Benihana - Dulles

Exceptional birthdays (3) celebration. Included Chef's Table rewards along with family members.
Always a great place for gatherings and special events.

Our reservation was for 7:15, we were seated around 7:30 and our chef didn’t start cooking until 8:35! Very understaffed with chefs and waitresses, there were 3 manager types working the front desk I don’t understand why none of them could step in to take a drink order. Would not recommend this location.

It took way too long to get served. But they gave us a discount because of it.

This is a good restaurant for a very affordable price. The portions are quite generous and it is impossible not to love that food is being cooked in front of you! The staff is kind and the restaurant is accommodating of food allergies. My only complaint is that there is an excess of butter and generous use of salt in the food. That being said, the food itself was well-flavored and everything was quite fresh. I recommend it for a casual place (with a twist) to dine!

Dining experience was very good. Our chef was entertaining and she did a good job. The food was cooked well and to our specifications

We went for my husband's birthday. The food was delicious and everyone was very welcoming and friendly.

The food was very bland. No seasoning on it. I do not out salt on my food after it's cooked. Not big on a lot of salt but some seasoning I necessary to give it flavor.

Kinda has gone down hill. Even though we had reservations, still waited a half hour with no seating. It was very noisy too. The “chef” didn’t make the table feel special or fun either, like they used to. Just cooked our food and did a couple small things. Didn’t get that whole “Japanese” feel either. Prices have gone up too! Not sure we will come back.

The food was mediocre for the price. We enjoyed the chef cooking at the table, but our server did a few things that made me dislike the overall service. First, he asked for everyone's order and then followed up asking if we would like the chicken fried rice. Everyone said of yes without realizing that there was an upcharge for that vs regular rice. Not a big deal, but I think it should have been mentioned. Then when we finished our meal we asked for a box to go and the server also asked if we would like our bill. We had to specifically ask the server for our dessert, which was included as part of the entrees we ordered. Other people at the table were never asked if they wanted the dessert which they had paid for. Again, not a big deal for a small bowl of ice cream, but the overall experience left me dissatisfied with the restaurant and it is unlikely we will be back anytime soon.

They were severely understaffed. The hibachi chef had to keep leaving the table while cooking to get us water. Our cocktails never arrived and the sushi app we ordered came to the table after we had finished our meal. Also, the table next to us was told that they ran out of clean cups, even for soda and water.

very dissapointed with the food and service provided

We understand that it was Valentine's Day and busy but: we waited 40 minutes to be seated after already having a reservation. Our drinks got ordered right away by our server (ordered water and alcoholic drinks) but we never received our drinks we ordered from the bar. Soup came out right away (it was not hot) but salad came out after all of our food was made.
The food that was prepared in front of us was under seasoned and any meat was over cooked. Fried rice that was still white, chewy, over cooked shrimp that didn't have any seasoning on it, and filet mignon that was extremely fatty.
All of our vegetables were only cooked to be partially done.
Our meals came with tea and ice cream at the end but we were never offered it. At that point in the meal we were ready to leave and didn't bother asking.
Not only that, but the typical Benihana experience with the egg flip never happened and the onion volcano was forgot until the very end.
This was so disappointing to us and will never visit this Benihana location again because of this experience.

Didn’t even get to eat there as they could not seat us at our reservation time or an hour after

Food was great but the service is poor. Our waitress did not even check on us no refill water or asking our table if were ok or need something. However the cook shes little shy no interaction but she did good.

Awful awful awful. We went for Valentines Day for a 7:15 reservation. We get seated at 7:40pm, right next to the door and 50 people waiting for a table. So romantic! LOL. Then the waiter comes immediately over and tells us we need to order quick or we are going to wait for a while for food. So we order. While we order he proceeds to burn the menu into the table, leaving a plastic smear that just burned while we waited for food. The smell was terrible. 45 mins later, we hadn’t even gotten a drink or the soup/salad. We just got up a left. We’ve had great experiences here before. Never. Again.

We made a reservation at 7:15pm and were seated at 8:00pm. The waiter took 15 minutes to bring everything and kept asking if we wanted items (e.g., refills, soup, salad, ice cream) that came with the meal. We ate the main course 45 minutes after ordering. The bottom line is management can’t handle a high volume dinner crowd. Additionally, management never came over to communicate potential delays when we were seated or apologize for the delays at the end of the meal. This restaurant can’t handle busy occasions. Positives: The chef was great and the main course he prepared was excellent.

We had a 7:15 reservation. Was seated promptly at 7:15 however, did not receive drinks until 8pm and wine was received without glasses...server stated there were no clean glasses at the time. And it was well over an hour before the chef came to start on our food. There was a table sat after us who checked out before we even got our food. At no point did the manager come over to apologize or check on us. So many things went wrong with this visit, I doubt I will ever go back.

This is a neat way to meet other people and enjoy their company. Though the main contributor to this experience is how receptive others at the table are to open conversations with strangers.

Service was below average, food was disappointing, lacked flavor.

It’s ok. I just feel like there’s no other place for teppanyaki around here and this place is just so expensive and yet the service is always slow and they always miss something. This time they forgot the white rice for the people who didn’t want fried rice. Add to that that it’s always overpriced and I’m just not into it anymore.

Great dinner for Valentine's Day! The chef was very talented (and funny!). The fried rice is truly the best as always. The only downside was our waitress was not very attentive to our table - rarely coming by for refills, etc. (Esp when it was not very busy - there were maybe 4 other tables). However, that being said - was a great dinner and we left stuffed. Wish there was a location closer to Tysons so we didn't have to drive all the way out to Dulles!

We read the reviews and we were hoping that they were wrong so we figured we would give it a shot and see for ourselves. The “show” was very disappointing. Chef just started cooking without the entertainment that you normally get at a Japanese steak house. Food was very bland. Was expecting more for the price we paid. We’ve visited a lot of Japanese steakhouses and this was by far the most expensive and most disappointing of all.

We had a 5:45 reservation but didn’t get to eat until after 7... not sure if it was just an off night, but everything was so slow. Food was yummy as always though!

We showed up for our reservation about 30 minutes early, as we told the hostess that we had reservations for 7:00 she then said ok! Then the manager saw us and said we have a spot right now for you guys so follow me! He sat us down at a table that the other 5 people had already ordered drinks and there dinner! So we felt very rushed we didn’t even order a drink we just ordered water! Looked at the menu for less than a minute before waitress asked us what we wanted for dinner!

I have been to other habachi grills and the food was in abundance but our cook wasnt as ample with the food I had one zucchini strip cut up. Just wish it was a little more food but it tasted okay

We had previously been to Benihana at another location and it was wonderful. This experience was less than desirable. The prices were higher than we had expected and the food was not that good. Within 30 minutes of completing my meal, I was in the restroom with stomach problems.

Everything was great!

Though our cook prepared the food ok, there was no show and no interaction with the guests. The person later noted she does not speak English which I feel hindered any real interaction and understanding of the guests or orders.

Aside from the flaming onion, boring, don’t spend your money even with the -$30 off birthday discount.

Even with reservations you have to wait.
We were celebrating birthday and they didn’t have camera to take picture. Our dinner comes with ice cream and they misses to ask so when we told them they brought us what appears to be half a spoon. Guy dropped my mustard sauce all over my clothing and purse.
Chef always on point, polite and yummy food.

We’ve been going to Benihana’s for 20 years four or five times a year.
Until recently, the food was always predictable and we enjoyed it. The last couple of times the staff are turned over in the quality of the food seem to be suffering.

This time, we were wondering if we would find it worthwhile or if we should start to look out square. I’m delighted to say that the service was excellent and the chef was a younger woman who really knew her stuff and cooked the food to perfection, provided a pleasant little shell in the process and pay close attention to any special requests.

One minor point: The hibiscus iced tea Seemed a bit tart as if the person making the tea forgot to add a little bit of sweetener to it

This was probably the best combination of food and service
That we have experienced. We will certainly be returning based on this visit.

As good as any Benihana. Just overpriced as a chain. Great food that can be matched in quality at a lower price elsewhere.

Was seated promptly, staff was friendly and attentive, food portions were good, food quality was very good.

I noticed that the restaurant was distributing a special menu as I was seated. These menus did not include all of the items on the full menu and the costs listed were more expensive than the prices on the full menu. My service was fairly poor. Drinks were made incorrectly twice. We had to hunt down our server as she was not consistently attentive. The hibachi chef underperformed. She (the chef) gave us no show and instead just cooked the food. The meal was very bland and unseasoned. I had to ask for other sauces to make my meat more edible.

We come here every New Year’s Eve! It was bad last year but thought to give it another try, since our kids love it. The service was the worst it ever been. No waitress came back for refills the whole time, cook didn’t understand anything what so ever. It was bad. Asked for a manger however to no surprise know one came.

Sat too many people at the table. Very uncomfortable dining experience on New Years Eve.

They forgot to make my son’s chicken for dinner. He’s 5 and I no one came to apologize. They comped his nonexistent meal, but we didn’t want a free meal, we wanted a nice family dinner.

Great food and service!!!

Getting in was a bit straining because of the air pressure between the outside/inside doors. Yet, after getting in and since we made reservations, we were sat immediately. Service was great, the waitress catered to our needs and came back often to see if we needed anything else. The chef was good but the food was bland. There must be something wrong with the pipes because I smelled an odor on the way to and while in the restroom. The odor almost made me gag. They must know because I didn’t see anyone seated on that side. Anyway, sit on the left side if you want to eat and keep your food down.

Christmas Eve