Waraji Japanese Restaurant

Review summary

1. R

   Rodney

   Raleigh

   3 reviews

   1.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 2

   I recently visited Waraji for Valentine's dinner, but unfortunately, my experience was far from pleasant. Shortly after dining, I became very ill, which put a damper on what should have been a special evening. The ambiance and service were adequate, but the food quality left much to be desired. It's important for restaurants to ensure the safety and well-being of their customers, and I hope they take this feedback seriously to prevent similar incidents in the future. Given my experience, I cannot recommend this restaurant and urge others to be cautious.
   

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2. S

   Stephen

   Raleigh

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   Overall very good experience great food. We will be back.
   

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3. N

   Noel

   Orange County

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined 5 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Our service was horrible. It took forever to get refills of tea and she acted like she just didn’t want to bother with us. My husband couldn’t eat some of his sushi because it was not good. I order just one sushi roll and it was ok. The salmon and octopus was ok but not the best I ever had. I probably would have been ok and maybe try it again but the service was so horrible I will not be back.
   

   Waraji Japanese RestaurantResponded 1 day ago

   Thank you for sharing your feedback, Noel. I’m really sorry to hear about your experience. It’s disappointing that both the service and the quality of your meal didn’t meet your expectations. We aim to provide excellent service as well as memorable and delicious food, so your comments are concerning and will be addressed with our team to ensure improvements are made. We truly appreciate your input and hope you might reconsider visiting us again in the future.
   

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4. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   VIP

   Raleigh

   13 reviews

   5.0

   13 reviews

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Outstanding food, great service (Maxine was our outstanding server and couldn’t have been more knowledgable or pleasant), and wonderful atmosphere. 10/10!
   

   1 person found this helpful

5. J

   Jay

   VIP

   Raleigh

   18 reviews

   3.0

   18 reviews

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   We had been told the sushi rivaled M Sushi. It doesn't. It's fine. I'm sure the rolls are fine. Atmosphere is fun. We'll stick to M when we're looking for sushi.
   

   Waraji Japanese RestaurantResponded 7 days ago

   Thank you for your feedback! We appreciate you giving Waraji a try. We're glad to hear that you enjoyed the atmosphere. We understand that everyone has their favorite sushi spots, and we respect your preference for M Sushi. If you have any recommendations, it will help us aim to become rivaled or better than M Sushi! We hope you'll consider returning to try other menu items—perhaps there's something else that will stand out for you!
   

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6. K

   Kimberly

   VIP

   Wilmington

   21 reviews

   5.0

   21 reviews

   Dined on 8 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   It is always amazing! Sushi is wonderful and service awesome too!
   

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7. M

   Michelle

   VIP

   Raleigh

   22 reviews

   5.0

   22 reviews

   Dined on 7 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   It is busy on a Friday night. It took an hour to get our sushi.
   

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8. H

   Herminio

   Raleigh

   4 reviews

   3.0

   4 reviews

   Dined on 1 February 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 3

   This was my second time dining at Waraji. The first time I went as a party of two on a Tuesday evening. The food and drinks came out at an appropriate amount of time and with a good amount of time between the course is being served to enjoy them. The service then was excellent, and the restaurant was full. For my second experience, I went on a Saturday night with a group of eight because I had such a great experience at that first dining session. However, the line to just enter the restaurant was so long that we had to wait outside even though we had reservations. It felt rude and impersonal to skip the line just to let the hostess know that we had reservations. It would’ve been better if there was someone to greet each guest, even those waiting in line to make sure no one was waiting in line, who had a reservation. When we were seated, we were greeted by our server who immediately asked us what we wanted for drinks. We were undecided at that point because we had just been sat down and there was only one drink menu for Western cocktails and also one menu for the sake with only one drink menu. It’s pretty crazy to think that anyone be ready to give their drink order for a table of eight. I don’t necessarily blame this on the server because there was only one drink menu per table at every table. We asked for additional drink menus in the server was able to get us one additional menu. The drinks did take about 15 to 20 minutes to arrive once we had placed the order with the server. As for the food, the service was disastrous, but the food was excellent. Everyone placed their food orders with the server at the same time for both the appetizer and the entrée course. However, there were entrées that came out before appetizers and also none of the appetizers came out at the same time. It cannot be that difficult to make sure that each appetizer comes out at the same time when a restaurant has been open for this long. I understand that it was busy, but even if we had to
   

   Waraji Japanese RestaurantResponded 7 days ago

   Thank you for your detailed feedback and for choosing Waraji again! We’re glad you enjoyed the food on both visits, but we’re sorry for the delays and the service issues you experienced during your second visit. We appreciate your comments and will work on improving the reservation process, cocktail timing, and timing of the courses to ensure a better experience for all guests. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you again soon!
   

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9. A

   Andrea

   Western NC

   22 reviews

   5.0

   22 reviews

   Dined on 1 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Our food was wonderful and beautifully prepared. Our server made the night though, so sweet and really wanted us to enjoy ourselves.
   

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10. K

    Kelly

    Raleigh

    4 reviews

    5.0

    4 reviews

    Dined on 1 February 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5

    Our server, Maxine, was AMAZING! The best service I’ve ever had at Waraji. “Mama” was on it, too! We were never without - water, recommendations, extras, you name it. Our food was wonderful as always! Maxine and Mama made our night!
    

    1 person found this helpful