Benihana - San Diego, CA

Benihana - San Diego, CA reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Review summary

1. M

   Mia VIP

   San Diego1 review

   1.0

   Dined today

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

   I waited 2 hours to be served food even with a reservation being placed. Low staff. Management was rude.
   

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2. V

   Valerie

   San Diego2 reviews

   3.0

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   It took an hour after our reservation to be seated
   

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3. R

   Robert

   Salt Lake City1 review

   2.0

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Food was good, but we had a reservation and still had to wait an hour past our reservation time to be seated.
   

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4. D

   Daniel

   Palm Springs1 review

   2.0

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Our chef Izack (sp) was amazing and entertaining. The food was delicious and the service was great. The negative review stems from Benihana double or triple booking reservations. We arrived at 5:40 for a 6:00 pm reservation and we were not seated until 6:50. There were plenty of groups with their own reservations for 6:30 that were not seated when we left. I read several reviews about this exact problem prior to booking but did not heed the advice.
   

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5. A

   Alicia VIP

   San Diego9 reviews

   2.0

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   I had reservations at 5:15pm & all party was there. We had to wait until 5:58 to be seated. They did not have a high chair available and offered a booster with no belt for my 1y and he kept falling off. We requested one but didn’t get one until mid-dinner. They also did not “cook” the food until about another 45 minutes of waiting. Our cook Thomas was great! Made it a better experience. Food was delicious. When wanting to cut a cake it took a minute to have them sing for him but overall my dad had a fun on his 70th bday. That’s all I wanted, my dad to enjoy himself. It was his first time there. I think that people should be made aware of the reservations. Everyone that wants the experience - has reservations. I did ask why we were waiting so long. Mind you I have a 1y. But they mentioned that they do not set a limit once you are seated, so your seating depends on the other tables before you. The hibachi experience is definitely well. Worth it and fun, but be aware. Food is great but not so much the service before that. I did love that they offered an actual free photo for the dinner. IMPORTANT Things they need to work on: The waiting with a reservation should be clearly stated on the website and stated how long when checking in. Vs having to ask the hosts. Since we had to wait 50 minutes, the waiting area should offer more seating, consider outside seating. Service could be more happier. Everyone seemed so annoyed to be there.
   

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6. A

   Angela VIP

   New York City14 reviews

   4.0

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Our dining experience was overall enjoyable, though it started off a bit rocky. Parking was a nightmare, and we ended up being seated 25 minutes after our reservation time. Thankfully, once we were at our table, things turned around. The service was prompt and friendly, and the chef had a great attitude. He put on a fun and engaging show for us. The food was fantastic; high quality, well-seasoned, and cooked just right. My only real disappointment was the sauce selection, they offer a mustard-based sauce instead of the classic yum-yum sauce I was hoping for. Despite a few hiccups, it was a nice experience overall.
   

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7. R

   Rita

   Orange County1 review

   3.0

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   Food was great. Chef Paul was fun. We had reservation at 8pm but were not seated until after 9pm which was the most disappointing part of the night
   

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8. G

   Gina VIP

   San Francisco11 reviews

   1.0

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   We had a 8:00 reservation we did not get seated for 45 minutes after reservation. We did not see our cook until 9:45 it was very disappointing. We were all very tired and hungry. We will never ever die at that location again we talked to several of the servers bartenders and hostess. they said it is awful people complain all the time and they get the brunt of it. They said the owner doesn’t care if you call in and want to party at 30 he’ll take it and everyone has to suffer, including the employees. They are very stressed out not a good way of doing business how selfish of the owner it’s usually a happy time at Benihana‘s. We take pictures. It wasn’t happy at all. People are hungry. People had snarls on their faces. It wasn’t a good experience. I am going to go to the news and have them do a a live interview and see how that place operates for the sake of the public 
   

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9. A

   Alissa

   San Diego1 review

   3.0

   Dined 3 days ago

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

   I’d like to start by saying our chef Izak was so fun and he made us an amazing dinner. It was so fun and the food was delicious. That being said, overall we had a frustrating experience. My group was running late to get there on time. I called ahead to let them know and they said we would only be given a ten minute grace period, which is understandable but I felt rushed trying to get everyone there on time. However once we arrived they said our table wasn’t even ready yet anyways and there were still multiple parties ahead of us. We waited over an hour for our table despite having a reservation and then we waited another 30 minutes at the table for our chef and drinks. I was fine with waiting but that was not cool to rush us there, just to not be ready. It was extra unnecessary stress. Like just say it’s okay to be late, if we’re gonna have to wait that long anyways.
   

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10. L

    Lukas

    Orange County1 review

    3.0

    Dined 3 days ago

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

    My experience at this specific location, on this particular day was was probably my least favorite experiences here. My wife and I love Benihana and we come every once in a while. The only grievance we had as far at the restaurant was it took us an hour after being seated to even see our chef. We understand it was a busy night, but the wait seems led excessive for such a great establishment. Other than that the only other issue that contributed to a long wait was with the family we were seated with. Great people, but when alcohol is involved people can become a little disoriented. That’s all I’ll say about that. So that, paired with a long wait; no good. We will continue to come here, but I’m pretty sure this experience was one for the books, in a way we wish not to experience again, especially for my wife’s birthday dinner.
    

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