if I could leave zero stars I would. There manager "Dean" is extremely unprofessional and does not care about customer satisfaction or experience. When addressed with the following, he said to contact the corporate office and mumbled "Duck off" as the customer walked away. Moreover, the cooked dropped food on the table and then proceeded to pick it up and put it on the customers plates. As well, the cook tried to serve three customers who order filet basic New York cuts. And to complete the experience, there was hair in the ice cream served at the end of the meal. By far the worst experience ever at a restaurant that's charges for quality service and food. Terrible experience, horrible quality of food for the money, and poor leadership. "Dean" is a terrible representation of the Benihana restaurant name. Very unfortunate to experience the level of incompetency at this Encinio, Ca branch Benihana. read more

Service is very slow due to how packed they are. Food was either too salty or lacking flavor. for the $100+ you might as well spend it somewhere else. expected food to be better but left disappointed. portions are also very small compared to how it was before! not coming back! Cook also didn't provide any entertainment and was js throwing things around. read more

Terrible Management of their reservations and respect of guests time, Been here twice with a reservation, and each time have to wait in lobby for an hour, next to cold windy door, with standing room only. And they are completely indifferent saying it's normal. read more

Fun, festive atmosphere and delicious filet mignon, fresh lobster, and shrimp. It was entertaining to see the chef prepare our food, he made it look so easy. Several of the staff came to us throughout the night to ask how we were doing and if we needed anything else. They even took a picture of us after the meal and printed out a copy for us to take home. They run a tight ship. The food was flavorful and delicious, surprising since the ingredients were so basic. (Salt, pepper, oil, butter) The restaurant was crowded with birthday parties. (Apparently you get $30 off on your birthday if you register online) I will definitely be back. read more

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Never ever ordering takeout from Benihana's ever again. I spent over $115 on an Uber Eats order n it was the biggest waste of money. Not the only did they forget my potstickers, but the portion size in the takeout container was seriously like a kid's meal. I can't even believe this bullshit was over $100 for this bullshit. If I could I would give this location a half star rating. read more

Never disappoints. Come here all the time for drinks and dinner. Food is great, chefs are entertaining, great place for birthday parties. read more

Benihana - Encino - Hibachi chicken and fried rice - Sushi Bars Near Me - Encino, California

BAD BAD BAD (do NOT order take from them)!!! Ordered and picked up. Asked for medium rare and got well done, dry sirloin and the chicken was dry as well! I guess they can have that one (necessary to post) star for the half gallon of delicious lemonade. Would never order from them again. I've been in there several times and they usually rush people through dinner so this time I thought I'd try the order/pick up, no bueno!!! I WENT TO THEIR WEBSITE AND DID NOT RECEIVE A RESPONSE! BAD BAD BAD read more

I wish I could comment on an experience but our group never made it past the waiting room. Clearly there needs to be more than one receptionist because the one check in person there seemed to only be able to run around while telling people hold on then disappearing somewhere. We had a reservation and even with our reservation the check in staff basically dismissed us and disappeared to the back because she seemed to be waiting for our entire party to arrive, but our entire party was there, just one had to go to the restroom when she was checking us in. I wouldn't be bothered if she gave us a wait time or something, but instead she just came back when another group with the same amount of people and no reservation came in and seated them almost immediately. The worst part was after 20 extra minutes of waiting and not hearing anything, we checked back in with her and she seemed to have not checked us in, and was re-asking if our party was here, if we had a reservation, etc. At this point the waiting line was filling up and two other parties had come in, and there was no check in person to be found, she was simply running around the place acting like she was doing something. Don't bother coming here for lunch, and I can only imagine how much more chaotic it is during dinner if the check in staff can barely handle 3 parties waiting. And on top of that, valet is semi mandatory whether you eat there or not. Highly recommend going to a different place for a teppan experience. Yamato down the street, Something's Fishy a little further out, but plenty of other options that have staff that is actually attentive. Such a shame because I am such a big fan of the Aoki legacy, and this Benihana seems to have traded the values of their legacy for cheap get in get out service. read more

I made a reservation for 7:30pm for a party of 4. We arrived 10 minutes early and were told that because they were "backed up", we would have to wait 45 to 60 minutes. I asked why they were accepting reservations when they weren't able to seat parties. The host just kinda gave me a blank stare and said "sorry". We left. To add insult to injury, the valet charged me the full $7 despite having my car for less than 5 minutes. Absolutely pathetic service all the way around. We'll never be back. read more

Came to celebrate our daughters bday, great food and great service. Special thank you to our server David T and our chef Mr Rex.

Still feels like back in the late 80's early 90's, the cooks make the experience worth it but overall not doing it again - Very pricey, parking was hard to find unless you pay and park behind the building, and when you are all done your clothes smells ( because of the open cooking). read more

Had a great first time experience here! Came here for a birthday celebration and this restaurant did not disappoint. Shout out to our chef Juan who made an entertaining dinner show. I did the 6 course meal and had the filet mignon and shrimp. It was delicious! Although, I did not like the salad. For the drink, I also had the mango colada which is a non alcoholic drink and it went well with my meal. Parking is valet. In the back. read more

The food is really delicious! Service is decent too! I love that it is all you can eat ! They give you a free frozen yogurt dessert at the end ! read more

I've always loved Benihana's teppanyaki grill--especially the fried rice, which is absolutely out of this world. The portions are generous, often more than most people can finish, so I do wish the pricing felt a bit more reasonable. It would be great if they offered specials, a happy hour, or even half-size portions to make it more accessible. Still, the experience and flavor keep me coming back - but mainly the white sauce read more

Decided to come here on a date night with my fiance. I have been to other Benihana locations and have had good experiences but my experience at this location was okay. read more

Our waiter Owen and chef Rex were fantastic. We ate a little of everything and all of the food was cooked very well and tasted delicious. The kids were very entertained by the chef and loved the food too. read more

The plates were dirty, sake was served open and missing a shot! I ordered the Oceana a $60 plate- the lobster tail looked old and small. The chef needed his glasses - he put the wrong food on my plate twice! He gave my jumbo shrimp to the guy next to me and me small little shrimp to me. Put calamari on my plate and put it back on the grill!!! WTH I need a manager to contact me asap!l! read more

Bam and Mario were wonderful! We had the pleasure of having Bam as our server and Mario as our chef. Both were so fun and pleasant to chat with, we have come here a handful of times for a family dinner and it's never a dull moment! We are hoping to go again soon and see Bam and Mario. :) read more

We had a reservation for 8:30pm and when we arrived, the hostess turned around when she saw us approaching. Then we were told they're running 40 min behind. We asked why they would have reservations if they're not going to honor the time and they said they have no control over their reservations. That seemed weird to us but we waited anyways and when I asked for an update the same hostess told me that she can't control how long people sit at the table. Overall, a pretty terrible experience read more

The hostess has such an attitude...the two stars are for the service and the entertainment. The hostess at this establishment is very rude and unprofessional. You'd think she would know how to deal with people who have reservations but keep having to wait for a table due to the nature of this restaurant. Yet she is extremely rude and defensive. Expect to wait anywhere from 30min to an hour after your reservation time topped with a side of attitude from the hostess. read more

Benihana is a birthday destination spot. Look around and you will mostly see groups here for a birthday celebration... sign up on the Benihana App for a Birthday Meal Certificate - 30$ cert from what I read. Make a reservation and bring your group of family/friends and your set to have a good time ( any type of celebration or dinner). Party of two with no reservations? Don't do it, make a reservation. Although I did see a bar area... If you don't mind dining with another family at the same table, sometimes they can squeeze your party in if your a party of two- most tables fit 8 people. Sometimes it's a hit or miss experience at Benihana depending on the chef assigned to your party; and waiter. Service at this location has always been consistently great so we like to visit this location - just make that reservation whatever you do, it really makes a difference! The chicken fried rice here is always killer. Parking: Valet and Street parking along Ventura Blvd. read more

A word of caution for those who are planning to go to the Benihana restaurant in Encino. Be very careful and examine your bill very closely. This restaurant has a habit of overcharging parties of 6 or 7 people. The food is good but you need to be extra careful for the bill. read more

Just ate here for late lunch. Food was delicious as always and my server, Mimi, was very friendly and she was very helpful and accommodating. 5 stars for her service, and 5 starts for the food, so it should be a 10 star rating! read more

It's birthday time again which means we're on the annual pilgrimage to Benihana's. For those of you in the know, if you belong to their Rewards Club you will receive a $30 coupon once a year on your birthday. We arrived at a restaurant around 8:30 our reservations were for 8:00 but we called ahead because we hit traffic. We were almost instantly seated and got our choice of seats at the table because the other diners hadn't arrived yet. Tne rest of the party that was sitting at our table soon came. We noticed it was a huge group and they ended up one seat short. Instead of watching this group have to cram themselves into the table and be uncomfortable we volunteered to go back to the waiting area for the next table. It was no big deal and we wanted that big group to have space to have a good time. So once we went back to the waiting area it was less than 5 minutes and we were seated again. Benihana's rarely disappoints and you can be guaranteed a great show. It's always Dependable that you're going to see The Onion volcano which in turn creates the onion train. If you've been to Benihana's you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't you're missing out! On this particular night there was a large group with many small children that spent a good amount of time screaming and shouting and carrying on. But that's okay because when you go to Benihana's everybody wants to have a good time, and it's kid friendly. The Waitresses quick to bring our drinks and take our orders. First came the lovely onion mushroom soup followed by the salad with the nice ginger dressing. Both of us ordered a seafood Diablo. It can be be very spicy so we ask for the sauce on the side. Although I'm not sure why we asked for our sauce on the side because we ended up ordering hot wings. And I am so in love with these hot wings! They are hot enough that your lips will go numb and the flavor is perfectly balanced. The heat doesn't come from the typical hot wing Tabasco flavor either. These are seriously hot wings and man are they good! So your dinner includes soup, salad, shrimp appetizer, followed by whatever your main dish is. Birthday celebrants get ice cream! Your choice of strawberry, green tea, or chocolate. The waiters Come and sing to you, you get a birthday crown if you're lucky, and the whole restaurant joins in the birthday song! What's not to love about Benihana's! Being that this is the Encino location you might even run into a star or two. Once we shared our table with Nikki Sixx and his wife. We still talk about it. Even though I couldn't eat comfortably sitting next to a rockstar, it was exciting to know we both ordered the same thing. I'm giving this review five stars because it was such a great time. If you don't like loud places, some Screaming from the kids, crowded tables and Smokey hibachi food, it might not be the place for you. But for everybody else looking to have a good time, Benihana's Encino is a place to be. read more

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I've been coming here for yrs it's a fun family treat. The food is decent/good and the service is good too. Good place for Celebrating

I've always liked coming here for the lunch specials. They have been consistently good over the years and it's always been fun coming for different occasions. read more

This place is absolute trash. Went here on April 19th with dinner reservations for 6:15pm. When we got there they said that they were 30 minutes behind even though we had a time specific reservation. No problem. We waited. We waited some more. Finally, 51 minutes after we got there, they updated us and said that there was 10 people ahead of us. My kids were beyond starving at this point. We had to leave and find somewhere else to eat dinner. They absolutely overbook this place and allow people that have finished dining to just sit there while crowds pile up at the front of the establishment. To add insult to injury, I still had to pay $7 to get my vehicle back from valet. read more

I can't believe how many people eat here . We got the filet ( 5 of them) was hard and the worst steak we have ever had . It was not filet. The quality of every single item from soup salad and rice and steak is the base bottom worst quality you could possible ever have . We had not come here in a while and I now will never be back again . For $60 filet( your highest dish ) to serve quality that horrible , this restaurant should be closed read more

What's not to love about Benihana!! You can never go there without leaving with a smile on your face. I'm not really basing my stars on the food. It's good, but you really go here for the experience. Food always tastes great when you're having fun! I loved everything about it. Our awesome Chef Christina put on a fantastic show! She even did a magic trick...and with a tap on the bowl turned one egg into two! Her version of the classic volcano was the best I'd ever seen...and then followed by a volcano laser show. All the staff was super nice and accomodating. Be sure and get a reservation because it gets busy. Also, make sure everyone arrives on time because you won't be seated until everyone in your party arrives...and there's always that one annoying friend who's always late, right? Anyway, go, have fun. Enjoy a good time eating a nice meal with your friends and whoever else might be sitting with you at the large table. read more

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Go for the Benihana Birthday deal. Sign up for their chefs table- it's a great deal. Seriously, who doesn't like Benihana. If anyone says they don't, they are a liar. This place continues to be amazing from all ages. The food is buttery and garlicky, what's not to love. read more

Benihana - Encino - Sushi Bars Near Me - Encino, California

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Great service every time I come and eat here! Stephanie is a fantastic host and always so friendly. We love coming here.

Always a fun experience! I've never had a problem with wait times and the service and food is always great. Don't forget to ask for extra garlic butter! Lol read more

Absolutely horrific experience - do NOT waste your time or money coming here. We met up with some friends of ours to celebrate their boys' birthday and made an 08:30 PM reservation for 9 people (4 adults, 5 kids). We checked in ~08:25 PM, were asked if our whole group was there which we were, and were told we'd be sat in "just a minute." About 25 minutes later, we finally sat down, waited at least another 10 minutes before our kids even had waters served, and then we were finally able to place our order. We ordered the same thing for all five kids (filet and shrimp) and had three adults place the same order and one order just shrimp. Our soup came out lukewarm shortly thereafter and without exaggeration, that was the last we saw of our waiter for another TWENTY minutes before he came out with a plate of grayish salads that we politely declined. Approaching 09:25 PM, our chef finally rolled his cart up, went through to confirm everyone's order, said only two of the kids had shrimp (not all 5), and when we corrected him, he disappeared for another FIVE MINUTES before coming back with an additional ~6-8 raw shrimp. We finally had our first portion of cooked food over an hour after our reservation start time and while the chicken fried rice was fine, the shrimp was bad and the filet was terrible - grisly, fatty, and turning over in my stomach as I type this. We were expecting all of the traditional tricks and shrimp throwing to us, into the chef's hat, etc but the "show" portion of our meal was basically oil being spilt on the grill and lit on fire 3-4 times. That was it. Genuinely. We'd been sat in the very back corner with a spare chair behind us and a door to some back of house portion of the restaurant as well so every 5-10 minutes, our incredible culinary experience was interrupted by a chef rolling a freaking cart behind us that bumped into our seats as it turned the corner. No less than 15 servers passed back and forth between our chairs and the wall as the evening dragged on and when our waiter finally resurfaced, we told him we just wanted to close out and asked if we could please get scoops of ice cream for our kids (reiterating the dairy allergy we disclosed upfront for our eldest) and the check. Another FIFTEEN minutes later, we finally stood up to try to find our server, ran into the manager at the front of the house, gave him our cards over his repeated protests ("I'll just go find your server"), and then finally received five scoops of ice cream ("Sorry for the wait, there was a line at the ice cream") and four spoons. For the cherry on top of our $400+ experience, they put whipped cream in the birthday boy's rainbow sherbet which they knew we had ordered because of his severe dairy allergy and when we finally got our car from valet, our son told us his throat felt itchy and we gave him a dose of Children's Benadryl as we pulled out for the first and last time right around 10:45 PM. The atmosphere was not nice. The service was horrific. By the looks of the other frustrated families in the waiting area, we were far from the only people receiving the same run around experience and after interacting directly with the feckless manager here, I can confidently say that the commitment to mediocrity starts at the top. I will not ever be coming back here, I'm going to take a handful of Tums before falling asleep to help me to process whatever the heck that flash fried hunk of bovine was that they charged us a premium for, and the next time we are out in search of dinner and a kid's show, I will take my family to freaking In-N-Out Burger by LAX and watch the planes fly overhead as at least I think we can get in and out of there in under 135 minutes. Terrible experience, save yourselves! read more

Food was solid, but our chef Juan made the night super special! It was my grandson's first time to Benihana and Juan entertained him and the rest of us. Great technique and great personality! He even played to the birthday boy who turned one! Fun experience! read more

If you have allergies, STAY AWAY. Though they cook for 8 people in your table, whom you may not know, they never once asked if we had any allergies. I am completely disgusted with sea food. They cooked the sea food first with the same utensils they would next cook my chicken and steak with. It was gross to watch but I didn't want to ruin my date's night by bringing it up so I just ate unhappily. The onion soup was great, loved that. Everything else was ok. read more

I've been to Benihanas more times than I can count, but this last experience was definitely memorable thanks to our server David T. From the moment we sat down he was attentive without being overbearing. We felt genuinely taken care of as he always made sure our drinks were full and our needs were met. He somehow managed to anticipate everything we needed before we even asked. He was smooth confident and made the entire evening flow. Honestly, if you go to Benihanas and don't ask to be in his section, you're missing out! Best experience by far! read more

Valet parking in the back for $7. Came in on a Tuesday and the place was packed. There's probably more than a dozen grills-more than expected. The food was above average, the service was as expected and the entertainment was textbook. We visit Benihana about once a year just to "spice things up" lol. This time around we took a few people that have never been before so it was fun. Prices are a bit outrageous but it's food + entertainment. Coming back next year or whenever there is a celebration. read more

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Mimi and David made this experience so wonderful! Food was fantastic and the service was even better! Will def come back!

We ordered food delivered! I was expecting the fried rice to taste the same as when they cook it in front of you, it was mushy and had no flavor. The chicken was overcooked and had no flavor. The shrimp was pretty good though. We also ordered a tempura roll, which was nothing but rice,very overpriced. read more

I took my 4 and 7 year old here for the first time. We had a blast. Both kids tried new foods. They were careful about dietary restrictions. The kids were absolutely enthralled and I got to enjoy delicious steak. Thank you Bam and the whole team. You made our Friday night! read more