Had a great dinner experience here tonight. It was my husband's birthday. Reservation wait was light, and a good thing because we arrived hungry. The Chef José deserves props because he was entertaining, lively, smiling and cooked a great meal. Seasoning was right on, he payed attention and kept the food organized and it kept coming in a timely fashion. His enthusiasm really made the experience. Noticed improvements since our last visit, maybe a change in management or whoever was running things tonight was a positive influence. Our server also had a cheerful demeanor and was attentive, something that was lacking in past visits. Very pleased overall and Benihana Encino deserves praise tonight. read more

Anahiem location the best!!! KP is an amazing chef and entertainer! I highly suggest him!

Good Hospitality. Staff greeted us well and are very friendly even on a busy afternoon. Food was on point. 5/5 Big Thanks to Jeff he made the visit feel very welcoming and took good care of us. Will definitely recommend to anyone who's looking for a good place to dine out. read more

Beautiful workers, delicious food, chef was so kind and sweet and Sussy, almost choked eating my food but the chef gave me cpr. And most of all YOUR LEMONS ARE SO FREAKING BUSSIN ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY read more

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

Had an exceptional service experience with our server Ben. He was helpful, happy to be there, explained every course and packed up our leftovers. Never had such thoughtful and wonderful service before and Ben was a star! read more

Hadn't been in years but was worth the visit! Got seated right away, and drinks and spa prizes came out quickly. Food was great and our chef, Hunter, was the star of the show. Will definitely be back soon! read more

If I could I'd give them 0 stars The host in the front name mia or meia i don't know her name. But she has to be the most rudest host I have yet to encounter she has no respect or courtesy for her customers. I made a reservation it was me and my two kids and husband with his mom she gave us such nasty looks and when I went to ask her how much longer she said to continue waiting until I hear my name. I even heard her and the other hostess continue talking about other customers and how we should all leave. We ended up leaving just cause of how rude she was from the moment we took a step in. I tried to get a hold of a manager but they seemed to busy. I will be calling corporate regarding this. It was horrible experience for the 30 mins we had to wait with reservation. read more

Do not go to Benihana's in the summer!! Their air conditioning feels nonexistent and it is very very uncomfortably hot inside! The food and "show" are the same as 20 years ago! Not enough to entertain our little ones unfortunately. The food was overpriced and good, not great. The staff went through the motions and did not seem like they wanted to be there. read more

Just gross unless you like your food bland with a nice coat of oil. Expensive to boot. Believe it or not, the sushi is worse. read more

Their family deal for two is a rip off they give you a full container of rice and of veggies and a few pieces of meat definitely not worth the money!!! read more

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

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Always a very fun place to eat - community dining alongside others you don't know is interesting! Tonight was maybe a bit less than hoped for but I must say that the manager coming to the table afterwards and asking how everything was, was a nice touch. The chef served my dish to one of my friends, but it was ok. No damage done. I wish I knew the recipe for the salad dressing...yummm! The onion soup could be a bit more flavorful though - get rid of the mushrooms though. They need to put a NO SMOKING WITHIN 25 FEET OF DOOR sign out in front. The smokers, just having finished a meal and needing that immediate 'after-meal cig' while waiting for their car to be fetched, will freely light up as soon as the door swings open, with zero regard for anyone else. The staff need to enforce this too. On the same note, be sure you have exact change for the valet, too...if you only have a $20 and you give it to them, they think it's a gift and will NOT offer you change. You have to say "I need change" or they'll take it and walk off. This restaurant has *mandatory* valet parking so either go with it or be prepared to park half a mile away. read more

Always a great time at Benihana. The experience and food stays consistent. I use to go at least twice a month but was recently there for dinner ro celebrate my birthday month with a friend. Good server and chef. read more

I just ordered a very expensive order to go to be delivered. It was missing every single sauce and there wasn't one utensil or soy sauce packet or napkin or chopstick. Very very poor quality. I go here a lot and this was horribly disappointing. For the price they should concentrate on this way more. I will not be ordering or going here again read more

I went to Benihana restaurant last week to celebrate my daughter's Birthday. They needed hunt down our waiter several times before would actually start to cook the meal. They gave us a tiny bowl of Edamame while we waited and they continued to apologize, they just didn't know where he was. While the food was finally being cooked the lobster had such a horrible hue that the chef tossed it and got a new one. Worst part I called Benihana the morning after and they said the manager was too busy that he would call me back. I still have not received a phone call. Shame on your management. Do better!!!! read more

Poor slow service. Went on March 31, 2023, for my daughter's 29th birthday lunch. Hostess looked miserable. Poor greeting. When asked a question she appeared to be bothered. Once seated order was taken 20 minutes later without greeting while we waited once seated. Unable to use the excuse of being busy since that was not the case. Food very small portions for the price and did not taste as good as panada express. My daughter received a birthday coupon however only good Monday through Thursday. This limitation was seen once you redeemed at the restaurant. Last thing wine display in the front was dusty and dirty with dust 1 inch thick at the top. The vent above the wine display full of dust as well. If I had seen this before the meal would have left. Not acceptable. read more

i like Benihana , that's a fun restaurant. The chefs came near the Grill on the table and cooked for you. I got steak and lobster with fried rice and chicken. Very friendly service. Everything went perfectly! read more

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It was my first time and won't be my last. Amazing, my chief, Cristina, was absolutely amazing to me my brothers my parents. I loved it! She made sure she knew who's got whose order and asked if we wanted vegetables. She is amazing. read more

Place needs a face lift. I've been to many Benihana's and this one look outdated with wires running through the cieling and cameras sticking out like an eye sore. That's just aesthetic. Now the cooks looked bored, not that creative in their tricks, and talking in Spanish amongst themselves often. Our cook specifically didn't interact as mush as I would have liked. He only talked to us once and said "who's birthday is it?". Other than confirming our dishes for what belongs to whom, is was a very dry experience and mush of his entertainment was roundly and not pleasant to listen to. Banging the metal dishwater on the stove and making a loud banging noise doesn't sound fun. The worst experience was finding egg shells in the hibachi rice and after confronting the cook, he says, do you want a new rice dish. I said no, I'm just informing you to be careful, and he says "it's normal..." and walked away. Obviously I looking for an apology and didn't need a new dish since he was rolling away with his cart, I just simply wanted him to acknowledge that he was sloppy. Otherwise the server was amazing and was delighted to make sure we were doing well. read more

So we came here for my friends birthday dinner. Our cook was Jonathan he was really great and funny. I ordered the noodles special. When he came out he put my noodles and veggies on the hotplate first. After that he started cooking everyone else's which there was six of us total on the table. My dish was cooking first but yet I get my food lasted. My noodles was burnt and to much sauce. Couldn't enjoy it at all. Hard noodles to Chew. read more

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

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Waited over an hour to get seated, once seated had to wait another 20 minutes for someone to come take our order. 30 minutes later no cook and no food. Literally worst restaurant ever. The food is not even that good, came to celebrate my sons birthday and instead got tortured waiting forever for terrible food. Terrible service will not return. read more

Benihana - Encino - Grill no chef. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Encino, California

I have no words, since 2005 I've been coming here And for May year I've came here just for my hubby I'm very disappointed with there service I'm ver disappointed with there service I can't I can't I can't like what I am seeing I hate the service I hate everyone's attitude So kiss my asss read more

Oh Benihana... the love hate continues. Will we continue to crave American Hibachi and visit you once or twice a year? Absolutely. Will the ceiling leak weird things into our plates and the decor be falling apart? Absolutely. The overall hygiene and cleanliness is what you'd expect and the shrimp they serve are never properly cleaned out but hey... we still love spending money on the fish bowls and yelling and cheering with the wonderful chefs that put up with way too much insanity from the rowdy customers that frequent the joint. Is it top dining? No. Is it still enjoyable and great fun for a group? Absolutely. read more

Reservation made. Valet parking $5.50. Checked in at the front. They seat people right next to each other for Tappan. What surprised me was they don't even check your vaccination card! Really? During this surge? I am so bothered. read more

Benihana - Encino - Sumo Roll and Sushi Sampler - Sushi Bars Near Me - Encino, California

Came here today to celebrate our daughters 12th bday. The check in hostess was extremely nice. We were seated at two separate tables because cdc only allows max of 6 people. My wife and I were seated with another party. The lunch started normal, ordered our drinks and food. The party seated with us was a family with 3 small kids, the parents apologized about the kiddos making noise and playing at the table. We said it was ok, we have two children of our own that are teens now. Chef started cooking and everything was going good. The two small kids sitting right next to us were playing and eating. At some point one of the kids starting feeling unwell and asked one of the adults to go to the potty. Next thing we knew the kid was throwing up on his palate and the grill. The chef took his spatula and move the veggies and vomit over to one side of the grill and continued to cook. One of the parents told him it was spilled juice. He continued to cook our food on the grill with the same spatula that he used to separate the vegetable and vomit. Chef called the waitress and asked her to clean that side of the table. He then was trying to give the veggies and food to us. My wife got up and talked to the hosteSs up front to explain the situation. The manager came over and asked the chef to stop cooking and use the grill behind him instead. The chef seemed confused as to why he was being asked. He used the same contaminated utensils to cook the food on the other grill. I finally walked over and asked the manager to have the food cooked by the chef on the other grill were the rest of my family was seated. The situation could have been handled way better. The grill should have been shut down and we should have been moved to a separate table. The experience was horrible for everyone. read more

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER! I brought my boyfriend here for his birthday, and I was so disappointed in the experience. The service was bad, the place was truly filthy (the restrooms at McDonalds are much cleaner; this was by far the worst restroom I've seen), and I was charged more for an item, chicken fried that I did not request (I thought it just came rice with the meal when it was served). I spoke to the manager, and he completely dismissed my concern. I definitely would not return or recommend this place to anyone read more

Our home away from home. Always love coming to Bennihanna especially this location since childhood. Food is always good and the cooking is entertaining. Don't forget to order the banana tempura for dessert read more

Worse the service ever Not only are they rude but they literally cleared the entire lobby and told me that they couldn't acciónate us because oof our party size - we had 6.... everyone else who was here after us got sat . We went to go ask why the wait was so long aNd they said they're running behind on their reservations and I said then you should have told us how far behind and she's like a few minutess - waited over 35 minutes after our reservation time and we went to go ask again and no one was in the lobby she said Well they needed to accommodate the party's that wEre on a reservation first and I said We have a reservation!? Ugh I'm so annoyed The manager was shit and didn't do anything at all So pointless to make aa reservation oh and it's a weekday read more

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

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I really love Benihana, but unfortunately not this location. We just ordered $150+ worth of food for my moms birthday today, and when it was delivered we were given lunch portions even though we ordered past lunch, no scallops, no filet mignon. We called to see what the employee would suggest us do, since our order was completely wrong, but he just called my boyfriend a liar the entire time because "he packed the order himself." Save yourself the trouble and go to Yamato, a family owned restaurant down the street, that doesn't try to pull one over on their customers (especially on their birthday ) read more

The last 2 times I've been here the teppan show is entertaining but the food was SALTY! The server was attentive but the food quality went down compared to a couple years ago. The filet mignon and shrimp were decent but the vegetables including the zucchini, mushrooms, and onions were drenched in soy sauce. The chefs here love to drench the food in salt, pepper, butter, and soy sauce lol. I used to love the chicken fried rice but not anymore :( The rice was salty and my bowl had maybe 3 tiny cubed pieces of chicken breast. It's usually busy even on weekday nights so I'd suggest making a reservation. And depending on what you order, it's $40+ per person including tip and tax. read more

We made reservations for dinner for my daughter's graduation on Opentables for 8:30pm. When we got to the restaurant a lot of people was waiting to be seated. About 30 minutes later we were still waiting for our seat. We were super annoyed. The hostess told us that there were people ahead of us who came in (they were walk ins). So what is the point of accepting reservations? We sat at 9:15pm and everyone was already super annoyed. John was our chef who was super awesome. Kudos to him. Suggestion to the restaurant....find alternatives for the INSANE amounts of margarine you use on ALL THR FOOD. HAve you heard? Butter and margarine in large doses is not healthy. Just a thought.m! read more

DO NOT EAT AT THIS BENIHANA LOCATION!!!!!!! I normally loveeee Benihana, however this one has put a quite sour taste in my mouth. Our party of 3 had a reservation for 8:30pm and we weren't seated until about 9:15pm. Once we finally ordered our drinks, we had to wait for over an hour for our chef to arrive!!! Though they close at 10:00pm we didn't start eating until about 11:15pm!!!! One thing in particular that I thought was odd was the fact that our forks were handed to us, when usually forks are presented on a tray. I didn't feel comfortable with the server touching the silverware. Lastly at the end of our meal the our sever walked over, lazily handed us our checks and didn't even bother to ask our side of the table if we wanted ice cream even though it was included with each of our meals. I was able to speak to the manger about my experience (even though we had to wait an additional 15mins for him to come from the back to talk to us) he made us feel as if we were in the wrong for simply sharing how we felt. He had a terrible attitude and offered to take 20% off our bills as if he was doing us some type of favor. We regretfully accepted. When our sever came back to collect our payment she had the nastiest attitude. She proceeded to toss my card on the table after she swiped it!!!! At that point I was in complete disbelief, I grabbed my card and left immediately. Overall my experience here was sadly disappointing. They don't give flying f*ck about customer service and it shows! This place makes the entire Benihana franchise look bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Never going to this location ever again even if I was offered a million bucks. Literally. I'm not sure what's going on. The food is just not up to par. Each time I have ordered to go or ate in person the quality of food has declined. And the amount of food has declined but prices have increased. For five years I don't know why I even keep giving them a chance. Santa Monica, Arcadia, and Newport location is superb. At this location, no matter if it's lunch, dinner, weekend, or weekday the food is simply bland and not tasty. The hibachi shrimp tasting like boiled shrimp was the last straw. It needs to at least look like it was attempted to be grilled and seasoned. For a place that's known for hibachi chicken fried rice they could use some pointers from corporate headquarters. read more

It was my brothers birthday today on New Year's Eve and he wanted to try Benihana. We've had habachi before but never Benihana. There is valet parking which is pretty cheap around $4. You can pass the turn quickly but it's right next to the restaurant. Because it's so busy they have reservations there. My brother made a reservation so we only had to wait about ten minutes for our table. I went with my brother and his wife. We sat at a table and ordered a punch drink to share. I took a picture of the drink. Since it was NYE they had a holiday menu. It was around $32, I'm not sure if it's on their regular menu. I highly recommend it, it was so delicious and enough for three of us. My sister in law is vegan and we saw tofu wasn't an option on the holiday menu but they still made it for us which was nice. My brother and I ordered chicken. We were served our rice and salad which was delicious and entree shrimp and rice. Our chef had a cute show for us which I really enjoyed. He made an I love U on the grill and made the heart pump which was cool. And he made performed a couple other tricks as well. We had a nice time but when it came to sing happy birthday, our server forgot and sang to the other girl at the table who's birthday it was as well. I was really looking forward to the singing for my brother. They brought him ice cream but no singing. That's why I gave it four stars. Other than that our dining experience was great. read more

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First time at this particular Benihana. This chain is one of my family's favorite to dine out at. The night started out with an overcrowded old style Benihana restaurant that we actually didn't mind. The problem came when asking where the restroom was located, my dining crew was initially ignored, then got the rude finger pointer. I know hostesses can sometime get overwhelmed, but that's no excuse to behave in a manner which is unbecoming of and could possibly cost the establishment you work for to negatively effected. Phone calls were made the next day. Hope they take care of the issue because some diners left without being seated. I however loved the "old ness" and original cook tops from the old days Benihana restaurants. The chef came and entertained the table and cooked good enough to earn our customary tip to the chef. If not for him and our wonderful waitress Alexandra, my rating for the evening here would've been 1 star or no star. read more

Benihana - Encino - Rude hostess that used non verbal communication to point to the general area the restroom was located when asked. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Encino, California

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My first time here at this location. John is probably the best chef I've ever had at Benihana's! read more

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

Have always enjoyed this Benihana it seems like they give you the most for your money and I think it's one of the originals if not the original. I've been going here for years always enjoyed the food and easy to find parking. read more

Came here for party of five. We were excited since it's by reservation only. We were celebrating my daughters birthday. We were all seated around the appropriate time... the runner or the waiter took our order.... He had his mask on and we could barely hear him... there were constant repeating because he wouldn't talk loud enough... and that was annoying. We could barely order a 2nd beer ... We keep asking. And joke we will take it to go. They didn't suggest appetizers But we ordered anyways . We ordered 2 albocores ... the appetizers never came.... My daughter is allergic to dairy so we ordered steam rice instead of fried rice that came in the order . that simple side of white rice never came until we asked for a couple of times... everyone was eating there rice but her...there were 2 birthdays on our table... we did mention it's my daughter's birthday and the other girl from the party of 3... other tables next to us got sung to.. but they forgot to sing to our table. They also put the wrong order for one of us... just steak... he wanted steak and shrimp. I had to share my shrimp with him... he then decided to get scallops.... We waited and was already passed eating everything... scallops came ... they still charge us extra $10 ... one last thing ... they asked us what kind of rice... chicken fried rice? We all said yes Well they put a small piece of chicken on the grill And chopped it 2 bits and shared that with 7 people On the table ... that was $5 extra charge to each per person. That was hidden cost. I would've been fine with regular fried rice. ... btw my daughter got charged $5 extra ... she got steam rice instead of the chicken fried rice.... The other birthday girl had to ask about her birthday icecream... the runner and a girl sung. To her. u couldn't hear him once again!! He barely sung the song... I gave up. We didn't bother for them to sing to my daughter .... So dissatisfied... I've been to many other hibachi table. This is definitely one to remember. Thumbs down read more

-Too crowded -Slow service -Not enough chefs -As a reviewer posted below, we were charged for items we didn't know we'd be charged for (like chicken fried rice) -Not enough ventilation (prepare to wash all the clothes you wear plus your hair that day, or you'll smell like smoke for days) All my husband requested for his birthday was a Benihana dinner, which we view as a culinary experience and save for special occasions. Despite having a 5:15 pm reservation, we didn't get a chef until 6:45. The place on a Sunday night was like a zoo. Our server brought us drinks and appetizers, but our table (a party of 3 families) waited patiently for a chef. Everything took forever. Kids got antsy, not knowing what was happening. I wanted to leave. Our table had 3 birthdays total, and we spent most of that time waiting. After our chef actually showed up, the excitement was gone. The food was good, but that was it. We quickly ate and awaited our bill. With prices going up everything, it's just not worth it to treat yourself in a place like this. When the server asked us what ice cream we wanted, we told him to pack it up. "You don't want to have it for the birthday celebration?" he said. What a joke. All parties left with no singing or celebrating and commiserated over how disappointing the night was. read more

What an awful establishment. Absolutely no consideration for reservations whatsoever. They allow everyone to book a reservation when they know they are 1 hour behind schedule. It's a mess! The food quality was okay.... the place is beaten up! The service from our waiter was pretty good. read more

Don't even waste your time coming to this place. First of all they charge you $5.50 to park your vehicle in their parking lot. Once you get in at approximately 5:00 p.m. on a Tuesday they tell you they can't see you to 8:45 p.m. . What kind of service is that?. Over 3 and 1/2 hour wait because they don't have their act together. Definitely don't waste your time here go to something's fishy instead west side of Ventura boulevard They have free parking and they sit you right down. read more