Benihana - San Diego, CA

Nice Benihana experience for my daughter’s birthday.

got seated quickly, soups and salads were served fast and then they apologized for a time delay with the cooks and served us delicious rolls and tempura on the house. Overall great experience

Daniel our chef was amazing!!!! I loved him so much and want to request him for every visit now. Our server (I forget her name) was also very kind and courteous and came over often to check on us. It was a nice dinner experience and the service was super fast! We were seated within five minutes and we’re able to order our drinks + food within a timely manner. Would recommend! One note is that, you will be sitting by strangers if your party does not fill the whole table. So, no social distancing. Other then that, everything else was great!

Benihana's is our go-to restaurant for special occasions, and this was our 59th wedding anniversary. Staffing seemed a bit light and service abnormally slow, but the food was great as usual and the chef and wait staff were pleasant.

Summer vacation

The food over peppered. Had to ask for water and refills multiple times. The dining area seemed dirty. Not the best Benihana experience. Will not be back

We had 1pm reservations and checked in at 12:45pm. Were told to wait by the lounge area, where we stood till 1:15 when my husband decided to go ask what was happening and was told we’d have to wait an extra 30-45 minutes because they were overbooked.

My 4-year-old and my pregnant self were not going to be able to wait that long. Nor would I expect to, having made reservations. Luckily, things worked out and we didn’t end up waiting that long. But I did find it highly unprofessional to be expected to just stand there and wait. I’m not sure what is happening with their bookings since we frequent this location often and had never had an issue of this sort before but I hope they get their act together so we can again have faith that if we make a reservation, it will not simply be dismissed.

It is always fun to watch them prepare the food. The food is so good and it is a great value for your money.

We had a great time celebrating graduation with a large party. The staff was very accommodating and our chef (Jake) was great. He actually added some new flair to the presentation since the flaming volcano and choo-choo train really don't generate the same response after 20 years! haha

It was surprising to be seated with another party during covid. It was really uncomfortable to be elbow to elbow with someone we didn’t know while there was a pandemic.

Always a great experience. Alfredo was a very nice chef. But we had a 745 reservation which we arrived on time for- we weren’t seated until 810/815. Why have strict reservation times if we’re going to be stuck outside sitting on the curb for 30 minutes? Also we ordered the emperors feast which comes with chicken and we’re given shrimp instead… not what we wanted. Will come back for the fun laughs and show but hope they can improve there reservation system and hopefully get their service to be a bit faster/more accurate.

The server and cook was great and very entertaining. Made us laugh and feel welcome. The only bad thing was, they weren't open on time. And it took a few minutes for is to be let in and seated.

Place was pretty good. There was a little more modernizing that could be done, like bath room, and some of the tables/ but the food was really good and the server was nice.

My son 8th grade promotion

The food was very good. The chef was excellent and cooked all the food how we wanted it. The service was lacking compared to the last time I was there.

Don’t bother making a reservation, difficult to get one and when we got there they offered to seat us after waiting a 1/2 hr and told us we would then have to wait another 1.5 hours for a chef to be available to cook for us. Maybe they will have it together after COVID challenges past. For me I’ve been going to hibachi grills for 40 years but it is not worth the hassle to try this location again.

Benihana should review this locations reservation management to save there very long standing good reputation.

Shortage of staff. We had to wait over an hour. The restaurant has gone downhill. Outdated and dirty.

Upset that we couldn't add 1 more person (a teenager) to our table, when we had the reservations 2 weeks in advance, but son's graduation & he wanted one more friend. We could've split people to another side table b/c 2 we're empty the entire tome we were there. Also, disappointed that I didn't receive/redeem my B-day club discount this yr. Other than that the food was very good.

A great experience for me and my son. It was first time and he enjoyed himself.

The service was very slow. Everything just lacked in timing. Food isn’t as great as it used to be. No way for what you’re paying for!

I let the server know I wanted no onions and had a gluten allergy. The main reason why I chose Benihana. Given onions and food was made with gluten soy sauce. I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt but my stomach was upset the rest of the night

Great time. And chef Shay Marie was an awesome entertainer and cook

As always our food was delicious and service was great.

Great service, food and company at our table.

Service was great, my girlfriend loved it it was her first time, everything was phenomenal with reservation we didn’t have to wait at all I highly recommend

Best place ever ! Great food and drinks. Service was very good

Very friendly staff and great service!

My mushroom soup had a hair in it and my shrimp were not deveined. Repulsive. My husband asked for his steak medium-rare and was served very rare meat. His lobster tail had pieces of shell in the meat. Will make the trip up to Carlsbad if I ever want to give Benihana another chance. Will never visit this location again.

Went for lunch, music was so loud my family couldn’t even carry on a conversation. Our server was great, but our Chef at our hibachi grill was lame compared to the other two we watched cooking for other tables. The food was amazing just like always! However, the Chef makes or brakes the experience. This one was a bust. With all that said, we will definitely be back because the food is so delicious!

2 graduations

Awesome service, food was amazing. Would definitely come back

Been here many times… Always a fun evening and great food. For some reason, after we were seated, we waited almost an hour before the chef even showed up to the table??? The service is not normally that bad, so maybe it was just one of those nights… But since Covid has started re-opening, there’s less customers in the restaurants so it wasn’t that they were too busy? Our chef once he did arrive, I think his name is Fernando, was great! Very entertaining, very funny!

I asked the manager to help me with my birthday coupon and he said there was nothing he could do for me and said I had to call corporate.

I did send an email and I did receive my coupon but after our dinner.

Gabriel

We waited over an hour after our reserved time before they even thought to serve us anything. They were not at all apologetic.

The good was great!

It was so quiet and the cooks had zero energy. They did mot even seem to try to provide an experience. Ours was better than the others we saw, but still left much to be desired.

Graduation

Everything was great!
We celebrated our anniversary and it was perfect!

Birthday club really gets us in there!

Reserving a table was easy, and the staff were great. They seemed to have some scheduling issues that night, but the service they provided made up for it.

Prices up 30%, staff numbers way down, lots of unhappy tables about long waits for service. We actually felt bad for the overworked staff. We'll be back but hope the situation improves.

My family loves Benihanas. Add calories and taste to your meal by upgrading to chicken fried rice. It's the only way to go!