Benihana Reviews

Long wait and tight space at the table but best hibachi I've ever had.

Worst food. Worst service. Worst management. One of the worst Japanese restaurant in NYC.

Great food and even better atmosphere. Would definitely recommend going at least once

The Sushi itself isn't that great and the staff is HORRIBLE!! If u call they'll put u on a 15 minute hold every time. I had a order for pickup a few minutes ago and they didn't put any soy sauce in the bag. "Alan" was the bag packer. Very disappointed.. I thought the food was going to be good, but I've had better Sushi.

Great! I had never gone to a place where they cook before your eyes but I must say that I was impressed in a positive way.

My girlfriend and I both Libra's celebrated our 71st birthday there, great restaurant.

The chicken was a bit raw and lacked of taste and the chef made a lot of mistakes! Not the craft I wanted to see for those prices.

Awful air circulation - the entire second floor is filled with smoke. Food itself was alright, though the portion felt really off (tiny portion of vegetables, a couple chunks of meat, and a giant bowl of rice). The quantity distribution is also uneven amongst diners at the table. Not a pleasant dining experience to say the least v

It's ok. Food is good. You get alot of rice! Depending on the chef you get a cool show and the sauces are both good.

The atmosphere was amazing, the food was delicious, the service was second to none. My friends and I enjoyed it, we had so much fun.

First time here awesome experience. Place is a nice size, clean, & our waiter & chef were awesome! Food was delicious but overpriced. If you come with a small party, you will be seated at a table with complete strangers, so keep that in mind. Would not sit at the bar again, bartender was ignoring us for several minutes & seemed annoyed. I understand it's a busy place, but that's not how you treat customers. No excuse for that!

Fun place to eat Japanese food. The chef cooks the food in front of you, while putting on a show. It is very expensive but it is worth a trip to see the show.

The food & overall performance here is what will always have me coming back for more. The chicken trio is absolutely delicious no place can compare. The talented performers make the ambience that much more exciting and just an overall great vibe. Will be back

So we did not have a reservation on Sunday October 16, 2016. We had a five minute wait for two places at the hibachi table. We ended up falling in love with this restaurant. The staff was super friendly and made sure to go out of their way to make us comfortable. The drinks were out of this world. The food was so fresh and tasty. Our hibachi chef Romeo made sure to take allergies into consideration. By the end of the night our table filled with strangers had bonded and became family. The staff felt like the extended relatives. They made us feel like honoured guests by celebrating my last night in NY as well as our new friends birthday. Lots of pictures were taking and now I have an amazing picture to remember the entire night with. This was my favourite restaurant in NY. I can't wait to go back. Thank you for an amazing experience not just a meal!!!

I need to say that food is still good, however, service was better before.

I've been here several times. This on account of my wife. I think that it's overrated. I personally prefer Niko's (in west Harlem). This last time @ benihana's though, it was the straw that broke the camels' back. The food (again) was so so, the service was lackluster and, they almost double charged me on a few items. I will not be going back there again. I told my wife that if she craves it again she'll be by herself.

Amazing restaurant! Went here on a date I got on an online dating site. The menu was very good. Although my date did not match his profile picture, I still had a good time.

Visited this restaurant last night for the first time. I was expecting a different experience from what I had. I wasn't greeted when i first walked in or even when i walked out. We had to wait 30 mins before our orders was taken. Even though the food was amazing, and the cook was friendly, i was expecting a different experience. One of the servers was talking loud saying that one of the grills was dirty right in the middle of my video. Where are his manners and professionalism?

Management needs to do a better job on greeting and efficiency. For a FACT!

Don't bother calling- they won't pick up even if you call every hour and if you decide to wing it and show up for early dinner you'll still get shut down by rude receptionists.

Great place to eat but it's a bit tight and cramped in there

came from jersey to visit the Nike and decided to stop by here for lunch. The bartender was lovely but decided to sit at hibachi and enjoy the experience. Our serve was awful didn't even tell us his name! A short rude Indian man who not only didn't check up on us decided at the end of bill he was going to tell me and my cousin we did not tip enough!!!!! Mind you a tip is optional based on service!!! We left a tip and after he said that to me I went to speak to a manager! After speaking to him and he did not help us or the situation I crossed the tip I did leave off the bill!!!!! I am so disgusted by the disrepect I am a young lady and what they did was wrong! I wouldn't even give 1 star but I had no choice

It s closed due to renovations but you can t find out until you are there.

I went here with some friends the food was not what I was expecting. They could put more seasoning. The cook we had was not that good at entertaining!

Awesome place to celebrate a special occasion. The cook was very interactive while cooking and funny. Making reservations and accommodations for a group of 10 was simple.

Went here with my family for my birthday, we enjoyed it very much!!

Great hospitality, great menu of food , Great saki , thanks Benihana for a great a vibe

Don t like the service, the food was small and cold, didn t offer drinks, and was slow on the order. I would not recommend this place at all.

My first time going. I could not take the fumes or the smoke. The food was just okay. The experience could have been better..the cook barely did anything. Not satisfied and will not be back or recommend to anyone.

I had a party of 4 , and my server had outstanding customer service Gideon to be exact I was visiting from out of town , and someone recommended me this restaurant he was very patient with us , and recommended us what was very popular on the menu I appreciated how kind and funny he was he made our dinner outstanding thank you again Gideon for the top notch service

Classic Benihana atmosphere. Great for a good lunchtime thrill!

Nothing to do with real teppanyaki: the quality of food was very poor (ordered land & sea priced 40$, with an average fillet mignon), with only scallops good.
Had to discuss the bill twice: first was added one beer that I didn t order, and even if they served me, I couldn t drink cause was warm!
Second was added the fried rice (5$ per person) NOT included into the menu, but not explained the extra cost, and even on a different page of the menu

I won t return to this Benihana even for free, and this is a very bad promotion to ALL the restaurants chain!

Worst food ever, quality of the food is so pathetic it s unbelievable they can keep there doors open, also the chefs don t know how to cook teppenyaki, this place disgraces the entire concept of teppenyaki food.

Hibachi table is a must. Cool experience the food is just OK tho

Thos place is big... Good food ok staff the people we ate with were very nice, surprising for NYC. Kid friendly... Do recomend for hibachi.

Love the crowd, service could have been a little more friendlier. Then again it is NYC. Food and drinks were great.

I came to Benihana last night for the first time. It was my birthday so we were all in a celebratory mood. Our waitress Deborah was great. She made sure to cover all her steps in checking on us and taking the proper orders. Chef Sudip on the other hand was not very enthusiastic as everyone had told me chefs are at the grill. Maybe this was product of a complaining guest at our communal table who was disappointed from the beginning. This gentlemen continued to be very vocal about his dissatisfaction. The GM did not take much action to ease the situation. The guest remained at our table for the duration of the chefs performance. Things escalated and the guest sitting beside the upset gentlemen began addressing him in an inappropriate manner, which led to yelling and threats and just a huge fight amongst them. This definitely was not a pleasant dinner and the establishment is not to blame for three adults who do not know how to act in public or how to be considerate for fellow diners. I will blame them for not handling the situation before it escalated and for the chef letting rude guests interfere with his job performance. I'm sorry he had to cook for such unpleasant individuals but not one employee tried to change this individuals experience or turn the tables around for all of us. Unforeseen things happen but as an industry employee the GM should be trained to deescalate situations that could end up in having to call the cops like lastnight.

The food was delicious ! Which is honestly why they get three stars! Definitely opt in for the secret sauce !!! Avoid the non alcoholic beverages unless you love sugar !
Thank you so much for the floor manager Cherry who, after we complained, did apologize to us for the situation (the only employee who did so), discounted our check, and gave us appetizer cards for our next visit.

Horrible service. Couldn't care about a customer. Would never go again .

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.

Benihana has lost its flair. From start to finish it's obvious they have no communication. I made a reservation where they asked a number of questions about allergies and special occasions...and when we showed up, there was no reservation. Thankfully we still got a table. Then the server asked the same questions. Then the chef asked the same questions...what's the point in asking me if it's my birthday three times? I understand asking about food allergies, but not everyone needs to know what temperature my father wants his steak cooked at. Also, its obvious the chef was having issues with the server because for whatever reason, my father's order didn't end up on the ticket. The chef probably left our table 10 times to fix something. When 3/4 of the reason you go to benihana is for the corny jokes and choreography and show, it really disappointed and was actually a bit more of a stressful meal that doesn't warrant the same price tag.
Oh and I never got my green tea sorbet or our picture taken, but I guess when you tell 3 people it's your birthday, it's understandable they forget that. Haha.
At this point, it's really only worth going if you enjoy overpaying for things you can cook at home. Sad for a place that we've been going to for a decade...

The best hibachi experience of my life! Ramon was a fantastic chef and even greater host/entertainer. Would recommend

irst off, we were able to make reservations, which saved lots of time because we got seated right away. We were placed at a table with several other people, which sometimes can feel weird, but everyone was really friendly, and we were all so busy watching the cook's "show" that we hardly noticed the other diners. I ordered the hibachi teriyaki chicken, which came with veggies and rice. You also got an onion soup appetizer as well as a salad with delicious ginger dressing and a small order or shrimp. The food tasted amazing, and the whole experience was a lot of fun, I would definitely recommend Benihana for a unique and delicious dining experience.

The service was terrible. Me and my guest felt neglected. A cook didn't show up to our table until after 1 hour and 20 minutes. Maybe they were short staffed. There's no air conditioning on the mezzanine area of the restaurant. The food was good but was all that was good there. This restaurant is probably better at a different location.

Went here on August 30. It wasn t the traditional Benihana (post COVID) but that s okay, but the food... was so bad and dry. Basically bland. Husband paid $40 for dry stake and cold shrimp... it was just the worst.

I didn't like the fact my party of 5 was seated at the table with 2 other parties. Talking about uncomfortable and sitting to close with strangers. Will not be going back

Benihana opened on the first floor of Fairway at 550 2nd Avenue. I sent an email to share my feedback about the hibachi rice with chicken regarding the fact that they give a large portion of rice and small table spoon cubes of chicken. No one replied at Benihana. I worked in area for 30 years and have seen stores come and go and I will pass the word at the hospitals Bellevue and NYU that you don t receive your money s worth.

I went here for my 23rd birthday. We were a little late for the reservations but they did still accommodate us. It did take them a little while because of the way the tables are timed with the chefs. I wasn t allowed to have my number 2 and 3 balloons haha but that was understandable. The service was amazing. My waiter and chef were very knowledgeable and great. The food was delicious. Definitely recommend.

Overpriced, food was unseasoned and overcooked. Rubbery LOBSTER! Literally paid over 3 hundred dollars to watch a guy (who took an ENTIRE HOUR to emerge from the kitchen) bang around tools on a grill (which was dirty when we sat down, burnt rice etc). Could've had better from the dirty Chinese restaurant on my block.

It was the worst experience I ever had in a restaurant! A waste of time and money. Not to mention that you get out of there stinking oil completely, and we had to wash all the clothes. I do not recommend to anyone to go there.

Definitely and experience that you need to live up in New York City. To see wonderful art of cooking right I'm front of your eyes. Staff is really friendly and amazingly talented. The downside of this place is that they DON'T HONOR THE RESERVATIONS. They spect you to make a reservation, come on time only to keep you waiting for anothe 45 minutes to an hour while you expend more money at the bar.

The food was delicious and they have a great drink menu.

The food is okay. The weight is even worse! Reservation or not, you'll still wait 30 min or more!

Food was ok, we liked our chief. But I ve been in many hibachi restaurants and I have to say that it is really overpriced and 3 starts is very fair. Their bar is pretty good tho. Our bartender was very sweet.

Gross.....I don't know where to begin it was that bad I would not recommend. No flavor...small portions of meat xtra charge for fried rice...burnt grill needs cleaning or to be replaced..they cram 9 ppl to one small table...just extremely disappointed. I also did not see one Japanese chef....hummm but its a Japanese Hibachi steakhouse ????? FOH
BLAH

It was okay. Little bit of food and over priced. They did make a I love you out of the food I thought that was nice.

We went on Fathers Day. The menu prices were increased and it was a special menu. The service was meh The food was just "okay" . We were looking forward to it being out of this world and honestly Edo's restaurant is 10x better.

Special place with amazing food! I highly recommend lobster and shrimps. They're so delicious! Live cooking show is totally rocks!

It was okay, pretty cramped spacing... Other than that it was "okay".

Wasn't what I expected for my first time... expensive and the food was ah. Sushi was good tho I probably wouldn't go back.

Really bad experience. We were packed like sardines. Couldn t eat without hitting the person next to you.

Their portions are extremely small and flavorless. Someone was allergic to garlic at my table so the cook prepared all the food without it than when I ask where is was the garlic for my food he pretended he didn't understand what I was saying. My daughter never received the fried rice she asked for but they made sure ,I was charged for it my drinking was empty my entire meal I had to drink my dates water.

Crowded and noisy. It was fun, but the taste of the food was of varying caliber. The teriyaki beef was great, and so was the onion and mushrooms and zucchini, and the fried rice was delicious too. However the gyoza was mushy and strange, and the soup and salad weren t that good. Our chef had some impressive skills.

Delicious foo, awesome habatchi, sushi to die for. My favorite thing to eat there crunchy shrimp roll. There take on sauces is amazing, will definitely return again and again.

Would be better if vegetarian options were made first before the meat

Amazing birthday experience for my daughter. Parking is non-existent, use a parking app or you'll pay over $30 for parking.

The food was actually as good as the show.
A little advice only, Do not go there with clothes that you want to wear on another day because food is unstable.
Also be prepared that it will sound a lot.

@benihana I booked 20 days in advance, it took us 40 minutes to deliver the table and they were not able to invite us for a drink, the cheff was not very skilled and they treated us badly. @benihana did my reservation 20 days in advance, gave me my table 40 minutes later and no drinks were invited. Low talented cheff and bad service.

Restaurant where you can taste dishes cooked in front of diners by good juggling chefs. Very good prawn rice from Cantonese.

Never been there but was interested. Now I m not sure as I read the comments and the responses. The responses ALL sounds like it s computer generated very robotic. And my interpretation is that no amends will be made with unsatisfied diners. Because I m very particular in where I dine. And what I eat, I won t put myself through the trauma. . Word of advice: clean up or you will lose the interest of hundreds of potential patrons.

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.

The food in of itself was not anything special. But the theatre of the food is what you go there for.
Our waitor waitor was new on the job and got our orders wrong.

Other then that its an ok restaurant. Good for big groups

If you visited this restaurant 20 years ago , you will be very disappointed. It is now very crowded and noisey due to added tables with grills. The chefs who cook at the tables that seat 8 to 9 people, are still very talented. The waiter we had was awful. He kept on forgetting parts of orders . It was not a happy table mostly due to this. The smoke from the hibachi cooking caused some people to cough. The food was quite good but I prefer to remember the wonderful ambiance in the Benihana I had dinner in some time ago. I will not visit here again.

Overpriced. Food was ok. Service could have been better for the money you pay. Hibachi was with poor performance