I called today at 1pm about dinner for my daughters birthday 6 people and discussed lunch vs dinner I live close by Benihama. A female advised I should call back after 3:30pm today it is not busy and I can make a reservation for 6-6:30pm. I just called and was advised the restaurant was closed. Needless to say I am disappointed and will not refer anyone as as I was denied what I was told to do several hours ago. Now I had to scramble to find a restaurant in the Beachwood area to have a birthday dinner for 6. Thanks. I have not had such a disappointing event for a birthday. read more

Not the Benihana it used to be. We came in for a birthday dinner and we frankly disappointment with everything except for the service and our chef's entertainment ability. There were items listed on the online menu that were not available and the staff wasn't even familiar with. They won't give half orders of sushi even though the menus lists that they do. The portions are a lot smaller then I remember. My food was just mediocre. I don't know is that do to the chefs ability or the quality of the food they are working with. Also they apparently only honor their birthday discount program on Mon thru Thurs, which i understand is a normal policy for regular coupons but said birthday was actually on a Friday and they we couldn't use the discount even though we were actually there on the date of the birthday, This is just a bad policy. I used to really love Benihana would would gladly choose this restaurant over the other Japanese steakhouses that have popped up recently, I don't think i can do so anymore. we had a much better experience at a different restaurant a for a lot less also. This used to be a slightly more upscale location, now it is not much better then an Applebee's but still have the upscale pricing. I do realize that you are paying for the show as well as the food, but when the food is sub par and the environment is lacking, that pricing just feel like a rip off. Everything said, the chef was entertaining, the wait staff was great and on top of things, we never had to wait more then a few minutes for anything. they catered to 3 picky kids wonderfully. Which makes it even more disappointing that i cant give a better review. read more

My first and last experience with Benihana! This location in particular was VERY RUDE! when I scheduled my app they did not tell us that 5 minutes late meant a cancellation of our reservation. It was very sad that we were waiting for a few minutes at the front desk to acknowledge us just to be told that we were unable to be seated. My niece who was celebrating her 18th birthday was disappointed because they were already seated and the lady wouldn't work with us. BTW the restaurant wasn't even full... there were many empty tables. We will never be back. We will go dine down the road at Wasabi which we did and it was an amazing customer service experience with NO reservation needed and seated right away! There's no reason for the staff to be SO rude that my niece is in tears on her 18th birthday!!!!!!! read more

3 Hour Nightmare. It's been a few years since I've been here. We waited 35 mins to be sat on a Tuesday. The restaurant, is in need of a remodel, it's dark and dated and smells. As we waited the hostess never mentioned that there was a bar in the back to order drinks/apps while we waited. After we were seated, we waited 45 mins to be acknowledge by the server and served waters. He never asked us for our drink orders. Three other tables were sat in the meantime and were eating. The chef did his best to be entertaining but it was too late. It took the chef over 40 mins to cook the food - the food was at best fair and we boxed it all up to go. We were there for over 3 hours - ridiculous - Where was the management of this place?? Completely unorganized! read more

I definitely would have given four stars at least in the past, but now Benihana only warrants 1 star in my book, (which is unfortunate given how amazing their yum yum sauce is.) We arrived on a Friday night and anticipated a wait given that we didn't have the foresight to make a reservation in advance. Tonight, however, was ridiculous. The host initially said that reservations were made for the entire restaurant but later slipped and mentioned that they only had two chefs on staff and were severely understaffed. The latter of the two reasons I can understand; the initial excuse, however, was ridiculous. In the years that I've visited this location, this has never been the case. A wait, yes, I can live with that. At any rate, we had the option of sitting in the lounge which I was fine with. (Ecstatic no, but like I said, that yum yum sauce... I guess I can pass up the live entertainment.) We were told the wait for the lounge area was five minutes, which is acceptable in my book. I figured that this would be the perfect time to use the restroom and began my trek to the back of the restaurant. 1. The evidence of the "short staff situation" was proven by the state of the bathrooms. Horrendous! 2. There was no one seated throughout the restaurant except for one lonely couple in the lounge. Besides the three small parties that were waiting for a table, the place was a ghost town. After 20 minutes of waiting for a table in the lounge we left. It's clear that over the past few years that the establishment has slowly been going into decline, but this just solidifies what I assumed during my last few visits - this place is probably not going to bounce back. I'm breaking up with you Benihana. If I wanted long wait times, offensive bathroom conditions and poor service I would have went to Perkins. read more

I don't even know where to start. We missed the first quarter of the Cavs Finals game because of the terrible service at this restaurant. When I first walked in, the hostess seemed confused as to why we there. She said there would be a small wait, so my boyfriend and I went to the bar until a spot opened up for us. The bartender ignored us for around 5 minutes, and then finally gave us OLD menus and said we couldn't order those drinks. 10 minutes later, we were seated. I asked the server if we could finally order our bar drinks we originally wanted. I had to ask this waitress twice to come back with my drinks! (It was just sake!) During this time, the couple next to us sat without water for around 15 minutes. The chef came around 45 minutes later. He served everyone at the table fried rice except us. Even though we ordered the rice like everyone else. He was clearly very irate with the server. My boyfriend then asked for the manager. It had been an hour and we haven't even eaten any food yet. He reassured us all the issues would be resolved but we should have just left then!! Another waitress took over our table, but she clearly seemed annoyed by it. It made the atmosphere very uncomfortable. The chef wasn't entertaining, although he was the only person there putting in any effort. We go to hibachi restaurants in the area (Wasabi & Fugi) to be entertained. Here, there was only anger. The manager took $10 off and asked us to give the place another chance. We missed Lebron and Kyrie. There's no going back. read more

One reviewer called the food fresh. Curious how fresh is defined.... Freshly frozen and partially thawed upon service.... Went with a work group for the first time and will never go back. Not worth the price. My rainbow roll had frozen white fish and salmon on it... Fresh- No, Freshly Frozen?!? 2 co workers ordered sashimi combos and they came out 30 minutes after all other hibachi and sushi were delivered and their salmon was frozen. The waitress was not apologetic and kept saying ten more minutes. And as another reviewer mentioned holy butter and clogged arteries on the side. No wonder why America is fat. The hibachi cooks added 3-4 scopes of butter to all hibachi dishes. Not worth the price on the menu! read more

The food is OK. It's a Japanese steakhouse and the food tastes like it- lots of butter and lots of oil. The service is awful. It takes at least 2 hours to have a meal. I do like the sauces- they have ginger sauce and a seafood sauce. They charge more than $3 each for fried rice. That's pretty expensive. I wouldn't go back. They've had two chances and the service was slow both times. read more

We were seated and waited for 40 minutes. 15 of those were minutes were because they ran out of salad dressing. It's dinner and there are 8 tables and 3 chefs. 1 star for the restaurant. 4 stars for the very good chef. This was me giving Benihana another chance after the terrible totally comped meal a few months ago. Not sure if I will come back. read more

I have been coming to this restaurant for 35 years. It's had good times and bad times, but with the recent change in management, it has descended to a new nadir. The ambiance no longer has even a touch of Asian flavor to it. Nor, frankly, does the food. The sauces, once their claim to fame, have been diluted with too much mayonaisse and soy sauce. The cooking was adequate, but nothing special. The server we had kept trying to do juggling tricks with his utensils, and kept dropping them. I hate to write off a place I've been visiting since 1979, but that's what I'll be doing. A great pity. read more

I will never come here again. I was 6 minutes late for my reservation because of traffic. I was told that I would be seated shortly. Two groups came in after me and they were seated. No one said anything to me. When I inquired I was told they could only hold reservations for 5 minutes. 1 minute, are you serious, when someone is trying to support your business during COVID. They looked confused and the customer service was bad. The young lady at the counter was upset and didn't understand why we were not seated before the other groups. When a worker feels like you were not treated fairly, you know something is wrong. I will take my business and money elsewhere. read more

I use to love Benihana. Now not so much. I'm not a big meat eater so today I was really looking forward to having a nice vegetable hibachi meal. Well they have changed their menu since my last visit. The only vegetarian menu item was a spicy tofu steak. So I ordered the yakisoba noodles minus the chicken. Which I was charged the same price for. My cousin wanted to get the spicy tofu and asked if she can add the same type of veggies that came with my meal and was told no. She asked for a manager to explain why she couldn't substitute and the manager refused to see her. I am giving all kudos to our chef Carlos. He was awesome! read more

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Worst experience I have had at any restaurant. Doesn't take phone orders, yet has the option when you call, gift cards don't work on online ordering, and had to wait nearly an hour for my carryout order after being told it would take 35 minutes. read more

I enjoy Hibachi. It's always a good time when you have a larger group. I highly recommend reservations, because the location is relatively small and the wait can be outrageous. Every meal comes with soup, salad, steamed rice, vegetables, and a shrimp appetizer. I enjoy everything except the salad. I don't know what the salad dressing is, but I do not care for it. I also don't eat the shrimp appetizer (3 cooked shrimp per person), but that is because I don't like shrimp, not because it isn't tasty. Chicken fried rice is available instead of the white rice, for a nominal up-charge. I HIGHLY recommend it. Also you can ask the chef to customize you food as he cooks it. Some options are using garlic butter instead of plain butter for added flavor, having picante added for those who like spice, and having teriyaki added for those who enjoy teriyaki flavors. Overall, it's an entertaining meal with tasty food! read more

We were here for my husband's birthday dinner (family tradition) and it seemed that everyone was shorted on something. Not to mention the habachi cook was sweating profusely All in all, not the greatest Benihana experience we have had. read more

Wow is making a comeback. Reserve table with Tot, ask for his table. He is the best chef and knows his job. Fast service and reservation on the dot. Increase ratings is you get rid of the carpet and replace with wood or tile. read more

What a dump! The bloom is off the rose with this franchise. Reservation time is not seating time. Your are parked until there is enough for a table of 8, got children with you, too bad. Our "Chef" could be be described as an amatuer. The show fell flat, as did him dropping utensils, if he had a personality he failed to show it. Service was glacial. After frist round of drinks server now where to be found, her attitude spoke to her being overworked. The food was meh at best, chef couldn't even distrubute the fried rice equally. Was too late to ruin everyone's evening when I realized the grill wasn't aged, it was dirty, I'd find everyone realized the state of things when they visited the bathroom a total disaster as well as observes some shady food prep areas. Topping this off, hugely overpriced. Thanks Benihana for reminding me in the harshes way possible to always check the reviews before booking you'lll be saved alot of hassle and potential a trip to the ER for what you caught at the place. read more

the best thing this restaurant can do, it's close. the management it's horrible!after you make a reservation they tell you it's an hour and half behind! we made the reservation the SAME day less than 1 hour before... they could take the times off the availability! and we were not the only ones. the excuse "sorry we are short staffed" not like they didn't know that ahead of time. read more

Very dirty ( just looking at the hibachi stove top would get you sick).. slow service... small portions + BAD FOOD I don't even know how they are still in business. Not worth a penny honestly save ur money and order Chinese take out I promise it will satisfy you way more than this -10/10 would be the appropriate rate for this place read more

I took my girlfriend to Benihana Restaurant for lunch because it was close to where I work. With us was her friend Amanda and my secretary. Our chef says to me, "You are loverboy. Every time you come here you have different woman with you. Now, you have date with three women. You loverboy." My girlfriend turns to me and yells, "What!?" read more

My mother and I just came for their sushi happy hour last night. Luckily it wasn't as crazy crowded as normal (at times it can get jammed in the lounge area since the sushi is good and the prices are great), so the noise level was down, and service was good. We ordered the shrimp tempura, dumplings and seaweed salad to start - all good. Nothing special, but great for the price. I added a bit of hot sauce and soy sauce to the sauces they came with, so all was good. We also ordered a few rolls - spicy tuna, dragon, caterpillar, and shrimp crunchy and they were all nice sized and a great bargain! Everything tasted fresh, although the spicy sauce I asked for wasn't as spicy as I normally like it. The portions were so generous, I had some to take home to the boy (even though they normally don't let you take happy hour home, I think they could tell we weren't trying to scam the place). I still haven't tried Wasabi happy hour, but I am okay with Benihana happy for now! read more

I was really excited to come here for my birthday. They took forever to seat us, even with a reservation. The people up front are rude. We didn't have a waitress come up to us for 10 mins then she explained she didn't know we were her table. The menus are dirty, the place itself is very dirty. Management sucks. Don't think I'm coming back here anytime soon. read more

Benihana - Cleveland - Just to show how dirty this place was, this is the bathroom. This place is nasty!!! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

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Horrible service, Manager was overwhelmed everyone had to wait an hour and a half for a chef so it was a two hour wait to eat.. They threw away extra food instead of serving it and the chef said he would lose his job if he served it to us after he had already cooked it... read more

Benihana - Cleveland - Sushi Bars Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

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Probably got to be one of the worse experiences I've had in a long time. Went for a business dinner. Its was for a party of about 20 or so. For starters, drinks took about 45 minutes to get to the table. Food came out speratically. And to top it off, my boss who was paying for this whole bill never got his food. Worse customer service I ever seen!!! read more

Horrible experience for the price. $200 for 4 with one drink and one appetizer and they forgot dessert for the kids meal, NEVER again!!!

Prepare to lose your cell signal when you go to this Benihana located in the basement of an old office building. That is one of the reasons I like this place- cut off for a short while. This is one of the better hibachi grills in the area. They put on a decent show and you know what you are eating is at least going to taste like the delicious shrimp sauce they dole out by the gallon. We typically go at lunch and end up stinking out the office when we return from the greasy hibachi smell that just sticks to you for hours. Benihana serves up some sushi, but I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. Stick to what is cooked in front of you, there is no reason to stray away from that. Where they really stick it to you is the bar. Their drinks are ridiculously expensive, so stick to beer- no mixed drinks. They aren't strong and cost a fortune. All told, this is a really fun place to go to every now and again. read more

I went to Benihana's for my boyfriend's birthday and although I had been there before it was like a new experience for me. When we go there, we had to wait although we had made reservations. The wait wasn't too bad, we only waited about 10-15 mins. To my surprise we were seated with other people . (The time I had gone we had a large party) I was kind of uncomfortable with this arrangement. Had I known prior maybe it wouldn't have been a big deal but I that part I didn't care for as well as I heard the other party saying how they had to wait for more people to arrive in order to get seated. (The reason for the 4) Other than that the Chef was really nice and very entertaining. He did some nice tricks for us and he was very attentive. He food was great and cooked perfectly and I liked the fact that who ever didn't want mushrooms or onions, the extras were passed around instead of being thrown out. I had a good experience at Benihana but I'm not sure if I would want to visit that often because of the lack of privacy. read more

We had a party of seven and a reservation for 7:30pm. We arrived on time, because I was called earlier in the day by Benihana to make sure to get there on time. We did not get seated until 10:00pm because they were very behind and over booked. Our chef did not come over to our table until 11:00pm (closing). He was clearly annoyed as well, and complained the whole time about being short staffed, and over booked. He also seemed inexperienced because he did not do any tricks, and took forever to cook our meal, which was overcooked and gross. We decided to go to Benihana for nephews birthday, and this was everyone's first time. The experience was completely mortifying and unacceptable. We were there for 5 hours! That's insane. No one from the restaurant seemed to care, and everyone's attitude was like" oh well, it is what it is". I would NEVER recommend this experience to anyone, from the service to the food. Very disappointing Benihana, please get your act together, and service customers better! read more

Our chef was really great. Good entertainment and did what he wS suppose to do. Benihana's as a whole was disappointing. To start our waitress was incredible disrespectful. For example we asked for plates as four of us were sharing a sushi plate she said they didn't have them and them with an attitude. Continued to have an attitude whenever we asked for ANYTHING. read more

Great flavors. Shrimp and chicken were fresh and the atmosphere was fun! "Harry" our chef was funny and made it a great experience. We got there at 5:30 and I would recommend the earlier the better, as waiting for a hibachi table can be a pain. read more

Benihana - Cleveland - Sushi Bars Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

I dislike giving a bad review to any business because it's hard enough to make it - BUT - Benihana on Chagrin Blvd is awful. Extremely dirty (we had dirty grimy plates), floor was filthy, food is poor, including the hibachi and don't order the Sushi either - it's not fresh and looks bad. After I ordered it and then looked at it once it was brought to my table I decided not to eat it, hostess was rude, service was bad and slow. My wife's drink was watered down and tasteless. The family next to us almost left it was so bad. This was probably one of the worst dining experiences we've ever had. read more

DO NOT GO TO HERE!!! I have always loved this place, been going there for nearly 15 years. The past 6 times I have been (in the last 3 years) to this location has been a horrible experience. I kept going in hopes it would get better, since I always loved the food. I go EVERY year for my birthday, I will no longer support or entertain this location in any way. Our waitress did not care about us at all. We were one of two tables occupied in her dinning room section, so there is no excuse to her horrible service. She did not bring us drinks for the first half hour/ forty five minutes we were there (there was 2 of us), she did not bring our soups or salads AT ALL and our meals came an hour and a half after they were ordered and was incorrect. The bartender, who I have recognized from the many years I've been going there, came to our table and was in disbelief that we had not received water, soup, or salad after an hour of sitting there. He was very kind and apologized as best as he could in english. The waitress seemed unconcerned and took an additional 30 minutes to bring us our bill and then took 15 minutes to bring our debit card back. What a waste of our time and money. And it absolutely ruined my birthday dinner. The service at this location has gone downhill fast. It seems as if all the new servers have has NO training at all and the managers could not care less. The manager was clearly aware of what was going on (we told him), but did absolutely nothing to help the situation. I was a server myself, I understand the difficulty, but I will never understand how management has let the service get so horrible at Benihana in Beachwood. DO NOT GO TO HERE!!! read more

I used to go to this place for special occasions like birthday celebrations when I was a kid and when it was called the Samurai. Some things have definitely changed, such as the clientele, but many things have remained relatively the same - like the table-side Hibachi cooking, and the absolutely delicious shrimp sauce. Now we only go when we get our Birthday Gift Certificates from Benihana, which is essentially free lunch for 2. Before I quit eating meat, I'd always order the steak and shrimp combo, which comes with fried rice and veggies, a small salad and soup with mushrooms and scallions. I'd always douse the meat and rice with the oh-so delicious, but oh-so incredibly unhealthy shrimp sauce. For those who know what I'm talking about, you know it's MMMMMMMMMM-good. One thing that I don't remember having at the Samurai was Sushi, probably because in the 80's, sushi was not as common as it is now. Last time we went we ordered the California rolls, which were fresh and good. The last 2-3 times we've gone, the service was sub-par, and we waited very long (45 minutes) to get our food. However a free lunch is a free lunch, even if it really isn't free. Will go again when we get emailed our birthday vouchers. read more

The food here is always great, however, the staff today was just off. Not one member of the staff was happy or smiling! We had a huge party and were definitely spending money, which was only going to benefit the server, who hated her job! Towards the end she seemed a little better! Was also disappointed that they were out of a ton of stuff, we ordered a roll, the oven was broke, I ordered another roll, they were out of the crunchy stuff for the top, we ordered much ultra they were out, all of the stuff was on the menu and there was no mention prior to Is ordering or even after ordering, they came back each time after 5 or so minutes to tell us, which took forever to eventually get our sushi! All in all it wasn't terrible the food here never disappoints so we always leave full and happy ! read more

Very poor service. We sat with a couple who had an 8:30 reservation and didn't get seated until 9:30pm. The waitress then said they didn't have a chef ready after we waited another half-hour. Waitress was rude and asked each of us what ingredients came in the meals we ordered...waitress also seemed slightly intoxicated, had no sense of urgency, and was very informal. Chef finally came out, and said his cart was prepared incorrectly, didn't have the correct items. Chef was AMAZING, and I felt bad he was dealing with such a low level of service/support. They were also out of shrimp, and didn't tell us until they started preparing our meals. We also weren't compensated for that. Small portions, poor quality, awful service. read more

Over priced. Food was subpar, building is in need of repairs. Hostess was not friendly. The chef was entertaining that's the only positive

food is amazing, service sucks. but i still gonna go there cuz the food is AMAZING. love you benihana u guys just need to be more on top of the orders and service read more

Benihana might be the best Japanese food in cleveland.But when my 2 sons go to the bar this old man was very rude to them they said. But all the outer workers are very nice. read more

Benihana is always a must for me whenever i go to a new city. Visited my family and didnt disappoint. Everyone was friendly. Food was great. Thanks for a wonderful experience. read more

Benihana - Cleveland - First trip to Ohio and Benihana didnt disappoint. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

Yeah...prob the worst Benihana's I've ever been too. We made a reservation for 7:30P we didn't get seated until 45 minutes after our reservation. I'm honestly typing this right now as I am continuing to wait for our chef to come to the table & its 9:00P. We came on NYE but still..this is insane. I have been to other Benihana's and I have never witnessed any type of service like this in my life. Def wouldn't recommend the Cleveland location! read more