Kai’s Bistro & Lounge

OK. I can’t make this up. On the menu there is an item called «cheddar bacon fried rice»… Amazing! I wasn’t even drunk!

Ordered delivery from here three times now. The first time, I got the walnut prawns and hot & sour soup, and I felt happy with the food. The second time, I ordered a steak and was called half an hour after placing my order, told they were out of steak (note that Eat24 lists them as a «steakhouse»…hmm). That was a few months ago. I tried again tonight, after strong iron cravings, and the order was terrible. i ordered a Med-​Rare New York steak dinner, and all I got was a thin, grisly/​fatty, & VERY Well-​Done «steak» of low quality meat. My tiny side salad was completely wilted because it had been packed between two hot containers. I called the restaurant and was told that «these things happen» in terms of the steak being overcooked. Um… WHAT? Your ONLY job is to provide what we order and pay good money for. Don’t blame your lack of QC on bad luck. On the positive end, he sent me a replacement steak… but it was even smaller & fattier than the first, and it was still overcooked. Steaks should not be only ¼″ thick if you want to control donenesss, Kai. To be fair, the owner was very polite over the phone, the delivery guy was very nice, and the replacement salad was not wilted. And, I still like their hot & sour soup. But, steak is not cheap, and I was pretty shocked at the apparent lack of experience they displayed in not knowing how to choose cuts and thickness of steaks as well as not knowing how to cook them. This restaurant seems very hit or miss overall, and, sadly, more the latter than the former.

I have had Kai’s Bistro twice now, once through the app Eat 24 and once in the actual restaurant. The owner who was there seemed very friendly and accommodating. Both times were good. The first time I had the chicken wings, house salad, and the honey walnut prawns. The second time I went I had the hot and sour soup, mini house salad, and coconut prawns. While everything was good, I would just leave it at that, nothing mind blowing.

Visited for a friend’s 21^st birthday. In three years living in the U-​District, I don’t think I’ve ever even seen or noticed this place. That being said, the food here was very good.
I tried a variety of dishes, as you can see in the pictures. Every dish was pretty high in quality, though perhaps not high enough to justify the price. But Kai’s does have a wide range of dishes, from pasta, to wings, to steak. And usually having that wide a range can hurt the overall quality of each meal, but it Kai’s case, I don’t think it really did. In addition the service was very friendly and quick. Will definitely come here again one day!

At the best this place is just okay/​good. We came here as a group of 8 on a Friday night and there were quite a few people so it took our food at the least 30−40mins to arrive. Its not super great for groups but if your just with ²⁄₃ other people I would recommend. The mango salad I got was a little drenched in sauce which kind of ruined it a little but it had ripe mango on top to make up for it. I really dig their hot and sour vegetarian soup which had great flavoring and is super hearty and satisfying. Overall, Their food is good, prices are average, service is slow BC there’s only one waiter and like 1 – 2 cooks, and the atmosphere is okay.

This was our first time here, found the place on Unilocal.The drinks were good and super cheap, had top shelf vodka and soda and it was only $ 7, can’t beat that. However, the food was very mediocre. The coconut prawns were frozen and refried. We also ordered the beef udon and beef rice noodles. The flavor was good, but was very very salty. Our waiter/​owner/​bartender offered to remake it, which was very nice of them, but we asked for lemon instead which sorta cut the salt a little. Overall, pricey food for mediocre quality. Recommend just to come here for drinks!!!

I have only been here a couple times but it was always a good experience. They made me good drinks. I have only ever ordered cocktails here, and they were good and the bartenders were nice.

Had a great dinner here 5 years ago. I was happy to find the place again for Valentine’s Day dinner. Everything was perfect. Other happy couples, a friendly, attentive waiter, and the members of the family who owns the place kept popping into the dining room to collect their compliments for the delicious food. This is a great place to bring a date, or pop in with a group of friends. The chili shrimp was the best preparation of shrimp I’ve ever had.

I came here alone and ordered a soup, an appetizer and an entrée. The tomato soup was pretty good, but the other 2 items were only so so. I thought I will give it a 3 star until at the end the check comes. First, they swapped one of the food item I ordered to something 3 usd more expensive (but the 2 items are similar in nature — beef with noodles). I pointed that out and the guy apparently put in the wrong order. But I said it’s okay since I already finished eating it. Yet he never even apologize. Then when the bill comes, I found that they already included a 18% tip in the total, while on the receipt that I was supposed to sign the total amount with tip was labeled «pre-​tip amount». I thought I was being nice to «forgive» the wrong order being put it, yet they forced me to give a 18% tip plus try to get more by labeling that as pre-​tip amount?! I originally planned on giving a 15% tip, and while that 3% is a small difference, their attitude is. How do they think they want to do their business? By assuming I will only come here once and try to get as much $ out from me as possible with swapping my item to a more expensive one and mandate a 18% tip?
Definitely not coming again since there are so many good places to choose from at u district.

Good service, great food, friendly staff. Cozy atmosphere inside too.

Had a good experience grabbing a drink at the bar with a friend. It was *insanely* cheap and our drinks were both pretty good and did the trick. I had a good experience and would rather go here than other places nearby. You should stop by. I can’t speak to the food though.

Meh. Experienced better. Food was mediocre at best. Drinks were ok but not great.

Went here on a Saturday around 4:30 p.m., was completely empty until one guy when we were almost leaving. Interior is burgundy with black trim, pub-​style décor, kinda dingy, badly in need of updating. Bathroom art is very cool, but could be a lot cleaner– the cleanliness is kind of scary.
Pretty good service. Decent food (stuff like panninis, wraps, burgers, melts), not the best but not the worst. My brother asked for no onions, his sandwich still had onions.
My food came out a few minutes before his, which I didn’t care because I was much hungrier, but was strange. I guess it’s better than having cold food.
Happy hour prices seemed great but did not partake.

The folks and I went here on a whim before the Patti Smith show. I liked how quiet and small it was right when we walked in. And that was the only thing I liked. There was one guy acting as host/​server/​expo/​bartender. When we ordered some items on the menu he had no idea what they were even though they were right there on the menu! Also, he seemed very puzzled that someone could be allergic to nuts and didn’t understand that I needed my food to have NO nuts on it. After Dad, good ol’ Dad, explained the gravity of the situation, he seemed to figure it out.
Our order came in the most peculiar timing possible. Perhaps I’m overly critical, being in the business myself, but let me summarize: 3 apps and 3 entrees ordered; 1 app came out; 10 minutes later, another app and 1 entrée; 20 minutes later, the third app came; 10 minutes later, second entrée came; and 5 minutes later, the last app arrived. The whole meal was awkward and drawn out over a VERY long time.
The food was cold, ill prepared and my «veggie panini» was a grilled cheese sandwich with freezer cauliflower, carrots and broccoli half-​cooked inside. The rest of the table was not impressed with their food either.
By the time we were done with our meals, albeit at all different times, the place had filled up to the point where I wanted to jump up and help run food, take orders and run checks. What a nightmare. Also, there was uncomfortably loud, cheesy electro music playing. Felt a bit rapey, really. We had to yell despite sitting at a tiny table close to each other.

The potstickers are from Costco. Go buy some there and heat then up at home, where it’s much cleaner.
I don’t care where you live. It’s cleaner than Kai’s.

I have passed Kai many a time and never wanted to really go in, but had to go yesterday with some coworkers for happy hour. My review could really be just two words: STAY AWAY… for kicks, I’ll elaborate. Here are my issues:
1– The people there do not know how to run a bar/​restaurant. They were rude. Rushed us to close out our bill. Rushed us to order.
2– They don’t write down orders. So, of course after ordering something and he came back 20 seconds later to double check the order, I still got the wrong thing.
3– They whole place is dirty, sketchy, run-​down. Not strange for the ave, but when coupled with poor service… it makes you wonder what’s behind the curtain…
4-​The food that I ate was mediocre at best… everything seems like it was frozen or taken out of a bottle/​can.

Kai’s loses a star because I came in with some friends and the staff ignored us for several minutes until we gave up and left. Fail.

So I’ve lived 2 blocks away from this place for a few years. It always seemed kind of sketchy, especially since it’s a restaurant in the U-​district that is calling itself a bistro. However, after walking around for an hour arguing about where to eat (as is our normal ritual), my fiancé and I decided to just give in and go here.
Upon walking into this restaurant, my first thought was that it looked even smaller and sketchier from the inside. However, there was a very ambitious menu, so I decided to be optimistic.
I started off by ordering a cocktail, and it was really delicious. It was maybe the best cocktail I’ve ever had. Then when we got our check I discovered that it was $ 8. I feel like that would be okay if I was at a happening downtown bar with a great atmosphere, but it was definitely not okay given the actual location.
I ordered the prawn linguine. It was a huge disappointment. The noodles were undercooked. The prawns were way overcooked. There were whole uncooked mushrooms in it. My fiancé ordered the prime rib sandwich, and it was really good. It was basically a really good steak in really good bread with yummy au jus and fries. It was only $ 10, so we both thought that it was an excellent deal considering the good quality.
Considering our experience, I would definitely say that this place is hit or miss. The bartender makes excellent drinks, but they are really overpriced. Some of the food is great, but some of it is really bad. The atmosphere is definitely not up to par if this place wants to be a «bistro». However, it’s in a convenient location if you’re in the U-​district.

I will start by saying that Kai’s is perhaps somewhat hit or miss and it may not be for everyone.
The Good: Kai’s is located on campus and serves liquor — some of the places on campus are just beer and wine. There is a food happy hour menu that basically lasts all night. Several options on this menu are really good. There are only a few people on the staff, so if you are there the night of a good bartender you can count on great friendly service and generous pours. Because the place is small drink come VERY quickly from the bar.
The Not so Good: Hey, remember how I said the place is small? The main bar area is actually tiny. I think it probably seats 20 at most. This isn’t bad if you are going with one other person, but if you have a group you either get the spot for groups or you don’t have a place to sit. Also, I have been with two different bartenders working. One gives great pours and moves quickly. One makes LOUSY drinks and isn’t quite as quick.
My friends and I like Kai’s and it is one of the places we go to regularly. That said, I don’t want to oversell it as perfect. I think friendly service and not being overcrowded are the major draws to Kai’s and it is definitely worth checking out to find out if its for you.

I was surprised when I reread my review for Kai’s.
This place has been my newest place to hang out on the Ave. I guess in my last review the bathroom really grossed me out but now that they cleaned it up this bar is bomb. The tenders and owner here are some of the kindest in the industry.
I love the back room of this place, every now and then you’ll run into a dance party. It’s random and fun, great drinks with amazing people.
My new home away from home.