Wagaya Japanese Restaurant

Reviews 7

CO

colbby78921

My gf and I went here last Thursday to potentially find a new and better place for ramen. However that was not the case. Parking is slightly annoying because they do not have their own lot, but the restaurant seemed promising since it was so busy on a week day around 7:30ish. There was one table open but it was literally sandwiched between two other tables. We opted to wait for another table to open up. We were seated, but then 5 minutes in told were that we had to get up and move because someone else had "reservations." So then we were waiting for another table for about 20 more minutes. By then it was around 8:15. Finally we were seated but no one came by to take drink orders or even acknowledge that there were customers in the table. Finally we literally had to pull a waiter to stop and have them take drink and dinner orders. The food came out pretty fast.....on the kitchen counter which we could see from our table. It never reached our table until 15 minutes later when we told the waiter that it had been sitting there. They brought only one of our dishes over (the other was still sitting on the counter) and the ramen noodles had become overcooked, sitting in the broth that long, and the fried pork katsu was cold and dry. The sushi had been sitting there even longer, probably around 20 minutes and was rolled so poorly that I could have done better at home. Disappointed and quite aggravated, we ask another waiter/hostess (wasnt sure what she was) to redo the entire order because our meal was cold. She rolled her eyes in front of us and walked away. We then asked for the manager and he was a freaking joke. We waited for 15 minutes while he continued to walk by our table not wanting to deal with confrontation. So my gf finally pulled him to the side and asked him why the service was terrible/rude. Usually food issues is the kitchens fault but this time it was definitely the unprofessional rude waiters. He had every excuse in the book for why things were they way they were. The main excuse being that they were so busy which is not an excuse. The restaurant is tiny and with 4 waiters things shouldnt have been that difficult. All he had to do was say I apologize that your experience hasnt been great let me get it right for you, but no he was immature and obviously untrained to be a "manager." The owners of this restaurant should be embarrassed about the people who work for them and I feel bad for anyone who has to get trained by the so called "manager." He did not offer any sort of solution and did not care to talk to us so we walked out of the restaurant.

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ER

Eric Trieu

Located on the upper west side of Atlanta (Midtown) on 14th street, lies Wagaya, a nice little hip(ster) Japanese restaurant that serves both sushi and traditional Japanese cuisine. The restaurant size is one of the downsides to the place. For one thing, they dont really have a parking lot so youll have to park about a block away (its free). There isnt too many seats inside and most tables are reserved for those who have reservations. You amy end up sitting at the sushi bar which isnt too bad. Food here is great and you can tell they put in the effort and the presentation is wonderful. Most dishes you have probably seen at other Japanese restaurant so I wont dive too deep there. If you can order a bit of everything and explore the menu. Ill keep this one short. Wagaya is definitely worth a visit and maybe even the drive if youre OTP. Its not the best Japanese food I ever had, but the atmosphere of the restaurant and overall quality of the food is unique enough to warrant future visits. My Recommendations: -Red Tonkatsu Ramen -Matcha Box (dessert)

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MI

Michelle Park

Wagaya is hands-down my favorite Japanese restaurant ITP- maybe my favorite (semi-casual) restaurant period! Every dish on their menu is consistent, authentic and unpretentious. I almost hate to tell people about this place because I dont want it to get crowded. The servers are friendly, and the food...YUM! The tonkatsu ramen is EASILY the best ITP. Their broth is absolutely superb. The ishiyaki chasu is pork fried rice served sizzling and crunch in a stone bowl. Its phenomenal. You really cant go wrong. We even brought a vegetarian friend here once. He had the vegetable sushi, and though there was no meat or fish in it, it was still delicious with no attention to detail lost. I will say, I think their stand-outs are their Japanese entrees, though their sushi is solid. The atmosphere is cozy and their prices are reasonable. Great for a date spot before you head onto the movie theater at Atlantic station ;) 10/10, would recommend

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BE

Ben Kalziqi

This was Fine. I got miso ramen with "spicy red sauce" to compare fairly to my favorite ramen spot, and while the broth was pretty good (it could be a little more substantial), the rest was mostly just, well, *fine*. The noodles were pretty boring, and the bowl just seemed kind of... empty? Definitely lacking in little flavorful additions (green onions, sesame seeds, et c.)—just broth, some noodles, half an egg, and two pieces of pork. The pork was juicy enough, but lacked much texture: it felt more like it had been thrown in an oven for a little bit rather than seared. Could probably benefit from the addition of ground pork, as well. The egg was delicious and perfectly cooked, for sure. Not super relevant, but presentation could be worked on a bit—see attached for a comparison with what Id consider the top of the pyramid. Also visible are some of the aforementioned improvements.

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SH

shawn barnes

I stumbled upon this place tonight with 2 friends after trying to go to Better Half. Better Half is located next door, but was closed due to a private party. Wagaya was starting to get busy, but we were lucky enough to get a seat, immediately. We started out with the dumplings, which were good, but had a kick to them. For dinner, I had the tonkotsu ramen noodle plus two sushi rolls: spicy tuna and california. All were good, particularly the noodle dish. One of my friends had the same ramen dish with the other two rolls: avocado salmon and cruncy yellowtail. He liked his dish, as well. My other friend started with tuna nagiri, which he really liked. Then, he had the spicy curry ramen, which he really liked. All of our dinners were good and the service was good, as well. The prices were fine and I would recommend this place for a small group of adults.

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AL

Ali Kimm

WAGAYA! This is my go-to spot for sushi and/or ramen. It looks like your typical sushi place inside, nothing super trendy, but its clean with simple Japanese decor. The prices are really good for the quality of food. Their sushi tastes pretty fresh, and they have a pretty long menu. Ive also tried their non-sushi and ramen items, and the ones Ive tried have all been good as well. My favorite items are the white tonkotsu ramen (regular or spicy) and their lunch/dinner sushi combos (i.e. 2 sushi rolls, miso soup and seaweed salad). Note that the small parking lot in the back of the restaurant is often full. I usually park on Atlantic Drive and walk over, cutting across the gas station, but theres also a Home Park parking lot that you can use one short block over.

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TH

Thai Nguyen

Heard about this new place from a friend and had to try it. Its located in west midtown next to the closed gas station. The parking lot in the back is TINY but youre also allowed to park in a lot a block down. The parking lot says $5 but it is actually free (their website has instructions on exactly where it is). I decided to try the tonkatsu ramen because there really isnt many ITP ramen choices, so thats a big win. When you first get it, it doesnt look too impressive. The presentation could be better but hey, if it tastes good, who cares. It ended up being pretty good! The milky, creamy broth had great flavor and the pork was tender and fatty. Definitely good enough to go here instead of driving way out to Suwannee.

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