Irvin was our chef- his welcoming, fun, upbeat energy really added to the experience! Food was delicious as well!

It took 2 hours to start serving us food. We were sitting at the table and sweating from the heat. The food was horrendous! Too much salt and tasteless at the same time! All our food was burnt. The chef was cooking for 2 tables at the same time. I will never go back to this place ever again. It should be rated minus 5 stars! read more

Price is just so expensive. The atmosphere is very fun, the food was good, but it really is outrageous that a child's meal is $30. Staff was friendly and we had a good time...but for a family of 6 this isn't really possible Again. read more

The food was not good....dry, salty, overcooked. Way overpriced. I was sitting at the bar and watched the bartender rinse a wine carafe in the handwash sink. They need to be taught basic food safety and sanitation. I won't be back. read more

Just always such a great time at Benihana except for the end. we have a yearly tradition where we do Benihana for one of our birthdays. We always arrive early and have happy hour each time. After a few sake bombers, sushi rolls and punch we are ready for the main event. This year our chef was Marco and he was fantastic. I rarely get the trio but after seeing other tables and the quality of meat, I had to. Marco asked while he was as cooking my steak if it was done to my liking and he delivered a perfectly cooked rare steak with optimum garlic butter. Luis also provided quick service which I appreciate. The manager on 02/06 at 6pm Bret on the other hand, meh. Benihana was running a promotion on BOGO fried rice that he said could not be honored with the birthday certificate. I begrudgingly paid, but I felt worst for the patrons next to me who only got the extra fried rice to take it home. Granted the fine print was on the certificate NOT the BOGO rice. Again, Although peeved, I accepted the $8 technicality, but this does feel quite penny smart and pound foolish. I was thinking of taking my parents here at the end of the month for my birthday, which we would have spent well over $400 with food and drink, but now I feel like it would be better to go elsewhere since they would rather not comp it out. Oh well, there are locations in San Diego and Temecula that we may patron instead. read more

I went with my friend for lunch the other day and our chef was amazing and the food was delicious. However our server Samantha was a bit snooty. She straight told us that she has to split the tips with the chef (assuming she told us this in order for us to give a higher tip) I found this to be extremely unprofessional and shady. Ive been to this location a few times and all my chefs are great, but im praying to never get Samantha as a server again. read more

Sorry but this place is the worst managed restaurant I have been to. Long waits evening if you are just at the bar. Food is ok if you get it. Understaffed, the bartender disappeared after half an hour and never came back. Manager didn't know how to make a drink . We left. From other reviews, Benihana listens is the general response. Sorry but they are useless and I'm surprised they are still in business, so many 1 star reviews. We are not going back. read more

If you're really hungry, DO NOT COME HERE. Had a reservation at 1900. Got seated at 1925. Sat at the table for 1 hour and 30 mins waiting for the chef. If you want to watch the chef show off, then go for it. read more

Chef never showed up. Told us it was 1 hour and 30 min to our reservation when we showed up at the time.

Made a reservation for our daughters Birthday. When we got there they said we had a 45 minute wait and it was just a placeholder. Blamed corporate for allowing too many reservations. Poor customer service and very poor business model. Totally unexceptionable. read more

That response is unacceptable and disingenuous. My research shows that Benihanalistens.com appears invalid or inactive, and many reviewers report that feedback submitted there is never acknowledged or resolved. I had already send my feedback via email/general form on their official site . In short: they failed to deliver the basics of service for a special occasion, offered no apology in person, and then unhelpfully directed me to a non‑functional feedback portal post‑review. For the considerable cost and effort, this experience was deeply disappointing. I will not return -- and I cannot recommend Benihana for any event where service and reliability matter. read more

Came for their power lunch and even though it was dead, service was slow, nice, but slow. Food was bland but really made me write a yelp review is their fake meat which was learned as our chef was cooking it for us. "We inject the meat with fat" um excuse? What did you just say??? And he was not joking. The steak tasted like dog food. Do not recommend. read more

Service was not up to par. Chef was fine. Food was poor quality and bland. It was extremely loud and noisy impossible at to carry on a conversation at cook table all the way to the rear corner. read more

We had a reservation last night at 6:30. Which was the night before Mother's Day? But when we arrived, the place was packed and they were overbooked, and it was gonna be 40 minutes for a table. Which actually became 50 minutes, but we opted to sit in the bar. And miss the tepanyaki table and that turned out to be a nightmare because it was so slow and they messed up. My son's vegan vegetable rice took them 20 minutes to get another one. I will not be going back read more

This is no reflection on the chef, waiter/waitress staff and food. This is more so on upper management. I came for a birthday dinner on a Friday with a reservation for 7:30 pm. We arrived on time and the host/manager told us they were running behind and we'd be seated in an HOUR. We finally were seated around 8:50 pm after sitting at the bar. We did not EAT until 10:30 pm. They brought us our soup 30 min after being seated, and then a salad 30 min later. Clearly trying to draw out the time until we could get a chef. Multiple parties were also waiting and frustrated around us. They ended up comping some sushi and edamame for people in light of the delay which was appreciated. The staff/chefs were overworked, apologetic, and generally very nice but the overall upper management and delay was absolutely ridiculous and they should not be accepting so many reservations if they cannot accommodate it. Shame on upper management for burning out their employees and making them deal with the angry/frustrated customers. read more

Worst restaurant experience of my entire life - hands down. Made a 6:15 reservation for my daughter's 10th birthday. When we arrived, we were told they were running 30 mins late on reservations. A little odd, but ok. 45 min later, we were still waiting. Kept checking in, they kept telling us they didn't know when we'd sit down. Of course we wanted to leave, but my daughter was so set on Benihana for her birthday and wanted to wait. We finally sat down around 8:30, more than 2 hrs after our reservation. And then we sat and sat and sat at the table. We finally started our dinner at 9:15. 3 hours after our reservation! They didn't offer to bring us any snacks or edamame or anything, even though we were there with 2 kids and their grandma. They didn't offer a discount. They didn't say sorry or check in on us. They kept telling us we would sit down soon instead of being honest about the actual wait. The poor chef we had was clearly exhausted and miserable. One of the workers told me this situation is NOT uncommon! The managers blamed everything on "corporate" instead of taking ownership and trying to problem solve. How are these incompetent people managers?? The food is SO expensive and so average, and the chef "performance" was so bad, mostly because the guy just looked overworked and unhappy to be working there. I felt bad for him. I honestly don't understand how they are still in business. Will be telling everyone I know to stay away. read more

We had a 6:00 PM reservation at Benihana and unfortunately the entire experience was defined by extremely poor timing and management. We weren't seated until 6:50, almost an hour after our reservation. After being seated, we then waited until 7:40 just to have our server come over. We didn't actually start eating until 8:00 PM- two full hours after our reservation time. We finally left at 9:15. To be clear, our cook was great. He was engaging, did a good job, and honestly saved the experience once things finally got going. The food and the chef were not the issue. The issue was the lack of organization and accountability. When we spoke to a manager about the delays, we were simply told that "sometimes dinners run late." That's not really an acceptable explanation when you're holding reservations and clearly overbooking tables. If you're planning to celebrate something special or have a larger group on a schedule, I would strongly recommend choosing another restaurant. Based on our experience, you likely won't be seated anywhere near your reservation time, and you should expect a very long wait before you even begin eating. Really disappointing experience overall. read more

Plan on waiting for a very long time . We came here for my niece's birthday. We figured it would be a fun place to take the kids too but after a very long wait, the kids wanted to leave . Our reservation was at 6:45pm, but we got seated at 7:05. The waiter was nice but they do not have enough chefs here . We complained about the long wait to the server but there's not much he can do. They overbooked and clearly do not have enough workers here The chef finally came at 8:30pm. He apologized for the long wait but clearly it's not their fault. Big corp needs to stop trying to cut cost and hire more chefs . All they are doing now is making customers not want to come back here st all. I definitely will not be coming back here. Don't bother coming unless you have all the time in the world to just sit and wait around for hours to eat ... at least over 2 plus hours... just insane ! I gave this place 2 stars because the server was nice . Otherwise it would be no stars at all. read more

I ordered DoorDash and it was for anniversary. Suppose to be a surprise. Order took over 200 minutes and then cancelled. Absolutely terrible and nothing offered but a refund. read more

Hey Lee. Thanks for your reply. I have submitted feedback via Resy & via Benihana's website. No one has responded. We actually attempted to go 3 separate times. Just because we thought it would be a fun experience for our child. The second attempt, I came in during a non busy time to speak to someone about when they thought it would be a good time to return so we didn't end up with the terrible wait experience. We were willing to have a 4pm dinner to avoid the waiting issue. The worker convinced us it would be better to come for a late lunch instead. So we relented. Showed up for our 1pm reservation and the poor worker had to deal with others who had reservations and were waiting. We were told it would be about an hour because of staff shortage and could we come back around 4. This was annoying bc that was what I had tried to book but was discouraged -- and convinced to take the 1pm. Since we already had plans, we left, again, without a meal. Again, workers re-iterated that your entire system is pretty disorganized and how it was a regular occurrence. I'm writing this not bc I'm upset. I'm letting management know they have a serious reservation issue that needs to be addressed. Do with this info what you will. read more

Had a reservation for 1100 and was sat as soon as we walked through the door. Our server, Sophie, very polite, very attentive, and provided us with excellent service the entire time. Within the first 15 mins we had drinks, soups and our salads. No more than 30 mins after being sat, our chef, Jorge, was well into cooking and serving our meals. Overall, and especially in comparison to the service we got at the same restaurant a few years prior, the experience was great! We will definitely be going back! read more

By far the best Benihana we've been to! The restaurant is clean and the chef cooked the most tender steak I've ever tasted! Aries was also very friendly and attentive to our daughter's food allergy! Service is a bit slow as we waited ONE HOUR to get our food, but the waitress was quick and very accommodating with any additional requests. The restaurant looks like an old Mexican restaurant on the outside, but inside definitely a nice tepinyaki and habachi place! Would come back again for another special occasion for sure! Well as long as Aries is the chef lol! read more

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This place is a nightmare. Had a reservation for 9:15pm left 11:00pm WITHOUT EATING. They overbooked people so reservations dont work. Once we finally set down one hr and 20 min later, everything was dirty in the table. Table, plates, cups, silverware, everything. No one served us water. The coke i order was no ice cause they ran out of ice. The shared table had more people than it fits so youre super tight. After 30 more minutes sitting with nothing but warm coca cola we left hungry, smoked out, and pissed off. At least saved $200 and had cheap tacos. read more

It's always fun for the kids to eat at Benihana. They love the food and get entertained. We all picked different things so we could share. We got two filets and two kids got shrimp and we had one with scallops. Everything was delicious as always and half the fun is the entertaining chef who cooks your food. He could catch an egg in his hat and the kids were especially excited about the volcano. Even our picky one loved the fried rice . Thanks guys read more

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The drinks, apps, and ice cream were all delicious! Chef was entertaining and we had a good time there. What fell short was the entree. I ordered the spicy shrimp and the dish was dry and salty. Thankfully we had drinks to keep us busy, but we spent about 2.5 hours here. (Plus we had reservations) definitely a treat but not sure when I would plan on coming back. read more

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Our New Year's Eve dinner was a complete disaster. we arrived at 6:02pm with a reservation for 3 ( two adults and a toddler. we're told the wait was no more than 20 mins. At this time, we went to the bar and ordered one Wine and a beer while we waited for our table. As we surveyed, the area, we noticed that large parties were still gathered, in the lobby waiting tables. As time progressed from 20 mins to 35 minutes We were then told the corporate office is at fault for over booking reservations. When I received two notifications that week, asking if I could confirm my reservation for said date and time. It did not receive a phone call about their over booking issues as well as additional wait time for New Year's Eve. Manager was nowhere to be seen no apologies. Staff kept stating that they were not at fault and it was a corporate issue. And if we would like to make a complaint, we can email the QR code that they provided when I asked to speak to the manager. He finally came up after about 15 to 20 minutes. With no explanation just kept apologizing that corporate had overbooked reservations. he also stated at this time that there was nothing that he could do and he has given his notice,because of this ongoing issue, and that the only reason he was there tonight was because he was there for his staff to support them. We were never given anything complementary. We were never even asked if we wanted water or appetizers to hold us until our table was ready. We're finally seated at 7:51 PM. We're finally given our water at 8:20pm We were finally able to receive our appetizer at 8:52 PM. And we were given our bill at 9:28 PM. As a family who has been coming to Benihana's for many years, this was the worst experience. Our meal felt completely rushed. We were not given anything complementary. After driving a total of one hour to have the absolute worst meal experience. Benihana prides itself on putting on a show that you will never forget, we will never forget New Year's Eve of 2024. Benihana's needs to make this right because we were not the only ones who suffered. read more

Benihana - Sushi Bars Near Me - Carlsbad, California

DO NOT BOTHER WITH A RESERVATION!! Or really this place in General. We had a really poor experience. Made a reservation weeks in advance for a special occasion dinner with friends. After checking in with the host we have a seat and wait., and wait and wait. After 40 minutes I ask the host what the deal is. She rudely informs me they are majorly running behind. (No duh) no apologies no excuses just it's going to about 20 more minutes, and I mentioned this would have been good information when I originally checked in. However the kids were excited to be there so we stuck it out. We were finally seated 1 hour past our reservation. Then we wait over an hour before our chef comes to cook. The kids were breaking down at this point but what choice did we have.. The waitress that brought the drinks was nice enough and the chef too, he was funny and put on a good show, no fault of theirs. but we had a 7:30 reservation and left the restaurant at 10:50. The food is decent but the prices are outrageous. I wouldn't have a problem with the price if the service and facilities were top notch but this place is completely run down with dirty bathrooms, dinged up furniture and the marquee signage has multiple lights out. We saw several tables with upset customers and even noticed a couple get up and leave after being seated with no attention for over 30 minutes. We asked what in the world is going on and we were told now an unlimited amount of reservations can be made at any time and staff has been slashed in half. Explains A LOT. This restaurant was recently sold to a new corporation and you can tell the new owners don't care about the customer experience only $$$ and at a restaurant like Benihanas the whole concept is a "dining experience??? " !!! So go figure. We won't be back and I TRULY feel sorry for the staff as they will get the brunt of unhappy guests and low tips because of bad corporate decision making. I feel for Anyone dining here that wants nice night out. I'll be shocked if it stays open at this rate, Carlsbad has plenty of great restaurants and this isn't one of them. read more

Man this was our go to spot for years. Ever since they got bought out a few years back the food has become almost inedible. The place is looking so rundown as well. Such a disappointment. I ordered fried rice for 4 to go for almost $50!!! Upon receiving it the chicken pieces on top were hard as a rock and translucent. I watched them load the rice that was not fresh out of a premade warm tub and had a thick oil layer on it and the chicken was soaking in a preheated warmer as well. Also I could see a lady dumping a bunch of frozen shrimp in a sink so good to know that isn't made fresh. I wrote uber to let them know (where I placed my order) that my food was inedible and they did nothing. So very disappointed. Sadly, as much as I used to love it I think this is the last time for us. read more

I planned my office Christmas party here we had a 630 reservation confirmed weeks ago. We arrived at 6:15 PM and checked in and they said we'll be right with you. We waited and waited and waited. I invited my three boys, 6,6&9. They kept telling us it was almost ready, I went to the bar and got one round of lemonades and drinks for $200, after waiting for an hour and 15 minutes we eventually left and went to draft Republic. We will never come here again. this is the worst customer Service I've had at a San Diego restaurant. read more

Always a great experience at this location. We've had the same chef twice and he's been awesome both times! Funny and personable. This can be a busy location on weekends and during the season but typically during lunch on a Monday/Tuesday we get a table no problem. read more

Benihana - Chef Joshua- always great! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Carlsbad, California

Our reservation is 6:45pm. We are waiting for 25 mins and still not seated. If reservation means nothing, they shouldn't have reservation. read more

I don't usually write Yelp reviews, but I felt compelled to share this experience out of integrity and concern for other diners. We came to Benihana to celebrate my birthday. There were eight of us. The service was good, and the food was what you'd expect. Our total bill came to about $615. We split the check three ways -- roughly $205 per card. Here's where things went wrong. We paid using their Clover handheld device brought to the table: * The first card selected the 20% tip button and was charged about $38 tip. * The second card selected 20% and was charged about $57 tip. * When the third card selected 20%, the tip came up as $113 -- which would've been the tip for the entire bill, not the individual 1/3 split. It didn't add up. How do three cards with the same split amount, all selecting the same 20% tip option, end up with three completely different tip amounts? We called the manager over and explained what happened. He said he would "fix it," but it took the manager two tries to get the tip adjusted correctly -- or so we thought. After we left, I looked at the receipt again and realized card #2 had also been overcharged by $20 on the tip. I was so focused on the $113 issue in the moment that I didn't catch the second error. I called the restaurant back after we left to get card #2 tip corrected as well. The manager remembered us and said he would adjust it. When I asked how it was possible that the device was overcharging tips, he basically shrugged it off and pushed it onto the device maker, saying he'd have to call Clover to see what was happening. This is deeply concerning. If I hadn't been paying close attention, we would have been significantly overcharged -- and it made me wonder how many other guests don't notice and end up tipping far more than they intended. When you're already paying $50-$80 per person for a meal, discovering that the tip system is overcharging you feels deceptive -- and honestly, it feels fraudulent. I'm sharing this so others are aware and so management takes this seriously. Please double-check your receipts and tip amounts. And I thought we were done... but then I realized the $50 birthday credit was never applied to our bill. Then, when I checked our credit card statement a couple days later, there was no adjustment for the $20 tip overcharge either -- and it turned into five separate calls back and forth with the restaurant before it was finally corrected. Even more concerning: the $113 "over-tip" that was supposedly fixed in the restaurant was not actually corrected, and had to be adjusted again later. Mistakes happen, but this was multiple errors involving billing and tipping -- and customers shouldn't have to chase down corrections like this. read more

Actually take reservations time insted of making a reservation time and still not getting seated 3 hours later. While they were "so busy" the front of house was all on there phones talking to one another. Then once the manager came along they all "looked busy" (one girl and 2 guys). The front wasn't even clean. They had glasses everywhere and one of the guys finally decided to clean it up. This place used to be good. I'll never tell anyone to come here unless they have a whole day to spare to eat mid- expensive over hyped food. Yes before "Lee C." says to contact Benihana.com I will. I will be calling your CEO, talking to management and everyone else for that matter. read more

Horrible service on Thanksgiving night we had reservations to this location. Went there early to try to hopefully sit not only did not sit us during our reservations time so we ended up getting frustrated and sitting at the bar area. It took them two full hours to get out our food not to mention two fish plates took them 2 plus hours to het to us my kids were starving. When we asked for share plate these are the type of plates that they served us, horrible unsanitary we ordered food about 6-7 plates all of which came out different timing horrible service should be shut down corporate should restaff the whole reataurant read more

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I don't usually write Yelp reviews, but I felt compelled to share this experience out of integrity and concern for other diners. We came to Benihana to celebrate my birthday. There were eight of us. The service was good, and the food was what you'd expect. Our total bill came to about $615. We split the check three ways -- roughly $205 per card. Here's where things went wrong. We paid using their Clover handheld device brought to the table: * The first card selected the 20% tip button and was charged about $38 tip. * The second card selected 20% and was charged about $57 tip. * When the third card selected 20%, the tip came up as $113 -- which would've been the tip for the entire bill, not the individual 1/3 split. It didn't add up. How do three cards with the same split amount, all selecting the same 20% tip option, end up with three completely different tip amounts? We called the manager over and explained what happened. He said he would "fix it," but it took the manager two tries to get the tip adjusted correctly -- or so we thought. After we left, I looked at the receipt again and realized card #2 had also been overcharged by $20 on the tip. I was so focused on the $113 issue in the moment that I didn't catch the second error. I called the restaurant back after we left to get card #2 tip corrected as well. The manager remembered us and said he would adjust it. When I asked how it was possible that the device was overcharging tips, he basically shrugged it off and pushed it onto the device maker, saying he'd have to call Clover to see what was happening. This is deeply concerning. If I hadn't been paying close attention, we would have been significantly overcharged -- and it made me wonder how many other guests don't notice and end up tipping far more than they intended. When you're already paying $50-$80 per person for a meal, discovering that the tip system is overcharging you feels deceptive -- and honestly, it feels fraudulent. I'm sharing this so others are aware and so management takes this seriously. Please double-check your receipts and tip amounts. And I thought we were done... but then I realized the $50 birthday credit was never applied to our bill. Then, when I checked our credit card statement a couple days later, there was no adjustment for the $20 tip overcharge either -- and it turned into five separate calls back and forth with the restaurant before it was finally corrected. Even more concerning: the $113 "over-tip" that was supposedly fixed in the restaurant was not actually corrected, and had to be adjusted again later. Mistakes happen, but this was multiple errors involving billing and tipping -- and customers shouldn't have to chase down corrections like this. Unfortunately we will not be returning to this restaurant. read more

Took reservations on Mother's Day and they were an hour to two hours behind. It was ridiculous. Why even make reservations or even have reservations? They should have stopped taking reservations instead of overbooking. ‍ Let's do better for next time. We left because we were not in the mood to wait there for an hour, yet the "bar was open and we have plenty of seats to wait " ‍ read more

Sky high prices for very mediocre food and service. We were there for 3 hours last night. The cocktails were far too sweet (no nuance), the fried rice was bland, and they messed up our order, forcing us to wait an extra 20 minutes while they cooked it again. read more

Dropped a star because the wait time when you have a reservation is horrendous. The food and chefs are always amazing.

Showed up at 6 for a 6:15 reservation for my birthday. Finally got seated at 7. 8:15, and still no chef at our table. They lied time after time about what the wait would be. We've been going to Benihanas for birthdays for over 30 years. I talked to the manager. He offered a free app on my next visit. Anybody want it? I'll never be back. Had my b day dinner at Chick Filet around 9pm. read more

Rocky Aoki named his restaurant after his parents' Tokyo coffee shop which was itself named after a flower that his father saw in postwar ruins, a lonely but hopeful and singular Safflower pedal. Benihana means Safflower in Japanese and this is the meaning of the logo as well. Benihana opened in 1964, featuring an authentic Japanese farmhouse interior and food prepared on steel teppanyaki grills right in front of customers. They featured highly trained teppanyaki chefs delighting customers with intricate knife work and theatrics. And so it continues to this day. I had the Trio: Chicken, Filet Mignon, and Large Shrinp The chicken fried rice was so good! The garlic butter was the secret. And....the sauces made it all unforgettable, especially the chili paste (made on site, special request) which was a revelation (sweet and spicy) I was impressed. I ate every bite! I dare you to as well. read more

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