Benihana Reviews

This restaurant is a most for people go come to New York.service is super.food plenty .try the punch drink good for up to 3 people

We made a Christmas Eve reservation for Benihana, treating family visiting from overseas. We arrived 10 mins early for our reservation, only to wait more than half an hour to be seated. Front desk was extremely unhelpful and unorganized. Although our guests were understanding that on a day like this service would be suboptimal, the wait time can only signify that they overbooked in order to milk as many unsuspecting diners as possible Truly disappointed on our choice and we definitely never going back again

We had a late afternoon lunch at the bar and although the food was good, the service was ridiculously slow! They would do themselves a great service if the revamped their decoration AND injected a little more energy and smiles into their staff!

Pricey but worth the experience... our host/cook/waiter, Devin has stand-up comedy potential... besides cooking up a good meal, Devin was engaging and entertaining... we were there as a family and all 5 of us enjoyed the experience... very rare to be able to say that when you have a 20yr, 18yr and 16yr old who rarely agree on anything.

I ate at Benniehanna in Manhattan for the 50th time. I am a regular and this is the second time I have had the same terrible experience. My bill was $133 including tax. I gave the chef $20 cash tip because he was great. When the waiter brought the bill the recommend %18 tip was $23. I gave the waiter $20 cash as well as $20 cash for the cook who really does all the work. The waiter had the nerve the come back and try to shame me in front of everyone that I shorted him his $3 of his 18% tip. I got very upset and asked for the manager. The managers name is Jose. He found it amusing that I had an issue with the waiter over the tip. I explained that in reality I gave a $40 tip on a $133 bill that included tax. I gave $20 to the chef and $20 to the waiter. I was told that the money I gave to the chef didn't count and that I was obligated to give the waiter atleast %18. I made a scene and argued that I didn't have to give anyone nothing if I didn't want to. The biggest problem that I have is that the manager found it amusing that that the waiter tried to shame me into giving more tip. This is unacceptable. I have a tip to whom earned it. The check did all the work and he was happy for his $20 cash. The waiter who only brought us a water tried to shame me publicly because I only gave him $20. This is unreal. If management doesn't see anything wrong than how can you blame the server? The food is great but they ruin it with the tip shakedown at the end of the meal. This is the second this has happened at the same restaurant and I had the same conversation with the same manager named Jose both time and each time it was a joke to him. I love benihana and go in Miami and many locations within the USA but at their Manhattan location it's a bit weird. You are obligated to give 18% tip or they try to shame you in front of others. Don't visit this location out or Principal.

I know this place since 1990 …. It’s 2023 and it’s a dump with photos of Who’s Who of Hollywood flashing in the background from late 80’s and early 90’s … only thing you can gloat and pride yourself in?!?! We arrived with 2 more couples - 2 of us, party of 3 and 4 … after being escorted to poorly ventilated hibachi room and being seated, party of 7 in total got up and left. We asked to be re-seated downstairs . When we wanted to order ramen - which is in the online menu - sorry it’s only for take away I was told. Well we want it and here - no, only for take away. If you want a circus that prides itself in its one time glory … go ahead. Awful!!!

I really wanted to visit this Benihana but got hugely dissappionted. Chef was completely dull, clearly did not want to be at work, did only care to speak to his friend on the floor instead of his guest. Very rude. And then they charge you 18% tip, no choice! Don’t go there, so not worth it. Chefs at Benihana London are much more engaged and interested.

Had an OK dinner here. Steaks were ok. Sushi was good. Crab mix is funky, they add mayo to it. Chef was entertaining.

Food was outstanding, chef awesome and service awful. We waited 30 minutes for most of the drinks but one drink took an hour. We were three around the hibachi with a family of four next to us, they gave up and left. When the food came the chef was awesome and the food great.

Threw our son a birthday party here. The service is terrible but at least it's the same as the food. Our table wasn't ready, they lost the cake. And a waiter yelled at us that "find your server I'm not it!" Avoid! So sad used to be awesome

Food fresh but nothing special. Waitress very nice. The food preparation was missing the spark that made this place famous.

I'd been to Benihana years ago and although I'd been told it's dated, it's still a fun place to go. The chef entertained us with his knife actions and cooked us an lovely meal. It was very busy and we were lucky to share a table with a lovely family. We all enjoyed ourselves and were not rushed. The place had a good atmosphere

Booked online as strictly requested After a 25 minute delay They tell us 5 minute wait After 50 minutes they tell us another 15 minutes We left Among other things, it seems like a technique because others were grumbling; book so in the meantime fill the place... Better that way because the smell alone almost made me throw away my clothes in the morning Impregnating!

My friends and I had made reservations for dinner tonight at 930 and we had to wait 30 minutes to be seated. Finally we got seated. A group of us were seated and they asked us for drinks and the chef took our order. At about 1015 we got our soup and salad. We waited and waited but the chef did not come back. My friends and i decided to leave at 1050. I feel bad for the other people at our table as they decided to stick around. They closed the Benihana in Seattle and i was looking forward to the great service here. I will not go back again and waste my time. Poor Service.

I have been there now for several times when I’ve been to NY. The good thing is that the food is good, but: the service is very poor, very chaotic. The waiters are very ignorant and even though we had still drinks they cleared the table and prepared it for the next guests. Mandatory tip of 20% included on the bill .. which was not justified at all. The cook was also not very friendly. I have experienced better dinners. We had the sushi as a starter which is definitely not to recommend so is not the shrimps rice which consisted of 3 shrimps in total and was quite expensive.

I made the HUGE mistake of bringing clients here recently at someone in our party's request. Our reservation was at 5:30PM.. 7:45- STILL NOT SEATED. No estimate of when we would be seated. All other places in the area were booked given the dinner time and holiday season. Finally a little after 8PM we were seated at a very tight table, it took about 30 minutes just to get our drinks. A woman came around just to ask about food allergies so we told her of a peanut allergy in our party, yet she still didn't pass that onto the chef.. All of the food was laden in butter and salt. Forget about trying to get another round of drinks because she was MIA the rest of the night. The entire place looked like pure chaos. I would NEVER return, what a mistake!

We had a reservation for 10. Arrived there at 9. While we waited we saw that other consumers were being sitted while we waited. At 10h30 we talked to the staff who was rude and didn’t care. Then we left, The nice part was that we didn’t pay for the drinks we ordered while we waited.

The Hibachi Chef was fantastic!! The service was very good. The sake was verrrry good. I had an overall very good experience.

The chef was the best part about the experience. He was friendly, entertaining and did his best to get some fun going at our very overcrowded table. His tricks were skilful and entertaining to watch but the food itself was just average. Nothing specific to complain of other than it definitely wasn't worth the price we paid for the evening. Perhaps less crowded tables with fewer individual meals for the chef to focus on preparing is the answer to improving the quality of the experience.

A horrible experience. Avoid, and do not believe any reviews. Trashiness next level, common simple Asian food , overpriced for no reason . The 'tricks' are ok if your age is less than 6. Looks like it's common for people with very low standard of hygiene to attend this place as a way to celebrate their kid's birthdays . Multiple screaming babies, and multiples screaming parents. A McDonald where you are forced to sit with people you'd never want to speak with.

This is a kind of mass-produced but very well run hibachi place. Multiple grills on two floors, bookings necessary and honoured, if you arrive early you get a beeper to let you know when the table is ready, and then there is a whole production-line of drinks, soup, salad and then the cooked meal all done in an entertaining way, with good ingredients and great display. The poor chefs must get tired doing grill after grill after grill, but they do a great job.

Plenty food and oh so good! Service was a little slow but our chef was great! They sang Happy Birthday to a friend and gave her ice cream with a candle. Nice touch. If ever in NYC again I will definitely eat at Benihana’s!

Rocky Aoki must be rolling over in his grave. What the hell happened to Benihana? I've been eating there since I was 4 years old, been 300+ times, knew Rocky personally and have watched the spiraling deterioration of quality, portions and service, lame uninspired chefs/tricks with an escalation of cost and rudeness. I mean every few months the plates and portions get smaller and smaller...Haven;t been bean sprouts in years....even the salad is pathetically paltrey. BUYER BEWARE: My mother purchased a "Be A Chef" experience for a very significant birthday milestone to cook for a 8 on my special day. I had done this 4 years ago and had a blast -so she thought this would be fun once again......I will preface this with my practice chef, who assisted my dinner performance was outstanding.I can not say the same for the Benihana managers. When I called to make the dinner reservation they told me "Be a Chef" is only Monday-Thursday before 4PM. I was WTF? No where was that information on the website or the gift card I received in the mail. Who the hell is making it to a full dinner on weekday afternoon - I firmly said I am sorry, but I did this four years ago at night and I am doing again at night. Absurd, but there's more..... Showtime...They kept my entire party waiting downstairs for 20 minutes while the Manager informed me of more "new policy" rules. I was not aware the meal was pre-sent to be steak and shrimp, but was fine with that and said some people don't eat met and may want chicken or salmon - please bill me for anything not included with the Be A Chef deal. Manager refused -said we can;t do that...I was FLABBERGASTED. I could not fathom how this was such a big deal and how inflexible and nasty the manager was to me. Still keeping my party downstairs instead of having them seated ordering drinks. Slightly embarrassing for me. Finally, since I was not backing down he reluctantly granted me my "bizarre" request to purchase additional food. Forget the fact he also told me I just do a few tricks and then go to my seat like a good little boy...I stopped him and said, I am cooking from start to finish! I had trained to do that a few days earlier and had done it last night I was 'Be The Chef." The chef and I had a great time and cooked together to the end - thankfully the manager stayed away. Just when I thought all the B.S. was over and there would be no more stress to trying to ruin my special night -but, I was WRONG. Another 20+ minute "discussion with my guests waiting and wondering what is going on,. We were presented with an additional bill of $540 - on top of the $410 my mother had paid - I needed an explanation. The kicker of the night - that nasty manger told me - that there is a $800 minimum for the "Be A Chef." I said EXCUSE ME? Where was that information -not on the website or anywhere. I said if there was a minimum then wouldn't the package/card cost $800 to start with. I said that was a load of crap The website states $200 for 3+chef, then add $50 for each additional person The manager said that when I made the reservation the person told me that on the phone and it was in the notes? I called B.S...... AGAIN! I calmly stated that IF I had heard that at any time -I would have gone ballistic - demanded a refund and told you to take a flying leap. They were clearly lying right to my face!!!! I said we will pay for the extra food ordered; sushi an order of salmon, drinks and tax/tip. Some people don't eat steak and had chicken -the manager told me the chicken is cheaper than the meat. I told him they could be a wash -don't worry about the price difference in my favor - I could care less. I was not going to be taken advantage of and was really annoyed being jerked around all night - the managers adjusted the bill to what was appropriate. The Chef experience was a disaster and filled with stress and embarrassment - NEVER EVER AGAIN. I warn everyone not to purchase the 'Be A Chef" expeience - at least not at the NYC location. Benihana has gone to the pitts -find another teppanyaki restaurant -you'll thank me after.

The look, smell and atmosphere is nice. The food was terrible! Burned salty and oily. Nice show of the cook, but...

We are Manhattan natives, we are a traditional family of three, our child is nine years old, and we are just as acquainted with child-friendly establishments as we are with places where the bill for the three of us is well over $200, as it was here. We are far from being gourmet but neither are we gourmands, and we value good food and food that we do not make at home. While splurging sometimes, we admire value. None of these elements were found in this restaurant. The food you are eating—and remember you see all the raw ingredients in front of you on the griddle (although they called it a grill or hibachi at different times, but it is a griddle) are high-quality. You are eating the meat that is at the same level that you would get in a package from Trader Joe’s or what I imagine is on the lower end of what Sysco offers restaurants. Remember, you see all the raw ingredients as the chef takes it out of his cart and slaps it on the griddle, and it is clear that the grain, or fat pattern, on the steaks is minimal or absent. My filet mignon was chewy and none too tasty; my wife’s so-called New York strip steak was half an inch thin or less with no visible grain at all and not at all tender. It is cut into small bits to facilitate the chewing and for show naturally. Kids tend to get chicken, and you really can’t go wrong with that (and make sure you specify a child’s portion which is about $15 less). But the salad is iceberg lettuce and the corn tastes canned or frozen, and the zucchini (the only vegetables you get) thickly julienned and requiring the heavy spice they put on it. The sauce that they call “Yum Yum” and recommend for the steak is none other than Russian dressing—mayonnaise and ketchup. The chef’s talent and agility with flashing, clanging knives is variable. Ours, God bless him, made a minimal effort and looked weary of the whole thing. We went for my wife’s birthday and walked away a little demoralized. You might say it is what is, but it ain’t for us.

We enjoyed watching the chef cooking at our table. He had a few tricks, such as the onion volcano and flipping the shrimp tails into his hat, which the kids enjoyed. The food was tasty and they were able to meet the dietary requirements of the table. It was an expensive meal (and as another reviewer said they added extra for the fried rice, without telling us), but portions were large and tasty. Overall an enjoyable experience.

You have got to be kidding! This is such a low brow place...45 mins late to seat us...pushing us out as we were chewing our last bite....please. Benihana is soooo done...I will NOT return and neither should you. Table check was 380usd and I feel totally ripped off. Good night...never again!

Benihana just isn't the Benihana that once was. The food show seems old and tired and not as exciting. The place is crowded and slightly disorganized. We had a reservation, but waited more than a half hour after it, and even then, we were only shown to our table after we asked if they had forgotten about us. The service was somewhat slow; one item we ordered never showed - and a glass of chardonnay arrived about 12 minutes after all the other beverages did for our party.

I was there two weeks ago, I felt so good, very good food and my server Saul was so nice and friendly, five star for him.

Came here for my husband's birthday dinner. We had a reservation at 7:30pm for 10 people and were not seated until 8:30pm (our whole party was there on time). The restaurant did not even apologize--let alone offer us a free drink or dessert, which I think would be warranted after an hour-long wait with a reservation. While I was standing at the host's desk trying to get us seated, I actually saw people paying off the manager at the front... maybe that's why we had to wait so long?

We picked this restaurant for dinner because it was just a couple blocks from our hotel and we wanted to get back early to get some sleep. Plus we love hibachi. This ended up being a terrible choice. We made our reservation on time, but did not get seated right away because they wait until they have a full group for the hibachi. While I can understand that, there is no reason that you can’t seat someone and allow them to at least order drinks or appetizers, while waiting for other people to arrive. We got seated not too long after our reservation time when other people arrived. Then we ordered drinks and were looking at the menu when they brought out the soup and salad for the hibachi meal. Nobody had even ordered food yet. So the timing was way off. Everyone ordered their food and finished their soup and salad before the chef ever even came out to the hibachi. We all were literally sitting there with nothing in front of us just waiting. This is my first time at a Benihana, but I have been to several other hibachi restaurants. There does seem to be a certain skill in the timing of cooking things. Typically the vegetables are put down first, then rice, then meat. The goal is to allow things to cook and be able to take them off and serve guests so that they will have their meal served one item at a time but be able to eat everything together. Here I don’t know if it is just a Benihana thing, if it was just this location, or if it was the chef. But he cooked the vegetables, took them off the grill and served them to everyone. Then he started cooking the rice, finished it, took it off the grill and served it to everyone. Then he put the meat down to cook. I don’t know about everyone else, but I want to eat my vegetables, rice, and meat altogether. So, by the time the meat was finished, I just had cold rice and vegetables sitting there. And yet, somehow, the chicken was so overcooked and dry that it was barely edible. The steak was good. I shared a couple of photos that I took just for fun. You can clearly see on the grill that the vegetables are on by themselves, and those are gone when the rice is cooking. The rice is cooking alone with nothing else. So again, that means people are getting food that will be cold by the time their entrées are eventually ready. All told, from the time we sat down at the table until we were served the meat, it had been about an hour and 20 minutes. That really is too long. Also, by that point, the restaurant was about to close and they were rushing us to finish eating so that we could pay and they could close up. One of the other guests at our table, not in our party, asked for another drink when he was served his meal and was told the bar had already closed and they could not get him anymore drinks. We had not been told the bar was closing, nor there was any sort of last call to give anyone an opportunity to order another drink to have with their meal. So really, this was just a pretty terrible experience. We travel to New York City a lot, and are always looking for new restaurants because the food in New York is so amazing. I am quite disappointed that we wasted a meal on this place. The food wasn’t great, the experience wasn’t fun , the chef seemed too tired to even try to be entertaining. And it took so long that we still didn’t get back to our hotel until very late, despite trying to make it an earlier night. Would definitely not go back here. The food wasn’t even good enough to be worth the cost.

So our final lunch in NYC was here. Shame to see that all offers are only midweek and nothing on weekends! We decided to give it a try and we all had different meals. My girls had the lobster and prawns whilst I had the steak and prawns. For me the mixed vegetables consisted of courgettes and onions, yeah that’s all! The fried rice was nice but again we have had much much better elsewhere. My real issue is that the dishes lack flavour. The chef uses salt, pepper and garlic butter with the rice & vegetables but for me the meats & fish lack real flavour. Service is good and restaurant was busy. The three of us paid $200 and that’s without alcohol. For the same money, in my humble opinion, you can eat much better teppanyaki.

This place is a poor excuse for Japanese food. They had the abominable nerve to charge more than $6.00 per person for the fried rice and the rice wasn't even thoroughly cooked! The prices for all of the entrees are exorbitant

I Want to start off by saying that i usually have a great experience at other Benihana i have been to in previous years. I was hoping for a great experience on my daughters birthday and it turned out to be a horrible expensive experience. First our reservation was for 515pm and we were seated more then an hour late at 620.We were bought to our table right smack in the entrance of restaurant. So apparently these two tables were added to utilize more space. While you were eating everyone is staring at you. So our waiter started off friendly and attentive until the chef came over to cook and they got into an argument right in front of all guest. I believe the manager went outside picked out a homeless guy and gave him a job on the spot to cook food. Our cook was definitely not a chef and an armature to say the least. So our fastfood cook by the name of Sahad had no idea what he was doing. Our fast food cook did not say a word didn't do any tricks and his portions were wrong. He served us undercooked chicken and our shrimps were raw. There was a family that were vegetarians and they specifically told our fast food amature cook not to use same knife he used on meats to prepare their food ha ha ha he didn't care or forgot because he did use same knife they were livid. My wife was so pissed she asked for manager which in a nutshell looked at her bowed twice and gave her a stare like get out of my way. I blame the manager more then our cook because he hired this cook with no training. We honestly would have had a better meal at a corner food truck.

We came for lunch and everything looked pretty correct. We did not wait for long, the waiter came pretty quickly, the service was friendly and the food was tasty. But the overall experience gave us no human touch, that kind of something that makes a difference. If you are ok with that - perfect place. If you are looking for something extra that makes your day or makes your evening there are probably other places.

I'm typically not inclined to try communal dining but we were there for a birthday dinner so I was willing to try. It was myself and 4 kids. These are older teens and a 5 yr old. Our experience was bad because it was so loud in the room they sat us in. I was right below the speaker. We had to leave before even ordering drinks because I could not even think. I became very anxious as I couldn't even walk the kids through the menu due to the music being so loud. The menu wasn't easy to understand either.

Let me start. We looked at the menu of this place in the lobby and noted we could eat for a certain starting point. When we where seated promptly we came at 3:30pm so the is an off time but the first thing I noticed when we got up to the top floor was it was very hot already and they hadn't even fired up the grill yet. We where right by the kitchen and every time the door opened you could smell garbage or rotting food, you know the NYC back alley summer smell. I went to the ladies room to take off a few layers and there was no clean stall in fact it appears some one got sick on one pot and the other had feces on the seat, which was weird because I had to wait for a cleaner to come out to get in. When I got back I looked at my menu and was horrified none of the reasonably priced dinner options where offered only about 7-8 of their highest priced meals starting at $34 We almost left by hubby was starving. First came soup, it tasted like canned soup with crunchy onions and tough dirty scallions in it. The person to the right of me took one taste and put it up. The next was a pale colored salad not fresh at all with a bitter dressing that tasted like garlic and something very sour. Next came a slice of Zucchini (yes a slice) then a bunch of fried onions. Um what happened to real veggies. No mushrooms like usual or anything just plain fried onions. Very weird. Shrimp app was shrimp with poop lines still in it and when he took them off the tray the tray had dirty black residue from them on it. Then fried rice. This is where I lost it. I know about proper food sanitation because I worked for a very popular cooking show. First of all I wasn't asked if I wanted white or fried rice but was served and charged for it but I didn't eat it and neither did my neighbor to my right as she noticed too that the cook used the same spatula to flip the raw chicken with then used it to finish cooking the rice. My neighbor ate none of her meal and said she was going to take it all home to recook it. Okay the sauces where also very very salty and bitter. The steak was filet was tasty however I will give them that. The waiter came and asked if we wanted dessert in a (you probably don't want dessert away )but everyone declined until the waiter asked the table next to us as we where getting our checks and they asked if it was included and it was!! Then we all wanted ice cream because we where already paying for it. Never again. I have been to Benihana's around the world never had a food quality problem.

We booked a table for eight well in advance and arrived at the exact time of our booking. When we enquired at the Front Desk we were told the table would be 15 minutes or so. After half an hour we were told it would be a while longer. On enquiring what is the point of booking, I was greeted by an ignorant staff member shaking his head at me. Fortunately, another staff member took control and availed me with a load of reasons why the table wasn't ready. Once seated, the whole experience is like a production line. No real effort by anybody and started clearing before we were all finished ready for the next load of paying customers. Really nothing special and I would recommend that you don't waste your time or money.

We arrived 10min early for our reservation and was told the table would be ready in a couple of minutes. After waiting for over an hour we were finally seated. The food was tasteless and the chef neither funny nor very skillful. Our attentive waiter, always there with more drinks when needed, was the only bright spot of the evening. The place was filled with families, which I guess is their target audience. However, I would not like to wait for more than an hour with my hungry kids.

Unfortunately it was disappointing. We love this place- we frequently visit whilst in London, however this branch is not up to the usual standard. They were an hour late, table was booked at 8:00 and we didn’t get seated until 9:00. Usually not a problem if there is a nice bar- but there was one poor man serving about 40 people so a drink alone took 40 minutes to be served. When we were eventually seated our table had little atmosphere (more to do with the miserable people we were seated with) and the food distinctly average which cost us a small fortune. Sad to write to this review as we are usually such fans.

I've have had teppanyaki in various places, and do quite enjoy the spectacle of it, and often the food is good. It's a bit like a bbq - it's not fine dining, but it's what you fancy. LO had never experienced, so popped in. She very much enjoyed the spectacle of it, and the food wasn't bad at all - certainly not as bad as the stock jokes ;-) Service was a little...random. Considering the tip culture in the US, always surprised by how poor the service is that you generally get. For that reason, wouldn't go back here, but would certainly try and find a better quality one next time we're in town.

Over crowded. Slow service 8pm reservations and at 10 we r yet to be served our drinks. Maybe an off location is better but don’t waste ur time in new York. They can’t handle it and don’t see why they take more bookings than they can handle. A flea market handles clients better ! Totally disappointed !

I have been in that restaurant around 40 times for the past 4 years. With family, friends and my wife. Used to be one of my fav restaurants of NYC. But for the las 3 times we went the quality of the food was so bad, similar as the service... rude, unprofessional and without the proper training. Plus now they are doing some reforms downstairs, so you have no other option than eating on the first floor where the process is different and more expensive. I wish Benihana could get back to the quality they had one or two years ago. It’s not a bad review, it’s just a heads up to make you improve.

Fist an admission, most of this is my fault. My extended family visited NYC right after Christmas. Given we had 11 people, reservations were a must. Benihana’s doesn’t take that large a reservation over OpenTable so I called and asked for a reservation For 11 people at 5:30. The call didn’t go smoothly and I should have called back the next day to confirm the correctness but I just didn’t. My 11 FOR 5:30 has become 11 at 4:00 pm. My wife was early and arrived at 5:00 and they didn’t mention that we were already an hour late. When I arrived at 5:30, the error was discussed. We were told that we’d need to break up because the tables would hold only 10. I told them I had specifically asked that question and was told that they could fit 11 as we had two kids in high chairs. After about 20 minutes we were told that they only had one table for 10 but they would accommodate 11. It was right behind to hostess station and she said the table would be ready in 20 minutes. I looked and they hadn’t even started cooking. I asked how they would be done in 20 minutes and they assured me that people are done 20 minutes after they start. Hmmmm not in any Benihana’s I’ve ever been to. Somehow 30 minutes later another table for 10’opened up and we were seated. Given a large group and a misunderstood reservation, getting out in 3 hours was actually a good outcome. But not my ideal dining experience. I thank them for not turning us away, but don’t like blatant lying during the process.

I have returned to this restaurant after 15 years and always find it a good experience. The chef, dedicated to you, who prepares excellent food for you live on a hot plate is an inimitable spectacle. The trio of meats and the teriyaki steak were excellent... we spent $300 between the 7 of us including the tip... not a lot for NY. Recommended for a special evening

I took my family of eight here for a pre-show dinner in mid-December. The restaurant was very crowded. We had our own table, waiter, and chef, in a private area of the restaurant, which was nice, except it was also near the coat room and bathrooms so there were people coming and going. Though we had a reservation for 5:00 PM, we waited about 10 minutes for the table, not terribly inconvenient. It seemed like they were sending everyone to the bar, but what do I do with my six children? I have been to other Benihanas about six times before so I know the routine. Your dining experience will depend on the skills of the chef. Our chef was slightly better than average so we felt lucky. He did a few interesting things (made the flaming volcano; flipped shrimp tails into his hat) but passed over some of the more difficult tricks that I've seen live and online. The scallops were wonderful but the Hibachi chicken was rather flavorless (butter and a few shakes of a salt spice are simply not enough to make chicken interesting). But you really don't come to Benihana's for the tasty food or ground-breaking recipes but for the show and on that they delivered well. We skipped the dessert, which did not look too interesting.

Even though we'd made a reservation, we had to wait for 45 minutes for our table. However the wait paid off due the fact the service and food were excellent and we could celebrate our friend's birthday just the way we'd planned.

Very reasonable! It's just fame! The exhaust fans don't seem to work, because we left there stinking of food that I had to bag my clothes to put in my suitcase. Normal food, nothing spectacular. And the service was pretty average too! The guys who make the food are very discouraged, I've been to other teppanyakis that put on a show!!

I took my kids for the first time to Benihanas. They loved it. I didn't. When our waiter came and asked if there was any food allergies, I said that there was a vegetarian in the group, his response was "I asked if there was any allergies that people would be sick or die from". Bit harsh! We ordered appetizers and and main courses and the chef came to the table. The chef was great. One our appetizers came towards the end fo the meal and one of them didn't come at all(though we were charged, which we only realized after we left). At the end of the meal, the waiter came over to the table and asked my husband in front of two full tables how much he was going to leave him as a tip?????? Was he trying to shame us into a tip? Not cool, we live in NYC and alway leave at 20%.

Our first time in Benihana, and we witnessed the receptionist yell at the people ahead of us to go up and find a seat upstairs. When it was our turn, he also said the same and yelled. It was around 12 noon and we were the second group to arrive and it looked like he already had a long day. No manners at all. Our server though was very attentive and friendly. We enjoyed the chef who cooked our hibachi and we the food was delicious too.

Family loved it! Great service, good tastes and fun "show" by the chef. I had the tuna and loved it.

Terrible entrance service/waiting area. Disappointing. But the food made up for it. Excellent. But all courses too quickly after each other. In short: excellent food, but too much focus on the system insteAd of the customer. Could and should be improved, to bring the product in line with the price!!!

Worst customer service ever. Don’t expect to be seated on time. Waited over an hour, despite being 10 minutes early. Kept being told we had a table but no effort to seat us. Lounge area became over crowded with everyone waiting for their table. People began to leave. Nothing spectacular about the food service either. If I could give them a negative (below zero) rating, I would. Save your time, money and effort. Dine elsewhere. You’ll be disappointed.

We were seated at 7:30 when we had a 6 pm reservation. The lobby was total chaos, as everyone else was complaining for the same reason. I learned from the staff that this happens every weekend. The overbooking is intentional and completely disrespectful of customers. The staff is frustrated by having to deal with so many angry customers whose reservations are not being honored. Many people give up and leave. If you stick it out and are eventually seated, the food is good, although they use MSG liberally!

My team at work organized a dinner at this location for a big group at a hibachi table. After giving the coordinator, Kasey, $500 to hold our reservation via their official reservation form, we arrived to the restaurant to find out that they never placed the reservation for us at all. What's worse, when I followed up with the restaurant to find out what had happened (and if that $500 deposit was safe), they failed to respond to us, and still have not answered my emails asking to speak to any employee at all who could explain what had happened. Gross, cowardly, disappointing way of conducting business. Do not trust this team to do the bare minimum for you, and absolutely do not trust them with a reservation deposit.

We have come to this restaurant many times. The food expertly prepared in front of us is always excellent. Unfortunately the service is not up to par. The waiter was super fast, almost throwing the plates at us, he served the water splashing everywhere. All four of us ordered fried rice with vegetables. We only had 3. We asked and the cook didn't want to know anything. In fact the 4th course went to the guest next door who was careful not to say anything. And the icing on the cake was that we paid for this fourth dish of rice. Unfortunately we saw it too late. So be careful.

I went to my first Benihana in Ft Lauderdale when I was a kid. Now it was my time to take my daughters. They loved the show and cooks made their time worthwhile. Make a reservation and you will only be seated when all your party is at place. Food is great and service is second to none. Just be prepared to get home smelling like a grill

We had a reservation for 9.45pm for 11 people. We had to wait until 10.30 to be seated. When I called the day before to book, I have been told we would get a table for us only as we were 11. My surprise is that 3 other people were at our table, and only 8 seats for us. Somehow I have been told my reservation was only for 8... I had to discuss for another 10 minutes in order to get my table for 11. We were 11 (1 kid of 2 years old, 3 of 5 years, our grandma of 80years old, for the birthday of our mother of 60). For the bill, I need to check my account in the following days as I had to pay three times (1st has been cancelled from what I have been told. 2nd without tip. 3rd for tip). If there is a problem with that, i will write another message here. Not happy at all with this service. Waiting time is not acceptable and (not all) some people working there are careless. Not a good experience for a birthday, or for anything else. But they are busy. I guess that gives a reason to not change anything guys !

This place doesn’t even deserve 1 star. I would give them a 0. Visited on 8th December 2023. First of all, my boyfriend and I reserved a table for 2 at 8pm. After walking around the restaurant, we noticed we got cramped onto a teppenyaki table with 10 people while every other table had 8 people. Second of all, we ordered Spicy Chicken Gyoza but after biting into them we noticed that they weren’t spicy and questioned whether they were pork gyozas instead. Our server was nowhere to be seen so we couldn’t even ask him and gave the restaurant the benefit of the doubt, assuming they’re still chicken gyozas AT LEAST but without the spice. We also know our waiter didn’t mishear us because he repeated our order to us to make sure it was right. Upon receiving our bill, we saw Pork Gyoza on the receipt and confronted our waiter Saul about it. We kindly waited for the rest of the table to leave before settling the bill and we could tell he knew we were not happy. He then proceeded to lie to our faces and tried to reassure us that we were given chicken gyozas by saying there would have been green jalapeños (we did not see any). This was extremely disgusting to find out as my boyfriend is Muslim and doesn’t eat pork and I find this to be extremely disrespectful. We would have liked to received an honest apology but instead we were dismissed without any compensation. ALL of our food was lukewarm, the sushi was not fresh and the fish was rubbery. The waiter said he’d come back with soy sauce for our sushi - he never did. We ordered an entree to share, which he also got wrong - ordered the Benihana Special but instead we received Splash ‘N Meadow. It was supposed to come with rice and we asked for it but we never got it until the end of our meal. The meat barely had any seasoning and our medium steak was served to us well done. The next time we saw our waiter he had come to collect everybody’s payment. The entree was also supposed to come with hot green tea and dessert, which we never received and at this point we just wanted to leave so we didn’t even bother chasing it up. And to top it all off, I got diarrhoea for the night as soon as we got back to our hotel. Not impressed at all. Absolutely nothing about this experience was enjoyable and not worth paying $154 for. Only reputable for entertainment. Save your time and money for a restaurant that actually serves good food and provides decent service.

We thought this place would be great for an evening out with friends..... what a mistake. We had reservations for 6 at 730 pm. Arrived on time ONLY to find out that the table wasn't ready that in fact we had another 45 minute wait. After having walked from grand central station to 56st we weren't offered any where to wait while a Table became available. Finally after 55 minutes a table became available. When asked about accommodations had we been late arriving for our 730 reservation we were told that if we had been late then we would've had a 2 hour penalty which is not a fair policy. Come on benihanna you could do much better.

Hibatchi is all about the 'show', which means it's all about the Chef. We had the Best Chef! Ramon was a blast. Friendly, funny, engaging and a great cook. We were 8 adults (which is a full table), plus a toddler (who went from one end to the other), and an infant. We had a wonderful time. And, Benihana's menu is on the Weight Watchers app, so we even stayed within our points. Note, there is an elevator to the second floor.

This place was cute decades ago but has now become a travesty and a disgrace. We brought two young children here for the experience of watching a hibachi chef do fancy knife work. The disorganized hostesses refused to seat us in an almost entirely (and deservedly) empty dining room with a 7-year-old in tow because our full party hadn't yet arrived. This is a disgrace for a restaurant that caters to children. The hibachi chef was genial and skilled with his utensils, and the kids did like that. The food was simply awful: canned tasteless soup, dull salad, "colossal" shrimp that were not, and an assortment of cardboard meats that tasted identical. Some traditions ought to be put to rest, and this is unfortunately one of them. Expensive and awful.

My husband and I took our children out for our son’s 6th birthday dinner on 6/22. The dinner reservation was at 5:15, but we were seated over 30 mins later. By the time we sat down, we noticed another group seated right next to us (no social distancing). The waitress was brusque and impatient with us when we asked questions (our first time). We ordered steak, shrimp and vegetable hibachi dishes. My husband noticed his cocktail drink tasted off (gave him stomach upset). When we paid the bill, the waitress gave herself 20% tip, even though we felt this should have been at our discretion. She then claimed the charge did not go through, even though my husband could see an alert for the charge on his Apple Watch. My husband protested when he was asked for his card again, but we couldn’t leave without “paying” the bill (even when we showed proof we were already charged). She stated that was canceled and swiped our card again. That night, both my son and husband were up with stomach upsets (think it was the steak hibachi, which both of them ate). Just now, we discovered we were charged twice for one meal. We tried calling the restaurant several times tonight, but no one is picking up the phone. Beware, and go to other fine dining establishments for more enjoyable experience! We won’t go back to Benihana again after our disappointing experience.

I expect the food to be good, but has a reservation 7:30, it’s now 8:30 and we are still waiting for our table. Never agin

My boyfriend fancied Teppanyaki and so after a trip advisor search we booked a table on Open Table and visited Benihana. We arrived early, but were swiftly shown to our table - sharing the grill with 3 other dining couples. We went for the steak option and ordered a couple of IPAs and the chef arrived shortly after our orders and having eaten our soup and salad starters which were both tasty. We then had courgette, prawns (shrimps) and onions cooked on the grill in front of us with flair and then chicken fried rice and steak and mushrooms with flavoured dips. We were in and out within an hour and including tip spent c$80 and got a lovely free photo of the two of us. Service was swift and friendly and the chef - Milton was very entertaining with a few tricks at the grill. A good fun meal with good quality food.

Terrible. Rocky would be upset. Bad service. Bad cooking, no showmanship, no personality, bad waitress, insanely over priced for dead skeleton of what was a great NYC experience.

Decades ago was my favorite Japanese restaurant, specially with my children. Nowadays is totally different full of indifferent employees and Mexican cooks that create a totally unpredictable meal.

You always get great food at this place.... And DINNER IS THE SHOW!!! These guys always go out of their way to make sure everyone has a good time....

We had a date night here. We went to the spa in the area first and decided to dine. We both enjoy hibachi. It was great. We enjoyed the food and drinks. Service was great. The ambiance was fun and we enjoyed the company of the other guests at our table. It was overall a great night.

For those who are passionate about Teriyaki or want to try it while visiting NY, I recommend this place which is undoubtedly touristy but of good quality and with a reasonable price. If you have teenagers or children in tow, the show offered by the chefs during dinner is one more reason to stop by

Booked for a specific time. Manager waltzed by and told the lady - « tables are for regulars not these... » finally seated down, onion soup came with flavour enhancers, salad looked like it could not be revived again, the salad sauce was unbalanced and tasted like that inside of a Big Mac, it’s now 45 Minutes into our dinner and the teppaniyaki hasn’t even started... the seating arrangements are not well planned either. The teppaniyaki show was performed cell block tango style. It was like watching a burger flipping reality show straight from your nearest penitentiary. Fried rice came laced with Japanese speciality - peanut butter. The lobster tail was tasty, steak and shrimps came out well in the end. Bill came with an automatic tip added. See, I had an expensive bottle of wine, and their service was the same. Sad, very sad.

Let me start by clearing up one major thing: Benihana Times Square is not in Times Square. It’s far closer to Central Park than the chaos of neon lights, which is either a happy accident or a subtle survival tactic. Either way, expect to walk if you mistakenly just type in Benihana and end up at Ra Sushi. Back to the train. We made a reservation after a full day of New York wandering... this was a Workcation dinner with the kids, and hibachi always feels like a crowd-pleaser. Fire, jokes, shrimp tossed into mouths... you know the drill. We even splurged on the Wagyu experience, because why not? It was vacation-meets-business-meets-we-deserve-it energy. And, I promised Vinny we'd have Wagyu in NYC... because, obviously. The Experience? Let’s just say… it wasn’t giving Wagyu. To start, the server missed half our order, which is kind of impressive when you're literally shouting it in a semi-circle, the crowd of bros at the table we faced wasn't even there yet... but shout out for teaching my kids Sake Bombs, we now do Shirley Temple Bombs and people are either impressed or horrified. We think it's funny. We waited over 25 minutes before realizing only 3 of the 7 of us were getting fried rice despite "adding it" and that’s basically a felony in a hibachi house. My kids were hangry. I was dehydrated. The chef seemed disinterested. And our steak? It was fine. But for the price point... this is not where you get an elevated Wagyu moment. I didn't expect it to be Per Se, but I did expect it to be a notch better than it was. This is where you go for onion volcanoes and that’s about it, I suppose. Benihana comes with the promise of nostalgia and theatricality... but this location could use a little love. It felt tired, corporate, dull and lifeless. The energy was off. The magic spark that usually hits when the chef flips a shrimp into his hat? Absent. That said, the space was cleanish for the turnover, the bathrooms were ok (a win when you’re with five kids who go no fewer than 3 times during a meal), and our table neighbors were lovely... especially the Sake Bombs and Shirley Bombs. That was the highlight of the night, bottoms up everyone! Final Thoughts? Would I go back? Not to this location. Benihana can be great... We’ve had magical meals at other spots (Anaheim, Newport Beach, Denver, Orlando)... But if you’re in NYC and looking for something fun and flavorful with your family… this one’s skippable. Maybe check out Ellen's Stardust for a "show" with your meal. Unless of course you’re doing a scavenger hunt for all Benihana locations. In which case, congrats. One more down. Also... Double-check the address before deciding which subway, don’t splurge on the Wagyu here, and set your expectations firmly at meh... with fire.

Only families with kids go to Benihana's anymore. The show is still the same after all these years but that is the good thing. The quality of the food is OK. This particular location is not helped by the low ceiling on the mezzanine, and therefore the whole place is filled with the smells from the stove tops. Obviously it's loud as well.

I have been here few times, whenever I have a business trip to NYC, if I am in Midtown, I try to have my dinner in Benihana Manhattan 56th Street. Restaurant has about 20 Hibachi tables upstairs, that the chefs come and cook your order in front of the guests, trying to make some chef attractions as in traditional Benihana style. Place has a seperate sushi bar at the ground floor, they also serve the "Lunch Boat", Hibatchi food and tempura, a value meal but not cooked on your table.

The food is still good, Gideon and Octavio made the difference. Having met the founder Rocky Aoki a few times in his prime, he would agree, this location needs a front of house person to oversee it. Flat sodas and broken frozen blenders (so no frozen cocktails) and long waits for tables rubs the wow factor right off. The dining room used to have a nice decorative Asian vibe, like Cherry Hill, Las Vegas or London,plants, celebrity photos, but these walls are completely bare. The food was good, the service was good, I will go back, as I have for decades, when I'm in town, but this location needs to be dialed in.

I reserved a table online and received a confirmation, when I arrived they confirmed my reservation and told me that I had ti wait a few minutes the set up of the table. After 10 minutes wait I asked how long I had to wait for my table and they answered: 40 MINUTES!!!! I told them that I booked a table and received a confirmation so they had to find a place... no way! I left the restaurant and went in another restaurant. Bad management Made me upset!

We had to wait 50 minutes before seated even though we had a reservation. No discount was offered. Simply not good enough and the waiting area seemed chaotic with too many guests waiting. The food was good though- but unfortunately we’re not coming back.

This particular Benihana is completely disorganized and inefficient. We visited yesterday to celebrate my sister's birthday, and Benihana spoiled it! Began with the host, I don't know her name but she's African American with black straight hair; she was SO RUDE and doesn't know how to smile and be polite. Why is she the host if she's so rude? First, she tried to shame us for being 15mins late then made us wait for 20mins, then again shamed us cuz SHE mispronounced our name and we CLEARLY couldn't understand when she called us. We reached at 7:30 PM and after 9:10 PM the chef began. SO MUCH WAITING (and imagine the audacity of the host to shame us for being 15mins late.) The waiter was the worst of the experience. His name is Corey, and we sat at Table 6-2. He'll be sure to remember that he first gave us a DIRTY LIPSTICK MARKED GLASS. Clearly, they either don't wash glasses, or Corey was just racist or lazy and got us a used glass on purpose. He took ages to take our orders and was lazy again to execute them efficiently. He kept ignoring us throughout and had to be reminded to serve our salads, then again for the Japanese hot green tea and ice cream. Why doesn't he know what's included in our meals? I had to refer to our menu to remind him of all the things. And what Benihana doesn't serve Hot green tea? Corey claims they didn't have any..and I'm pretty sure he lied. We saw it being served at another table but Corey didn't want to serve it to us. I was tired of him ABANDONING AND IGNORING us, so I went to the reception table and asked the host for help. She had short blond hair with face piercings and was comparatively nicer. Corey didn't care that we were celebrating and didn't even light the candle to celebrate my sister's birthday. Upon that he made our experience horrible! SERVICE is the main issue here. We were so PISSED that we walked away in the end, unfortunately after useless waiting for so long. Apart from the negative incidences, Romeo, our chef, was nice. The quality of meat and food overall could've been better. Food's supposed to be standardized, yet it wasn't as good as the Beni Delight we've had in other countries. Benihana in OTHER COUNTRIES is BETTER. It's not worth visiting this Benihana, and certainly not for celebrating an occasion. We're DISAPPOINTED and upset that they spoiled our celebration.

Basically awful. Very ordinary food served in the ambiance of a bus garage. Very cramped uncomfortable seating (you will be seated with strangers!) Noise level so high impossible to talk with your party. Even the entertainment of the cooking has been abbreviated and is very lackluster. All that at very high prices. Not a good place for celebration or even a pleasant dinner.

We had a wonderful time with friends. Hibachi tables were full. Unfortunately, these tables are too close to each other. In terms of show: you can find better in the NYC' boroughs. Food was hit and miss. Scallops were so so. When steak was delicious.

One of the most exciting food experience in NYC. The chef was funny and very professional. The food was amazing and the drinks were quite great too!

I went to this location with some friends visiting NYC for the first time. I have been to different locations on the East Coast and this one has a small dining area. All the tables are very close to each others, unless you are sitting in a private room, and it's not very comfortables to seat if you have backpacks or shopping bags. The chef seemed tired and the Hibachi show was shorter than the ones in other locations. I ordered the Hibachi Supreme that is my favorite meat cut. It's a 8.5 ounces Chateaubriand, the finest tenderloin and one lobster tail. It's amazing all the time, the meat is so soft, buttery and tasty. Overall the food quality is very good and consistent like the other locations. A little bit too pricey but it's NYC, what you can do.

We had dinner for 3. Food was great as always. The bill was $220. We gave the chef $20 tip and $20 for the waiter. The problem began when the waiter was not happy with his $20. The waiter insisted that we give him 18%. We explained to him that indeed we gave 18%. Half for him and half for the chef. He didn't want to hear it and made a scene in front if the other customers. The waiters name is Tashi in case management is reading this review. At this point I was so angry to have the waiter pleading with me for additional tip money that I went looking for the manager. I found a manager named Jose who was less than helpful. I explained to him what happened. He told me that he would check with the chef to see if I indeed have him $20. I was shocked. I am not obligated to give 18%. I can't believe that the manager didn't see anything wrong with the waiter shaking me down for additional tip money. His only concern was to see if I did really give the chef $20. I have never experienced such unprofessional behavior in a resturaunt before. Of course this behavior will continue if the manager doesn't see anything wrong with it.

We liked the food, the atmosphere is welcoming and the cook at the table good and nice. If you go out to a restaurant in Times Square for a bit more money, you get a lot more than the average local.

We let the server know we would be sharing a meal and willing to pay the extra $8 to share. We ordered steak and shrimp, when we got the bill they charged us for two separate meals and when we complained they said we ordered a steak meal and a separate shrimp meal when the menu clearly reflects steak and shrimp as one dish. We also ordered a rum punch for two and they charged us $52 for that drink, unbelievable! The meal should have been around $60 and instead we were charged $160.

We’ve eaten here year after year, and with the exception of replacing the waiting area with two hibachi tables, the decor hasn’t really changed. Our waiter was not very service-oriented. Most questions were single-worded (drinks?, finished?, etc). For clarity, he spoke English; he just opted to use few words. One interesting twist on this (and perhaps all) Benihanas is the Fried Rice upsell. The dinners include Steamed Rice, but the waiter will first ask you “Fried Rice?” and then “Chicken, Shrimp or Beef?”. At no time was it clear that these would cost you extra (chicken was 4.60, shrimp was 5.60). Of course, you then don’t get the steamed rice. I looked through the menu to find a clear note about this option, and failed to find it. The waiter was not presenting this as a chargeable choice but rather as “which would you like”. Every single one of us (we were 4 different groups) ordered the fried rice with the protein choice, and we were all surprised by the extra charge. The chef (Ramon) did a fine job of cooking and entertaining us.

Always look forward to getting to Benihana as we have never had a bad meal yet. We reserved several months in advance and so glad we did as the place was over filled. The food was excellent and the show was very good. The problem is with this branch is it is to crammed in and we had no space. This also made it difficult to hear our very good chef which is all part of the experience. The lack of space doesn't help when it is so cold and everyone has extra layers. Understand space is expensive in NYC but at these prices a few inches more would not harm.

I have to preface this review by saying my wife and I eat hibachi regularly. It is one of our favorite things to eat. I have never been to a Benihana, and I have always thought it was supposed to be the best for the hibachi experience, and being New York City, we assumed it would go above and beyond. We visited this location on a Friday evening close to opening. There was no wait, and we were seated right away. Unfortunately, this was the only good part of this experience. The cook was not terrible, but it was very low energy, bland, and underwhelming. The food was not seasoned well, and the cut of the filet was very low quality. The rice portion was small, and there was a $7.00 upcharge for fried rice instead of steamed rice. It was an additional $7.00 to add soy sauce to steamed rice. I've never been to a hibachi restaurant that didn't serve fried rice with the entree, and I've been to a lot of Hibachi restaurants in many different cities and states. The service was lackluster and very limited, while the gratuity was around $20. The bill was $120 for two people with no sushi or alcoholic drinks. We don't drink. I literally can eat at my local Japanese Steakhouse for a family of 6 for that price. Let me make it abundantly clear. Though I said several things about the price, the price is not the reason for my review. I believe that the price should match the quality of the food and service. I have no problem with paying a fair price for a good experience. This was not the case, and unfortunately, this was the worst hibachi experience I've ever had.

It was fun and funny I had a great time. And the server was great and so was the service it was over all a very good experience for me and my friends it was because of harsuki the chef he doesn’t get paid enough for what he does. He is the best chef there is and should get a raise best chef in the world.

Much worse than a few years ago. The waitresses are not very smiling. Ours didn't understand anything about our order, we ended up with sushi, we wanted meat, in short it wasn't great. And the show doesn't last long, whereas a few years ago the cook was much better. At 130 euros for 3 no I won't go back. It looks like a ghost restaurant, there's no one there anymore.

As expected, there was a wait. The restaurant in under renovation, and there weren't many places to sit/stand comfortably to wait out of the cold. The food was of the quality we expect from Benihana, and the service was decent. Our server was attentive and refilled water as needed. Our chef was not terribly personable when compared with other Benihana restaurants we've visited. Even though we were in NYC, I thought the prices were reasonable.

I'm sorry to say this, but this was the worst Benihana experience I've ever had. Granted, it wasn't completely trashed or anything, I had just known what to expect from this restaurant because I've been to numerous locations before, including this one. What made it really bad for me was that this was my girlfriend's first time and to have it be so weak really let me down... such is life. Let's continue. For the record, this review is for THIS BENIHANA in New York City. This does not represent them all. I won't even write this review in my standard format like I normally do, that's how disappointed I am. I came here to use my birthday coupon, which is good for up to $30.00 off your total bill, but only if you buy another entree... Sunday through Thursday. That's plenty fair. Entrees range from getting one meat along with miso soup, a shrimp appetizer, ginger salad, steamed white rice, vegetables and mushrooms at around $25.00 on up to $40.00+ when getting high class or multiple proteins. You can also option up to fried rice for a few dollars more per bowl. It sounds like a lot of food and typically the ENTIRE TABLE is getting takeout boxes because we can't eat it all. Not this time. The portions seemed so reduced. Is it because it's New York City? Shouldn't be. I'd rather get the same amount of food and pay more money than be shafted with my portions while paying the same as other locations. The food was absolutely delicious, don't get me wrong. I enjoyed every bite, just really used to seeing more of it. I also remember a thing called Yum-Yum sauce. For some reason this location didn't have it. Did Benihana get sued for the name and recipe or something? Because I certainly missed that sauce. They also weren't very flexible. Let me explain. I wanted to opt out of rice and get more vegetables... to reduce the carbs, like you can do at basically every other restaurant ever, right? For some reason that was a problem here for our chef... Rupak. So I got shafted. No rice, same amount of vegetables and disappointed. Rupak also didn't want to be there. He was boring... lacked energy, enthusiasm and a thing called a smile. I know this is his job, but c'mon man, don't make it seem like a straight routine. Interact, do something... IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY. What made it worse was that the chef directly behind him cooking for another table was FULL OF LIFE and certainly making his table happy. Our waitress Pamela was cool, though, both my girl and I needed to ask her for water refills. In conclusion I this wasn't the best dinner experience for me. I appreciate all the effort put in by the business and those who work there, but I will not be coming back, even with a birthday coupon. It just isn't worth it. I also hope that more first-timers aren't turned off of the chain completely by this one restaurant. There are better ones out there, just go to those instead. Thank you for reading.

Very good but expensive because you have to give the tips to the chef and the waitress on arrival, it adds up to a lot of money and so maybe there is better

Our big group where placed on 2 huge tables. Chefs come to cook teppan style. More of a show than the food. Chicken and shrimps. Vegetables . Ice cream. Not fascinated. Average meal.

Quit small room but big portions food- the chefs are ok - standard gags - cool Japanese lemonade and traditional beer

Our first time at Benihana so wasn’t sure what we had to do. The staff were friendly and the food was delicious! If you want somewhere different to eat you need to try this out. We started with a soup, then salad, and then the chef came to the table and started cooking. Very entertaining you get to watch there show of cooking whilst eating. The chefs make it a fun experience

You need to make a reservation before. I stayed at a table for 8 people. At the center, a chef cooks everything according to our order in a very fast, funny and nice way to see in front of our eyes. The portions are big, so you probably won't leave the place feeling hungry. The chef uses oil in most of the meals, so be aware that your clothes will be smelling it when you finish your meal. I liked it and I'd come back for sure.

We met at the restaurant. There were two floors of eating areas. Chef made a volcano from onions. It was great! We had shrimp, chicken, steak salad, soup n edamame. Was delicious! Service was excellent!

Most of the cooks that prepare the food in front of you are not Japanese and the quality and flavor are mediocre. Used to be one of the best unexpensive well prepared Japanese restaurants and in the last few years is the opposite. The manager refused to allow the cook to cook our filet mignons without adding salt and pepper, so we decided to leave and pay only for the drinks and wonton soups. Never again.

What to say ? We had a table booked at 7:15 and arrived with delay of 5 min due to bad weather conditions. Once arrived, the receptionist ask us to wait a moment at the bar. However, after waiting 1 hour we decided to go to the receptionist and ask what's going on with our table. He apologizes and tell us that he will personally come in few minutes to bring us to our table. Of course, nothing happened so we decided to leave the restaurant after waiting patiently at the bar for 1:30. The worst thing is that the receptionist totally looked down on us which is totally unacceptable for a restaurant. Of course, if you like wasting your time it is definitely the place to go otherwise there is tons of better restaurants in NYC. As a Swiss Guy I am used to quality and places where the customer satisfaction is a priority which is definitely not the case in Benihana Restaurant. Regards,

We flew to Manhattan and had to return to the most entertaining restuarant where we had eaten 1 year before. The food is ordered and cook in front of you by your assigned chef. Lots of fun watching and delicious food! Love Benihanas and Manhattan❤.

Benihana is still Benihana — I've been coming here since I was 7 years old. For me its a nostalgic experience that delivers a fun dinner and a bit of a show — but it’s definitely not what it used to be. The food and performance are about the same, but the overall quality is definitely not what it uses to be. The biggest change, though, is the price. Everything seems to have gone up at least 40–50% compared to a few years ago, while the portions have decreased. Still, it’s a fun spot — just go in knowing its not what it used to be.

Benihana is always dependable, but the last time I went we got Ramon cooking for our table: great chef, but with nonstop stream of consciousness, jokes, narration. The guy is great. Every Benihana chef should be this much fun. We had a great time.

Had short wait despite reservations but it was worth it!! The chef was fun and brilliant. The food was awesome!! Must do again.

Worst experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant. I’ve never written a review but it was so horrible I needed to share my opinion. First off, I had a 7:30 reservation, got there at 7pm so expected to have to wait. Got seated for hibachi at 8:30pm didn’t even start eating until after 9pm! My family was starving and exhausted by the time we started our meal. The hibachi chef was straight up weird! No interaction, no entertainment, nothing.. most boring hibachi show of my life. I brought my kids to hibachi in NYC to be entertained! The cocktails we’re so weak and overpriced. The food was mediocre at best, luckily my family had no allergies because the other people eating across the hibachi table had their allergies ignored. Shrimp was no even deveined.. gross. Filet was decent though. However my daughter got nauseous after the food. The four of us hated every minute of it. Only positive was our server was very nice and he tried to accommodate us as best as possible.

Time has not been kind to Benihana chain, especially the one in NYC. Many decades ago, it used to be a nice place to go for good food with slight entertainment by the chefs. Nowadays, it has turned into a mess hall, with a loud crowd and overworked chefs and waiters. Food quality has also gone down badly. Waiting an hour and a half before your food starts to be cooked is ridiculous. Overall, it may be my last time visiting the NYC location. I must say their Orlando location was much better in every sense.

It would be a fun experience if you are into a performance...however be prepared to starve. Food portion is good, considering the fact that they serve you A LOT of fried rice. Used my birthday coupon here, therefore very happy about the price. Overall it's still worth trying out!

We went because the kids love hibachi style restaurants. Our expectations were appropriate, but bland food and atmosphere added with inattentive service made for a poor experience. Go elsewhere.

So we went to Benihana for sushi. We made a reservation for 9.45 and we were given our table an hour later. We didn't know how it work very well, so when we were finally seated we order our sushi but we were told that in order to sit upstairs we needed to order a hot dish, so we did, we ordered a fried rice. 10 minutes later a manager or whatever came to tell us we had to leave that place an go downstairs to the sushi bar, which was empty the whole time and by the time we were sited upstairs we could have been at home already. Once downstairs already very disappointed, our so to speak order arrives. Nothing brought matched our order, not only that but everything brought had cucumber and I'm allergic to it!! So after we spoke to everybody in the place we needed to order again because ours was lost. And one of the managers, the only one who took responsibility for it, ended up preparing our sushi herself because nobody owned up. I will definitely never ever go back there. I absolutely don't recommend it!

My sons 15th Birthday and months previously we reserved for 12 people but were Told we couldn’t get a table of 12 unless we signed a contract for over $1200! We asked to be sat together or next to each other. On arrival, place was a dive, busy and not too notch like other Benihanas I’ve been to. They didn’t even sit out r party in the same room Let alone never to each other! Staff were rude, poor chef looked like he had been working for a week without a break and the server was happy! However, we paid for ice cream and green tea as part of Our meal and didn’t receive it. We remembered after we paid and gave an $75 dollar tip and they said the best they could do is give us ice cream to take home! Wouldn’t come here again. Benihana, This is one restaurant that needs to be addressed!

Stephan our waiter was superb! He really was so extra polite and professional. The food was all good and there are plenty of vegan options. We had edamame, seaweed salad, tofu steak, rice, noodles, vegan sushi rolls and more. For the non vegans the salmon was also a good option. The restaurant was too cold for our liking as the air conditioning was maxed out above the area on the ground floor where we sat next to the windows. There was also a problem with my tofu dish as well as prawns served with them (even though i specifically asked for a vegan dish) however this was sorted out by Stephan. The meal was $188 in total for five of us without dessert or alcohol but we all left full.

I have been in many Benihana all around US. This is by far the worst one. Food is good but service here at this location is the worst. Arrogant manager and waiters, im still waiting for my sushi rolls after 1.5 hrs that i ordered and still nothing. Please dont come to this place unless you want to be treated like a piece of sh.... and the worst is the manager (his name is Seb). He should be fired for his lack of ownership and respect to customers. Shame on all of you. Worst service ever.

Fun first time experience with son and grandkids. Wait staff and chef were wonderful. Semi private room. Felt very safe. Expensive but ok considering chef show. Kid’s menu. Only downside is that you get asked if you want white rice or chef to make fried rice. Several of us chose fried rice which was delicious, however, you get charged extra cost of almost $6 per fried rice portion without being told. It was yummy but should have been informed. Our group of 5 chose some spicy dishes and sushi and one kid’s shrimp. All the food was delicious.

This was my first experience of a benihana restaurant, I was not sure what to expect but it was a great lunch and i enjoyed the show that the chef put on for us. I will definitely be returning and I would be recommending to others.

We popped into this Japanese restaurant unsure of how much we needed to eat owing to a huge breakfast earlier on. There was something on the menu to suit all appetites. A couple of us had a light sushi lunch, and a couple went for the full Hibachi experience. Our personal chef, Daniel, was incredibly skilled, entertaining and quick at making our orders, whilst also flipping eggs, making onion volcanoes and being kind and attentive. If you want a good show and yummy food, order the chicken hibachi rice!

Really well-kept location in the center of Manhattan, attentive table service but the undisputed owner and the chef who prepares the food in front. Honest account for food and place

This place was really good and perfect in prices, Food was really fresh and good sushi, perfect location. Considering NY prices generally which is overrated to compare generally to quality this restaurant was really perfect.. I read some reviews here but it looks they have significantly improved

Being reserved about expressing an unsolicited opinion…especially when that opinion is negative, I felt the dining public should know about the very dissatisfying experience my family had at this establishment. From the moment you present yourself, you enter a “speed over perfection” process. Our reservation meant nothing. We were put in a queue, which is not ideal for a 3 generation family dinner. We were whisked through the drink and dinner order cycles and moved swiftly into the cooking phase. Chef and food were first class. Shortly after being served her main dish, my Mother was presented with a bowl of ice cream? What are you doing with that? Great way to spoil the complex and enjoyable flavors of our meal. I don’t know if our table staff were able to break the record for pushing out a party of 8, but I think we could win silver or bronze. Best option for this establishment? Order it for take-out and spare yourself the deep disappointment. Rob

This location of Benihana has a mouse or mice running around. I over heard that a server placed his hand on someone's food

Shambles - lots of people waiting for their table’s an hour plus past their reservations and very obviously being fobbed off by the front of house staff (actually saw them laughing after one customer enquired on timing!!). We didn’t hang about!! The kids said they thought the food would be good, but that they didn’t know how to run a business 🤣🤣🤣

Who doesn't love Benihana? Went for a birthday dinner. Did a sharing cocktail (they are enormous as well as delicious!). Service was ok (not overly attentive on the drinks front) but the food was great, cooked right in front of us with the usual fun and flair. Definitely recommend but a bit more attention from the waiting staff (and not just when the bill is due) wouldn't go amiss, apart from that, all good

The wait was ridiculous, the service was poor and the person who ordered the most expensive meal had to "run for the border" about a half and hour after her last bite. This was not a good experience for our group of 6. We were joined by 2 other guests and they were great company as we waited nearly 25 minutes to be seated (note we had an reservations). We waited another 40 minutes for the chef to arrive at our table. As we waited I asked how long before the chef arrived because we had tickets to a show after dinner. We kept being told he would arrive in a minute. Meanwhile, as we waited, the waiters took orders but were slow in delivering water, soup and salad. There were only 2 of us at the station who could eat with chopsticks so 6 people asked for forks. Let's just say the salads were withered before the forks arrived. SMH. The chef arrived after the 40 + minute wait and was nice but by this time we were over the experience and weren't really impressed. Regarding the food, one person ordered a noodle dish with salmon and it was way too salty. I am a salt fein so for me to agree and think it was salty says a lot. I had the chicken as did another person in my group. Too me it was kind of too tough but the other person liked theirs. The sauces were very good. I liked the chicken rice, veggies and shrimp even though the chicken rice was $5 extra. Towards the end of the meal, before our green tea and dessert arrived, the waiter brought the bill. We had to remind them about the green tea and dessert. What was nice is that they celebrated the 3 birthdays at our table and took a group picture for us. Each person celebrating their birthday got a pic to take home. The night ended with the waiter dropping the 8 green teas before serving us. This was not a good experience.

We had a family dinner here and it was fun! Food was good and service was decent. They did all the habachi tricks. It was a good time.

I love this place even though it's become a bit of a tourist hotspot. It's just a classic hibachi experience with solid food.

After visiting the Benihana in London, we were excited about trying out one of the NY restaurants, but unfortunately we were not very impressed. When we got to the restaurant, we saw a lot of children all over (it was a Saturday at 7.30 PM). We were 4 people and knew that we had to share the table, and that was OK. When we finally got the table, we got a table between 2 filled up with kids, and the tables very close to the other. And of course we also got 2 small kids on our table, too. We wanted to have a bottle of white wine to start with, and I ordered one (mid range price), and the waiter answered that he rather recommended another wine with same grapes. That wine was much more expensive, and we didn't want that. Then he said that they didn't have the first one ..... He could have said that at once. The same happened with the red wine, but he then came back and hade spoken with the manager and offered the more expensive wine for the same price as the one we had ordered. The chef and the food was great, and that of course is most important. That's why I give it a 3. It was maybe better than average, but it was not very good. They should take out a few tables to have more room for the guests, the waiters and the chefs. It was extremely crowded and hard to pass the other tables. They should also do something with the acoustics in the restaurant. All though we sat very close, we had to almost shout to each other. I look forward to visiting the Benihana in London again, but I will probably not visit this one again.

Went to Benihana to relive a family experience at the now closed Benihana Toronto. The routine is the same, but the old school charm of the Toronto experience was not the same. They need umbrellas in the Shirley Temples! Service a little off. Good value for NY though.

Since the very first time I went to a Benihana (when I was only 10, in Hawaii) going to any Benihana sends me great memories, the way the cook cooks, the wonderful taste of the shrimp (what I always order), the fried rice, yummie!!! Watching the food being made is a show in itself! My favorite restaurant anywhere in the world!

We came to eat and got both exquisite food and a live show! Beyond the rich menu of seafood and fine meats, we watched a funny and enjoyable performance, which concluded with amazing dishes served at the hibachi table. The service is very courteous, and the chefs preparing the food in front of you were professional, precise, and very impressive. A unique and amazing dining experience. Highly recommended. Reserve in advance.

Terrible. Unbelievable. Still in disbelief. I ordered dinner for my family of 6 spent over one hundred and seventy dollars to get food that looks like left overs. I wouldn’t order from here again.

Try to make a reservation at 7pm. it should be fine. It's a nice show for kids and teenagers. Teppanyaki food is very good, teir meat really tender. I've been there many time, you can spend 1 1/2h relax with your familly. But try to be more organize with your reservation.

Should you want to waste your time in NY, then your choice may be Benihana. Make a reservation in this restaurant means nothing, even if you are waiting at the bar for more than 2h!!! We finally decided not to give them the option to change our minds and we got out of there... Will never be back!

Since Benihana in Indonesia is closed for good, we always try to go to oher Benihana when we’re abroad. Love the chef who cooked in front of us and always entertaining not only for kids but for adults as well. Great food as always..

Great-tasting, good-portion food that a chef expertly cooks in front of you while performing cool tricks. Nice interior design. Waiting times to be set at a table are occasionally long but should be quick if reserved.

OMG this place is very popular and noisy but a lot of tasty food. The show that chef Romeo provided was excellent. Glad we went.

We came as a party of 12 on 18th December and had two tables of 6. We arrived 30 mins early and were seated ahead of time, really helpful staff. Servers were very attentive and friendly and drinks came out quickly. Chef came out, clearly skilled and put on a show for us whilst making food that was delicious. Can’t fault the experience. Really enjoyed it, probably the best service we’ve had so far in NYC. Made for a great evening and I’d really recommend.

The promoted club informs guests that "Certificates will be sent out on Wednesdays. If your birthday falls on a Wednesday, you will receive it that same day. However, if your birthday falls on a Thurs.-Tues – you will receive it on the Wednesday before your birthday." Problem is...they didn't send out on the Wednesday before which required an email to their customer-no-service department who then sends it days afterwards with the same expiration date. Certificates are good only M-Thursday and they conveniently sent on a Friday. So much for participating on my Thursday birthday and they were unwilling to provide extra days to use the certificate. So I give up my email and you fail to uphold what you post on your website. Did not get to attend and made other arrangements for a 'birthday dinner'.

My coworkers and I reserved three seats here for an after work hang out. The chef was very friendly and talented. The food was super tasty. The only critique I had is that the room they put us in was too hot. It was hard to enjoy my food because it was so hot.

We were enthousiastic to go to behihana in NYC after a very good experience with Benihana in Honolulu. So we made a reservation for 20:30. We arrived at 20:20 and went to the receptionist who told us the table was almost ready. We waited till after 21h. The receptionist was at that time not able anymore to give us an estimate when the table should be available for us. We decided to leave, since we did not want to wait much longer. Receptionists were careless and cleary not able to handle customers and reservations in a busy restaurant. We skipped other plans because we wanted to eat at benihana during our NYC trip, which unfortunately turned out to be a waste of our time. What is the use of making a reservation when benihana doesn’t do anything with it? I would not recommand anybody to visit this benihana restaurant.

We had dinner with the family at Benihana in New York and unfortunately disappointed overall. The atmosphere was very loud and hectic – a relaxed meal was hard to think of. The announced live cooking was rather unkind: The chef put the food on the plate without special care, and the show Benihana is actually known for was hardly there. Taste-wise, the food was fine, but by no means outstanding – especially not at these horrendous prices. Overall, we found the Price quality ratio significantly too expensive. Too bad we expected much more.

We celebrated a birthday here - the restaurant is typically meant for such occasions . Large table , and they cooked , and served all in front of us. The chef entertained us and was deft and nimble with her tools. the food tasted great. 1 portion is actually enough for 2 average eaters !

After One hour waiting with a reservation we left. What irritated me the most was the indiference of the guy that received us. On our arrival they tolds us that we should wait 10/15 min max. Not a problem with that. After half an hour they continued saying five more minutes... after one our we left without any kind of interest of them. Not even an im sorry...

First time away for Christmas so wanted something totally different - We love Teppanyaki and Benihana was well worth booking. The food was gorgeous and plentiful. The Chef cooked the Steak to perfection.

Having been to Benihana’s in London and Toronto I was hoping for the same experience. Unfortunately not, you are shown to the bar no matter what time you arrive at the restaurant, the service was very slow with only one barman, the bar area didn’t look clean. Upon arriving upstairs the music was really loud and competes with the noise level in the restaurant which is already loud. The chef appeared to be totally fed up and I get that he’s doing his “show” several times a day but that’s his job and as a customer you are only there once! No point in ordering a “carafe” of wine as it’s just poured into your glass as it’s only a large (but not that large for the money!) glass of wine! They could learn a lot by looking at Toronto, a much classier affair.

It has been a long time since we have been to a Benihana. We tried to get a different reservation some place "hot" but to no avail. So we thought, why not Benihana? The food was fine, even borderline very good. We just were amazed so many kids live/or were visiting midtown Manhattan! So food and service was just fine if you know what you are getting into. But we are now done with Benihana.

It's busy enough perhaps based on it's name, but they were so disorganized. Even people with reservations were waiting forever to be seated - many just left. Including us...

Had a fantastic meal with friends at Benihana. There were 8 of us so we were lucky enough to get our own table and personal chef. It was an amazing dining experience, and the food was delicious. Would definitely recommend for anyone who has never tried before.

Restaurant chosen by one of our teenagers. Great fun if there is a group of you. Not ideal for couples unless you are sociable. Good range of food on menu & it caters for veggies. Focus is on theatre rather than cooking. A lot of rice & veg with not a lot of flavouring. Steak was good, chicken & shellfish rather bland. Needed more sauces. As the performance takes a while, all the courses are separate so it's not like a meal, which diminished from the overall taste. Portion sizes large and they are excellent on takeout bags for leftovers so you get a second meal.

Well, Friday night arrived and we had no reservations anywhere. This restaurant had a 10:15pm spot and we just went with it. We love asian food and we had enjoy the teppanyaki experience before however this restaurant did not make the experience one to remember. It was not bad, it was just ehh. Lets start... Drinks: Benitinis are really, really good. Food: Babe had the tuna steak asked for it rare. Cooked beautifully and perfectly on the grill UNTIL the chefs pours a yummy hot butter and soy sauce concoction that takes that perfect and delicate steak to overcooked in 15 seconds flat! Not cool! I ordered their best steak: the chateaubriand. Big mistake! I love my meats rare. It was perfect until it was chopped in pieces and left forgotten. It was served medium. But all of that was fine because the flavors were still there and it was very flavorful. What was never part of our experience was good service. Nope, inexistent. Our waiter was rushed. Never asked the table for our drink ordered he just skipped straight to confirming food orders. "Salad, soup, any appetizers?",he asked. We ordered some edamame and slipped a drink order as well. Soup and salad were ok. Edamame arrived 20 mins later and cold. No signs of our drink order... drinks arrived while the food was being cooked. Let's just say that it was my first and last time in this restaurant. Thankfully this city has an abundance of options to choose from.

We booked to come to Benihana NY as we love the ones in London. What a different experience we received! we got there about half hour early, there was no where to sit, the staff were not welcoming. Our table was booked for 8pm by 8:30 we hadn’t been called for our table, after checking with the staff we were told to just wait we would be called we waited another hour and our table was still not ready we asked again about our booking and was told the same thing to wait and we will be called. By this point we were hungry and sick of waiting with the terrible service no where to sit or grab a drink so we left. Would not recommend this restaurant at all.

Food is really good tepanyaki food and chefs prepare it front of you. Prices are not cheapest and at the start the service was slow. They receive you in the bar and encourage you to buy several drinks before getting you sat down for your meal.

Personally think that it's just ok not that wow or the must anyway. Very crowded. Highly reccommend to book in advance online, much more better than walk-in especially for dinner which you maybe request to wait almost hour (or more) to be seated. I have been to Benihana in BKK and London which less crowded and more for the 'show', maybe because of the numbers of customer so that there is more time for the show when cooking. Here is too noisy and busy so if you seek for such a relax meal, here is not an idea. For the test, price, food options, OK. Maybe vegetarian friendly but not for vegan or strictly vegetarian. Benihana fried rice is good.

This is the most amazing Japanese food ever!! Their fried rice is just THE BEST!! You have to get it! Very entertaining too, great for special occasions!

I remember this place from years ago, so wanted to come back for the experience. The food was pretty poor, not much flavour - more salt than the Atlantic Ocean! Slow service, overrated and over priced in my view. Very Smokey environment- extractor fans should have been maxed out and they weren’t, also very stuffy hot and smelly.

Visiting NY and thought it would be nice for the family to have the teppanyaki experience..... so I reserved a table via their webpage, and I asked for an alert in case if any changes. We show up, and the restaurant is closed off, and they’re not able to tell us when it will be opened. Waste of time and effort, and horrible customer service

Lunch prices ok but at dinner way too expensive. They get away with it because the food is prepared as a show therefor many tourists and small parties.

We took our 2 two teenagers to Benihana for our last night in NYC. We arrived at the time of our reservation but waited 20 minutes to be seated which can happen. Our table, which appeared to be designed to seat 8 people comfortably, 10 would be a stretch, had 12 place settings. We sat down but couldn’t move; it was very uncomfortable. My daughter put her plate on her lap to eat. There was no room for our sauces or drinks. It was not enjoyable at all but we made the best of it. As we left, I let a manager know that this was unacceptable. We would gladly pay more for our meals if the restaurant needs more money per plate. The food was good and the chef would have been wonderful if we had been more comfortable. I do not recommend dining at this location.

This location needs a lot of attention. My husband and I visited this location 3/10/18 At 10pm. Upon arriving and entering the facility we immediately felt unwelcome. The hostess was extremely unpleasant and unwelcoming. Our reservation was for 10:15 and was seated over and hour later(with 2 large open tables downstairs that they were not using). When asking the hostess about our wait time she again was very rude and unpleasant. Did I meantion they started cleaning up and totally closed the downstairs area(put chairs on top of tables) before we were even given a seat upstairs. When finally getting upstairs we noticed the manager and expressed to him how long we had to wait after our reservation time. He blamed it on daylights savings time which was 22 hours earlier and that his chefs were just thrown off. We were then seated 9 people to a table giving us zero room to move our arms. A lady seated next to us only had half of a table top to eat on. Her and the other lady she was with went to the manager again. The manager come to the table and basically said that's their policy and we must deal with it. My husband begin to express how unhappy he was with this experience as a whole. While doing so the manager began to roll his eyes and pop his neck showing zero interest in what we had to say. After having words and him being very argumentative with us he offered us a different table to allow us more room unknowingly we would then be asked to move seats two more times so that they could them fill that table to 9 people. What was the purpose of moving. We refused to move for the 4th time which caused an even bigger scene which was very embarrassing. The ladies next to us mentioned they were refused service downstairs and were forced to wait over an hour for a hibachi table to just order salad and a sushi roll. Needless to say, at this point it is now 40 mins of us sitting at a table without even being brought water. Once drinks were brought out and 4 out of 6 of them were made incorrectly, we decided it was time to leave. We walked down the street and had to get McDonald's. I hate to complain and leave negative comments but I'm only doing so in hopes that this will be brought to the right persons attention so this matter can be addressed. This is in no way considered acceptable.

Exceeded expectations! We were taken to our table straight away at the time we had reserved., staff were friendly and attentive. Food was good and better value than I’d expected. The kids loved watching the chef at work. A great experience!

Wow!! What can I say!!! From the moment we arrived the staff were friendly and we were directed to the happy hour drinks which we were able to take up to the restaurant!! Fantastic food, fantastic atmosphere…..would highly recommend

First checked in for my reservation and hostess said have a seat. Waited 10 minutes, more people came in and were seated before us. Went back up to see what happened, they told me that I wasn’t checked in. The hostess was very rude and would not admit she made a mistake. On top of that the food was subpar and they raised the prices since the last time I was here. AVOID, there are so many better places than Benihana’s in Manhattan for the amount of money you will spend. On top of that, no one was smiling and everyone who was working looked miserable.

Fun time was had by all. Great food and always amazing service. I really like all of their entrees but highly recommend the shrimp.

I would normally avoid this place (haven't even been to my local one yet) but knew my companions would enjoy it so went. The actual performance cooking was disappointing and our cook seemed to be phoning it in compared to surrounding tables. He didn't make any eye contact while going through the motions of the various but few tricks like flipping shrimp into his hat, tossing eggs in the air, making a picture of a chicken with liquid egg and spelling I Love You in rice. The redeeming factors were the most delicious drinks (Lychee Blossom) and the actual food was really really good and expertly cooked which I honestly did not expect. Even the Miso Soup and salad were really good. Surprisingly, I'd skip the tricks and enjoy the food which I didn't expect.

I went with a friend for lunch and tried to order something without gluten or soy. They brought me sauted vegetables twice drowning in soy sauce, which they told me is "gluten free." Duh, but it's soy and I am not supposed to eat it. I do better in Japan than at this pathetic excuse for a Japanese restaurant. Maybe tourists like this sort of theater. I would rather have food cooked the way I want it.

After hearing eating at Benihana was a great American past time, our party decided to give it try. We arrived at Benihana at 9pm. The greeter advised us there would be a 30 minute wait. So we were sat down at the bar. Now I'm going to going to put a caveat here and say the best thing food wise was the pint of Pepsi I had here and I hate Pepsi. After watching endless repeats of the Mets game it was closing to 10:20pm before we finally got escorted upstairs to the restaurant. The chefs are extremely skilled at throwing knives around in front of a flaming grill. It's a shame the same can't be said for their cooking. The chef managed to get orders wrong and managed to share out the colossal shrimp I had ordered to everyone else. The sauces were disgusting and the steamed rice, bland. However it was rather funny when in an attempt to flip a shrimp the chef sent it flying into a woman's hair. You're paying to watch a knife show. If you go to restaurants to eat I wouldn't go here.

This was my first time experiencing Hibashi and it was awesome. I went there with both family and friends and had a wonderful time. Great location in the heart of Manhattan, can easily be accessed with a couple of subway lines nearby. The place is big and can accommodate many parties. The food is delicious, the entertainment by the chefs are delightful. We had sampled many of the dished and we enjoyed them all. It’s a place for a nice night out with friends, family, colleagues and visitors. I will definitely go back again.