, however not only did the manager not offer to do so even after I actually requested that she do so (and after mentioning my long-time patronage), but she actually informed me that she didn't have the "authority" to do so. Instead, she handed me a card with Sandy Parks' (director of operations) on it and told me to call her. It was a pretty shocking experience and one that would never happen at the many other fine restaurants in Chicago (imagine this happening at a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant, such as Joe's? not a chance).
Since then, I have left multiple messages for Ms. Parks, none of which has been returned.Japonais is tired and worn down, and they are hardly endeavoring to "up their game" in light of the struggling economy and recent competition from much hipper new venues such as Sunda.
Based on how they are treating their loyal customers, they deserve what they get.
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