This location is worn and tired. While valet parking is your only non-street option, it's a narrow and harrowing entrance to the lot and awkward to unload passengers. The food was "good" and the workers we encountered were polite, helpful and hard-working. Other employees though, not so much, as their attire, grooming and attitude was just short of grunge. The facility is by anyone's measure on its last legs. From the dirty and heavily worn reception counter, an overflowing storage room that seemed to be a comedic mess that had workers struggling, to the Teppan tables with bent stainless steel and missing knobs, to the passable but graffiti etched men's restroom - someone needs to take the reins for a long overdue update. Until this place gets It's act together, I'd go elsewhere for Teppan, teriyaki and sushi. read more

The food is (kinda still) good. The service, sucks. And, as a long time fan of the food, brand and the man behind it all - eh' I'm done (insert long exhausted fart sound) read more

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If you love the Benihana experience, you'll be fine! You won't mind the dated decor (brown carpet??), crowded and loud dining room, and food that is good but not great. Staff are friendly and they put on the show you expect. But this is not the place for excellent Japanese cuisine and a chill dining experience. read more

I wrote a review directly to them on their website and never heard back. In August we went to celebrate my son's 21st birthday. He ordered a beer and was never carded (which is disappointing for a 21 year old). During dinner grease fell from the ceiling and landed on my son's shirt in 3 places. When we told the waitress she said oh. Thought she would have at least get the manager to come over. When dinner was being cooked they didn't have enough bowls for the sauces so they gave the ones that wanted sauces rice bowls. We also had to ask for the birthday picture to be taken that they provide. The women's restroom had trash overflowing. This restaurant has really gone down over the years and I think is only there to collect the money. What a shame. read more

I feel sorry for the families who come in here for a bd celebration and end up overpaying for very bad food. It's a trap

I came here for my birthday with my family and I didn't know what to expect because our group wasn't huge. Immediately our server Ben just made the experience out of this world amazing! He made sure our drinks were always full and that we were happy with our meal. I truly feel that his service made my experience 10 times better! That coupled with Joel as our chef was just the best time. Joel made the food to perfection as well as knew to make sure everything was separate for my dad who is pescatarian. Ben and Joel made sure to accommodate everyone's food preferences and that everyone was having a great time our whole table even with the group we were paired with felt like we were all family because of the great time we all had If you are coming to the Encino Benihana ask for Ben and Joel and it will be 10/10 read more

The Encino location is a problem. Every time I go to this location its a problem weather its my food or the service. The service is based on ethnicity. 3 out of the last 6-7 time I have a reservation they have chosen someone before me and made me wait. the chefs looks before they get to the table and then the show is either very good or real basic. I have complained several times and nothing has changed. this past Saturday was and will be the last time I go to that location. mind you that location is the closest (1 hour and 25 mins ) from my house. My bill was $170 which is pretty normal for what I spend. I woke up today and they charged my card not only for the $170 but another charge for $118. and no one has any answers! Bottom line if your black don't go to the Encino location! someone is clearly stealing from this place! read more

Came here for a lunch with my professors from my college days. Not too impressed with the overall experience... not too horrible either. read more

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The Kan Pao Shrimp was horrible, the shrimp was slimmy, the nnodles was tasteless ,i threw if all out,

No broth for your Ramen Soup.(how would they forget about ut Spring roll no good Ramen not good at all read more

We went to this location for my father-in-law's Birthday last night. It is a tradition in my husband's family to go to Teppanyaki-style restaurants for special occasions. And I have been coming to this location for MANY years. We arrived a bit earlier than our reservation so we grabbed a drink at the bar. Miles was our bartender and he was very attentive and good humoured. We were called for our table soon after ordering our drinks at the bar. Once seated we were checked on periodically by the staff to ensure we had everything we needed or could want. John was our hibachi chef. He was very personable and entertaining. He put on a great show and got all of our special requests correct. From now on when I return to this location I hope I get John as my chef! I would definitely recommend this establishment. If they keep up the great job they are doing, I look forward to dining at this location for many years to come (I forgot my phone at home so I don't have any pictures of our dinner but trust me when I say it was ALL delicious!) read more

Benihana - Encino - I forgot my camera at home so my friend sent me a picture of their drink - Sushi Bars Near Me - Encino, California

Very disappointed in this restaurant. Came here for family birthday and left embarrassed as to why I would bring my family here. Dean who considers himself a " supervisor" should really reconsider his position in customer service. I've come here with my family for several years and never have I been so disrespected and embarrassed in front of my family with the poor service that they provided. Poor customer service, lack of professionalism, very dissatisfied and disappointed. I will not be returning or bringing any of my friends and family to this location ever again. read more

I honestly only give this place a two because of time. Food always turns out great, there isn't really a way for them to mess it up. But when our reservation is at 8:15pm and we aren't sat until 9:04 and our chef doesn't arrive until 10pm it becomes a slightly irritating experience. Over and over again. I'm a Benihana connoisseur and go religiously wherever we can find one but the one in ENCINO has never sat us on time. And it becomes a 3+ hour experience. I work at a restaurant and understand people linger but if you are taking reservations make sure we're being sat on time or close to our reservation because leaving here at 11 just is not okay. I also give the overall cleanliness 2 stars. Our grill had left over food, and when I asked him if that was ours? He ignored me. read more

Benihana - Encino - I love you Fried Hibachi Chicken Rice - Sushi Bars Near Me - Encino, California

When a patron is late 5 minutes, they miss their rsvp. What about when you're there early and Benihana overbooks and leaves you waiting over 30 minutes with two kids, one sleeping and the other crying from being hungry. So we leave and have to pay $7 plus tip to get our car back from valet. F U Benihana. You got your money from over booking but lost my family forever. GFY! read more

We came here for New Year's Day. Made a reservation only to find out they never added it to their system. They offered to add us to the waitlist. The manager and the front desk were incredibly unfriendly. No one would take responsibility or offer an accommodation like free dessert or drinks on the bar even though I don't drink, it is the lack of gesture. read more

Made dinner reservations for my wedding anniversary. We showed up 30 minutes before our assigned dinner time. Waited a long time for our table. I believe over one hour total. Felt like the reserved dinner time was pointless. We were seated with another group of 4. Three adults and one child (about 7-8 years old). The kid was a little loud and making a lot of noise throughout the night. When I made the reservation, I said it was a wedding anniversary so I'm not sure why we were seated with a child. If the loudness of the kid wasn't enough... our chef was new. He overcooked everyone's meal. My chicken was super dry & hard. I ordered my filet mignon to be cooked medium... instead it was cooked well-done. It ruined the purpose of ordering a great cut of steak. My Benihana Trio should've came with dessert. No dessert was given after the meal. Terrible experience. Probably won't be going back anytime soon. read more

Benihana - Encino - Asked for medium; was given well done. Charred up filet Mignon... what a waste! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Encino, California

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What a terrible birthday experience. First the hostess wanted to seat us in between a family - with a toddler next to us. We declined. We were seated with another party of 4 and a couple. The apps - soup was flavorless, salad was fine - but not hard to mess up IMO The chef came next. He checked our orders twice. He made the fried rice. Gave us and the group of 4 barely enough to fill the bowl and gave the couple 2 bowls each - no joke. He then cooked one steak and the couples seafood. He let the entree shrimp cook too long and it was like chewing rubber. He then cooked the shrimp appetizer - 4 skewers worth, gave us each 3 then put the rest away in his cart. ? . Then he gave 2 people the wrong food and gave my partners chicken to the couple. He also used a full tub of butter on everthing. It was so weird. And the bday "gift" is no longer enough to cover a meal so for $100 I had a tasteless / overcooked subpar meal. Bummed because I've been patronizing this location my whole life and look forward to having a bday dinner here - this is the last time. Wish I'd asked for my money back. read more

For a restaurant with $$$ I would expect much more. For me, all of the flavorings added to the fried rice masked the flavor of the shrimp, calamari and scallops. Also, too much grill time made the calamari and scallops tough. At one point the chef shook red pepper powder over the grill irritating everyone's eyes. The restaurant was very noisy limiting conversation. The chef's utensil handling was impressive. I will probably not visit again. read more

Visited on New Years Day. Holiday menu- i was shocked - No white sauce I almost poured the mustard all over. I mean it's edible but I guess I shouldn't have assumed lol. Chef was great, ordered the hibachi steak & colossal shrimp combo, perfectly made & the filet mignon was delicious. The dinner only came with white rice, it's $5 for chicken fried rice upgrade, no noodles either. 3 pc shrimp appetizer was a plus. Ginger sauce for salad was off & only white pieces of lettuce in the salad. $100 - 5/10. read more

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Out of many beers, and had no physical menus. I will not be returning. Food was good, but lack of product and menu soured the experience. The website is clunky and hard to use especially for older folks. read more

Primero, quiero decir que he estado en el restaurante y en Malibú como 10 veces. Me encanta tu helado. Me encantan tus empleados. Las bebidas deberían tener más opciones. Los tocos que comí estaban buenos y necesitaban cocinarse más, pero en general son 4 estrellas. read more

Wow, an expensive, not-fun, way too dragged-out night out with a friend. First-off, the valet is $7. I'm telling you because no one told us and I didn't see a sign anywhere. I hate to pay for parking, but there's really nowhere else to park on Ventura. We had a reservation, but still waited as long as if we'd just shown up when we did and been parked in line with others. So that took forever. Then we were seated, and proceeded to wait over 20 minutes before a server even asked us what we wanted to drink. Sooo close to walking out, and really wish we had, now. Then we ordered and that was wrong. Then the chef FINALLY came out and made the food, and I think what he had with him to make our order was wrong. Chef was fine, though not super fun, and basically ignored our side of the table. He seemed to prefer "his own" people, and I'll leave it at that. There's certainly not a lot of food, either. You barely get almost a plateful of semi-decent for around $50. I guess you pay for the experience. There are a LOT of birthdays in the place in one night, so you hear that birthday chant/song all night, but with so little enthusiasm it's painful. It just feels like NO ONE who works there wants to be there. Which is a nice welcoming feeling for none of the customers. And all of the things they say come with your meal, do not come with your meal. We didn't receive a couple of things, but didn't care when it was time to go home THREE hours and a couple hundo bucks later. Anyway, we will def NOT be back to this one ever. Yikes. read more

I am saddened to give this place the low stars but I think it could help someone pick another place for a birthday. Even with a reservation, you won't be seated until after 30+. It took a long time to get seated, and it took even longer for the cooks to come out. An 8:00 pm reservation turned into a 9:30 pm. The waitress was overwhelmed trying to serve 4 tables, and it was difficult for her to even bring drinks (which was sad to watch, I felt terrible for her). If this place is short staffed, then perhaps not having it at full capacity would be a thought? The food itself was decent but not amazing. I came here back in March when things JUST reopened and it was running a lot smoother. read more

It had been years since I'd celebrated birthday's at Benihana! However after viewing a Steve Aoki documentary on his families ties to its origin, I regained curiosity. Now I've been back for two birthdays and no signs of slowing down. The food is good and vegetarian friendly. The Happy Hour prices for adult bevs extends into the dining room if you start at the bar. The portions are generous and there seem to be many options. I've consistently done the 5 & 6 course meals to sync along with my dinner parties. The location is convenient on Ventura Boulevard with valet parking. They will sing for you if you like and even send you off with a nice birthday photo. Happy hour & Birthday celebration solid. read more

Benihana - Encino - Big birthday fun! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Encino, California

Benihana has been a staple for us but our past few experiences have been horrible. The last two orders were missing half of our items. Both times it took me 40 minutes to get a hold of the restaurant. While I understand there is short staffing orders should be double checked and someone should always pick up the phone! We have had to drive back and forth to this location numerous times to pick up missing items in our order. Quality of food is still good but ordering from here has become a hassle. read more

My friend and her mom and I all get the Benihana's $30 birthday certificate (thanks Benihana!) so we go at least three times per year. We were there last night for my friend's birthday. We always have a great time and the food is good. I would give it a five star rating but the reasons I'm giving it only 4 stars is because despite the food being good, it's very pricey (about $75 per person) for what you get. Yes, you're going to pay extra for the entertainment as well, but still it seems like a lot of money for what you get. Second reason it's not 5 star is PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE - you need to change the routine, tricks, performance - whatever you want to call it. We have been going (like I said, at least 3 times a year) for at least 10 years - my daughter is now an adult and she was a small child when we first went - so maybe it's been 15 years. I have seen the "heart throbbing rice, shrimp tails in the hat or pocket, volcano onion, disco lights, and onion choo choo train" a million times. The chefs learn a lot of cool stuff with the knives and it just seems that someone could come up with some new, creative stuff. I'm sure I speak for a lot of people who hardly pay attention anymore to what the poor chef is doing because we've seen it so many times. Many of us could probably step up and do it ourselves. Just my friendly suggestion... See you in June for my birthday and again in July for my friend's mom's birthday. :) read more

Outdated food had no flavor. Parking sucks. Thought it would have been better. Guess it's just the name now.

We checked in for our 6:30 reservation and we waited... and waited ... and waited some more until we checked again and were told that they never checked us in, so the evening didn't start out great. The food and service were pretty much as expected. The service has a banquet type atmosphere as they are wanting to move you along from soup to salad so the main "show" can begin. Speaking of which, can they innovate a bit and come up with something to replace the beating heart, choo choo, and volcano? Oh sorry if I spoiled it for you. The food is the same as always. The steak tends to be the best entree but everything is pretty good. I know the drill of how the system works but it would be nice to get all of your food at pretty much the same time. By the time the main course arrives, the rice isn't that hot anymore. Not all teppan places have mushrooms, so that was nice. Our meals included dessert, but they offered it while we were still eating and it made us feel rushed. I said not now ask a bit later and they never did. So, I'll give it a solid 3. It's very crowded and noisy but the food is always a nice treat. We parked on the street but it was a Sunday night. They do have valet and it's $6 I think. read more

I remember this place like 10yrs ago for a bday party. I came to celebrate my birthday this year and no lie it felt like a kids birthday spot. Food was nice but ambiance had changed. read more

We were promptly seated then sat down and nobody approached us for 15 minutes. The server finally came and drips of oil from the hood vent landed on my sons plate right in front of server who was oblivious as we had to tell her. Then the Chef came and laid the food on the grill. Never cooked the veggies in the fried rice. My son found something blue on the steaks and mentioned it to the Chef who simply just scraped it off rather than replacing. Gross again! He lazily tried a couple of tricks and that was the end of that. No other Chef presentation like we are used too when going once a year for my sons bday. Also, the mushrooms were raw and since when does filet have a ton of fat on it. I barely touched my $43 entree. By the time the server presented the check. Dessert was served and never once did she clear the table with all our dirty dinner plates. The table was totally unkept and a pigsty. And although it looked like she was working hard running around she obviously was never trained properly with the sequence of service. $350 later for 5 of us what a horrible experience. read more

Not happy. I ordered from Uber eats I ordered the chicken fried rice with shrimp which cost extra. Can someone please tell me where the shrimp was? I saw two little flakes that might've been shrimp? Now to the absolutely worst part of the order is I ordered a soft shell crab roll, and lo and behold what was delivered to me? Just a soft shell crab thrown on top of some lettuce. The only thing good about this order was the delivery from Uber Eats. The driver was very nice so I gave him a nice tip! But I'm telling you Benihana you should be doing a lot better for $25 worth of food and you can't even get the order right? Highly disappointed in you. You should be able to do better this is not Your first year in business after all, again just really disappointed read more

Benihana - Encino - This is my soft shell crab roll, not!!!!! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Encino, California

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great dinner for our 9 year olds birthday! chef was fantastic and our server Blanca was great! food was fantastic as always.

Today I ordered the chicken fried rice, some sauces, and some spicy edamame. (a nice little meal for myself) The only down side is they didn't inform me that 2 of the sauces were missing and the edamame was not as cooked as i'm used to. It was just slightly harder and not as spicy as I was expecting. read more

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Great food good prices great environment friendly staff. One of my favorite places to eat. Can't wait to go back. read more

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The service was 10/10! Caroline really took care of us, and made sure that we had everything we needed. the food was great, will definitely come back! read more

MIGUEL was our chef... he went above and beyond! His service has been one of the best! Every time my family comes here it's a hit or miss with the chef but this time it went smooth! Thanks for making one of our many experiences here worth it! read more

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

Some of these reviews crack me up. You're visiting Benihana and complaining it isn't 5 stars? That's like renting at Motel 6 and wondering why you aren't getting 5-star service. Benihana is the same that it was decades ago. Is it amazing? No. Is it terrible? No. Is it a typical Benihana? Yes. We ordered the Filet, Shrimp, and Lobster Tails. They were decent enough. The filet was nice and tender and so was the lobster. The shrimp was overcooked but again... I didn't expect an amazing dish. The service was a tad slow due to being short-staffed but they were very kind. I mean, isn't the whole point of Benihana to just chill, overeat and trash it up? Let me answer that for you... Yes. Yes, that's the point. read more

Place needs to be updated desperately. Dirty carpets dirty looking walls and the stove tops need to be changed. I can say I'm vm ever really disappointed with the food it just has lost it look. For what you pay for a meal you expect a nicer place. read more

Horrible customer service. Had a 7:45 reservation and were told we would be seated in a minute. Waited... waited... waited and at 8:30 I asked how much longer and the rude hostess said "As soon as I can". Waited until 8:45, an hour AFTER our RESERVATION and still no seat so we left. This place, and the hostess working this evening, are trash. read more

The food here is really good. They also have good sushi and fried goods. I personally get the miso soup, yellowtail cutroll, The fried rice, and the new york steak cooked medium. The service is good but I recommend getting there early because the chef takes 15-30 mins to come. You will probably sit at the same table as a stranger it doesn't bother me but it is an important detail. Its ambiance is good it is really fancy and I personally love the decorations. read more

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