Azia & Caterpillar Lounge

10/27/09

Amazing Date Location!

by EtotheG

I enjoy a good sake, and this place has got an amazing selection. Go during happy hour and get a ton of appetizers and a flight of sake, you will be happy you did. Their cranberry cream cheese wontons are out of this world as is all of their other food. We just order one of each on the menu in a large group and pass things around family style. I love the decor and service as well!

• Pros: great ambiance, fantastic food
• Cons: sake was pricey, parking is scarce

10/06/09

Horrible sushi for lunch

by picklewaffler

I went in because I was craving sushi and was in the eat street area. I thought I would try out Azia's sushi bar. When I came in, the server and rest of the staff were chatting very loudly and simply put the way the server interacted with me made me feel very awkward. I ordered hotate, unagi, maguro, ika, green tea, and miso soup. Then I got the food. First of all, the miso soup was RED and the ingredients were so coursely chopped that it was hard to enjoy the soup. I understood that it's a "fusion" miso soup, but really they spoiled a good thing and for $5.50 (who ever heard of miso soup being that expensive?). The sushi took forever to come out and the cuts of fish were generous but the sushi rice was UNDERCOOKED! Absolute DISGRACE! There were bits of hard rice which is horrible in the mouth especially when you are trying to enjoy the delicate flavors of the raw fish. Then the worst part, I got the bill and it was $50! They charged me $6 for a pot of green tea, which is horrendous for just hot water. And the sushi was probably $4-$5 more expensive than any of the other good quality sushi restaurants like Origami, Nami, and Sakura. The worst price was their uni at $11 whereas at Nami it is $6.75. The quality of their fish that day was on par with other restaurants but it is not worth paying double and it is certainly not worth getting undercooked rice. Maybe I came in at the wrong time or day but my experience was absolutely dissatisfying. I'm sure the other "fusion" dishes at this restaurant are fine and the atmosphere is pretty hip but they do not deserve to have a sushi bar.

• Pros: nice atmosphere
• Cons: high price, mediocre service, bad sushi

09/09/09

AZIA CHARGED OVER $2000 ON MY CARD!!!

by BAYSHA5

September 09, 2009 - I HAD THE WORST DINING EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE AT AZIA RESTAURANT! My husband and I celebrated his B-Day at AZIA 2 nights in a row. The first night we were joined by his friends and our family, and everyone had a great time. When we went back the second night, my husband accidentally ordered raw fish for dinner, all of our appetizers, so far that night had been cooked Sushi and our waiter did not inform us that, Sushimi is raw fish. alone. The waiter was snotty and rude and told us we would have to pay for the uneaten fish, than the manager PAOLO MORALES came over to ask me about the problem. I told him that we had been there two nights in a row and we had already spent a considerable amount of money and we were willing to pay for what we had eaten but not the raw fish which hadn't been touched. Unbelievably, I was unable to reason with the manager PAOLO MORALES. He became completely agitated and told me that if didn't pay the entire amount he would call the police on us, SO I decided to call the police first. The POLICE came. 2 SQUAD CARS, 3 OFFICERS. The police sided with us. One of the officers took my card and allowed PAOLO MORALES, TO SWIPE MY CARD, FOR THE AGREED AMOUNT OF $51.11. I noticed PAOLO MORALES quickly wrote something down and I became immediately suspicious. I asked the Officer what he was writing down and he said, probably your name, just as a scare tactic, AZIA HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE YOU TO SMALL CLAIMS COURT, BUT I DOUBT THAT THEY WILL. Unbelievable! Now you think that would be the end of that but my husband and I left and I checked my account about 15 to 20 min. later and my account had been considerably drained. OF COURSE I FREAKED OUT. In the morning I figured out that AZIA had charged my account TWICE! The first initial transaction, in front of MPLS'S FINEST and the second, not swiped, typed in, after we left. THE SECOND TRANSACTION, THE ONE MADE AFTER WE LEFT AZIA WAS FOR $2214.50. You would think TOM PHAM, owner of AZIA would have returned our money immediately and fire manager PAOLO MORALES but he did neither. It took 5 days for AZIA to return the money and TOM PHAM TOLD ME IN THIS ECONOMY I WOULDN'T WANT TO FIRE ANYONE, SO I'M HERE TO TELL EVERYONE, IN THIS ECONOMY DON'T GO TO AZIA, THEY HAVE TERRIBLE POLICIES AND THEY HAVE SHADY PEOPLE WORKING FOR THEM, AND IF YOU DO DECIDE TO GO THERE, DON'T USE YOUR CARD OR YOU MIGHT END UP WITH A DRAINED BANK ACCOUNT.

• Pros: NONE
• Cons: SHADY MANAGEMENT AND OWNER

07/12/09

Rude managment, spoiled sushi

by mrblaq

When we send sushi back because the fish is too old, we don't need a 5 minute lecture on why we're wrong. We're guests and should never be treated as such. Very rude management, never going back.

• Pros: Good drinks, waiter was nice.
• Cons: Managment was adament about us being wrong.

05/20/09

Top 3

by Gunzer

3 of my favorite things, all under 1 roof!

1. The best happy hour in town! It happens twice a day from 3pm-6pm & from 10pm-2am. Although I'm usually at work during the earlier, I make it as often as I can to the late night!

2. My favorite patio for people watching! Sure, Uptown has some great corners and spots - but the patio at Azia makes for an uncomparable experience! Great food, and unbeatable views!

3. Sushi! I love sushi, and the creativity of some of the rolls is second to none! Add on top the freshness of the fish itself & that 2 of the rolls are available during happy hour - and BOOM! We've got a winner!

• Pros: Happy Hour, Patio, Sushi
• Cons: Busy Weekends

05/11/09

A neighbor has some friendly advice

by legalista

First, this is a go-to place for me...and a short walk from home. But a visit last week had me scratching my head: why do I ALWAYS need to ask for the happy hour menu during happy hour, and what is that god-awful reek near the bathrooms? The managers are always pros, but this bit about the HH menu irks me: do you want people to drop $$ when they can or not? Please reconsider your water element near the bathrooms (or work on a filtration system), and give the latter a good bleaching. The rank smell seriously ruined my appetite.

• Pros: atmosphere, location
• Cons: service, cleanliness

03/18/09

Unbelievable

by iamafoodie

I wish I wanted to eat there, but I don't, and I won't.

What is served and the manner in which it is served are unbelievable.

Check it out. There's a good chance you'll be just as unlucky and disappointed as I have been.

Bon appetit

• Pros: Ambience
• Cons: Service and Quality

03/03/09

Four dollar soda water

by CSMobileUser

Seriously I just ordered a soda water. You know? Water with bubbles??? They charged me four dollars for it. At least give me a bottle of perrier or something. Don't pull the gun from the tap and give me a glass of water and charge me four dollars. Outrageous. Never again

01/29/09

The total package

by hage0269

I love the atmosphere, food, service, selection (3 menus to choose from). I always get the BEST wontons in town, they are cranberry and semi-spicy. SO good. I then get a spicy tuna or caterpiller roll, then I get the steak/potatoes and then I go for one of the best desserts in town. Seriously the banana rolls and especially the almond joy are NOT to be missed. Go with a friend and share everything.

12/05/08

go

by grabtrees

this is def a spot to go to and check out if your willing to spend an little extra money. its a little pricey yes, but you dont feel like you wasted money like you do at some other high end restaurants. the atmosphere is nice and relaxed. the servers are very nice and make sure your satisfied. dessert- ooh yess, white and milk chocolate dipped strawberries are to die for! never 1 complaint about this place