Considering it as a japanese restaurant, where are the Japanese chefs? I know... I sound ignorant with that statement. But to quote Paulie from Rocky Balboa, "what's so special about Italian food cooked by spanish.". In this case it's Japanese food. I've had the fortune to have great Japanese steakhouse experiences, this wasn't it. This was just sitting in front of a big hot plate with a guy slaving over it. Food lacked flavor, hence the "fancy" Ginger and peanut sauce that I'd be surprised if they were made with Ginger or peanut. Q: why is the fried rice made first? A: so I'd be stuffed with something cheap and wouldn't care if the protein sucks. Just very gimmicky. Waste of food the way it's prepared. Too costly for what you get. It sucked. Smack me if I were ever to return with their surprise envelope discount/promo thingie. read more

We stopped here for dinner only because the place we really wanted to go to - P.F. Chang's had too long a wait. We were seated at a table that was empty, but we could tell that the servers were stalling on taking our orders until they could fill the table at which we were sitting. Ten minutes later the seats next to us were filled with 4 little kids and zombie parents. Looking around the entire dining room, I felt like there were more kids here than at Chuck E. Cheese on a Saturday night. Maybe I would have felt better if I was a parent, but the thought of eating a $40 + meal with a glass of wine, surrounded by a bunch of snot-nosed kids wearing paper chef hats, was a bit of a let-down. I ordered the teriyaki chicken. We waited longer than we should have so the "chef" could get the orders of the entire table, and cook it all at once. Tick tock tick tock. I finished my glass of wine by the time the chef finished his unimpressive show and wanted another glass to drink with my meal, but the waiter did not come back. My friends ordered fried rice and were faced with having to make a choice of eating it right then and there while it was hot without having the meat that goes with it, or waiting for the meat and letting it go cold. I got steamed rice which was brought out to me in time with the meat, but it was a tiny little portion. The five little morsels (chunks) of shrimp thing as an appetizer was just weird. The chef portioned out the sauces, and I knew I was going to want more, but there was no comfortable way to ask for more, because the original portioning was part of the show. Once the meat was finally ready, it was bland, tasteless and lacked seasoning. I dumped my remaining sauce on top of my rice and meat and made a really bad MSG stew. When I left, I smelled like a big burnt hibachi hot mess. This was not a very good experience. Maybe if you grew up in a really rural town in the midwest or was locked in a small closet for 20 years you would find this interesting and culturally stimulating. I found it to be an expensive BUST. read more

Rufino was great. Was both entertaining and made great food. I totally suggest this place.

we dine a lot at similar restaurants like Kobe, Hooked and Aoba, and w/ my husband growing up in CA with Benihana, we've been looking forward to going, which we did last night. First, I must say that the kitchen fire that unfortunately evacuated us did not sway my vote for the 2-star (but maybe it should?). it added a little more excitement to my son's birthday celebration than we expected. I'm rating this based on the hibachi table dining, not sushi (which we love but didn't have on this visit). I have hope that my rating could be higher if we only went for sushi. Here are my observations: 1. not the authentic display and presentation at the table (most of staff were hispanic and clearly just learned how to cook and show off at the table. dont mean to be critical, but this part of hibachi dining can either make the evening or be bad. 2. although i like creativity on sauces and other courses, we thought the standards were not an improvement: soup was bland, salad dressing very sour, and the tempura sauce even more so (not at all what you are used to--they should at least offer the traditional soy-mirin as an option since it's such a consistent formula everywhere else--we had 3 orders of tempura and hated the sauce). 3. expensive 4. the julienne beef cut in kitchen for my son's meal was cut w/ grain (wrong and tough) Positives I can offer: 1. large place, and nicely setup and decorated. 2. good kids menu (traditional options at smaller price/proportion) 3. they take reservations I might go back for a try at their sushi, but we will definitely stick to Kobe's for hibachi...the staff has been there for years and some since we started going there 10-12 years ago. read more

I really wanted to have a better experience dining here. I came here with a party of 9 for a graduation party. The bartender was quick, helpful & nice. The host staff was friendly. But, I have to agree with the review below about the table service. The chef at our table was very new to this style of cooking, he was from Cancun, and had just started working for Benihana. I think half the experience at a Japanese Steakhouse should be the presentation the chef gives while cooking. There was little to none presentation. I think the guy should probably still be in training, he had no business out on the floor. Also, the waitress was clearly overworked, she would come by the table very rarely. Overall, next time I want to go to a Japanese Steakhouse, I will go somewhere else. Too bad, as this is very close to my house. read more

Hello Folks! Just thought I'd share my experience at this lovely place. If I had to sum it up in one word id say... good!... yea, that sounds about right. The food wasn't spectacular but the environment was good and I like people that make my food with love. Now because of the website I was expecting Japanese chef's doing their thang, imagine my surprise when my chef was Mexican! :-O but oh well, Mexicans can cook too, just didn't think they cooked Japanese food. Also, the dish that me and my baby cakes ordered, wasn't anything Asian inspired, shrimp, chicken and veggies in its most elaborate form , is just that, shrimp chicken and veggies. But the food lacked any "POW" and by "POW" i mean stuff that makes me want to come back. It lacked flavor and the special stuff that could have possibly make this place a staple restaurant for me. The chef was great, very funny and personable. All in all it was a good experience. Doubt I'd go there again and for the simple fact that I can get better food for a cheaper price.... not being cheap but I'm a struggling student. Even though I didn't pay, I felt bad for my man. :-/ (Just for a second :-p). Oh and also I was expected to get at least 2- 3 drinks in my system before we left the restaurant, however our waiter made sure to inform us that after he made our first drink, the bar would be closed. It was about 10:30 pm, wtf! That's my usual "get wasted" time so I was highly peeved. I made sure to explain to my hubby that already I'm not a fan of his state of residence since I'm a NYC girl. Like wtf?! Doesn't anything stay open late?!?! read more

Came here with my parents for a celebratory dinner & it was flawless. Our chef was Christian & he was amazing. He kept conversation with us going the entire dinner & was very polite. Not to mention the food..... The steak & scallop combo was heavenly. The fried rice, the veggies, everything. Had such a great time! read more

I sincerely wish I could give less than one star and still warn others... About a week ago, my sweetie and I went to Benihana's for our anniversary. We had heard tons of sterling recommendations that it was an awesome place with great food, and since my sweetie loves the whole American style TeppanYaki thing, it seemed a good fit. Never again. I am pregnant, so when I say "well done, please", I mean that if the steak is not cooked to well done, and is bloody when you put it on my plate, I can't eat anything on my plate. Doctor's orders. Not to mention disgusting (sorry to those who like mooing steak). I can understand a chef who gets in a hurry and totally screws up the steak, what I cannot understand is a cook who refuses to do anything to fix the mistake. My white rice was absolutely fine, until my third bite when I, midway to my mouth, looked down at the bowl and saw a large chunk of steel wool poking out of the remaining rice. I was polite and did not scream or freak out, I was raised to wait til I could politely grab a manager and bring the issue to their attention without causing a fuss. Damn southern upbringing... Why? Because when I waited til there was a quiet moment and everyone else was almost done to grab a manager and explain the issue, the woman promptly made a huge fuss consisting of how there was No Possible Way this was their fault... She demanded to check my purse for steel wool, and was rather upset upon learning I had no intention of complying, did not even have a purse, and did not even have pockets. No apology was made for the foreign object in my food, no apology was made for the fact that I could not eat my chicken or my steak since bleeding steak had been placed on top of my chicken, and since I am not yet showing, the woman was beyond skeptical of my "story" regarding pregnancy and not being able (if i had been willing) to eat rare steak or bled on chicken. ____________________________ This is technically a second review now, since some folks took us out to celebrate and didn't realize Benihana's was NOT the place to take us, and we couldn't back out as they swore we had reservations already waiting... No steel wool in the rice this time, thank God, but our chef had to have the waitress explain to him what everyone was saying - fine if it was in Japanese, how authentic, not fine since it was Spanish... The waitress was fine, drink refills were prompt, but once again the steak was undercooked.... This time, I managed to move my chicken out of the way, and surprisingly, the grill was hot enough that my steak finished cooking on my plate, which I've never had happen in at least a dozen GOOD teppanyaki experiences, which I still cannot find it in me to call Benihanas. Maybe this is unfair, but for these high prices, I really do expect everything to be first class, and this just isn't it. read more

Arrived at 4:07. No one was there to greet us at the door. We saw the staff sitting at a table but no one would help us for approximately 10 minutes. The food was average. There was no seasoning for the chicken or steak. We only had one slice of zucchini with some onions. We were charged extra for the fried rice and there were no noodles included and I was actually charged $3.50 for a tonic water. For the price we were very disappointed. The service was good at least. This was our first and last time. read more

I have trouble understanding how this place has a 2 1/2 star rating. It's been about 2 years since I've been to a Benihana's and I was definitely pleasantly surprised. While it's been two years since I've been to a Benihana's, I have certainly experienced the water downed experience that has become modern Hibachi. I lost my Hibachi virginity at a Benihana's and ever since I have been searching for an experience that can rival my first time. As it is in real life that first time can't quite be matched but this has to of been the best since that fateful date. read more

Food was decent so I'll give an extra star. Small portions for the prices. Horrible WiFi and they act like your crazy when you ask for a regular menu bc their phone menus won't load. When ordered my $35 entree, the waitress asked if we wanted fried rice, naturally being at a hibachi we said yes. Little did we know that it would mean being charged an extra $5.30 EACH for "chicken fried rice". Never in my life have I gone to a Japanese steak house and walked out paying $11 extra for fried rice on top of $35 for my entree? Also menu states that the 6 course entrees come with hot tea and ice cream, of which we got either. We were actually told ice cream was extra? What I was most confused by is why the waitress was so interested in getting the extra $$ on the bill for the rice but never once over the hour + we were there asked me if I wanted another of the $14 cocktail I ordered. I will be writing corporate. Even the couple we shared the table with complained and the waitress tried to act like they were stupid and that they should have known it was chicken fried rice. Uh. No. I want fried rice. I ordered chicken for my entree. So disappointed- I feel like I got played. Won't be back. read more

One of the worst Japanese restaurants you can eat at I gave them two tries- dinner and lunch. Skip it for the following reasons: 1) No energy from the chefs- they act annoyed and you cannot even hear them talk 2) the food is horrible. The quality, the way it is prepared (overcooked in most instances) and under seasoned (to the extreme). 3) I had an open and honest conversation with the manager at lunch time. She said she had never gotten a complaint before and had never heard any customer say the food was bad. I asked her to be honest with me- she said she was. I was blown away. I told her that I would certainly pay my check- I was not looking for a free meal. I just hoped that the food would improve. She told me that she was glad I told her but that everyone else thinks it is fine. Trust me- it is not fine. I can eat airplane food and find it better than this. Do your self a favor and find some place else to go. read more

After a day of people watching at Dulles Towncenter the day after Christmas, the wife and I gathered the kids up and headed over to Benihana with promises of the "Onion Volcano". The setup of the restaurant is actually fairly nice. I really likes the slightly curved tables to the rectangular ones in use at other similar restaurants. The food is on the expensive side. All dinner items come with steamed rice, Fried Rice is an extra $3.50 per person. Our chef didn't have any of the flair that I would hope for in a teppanyaki experience. The fried rice "heart' was about as exciting as it sounds. The Onion Choo-Choo train was a definite disappointment. The Fried Rice itself wasn't to bad, but was fairly plain. I could have done without it. Once the rice was plated our chef began with the shrimp appetizers. I don't know about you, but I don't like having shrimp tails thrown at me. This was the worst part of the "show" as it were. Entrees ordered by my family covered chicken, steak, filet mignon and scallops. The primary seasoning for all of these were salt, pepper and sesame seeds. The food was about as plain as it could be. All in all this was not a good experience. With there being other teppanyaki dining options in the area that are cheaper, more entertaining and tastier my family and I will not be returning here read more

The food was good, not great. I've been to other teppanyaki places and this wasnt the best food. It was still good. What made up for it was the service. We celebrated our anniversary there last night. The spicy chicken hibachi was spot on and so was the tofu steak. Our chef did do the customary onion volcano, shrimp toss and juggling. Our waiter brought out complimentary ice cream and even clicked our picture, framed it and gave it to us. I also recommend the exotic mojito. I will go there again. read more

This was our first time trying this place. Garlic butter galore!!! Chicken had NO flavor. Veggie string portion was lousy. Menu said soup was included but none of us got soup. Service was LOUSY-it was a 1.5 hour lunch because of poor service. Vegetable tempura portion was tiny--what veggie tempura doesn't have onions?!?!??? This place! Very disappointed. Place is upgraded and bright but the Chef did NO show. We will continue to go to our favorite place in Leesburg--Kobe Steakhouse!!! read more

Would not recommend At all. Food was horrible, service was okay, yum yum sauce wasn't very impressive, and the chef was not entertaining at all.. shrimp was lemon and butter. Noodles were nasty. Usually not picky but when you spend $70 on two people, I would expect a little more flavor in the food. read more

The food was good, service was terrible, I ordered a Chardonnay and the waitress brought me a red wine when I told her it wasn't the drink I ordered she said" I asked you what type you wanted " I said regardless this isn't a Chardonnay it's red wine.. it was my sons birthday he wanted to come here which I had objected to since I've been here before and the atmosphere is boring... the waitress sang happy birthday forgot to light the candle... oh and the printer for our picture wasn't working...my son was very disappointed... as I knew he would be.. read more

Went here for our anniversary for some sashimi as I had the best one several years back. Was very dissapointed with their fish selections. So we sat at the lounge by the chef. The chef does not speak very much English and when i asked how many fish will i get for my sashimi deluxe, she kept saying "one" until the waiter clarified. I loved the shredded daikon so much so i requested to be given more than the regular serving. The chef forgot to include it at first but gladly gave me 2 servings when i asked for it - they were'nt fresh though:( Anyway, i think this is such a pricey place for sushi. I bet i can get it elsewhere better and more for my money. Not sure about the hibachi, i am not a big fan. read more

This used to be my all time favorite spot. Went here today for Mother's Day. Food was way over priced now they skimped on the fried rice only give you about a 1/2 cup and want to charge u 3.25 extra for it! For what they charge there is no excuse that!! :( not going back here read more

went to have dinner with friends. service was ok.had salmon and was very upset as it was stinking and since i had some portion if it i did not return it. next morning had a very bad upset stomach. strange thing is that they that they added the tip of $20 on their own to the check without my knowledge. that is so upsetting. i have disputed this charge. please be careful with these guys when you give your credit card to them. save the receipt. i am never going back to this place again. read more

First visit after hearing good things about the place and I was disappointed. I sat at the bar and had a tuna avacado and Philadelphia roll. The amount of fish in the rolls was below average and some of the pieces were chewy. I then had two tuna nigiri rolls and only the albacore one was very good. The service was great though, too bad the food wasn't. read more

New experience for me: A Japanese Style Restaurant with a dirty floor. Hmmm. Questionable. Food was ok, I've had better. The cleanliness thing really bugs me though. read more

We have been meaning to try this restaurant for a while and one night we went there with the entire family and one of our friends. IT WAS THE WORST RESTAURANT EXPERIENCE EVER!! First it took the chef more than one hour to get to us. Secondly there was no alcohol in the alcoholic drinks. By the time they prepared the food my kids were asleep and after I talked to the manager; the only thing I got was the bill! They are unprofessional and both the food and service are tasteless! For the money the charge, you can go to a much better restaurant with much better food and service. I will never go there again and will not recommend it to anyone either! read more

If your looking for a wonderful experience, I would not recommend this establishment. We were seated at our table, put our arms on the table, probably not the best manners but they stuck to the table. Literally stuck. My grandson said maybe the table was like that so that our menus wouldn't fall off! We should have left but right then but he really wanted Japanese Steakhouse so we stayed. Thankfully the food was ok but I couldn't wrap my head around what the counters in the kitchen must be like. Will definitely not be going back or recommending it to anyone that I know. They received the 1 star because of our waiter, he was very attentive otherwise they would not have gotten any stars. read more

Don't know why we went back. Happen to be in the area and had a coupon. Horrible, horrible service. Have to chase someone down for everything. Server was very sweet, but she just couldn't keep up - seems like a management staffing issue. Food is pretty good, but not worth the painful service, wait..delays..and too pricey. read more

I came here for lunch on Valentines day, and I believe cupid must have prepared my steak and chicken because it was defiantly made with love, infants, and heart tipped arrows. Now that plus the Mexasians and you have one exotic meal. read more

This restaurant does not even deserve the one star, but that is the lowest this site will allow. Despite a reservation,we had to wait more than 30 minutes to be seated.Then, no server came until I went to the manager to request that we at least have some water. Once the server came, she was rude and did not deliver what she should have. The "chef" was some young kid, who would not stop talking about himself, including how he had recently been fired from Home Depot before this job. When we would try to talk with each other, the "chef" got angry and interrupted us. He was unable to perform even the simplest task, and even dropped the knife that went flying towards us. The food he cooked was so bad, we could not eat any of it. I am still unsure how you can ruin chicken, but he managed to do it. I tried to reach out to corporate to try and save this restaurant, but no one ever responded. read more

I've experienced better. Came here with the family Sunday afternoon for lunch. The restaurant was empty. We all ordered various meats, three orders were pork and surprisingly they were out of pork. I would understand if it was dinner but it was around lunch time...clearly shows the restaurant is not prepared for the day. read more

Last night was my first time here for happy hour. And I will certainly be back soon! it's nice to find a happy hour ending at 7, unlike some of the earlier ones ending at 6:30.With traffic in our area, you can always use a few minutes to make it to your destination. It took my friend and myself a while to decide from the menu, there are a lot of choices ranging from $3 to $6. We opted to split an order of the beef gyoza dumplings and I then ordered the chili shrimp roll and the Gotham roll.Wow! The dumplings were flavorful and pan fried to perfection on both sides.The Gotham roll was yummy and I liked the Lotus root garnish! However, the real sushi champion was the chili shrimp roll! 6 amazing pieces, with 6 huge pieces of spicy tempura battered shrimp on top of crab and cream cheese mixture. It was so delicious. I even influenced another table of happy hour diners, who saw mine and asked their waiter for the same dish! You cannot beat it, especially with it being only 6.00 during happy hour. I will certainly come back asap and order it again . I'm also looking forward to trying out the other rolls, and the teriyaki wings! read more

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As far as Benihana's go this one was not up to par with others I have visited around the country. Maybe the staff was new or the management is unexperienced but there is definitely room for improvement. That being said the food was ok, not thing to write home about though. read more

over priced and didn't cook their chicken well. I got sick from it.

I love Benihana and the cheesy waiter we always seem to get. :) We go there all the time! I've never gotten anything other than the filet minon with fried rice and veggies, and the edamame. My friend has ordered sushi here and claims that it's fabulous! :) read more

Awful. They crossed the line when they served us cold chicken fried rice in plastic to-go containers our server grabbed from the back of house rather than having the chef cook it. Terrible experience and terrible food. Do NOT eat here. I'd give less stars if I could. read more

Proposed to my now wife at this amazing restaurant ! One of the biggest events in my life went unexpectedly perfect thanks to the staff at this location. The staff seemed almost as excited as I was and did a magnificent job helping make the surprise special. Forgot to give the review that is well overdue ! Thanks guys you rock ! read more

The hibachi here is where all hope goes to die. I don't know what could have saved the limp vegetables, the bland rice, and over cooked scallops but it definitely wasn't the murky water they served as our soup appetizer beforehand. I did a two year stint in prison, and there were days that the food was comparable to the food I got here. The people I met in prison were nicer and more accommodating than the wait staff here, the only thing worse than the food. Will never return. read more

This is by far my favorite hibachi joint and I don't care if its a chain! IMO they're obviously doing something right. I simply love their hibachi, but if I could order unlimited rounds of their garlic fried rice that would be oh so good and possibly oh so bad...for the waistline at least. Tip, sign up for their email and you'll receive coupons! read more

Nice place. Our chef was kinda boring and our server messed up our order, but can't really expect much from this place. It's all about the show here... read more

Slow service. Sushi was better than I thought it would be. Although if you are expecting clean precise sushi this is not your place. Good fresh fish slow service. You kind of know what to expect at this type of establishment and it delivers just that. Good but nothing amazing. Well prices for what you get. I will be going back and give their slow service another chance. read more

Had reservations for 20 (2 tables) for 5:30 last evening. We had a wonderful time as the tables were back in the corner so we could see each other and chat. The food was good and everyone seemed to enjoy (I heard no complaints). The chef at our table entertained the one child with us so he was never bored and enjoyed his food. The service was good and I appreciated the picture they took of our entire party. The staff checked on us quite a few times and ensured we all had take away boxes as needed. I would go again. read more

Loved the service. It's my second time at this location. Both have been just great!! I can't wait to return.