I arrived for a 7pm reservation and was told that it will be about ten minutes all the while the two men at the desk was joking around and being unprofessional. After 15 minutes I asked the guys how much longer and at first they ignored me then responded about another 10 to 15 minutes at that time we left. I have been to several Benihana in California, Florida and Hawaii and since I was in Cleveland for a visit I decided to take a friend to the restaurant and was embarrassed for telling them about my past experience. Well that won't happen again read more

Seleema was an excellent server. very nice very attentive. prices have went up while the amount of food has went down you only get 2 veggies. onions and zucchini read more

Benihana is just not what it used to be. When you walk in, you immediately notice bare walls, so it lacks ambience. The chef at our table was relatively new, so even though he seemed nice, the "show" experience was lacking and it took longer for him to prepare the food. They have cut down drastically on the portion sizes, while continuing to raise prices. Two people at our table ordered chicken. The chef prepared one chicken breast and gave each person half. The vegetable portions were maybe a third of what they used to serve. Two adult diners can expect to pay around $100 or more. At one time this was a go-to place for a great upscale dinner, now it seems like the only customers there, are those redeeming free birthday coupons. Just saying that for the prices they charge, you can do much, much better in the Cleveland area. read more

Service was very poor, I waited 45 minutes for my drink and was served it once on the 4th of 5 courses. Water was never refilled. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Bathrooms were disgusting.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Food was very good other than the chicken, which was dry. read more

This is NOT the Benihana I remember! It was one of my all time favorite restaurants and I always had fond memories of it as an upscale dining experience. It is a far cry from what it used to be. I'll start with the one positive. The food was tasty, although they don't do mushrooms with the veggies anymore. That was disappointing. The rest of the experience (without going into the horrid details) was really really really bad. We waited forever. The managers were inept. The poor servers couldn't keep up. The bartender was stressed out. There weren't enough cooks. We didn't even get water (or any drinks for that matter) until we asked for them more than once. It was awkward. Sadly and with regret, I have to let it go and find a new teppanyaki. They don't even do the hot towels or dessert anymore. read more

We have always loved this restaurant. Lately the service has been subpar. I went this week for a small takeout order. I waited for 13 minutes at the front of the restaurant without acknowledgment. I walked around and waived at servers, still no one came. I took out my cell to call the restaurant after 16 minutes to pretend to place an order so someone would come to the front. That worked. When I got home, my rice was extremely hard and overcooked. The vegetables and eggs were burnt. The chicken was hard. The rice was dry and tasted awful. We were disappointed. read more

I went to BENIIHANA'S in beachwood lastnite to celebrate my 37th wedding wedding annivery wirh my husband and the szeveice was the worse i ever receiveed. We waitedover 45 mins before we even got a cook . On top of that the General manger Keevin was sooo Rude it was unbeleviable. I was was seved a drink that was 58 dollars that was so nasty that we told him we didn't like along with the fact i am not a drinker. He offered to add more acholol What the what? Then wanted to add more of more of the same stuff in the drink i said we didnt like. Another couple at the table had the same table had samee complaint . I feel our concerns were ignored. If i had known first that the drink was 58 dollars i would ordered somthing else not that we couldn't afford it but it didn't taste good. Kevin left a worse taste in my mouth than the drink. At the end of the meal after some coversation with Kevin and his un cincerned attitude he removed 29 dollars from the bill. I pray that this is not how Bussiness is not alway conducted. I shall not be return there for any celerbration. read more

Service review only. This Benihana's doesn't understand what the word reservation means. Kinda ruined Mother's Day. But their incompetence can't stop me from loving my mother! read more

We got a reservation for 7pm and they didn't seat us until 7:45. We then just sat there without anybody feeding us until 8:30 and then left without eating anything because we had somewhere to be. Don't come here if you care about eating food at restaurants. That feels like a low bar but apparently too high for this place. read more

highly recommend Chef Dinero, 10/10. Couldn't ask for anything better, definitely made the meal worth waiting for.

As the chefs name suggests the meal was on the money. Chef Dinero killed it and was super friendly. Highly recommend coming in to see him.

I have been coming here all of my life! First it was Samurai with tacky outdated decor, now its renovated, neat and broadly crisp decor of Asian Red. I was with a friend and we were both hunger. Benihana did not fail us. We ordered 4 or 5 Happy Hour specials and could not finish them...our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. (hehe) My favorite experience is the Spicy Shrimp roll with a lil sliver of jalapeno and sriracha. Just enough heat and add the wasabi paste and it gets done! My seriously one HUGE pitfall that I need to state. Why is it you have an elevator to accommodate physical challenges, then you have to go up 10-12 stairs to use the restroom??? How does that even make sense??? read more

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This is a plea for upgraded management and remodeling at Benihana Beachwood. Interior needs to be repainted and reflooored (grout and carpet--or black tile and grout that doesn't show dirt) and more ambient lighting (too bright and totally unromantic). The treads are held together on the steps as you walk down the main entrance with duct tape. My nine year old asked why our feet stuck to the floor when we ventured into the restroom (6pm, not at closing time). When we arrived at 6 o'clock for our 6:15 PM reservation, we were told that our table could not be ready for another 90 minutes, because of the chefs on duty only being at 1/3 capacity. When we complain and ask why management didn't call us and cancel or move our reservation, they insisted that they did. Which is why we showed up in person for no reason. (Of course!) The good news: good and convenient location and ample parking. read more

Easily the worst hibachi experience I've ever had. Portions are extremely small compared to other hibachi restaurants. The prices are almost double similar restaurants. Everything has an up charge even fried rice. Our chef had little to no experience. She didn't even know how to do an onion volcano lol come on now. Believe the bad reviews you see. Avoid this place. read more

They do not honor reservations, at all! I made one for 7:15pm for my family, and I was met with a rather nonchalant host who "apologized" and told me that I would have to wait forty minutes for our table. Even with making a reservation. This place is only good for takeout. Save yourself the trip and go to Pacific East instead. read more

Wish I could give 0 stars You know it's gonna be bad when you walk in to a restaurant and this is the first thing you see on the wall at the host stand... this place has hit way beyond rock bottom. No sense of customer service from our host or server. Our chef was really nice and it was fun to interact with him but the amount of BUTTER they use in the food is insane. 290$ later....We all got stomachaches after eating this food. We ordered the entrees that said they'd come with tea and ice cream, none of which were offered. The back of our table had a 4 by 4 folding room divider where all the employees were gathering and being loud... also looks like that's where they were prepping food. All which is so unsanitary. We will NEVER go back. read more

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

The place was completely empty at 1pm on Friday.. we had to wait to be seated, we waited to get a drink order, we waited for our salad and the cook never showed up to cook our meal! We left after 45 minutes and had nothing but a salad! And there were only 3 other people in the place! The service was horrid and I can't say anything about the food because we never got any! Horrible!!! read more

Stephia was amazing as always. I had a good time and it was good food. The service by the chef and waiter great!

[[HIGHLIGHT]]Shirley has and always will be the best at creating an amazing atmosphere, making all her guest feel special.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] She remembers every detail of what I've ordered as well as any changes I've made throughout the years. She's a Benihana gem. read more

I think this place is still pretty good, you get what you pay for. The prices are pretty reasonable as well. read more

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

Jamel was amazing!! He had a bright smile, infectious attitude and he can cook, the food was delicious!! I appreciate him and his care for our party, thank you Jamel!!! read more

As my teen would say mid at best. The food and show is what it is, which is consistent and what kind of person hates yum yum sauce? That wasn't the issue. The issue was service or lack there of. We were seated and waited for what felt too long for beverages . We then got our soup, finished and waited. The chef came out , to start the show, but no salads or plates had been brought. You know how many more drinks we may have bought to increase our bill? We can't answer that as we had to beg for refills. Then at the end of the the meal, at our basically unbussed table, we were given checks and had to ask for our dessert. I think the waiter was hoping we could leave and his misery could end. They seemed to have 2 servers for all the tables and maybe no buss folks. The table behind us complained and I was like, hell yeah! The manager should have been running the floor, but seemed unaware things were amiss until then. Where were you before that dude? Overall you know what Benihana is, but it felt like the Pinterest fail version tonight. Tell us you are short staffed, acknowledge the problem. Instead we felt forgotten, surrounded by dirty plates and having to ask for the dessert we paid for. For close to $300ish with tip , I am in zero hurry to go back. read more

Today we went to lunch. The tables are social distance safe 5 seats per table. I had the yakisoba with veggies and vegetable roll. The chef did an amazing job. She noticed I wasn't eating meat and asked if it wa ok to make my food on the same grill. She was very attentive and took her apron and utensils out of the package in front of us. The food was full of flavor she seasoned to perfection. She gave an amazing show and had great conversation. The restaurant doesn't have air conditioning at this time but does have several industrial portable air conditioning systems throughout the restaurant. We have not diner here in years. I'm glad to see they have change for the better. Also mask are required for entry. Overall the experience was good. read more

Benihana - Cleveland - Veggie Yakisoba Lunch. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

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We got the chili shrimp roll, beef gyoza and spring rolls to start. We loved our server. We couldn't sit at a hibachi table but it worked out well that we couldn't. Got a Benihana exclusive saki bottle on happy hour, I think it was the red flower. Then I got the calamari, shrimp and scallops hibachi. OMG EFFIN delicious. My Fiancé loved his filet hibachi and only gave me one bite because he wanted it all. Of course, Covid has made every experience awkward, aside from that chaos, we had a great experience. Can't wait to go back! read more

Chef Stephanie was amazing! She was very kind and entertaining! Most of all, she cooked our food with love and care! It was the best visit I've had to Benihana! She joined in our celebration making it the most jovial birthday celebration! We'll be back! Chef Stephanie was amazing! read more

This review is quite comical as I can't rate the food because we didn't eat. We had an 8:15 reservation. We walk in at 8:17 due to the roads being slick, to be told that it would be "quite a wait" for us to sit at a hibachi table even though that's what we reserved. [[HIGHLIGHT]]We weren't bothered by it, and understandingly sat at the bar knowing we could get the same food, sans the experience.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] We sit at the bar for 5 minutes and the bartender says he has to go to a table before he can wait on us. We go back to the host stand and say we will just wait for the table since we can't get served at the bar either. We do get sat eventually at a hibachi table with 3 other people. We finally walked out, un-fed, at 9:50. Mind you, we left $50 cash for the 2 drinks we had. Everything else was a joke. No manager anywhere in sight. [[HIGHLIGHT]]And might I add there were children running everywhere screaming and throwing massive amounts of toilet paper all over the bathroom and in the toilets.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]Save your time if you want to actually want to eat dinner and not watch a complete shit show of a staff and other people's children.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I already filled out the survey at "benihanalistens.com" so let's see if we can do better than a canned response. read more

It's been many years since we've been to Benihana and I can assure you, we will not be coming back. Our reservation was at 6. We didn't get sat until 6:15 (we were all there at 5:50) because we know everyone has to be there first. We were never told there was a bar we could order drinks at while we waited, that would have been nice. I had to ask for updates on the status of our table. While our server was friendly and nice - the service was just extremely slow from the minute we sat down. Again, not sure who dropped the ball but it was frustrating. As for the restaurant itself, again we haven't been in probably 8 years - WOW is it run down. It's so bright when you walk down there (comparing it to wasabi or Shinto) extremely bright lights while trying to enjoy a dinner was kinda weird but whatever - zero dinner lighting /warm lighting. The entire place is very outdated Now while we've always known hibachi is not a cheap endeavor, we like to do it for special occasions for that reason. Our chef was nice but SO unbelievably disinterested. She literally jumped into character and rushed through the whole thing. ZERO interaction with the table. Again this is me comparing it to multiple other hibachi places that we've been to in the past recently. Any other hibachi place that we go to my plate is literally mounded high... The entire time she was cooking everyone got the smallest portions of each thing. My plate was empty near the end which has NEVER happened at a hibachi restaurant. Even with inflation I promise you can get more for your money elsewhere No more sake shots no more tossing of the rice or shrimp in the mouth.the tricks and engagement and laughing and making the birthday person feel special.. she didn't even wish the birthday girl happy birthday lmao. I mean that's literally all part of the experience? But again, not going to get that from employees who are miserable and disinterested in their jobs. Overall- 4/10. Staff is so disinterested in their jobs, no engagement with the customers at all. Extremely run down restaurant which makes me sad, but it is what it is. Best of luck to you Benihana! read more

I was very excited to celebrate my birthday at hibachi tonight with my mother, but unfortunately the experience was quite disappointing. When my mom and I walked in, there was no host to welcome us in the front. Instead, I found him in an office with another employee laughing and joking around. When the host saw me looking around for an employee, he then came out to seat us. My mother and I both ordered the hibachi dinners, which came with a salad and cup of soup beforehand. Both were VERY salty. The ginger sauce that came with the meal (paired with yum yum sauce) was also extremely salty. When the chef came out, he greeted us but did not do much for my birthday. Usually chefs at hibachi restaurants demonstrate different trick and make everyone laugh, however this chef was a bit boring. The only sort-of exciting act was the fire volcano in the onions. When he divided up the veggies and placed them on all of our plates, my mother and I barely got any veggies (see picture below). Mine was mainly onions with a few pieces of zucchini, VERY upsetting. When the chef finished up cooking, my mother and realized that we didn't have our steamed rice. It appeared that the waitress forgot about bringing it out, because when she heard us ask she ran into the kitchen to get it. We were halfway finished with our meal by the time we got our rice. On the bright side, we were sitting with a lovely group of people. Also, the employees were friendly. read more

Benihana - Cleveland - The amount of veggies that I got for dinner.. VERY disappointing! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

Terrible experience. Had reservations for 8pm. Waited about 20 mins to be seated. Then proceeded to wait an additional hour+ without the chef ever showing up. Our waitress tried her best to serve us. But you can tell there is a lack of organization and consideration for customer service. Not to mention the lack of cleanliness. At the rate they're at this establishment is on its last leg with remaining in business. It was absolutely ridiculous. Save your time and money. read more

First let me say I have been to Benihana many times in the last few years and have always had a good experience. This visit convinced me not go again. First, the tables are smaller which caused cramped seating. We removed an unused chair in order to have more room. The food was a little slow coming out, although the restaurant was not crowded at all. My husband has a shellfish allergy and was unable to eat his shrimp which came with the meal. I advised waitress and chef that I would take his shrimp. After preparation I asked chef where were my husband's shrimp, he stated he gave them to me. I did not see that but he offered to provide another serving, but seemed to have a slight attitude. We had the seared tuna for appetizer which did not taste fresh and had no flavor. my husband ordered the strip steak and due to his allergy his steak was cooked first. Fine. i had Seafood Diablo which was too spicy. By the time chef was done cooking all of the other food, our rice,veggies etc. and husband's steak were just barely warm. It could have been because the chef was socializing with 2 of the customers whom he obviously had a prior connection. My calamari, shrimp and scallops were cooked perfect. as was my husband's steak. It was obvious that the chef was not very experienced in this position. We had a $30 birthday certificate but even with it, the meals were over priced for the quality. read more

I'm sad to say this will be the last time I will ever enter a Benihana restaurant again. This does not bring me joy. I have such wonderful memories of how they used to be. I have given them 3 chances over the past year. First in Arizona they failed miserably, 2nd in Florida even worse, and now I sit in their Cleveland location. They have hit rock bottom. My criticism is similar in all three Locations. No host to seat or welcome me. The entrance floor and carpet were filthy. Here in Ohio, Employees were on their phones and ignored my presence at the bar. I had to get out of my set & look for service. All I heard was obnoxious offensive music, and employees talking loudly about the ir personal life. After 13 minutes I was approached by a server. I ordered a beverage. I decided not to order food only an appetizer. Shrimp tempera which was soggy & small. So disappointed words can not express. I will now close the chapter on Benihana. Only to keep the wonderful memories of how it was years before, but is no more. read more

Had a reservation for 7:15 PM on a Thursday night. Our party of 8 was there on time. We were not seated until 7:45 PM. Chef did not come out after 9 PM to cook!!! We did not leave until after 10 PM! In the past decade the service and food has gone downhill. Hostess nor manager came to explain the delays, we had to approach them. We will not be returning to the Cleveland Benihana. read more

I'm honestly shocked Benihana has a two star review. I hope I can help change people's mind to try it again. This was my fiancée and I's second time coming here on our anniversary. As usual we make our reservations ahead of time. The best thing is that Benihana uses open table so you don't even have to call. When we arrived we were seated at one of the stations where the stove tops are. We were the only ones at our table, probably because it was a Wednesday and 5:30. Our waitress, Jen was fabulous. She was very nice and quick. She was constantly filling up my water (which is a major plus to me). We decided to order appetizers and they were brought out very quickly. We got the potstickers. The appetizer came with five potstickers. They were so delish! The only thing I would comment on is more filling in them. Then we placed our orders for the chef to cook. We both ordered the entree with chicken and shrimp. Our chef for the evening was Charles. He was also fabulous! Each time we come here, the chefs do a different 'performance'. We never see the same thing unlike some other hibatchi places. Charles was hilarious. He cooked our food perfectly and made sure it was to our liking. Oh...it was!! My fiancée and I both could not finish all the food...there was so much! Once we were getting ready to leave, the man who I am assuming was the manager/owner came over and asked if we were celebrating something. We told him and he took our photo. After a moment, he came back with our photo in a Benihana paper frame and explained there was a url to access our photo online! How neat! As usual we will be back next year for our anniversary, because this place is too good to pass up. read more

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Our family had dinner there on Friday, May 26. Party of 11 our reservation was for 5:15. We were seated right away. We had great drinks. The Manager Ayanna Augustine was warm and welcoming. Our Chief JV was awesome, he was entertaining and the food was seasoned so well. Everything was wonderful and when you have a big party sometimes it does not always turn out that way. We will be back. Outstanding Job! Thank you the Greene Family read more

Im disappointed to see the restaurant's rating fall, yet I must contribute to the decline. I've been coming to this specific benihana for over 10 years. It has been my Go-To celebration spot for a very long time. Unfortunately regardless of the corporate structure of the cooks and management the wait staff has continued to disappoint. Chefs are amazing, managers are attentive, and drinks are strong, but if the wait staff does not deliver the hard work the rest of the team with enthusiastic presentation it ruins the result. A restaurant hinges totally on the customer facing wait staff. 5 years ago the wait staff was so welcoming it started the tradition and now because of the wait staff it may end. I want to give this franchise more chances but when the wait staff is yelling at me because I am not satisfied with the wait (which is a product of thier lack of effort) I am not incentevized to return. If it would be up to the waitress I would never return. It is disheartening that I have to write this review. read more

Benihana used to be one of my absolute favorite restaurants, but has gone a bit downhill. I had a reservation for 3 at 7:15pm and upon arrival, was told that my reservation has been moved to 8:15pm without notice--what is the point of a reservation? The host apologized and told us we could wait in the bar area and order drinks/sushi. We waited over 45 minutes and nobody came over to take our order or even offer us water. We finally got sat, but never got a chance to order anything in the bar area. Once we got seated, it took extremely long to get a chef and after he began cooking, quickly realized he did not have many of the ingredients to make our meal. Our chef was wonderful, and entertained us as much as possible. While I did think it was expensive, the food was outstanding and we all had plenty of leftovers! I was a bit disappointed that I had to ask our waiter multiple times for the dessert that came with our meal at the end, and he seemed annoyed by this. Overall, terrible service, but great food. read more

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

Ordered $325 of food (hibachi) for carry out delivery. No sauces or soup mixes were included and forgotten . Obviously sauces are important with this type of food. That's why they have sauces. Neither the door dash or Restaurant manager would do anything to resolve but say their sorry and I would need to pick up what was missing myself even though I have a 50 minute total commute. Based on principle, I'm done with this restaurant. I spend $750 a month at this restaurant but the manager could care less . Basically said he's sorry but it's up to me to drive 50 minutes if I want what they forgot. read more

This is not what Benihana used to be and is known for. For the highly ridiculous inflated price, there was no "show". The "chef" kept dropping the knives on the ground and did not do any additional tricks or add any fun or amusement. Staff was so disinterested. The service sucked and the seating arrangements made no sense. We had a reservation but an hour and 15 minutes after that time, we still had no chef. There was a birthday girl at our table, but the staff paid no respect or extra attention to her. No more tricks, no more fun experience. And to top it off, the place is grungy and the table was disgusting and sticky. We unfortunately will never come back. Do yourself a favor and go anywhere but here. For hibachi, don't think twice about going to otani, wasabi or samari - those experiences are 100000% better. read more

This used to be a great restaurant. Those days are over. I just made the mistake of ordering delivery. They didn't include the entire meal. No salads at all, and the amount of meat was far less than it used to be (I ordered for two). I won't make this mistake again. read more

Took 3.5 hours for our food to be fully cooked. The "chef" did nothing special, didn't talk, didn't do any tricks, didn't do anything. He was super slow, cross contaminated all the food. The chicken was dry and chewy. The filet mignon was out so we got tiny pieces of "New York strip" steak. He kept throwing things on the ground. Not to mention our waitresses attitude. She was rude and didn't care about anything. I sat for 2 hours without a refill, and without even seeing her. The manager stopped by all the tables around us and avoided us. We had to remind our waitress that our food came with ice cream... we shouldn't have to do that. After 40 minutes.... Yes 40. We finally got ice cream that the manager claims that she just got and it was hard as a rock. We should've had it 40 minutes ago and you're telling me it was just being scooped? And the ice cream tasted like it came out of a Kroger thing of sherbet. I'm highly disappointed as I drive 2 hours to meet a friend for their birthday and this is the experience I get. read more