Always fun, just be prepared for long wait times! Good food and reasonable price when you order the right thing. Loud atmosphere, but filled with many happy people. read more

I'm just rating the sushi bar. For me, it's the only reason to visit. The teppanyaki tables are the main draw for the crowds here, but you can avoid all the hub-bub, and head directly into the bar for easy, no reservation required seating. In the bar you'll find a real treat on the happy hour menu. Here the prices are slashed and you can get a ton of really good dishes without breaking your bank. The drinks specials are exquisite, great flavors and generous pours. Usually the staff in the bar are less harried than the main room, service here can sometimes be hit or miss. And while this isn't the peninsula's finest sushi, it is definitely a steal for the prices. read more

Way over priced, ordered med rare filet mignon it was medium well when he finally got to me, everything was dry. It was my Birthday, they did nothing for me. No song no candle they brought me a scoop of ice cream, I had to ask them to please take a picture of my group finally they did. I used to LOVE this place! Not anymore! For 2 people in my group they spent $160.00, I can't imagine what the total was for 4 of us!!!!! Horrible service, horrible food, it isn't what it used to be! read more

This restaurant is a very fun, friendly place to have dinner...if you don't mind the wait on Friday nights.. I came here with the honey & the kiddos for Valentines day. besides the fact it was busy busy, the kids loved it. The chef was very playful with them, making sounds with the chicken made out of egg yoke, the volcano out of unions, the heart beating out of a heart shaped pile of rice, flipping the shrimp tail into his hat. The food was good but the entertainment was even better, its been months and the kids have been asking to back there:-) Can't forget to mention the sushi appetizer plates are amazingly good read more

I just finished dinner with my family and the service was the worst I've ever experienced. The bar tender E'moire served the wrong drink and refused to correct her mistake, the manager said she would take care of it and after repeated request the cocktail was served at the end of dinner. we asked for water and never received water to the end of our meal. I spoke to the owner with no satisfaction. I would strongly recommend avoiding this restaurant if you want to have a quality evening with your family. Jim read more

We came to Monterey for my boyfriend's bday & stayed at a fancy resort so we thought about having a fancy dinner as well. All the other fancy restaurants were closed but not Benihana! We were so happy they were open & was able to still have our steak & lobster (hibachi style) and everything was delicious! read more

I know it's a sin to go to a chain restaurant while in Carmel/Monterey, but none of us had been to Benihana so we thought it might be fun. Simply put, they did not disappoint and in fact exceeded our expectations even with my being vegetarian. They were mindful to make my rice on the flat top prior to adding eggs and we all loved it with my having the meatless version and the others having chicken. They served me delicious tempura fried veggies while the others got filet, chicken and shrimp combo platters. All the steak was cook as they requested. A HUGE part of the experience was our server. I will be sure to update this post when I have the receipt so proper credit can be given. We will definitely visit this or another location in the future. It was loads of fun and the food was delicious. read more

I have celebrated many wonderful birthdays at Benihana's. The food and service was great. Unfortunately, on a very recent visit, the food was not up to par. My hibachi salmon was so dry that I needed to drink water after each bite so I could swallow it. We were the first people seated at 5:00. We could hear the kitchen staff laughing and cracking jokes. Apparently, it was okay with the manager, because he walked out of the kitchen and the noise continued. I realize this isn't a "fine dining " restaurant but even at fast food restaurants , employees are required to behave in a professional manner. And managers are there to make sure it's enforced. read more

Wendy was so worried about her tip she couldn't do her job precisely. Had me waiting 10mins before acknowledging I was there. She asked me twice if I wanted change while paying and I said yes both times. It was a take out order and she was acting very entitled. When she gave me the change she stood there waiting for her tip. I put inside the envelope and she walked away, pulled it out and counted each bill. Had to ask her twice for utensils and soy sauce. Forgot about sushi until I reminded her. Got back to my room my rice, salad dressing and hibachi sauce were not in the bag... Just not a pleasant person to work with. The only thing good about my $33 order was any California roll. read more

was looking so forward to birthday dinner with family here. first time at a benihana... last time at this one. per website, dress code to be followed. just no shorts, flip flops, hats... presentable. wear and act as you want in reality. low class place. dirty, filthy. no management. was a free for all. :20 minutes to seat with a reservation made, very loud, interior in need of a major repair and deep cleaning. service was slow, forgetful and poor and the cook we had made 2 wrong dinners out of 8. weird place. embarrassing to have taken family to this place. won't go again. i can get the quality of food served here at any asian food place take out. our bill was almost $400 for everyone. expensive lesson. they even forgot we had a birthday at the table. no one took home the leftovers... yuck!!! thanks benihana... read more

My daughter has never been to a Benihana and when she saw there was one here in Monterey, she was so excited and said she wanted to go. Yes, it was a last minute decision and didn't have time to put in a reservation. When we arrived, I wasn't allowed to put our names in and the host said that they are only seating reservations the rest of the night. I've been to several Benihana's even without reservations and have had to wait which I've been willing to do, but have never been turned away like I was tonight. read more

So apparently this Benihana's changes their services as they seem fit. Called at 4pm to order take out only to be told that take out is at 5pm. So after waiting another hour, I called back only to be told that the manager decided to not offer tale out because it's Friday and it gets busy. Mind you, I'm not local to this area so that hour could have been utilized by heading home. These fools can make more money by tweaking its services. read more

So leaving the wharf the other day we saw the "Now Open" sign and quickly made plans to attend. It's the same Benihana that you've all been to, but this one is still not yet busy so it makes the experience even nicer. Sushi was good, dinner good, and a bigger drink selection than Saporro's read more

Benihana - Monterey - Pretty empty since they just reopened - Japanese Near Me - Monterey, California

While other yelpers such as "Alex C" we're "lucky" enough to make a last minute "reservation" at 8pm on Saturday (8/24/19) and wait patiently, others such as my family of 9 who booked a reservation early Saturday morning for our daughters 17th birthday dinner at 7:45pm that Sat. night were NOT so "lucky". While booking early that day, we were informed of the HIGH Importance of being there no later than our reservation time or we would lose our reservation. My Father and Mother-in-law arrived 1st and attempted to check in. They were told that unless the entire party of 9 where there, they would not honor our reservation until so and that if we were late they wouldn't hold our reservation. Okay, wow, we were told this twice. A bit rude but no worries. We got there just minutes after they did and checked in a second time. After checking in for our 7:45 reservation, we were told our table was not ready and that they would call us when it was ready. 15 minutes went by, 20 min, 30 min... still not seated. My mother-in-law, 63 years old, and a restaurant owner of 28 years her self approached the hostess to inquire about how much longer it would be. Note we also had a hungry 4 year old that grandma felt bad for. I never once heard my mother-in-laws voice, but the whole waiting room could hear the hostess yelling and waiving her hands in my mother-in-laws face in the utmost disrespectful manner forcing my husband, her son, to ask the hostess to stop yelling at his mother. The hostess yelled out that they "can't control how fast customers eat, or how fast the cooks cook". Yet admitted we we're just one of multiple reservations booked at 7:45pm! Really? So then this is more of an error in stacking reservations - not so much the unpredictability of "how fast customers and cooks are". Meanwhile, this is all taking place while the "manager" was standing next to the hostess witnessing and allowing it, never once intervened. Another 15 minutes goes by, and we're finally called. 45 minute wait for our "reservation". Long story short, we did not finish till around 10:20pm ish, and $354 later were disappointed in the whole experience. Our cook wasn't even of Asian decent. Isn't this part of the "show"? And the food was just "whatever". I last visited this location a couple years back and don't remember it being so bad. As much as we all put on a "happy show" for my daughters 17th Birthday dinner, her dinner was a disaster and I wish this experience on no one. :( read more

I will give this place a 5 star only because Ray John at the bar is totally awesome! He suggested different drinks! I had the Tokyo mule (refreshing & delish btw)! Great experience overall! & Ricardo es el mas super onda chef del mundo! & leiny is also awesome! Great customer service! read more

Benihana - Monterey - Japanese Near Me - Monterey, California

Great show and always good food. We came here for St. Patrick's Day late Lunch/ early Dinner. There was a wait and luckily we were sat much earlier than expected. The show was great, creative and kept everyone smiling. I apparently have some practice to do in the kitchen now that my toddler wants dinner and a show. We'll be back! They're already asked when. read more

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Unfortunately, its true. "The days of Benihana R long gone" From chef expertese, to order accuracy, to reception to entry Behnihana acts like an operation that either (A) Should have shut down long ago OR (B) Should be shut down. The decor and furnishings scream UPDATE ME as do the laconic - everything else. The only good thing Benihana is good at is being off the map and hard to find - and trust me - that is a very Very good thing. As Martha Stewart would say. read more

This was an okay Hibachi. It took us awhile to get our cook - roughly a half hour. My party was getting antsy waiting. Our cook was awesome though, he made a child sitting at our table light up and he was very attentive. The food was yummy as well though my steak was quite fatty and the veggies a little soggy. I hear great things about this place so I may need to catch them on a different day. read more

The only pleasant parts of our dinner were the kind family sitting with us and my beer. I'm not sure if the franchise location changed owners/management but the level of service was way worse than the several times we've visited before. We had reservations at 5 pm but were seated 20 minutes later. Our server came by only a few times which included taking our orders and giving us the check. She never asked if we needed anything else and all our drink refills were provided by other employees. I understand that the restaurant was filled to capacity but that does not allow for servers to slack off. My last complaint is regarding our Hibachi chef. He did his job and cooked the food but he half-assed the performance aspect and didn't season any of the food enough. The food tasted fine thanks to the butter and sauces but not because our chef was good. I probably will not return unless I am forced to. read more

I took my daughter here to Benihana's for her birthday with the expectation of great entertainment and excellent customer service. Sadly all I received was basically a personal chef that just cooked without the entertainment and a look like he wanted to be somewhere else. I don't know if it has to be the new management or just cooks that don't care. No entertainment, no smiles, no good service. Should be no stars. As my daughter stated, "This was the worst birthday dinner I've ever had." Thanks Benihana. read more

Stumbled onto this this place as we were leaving Fishermans wharf. Walked in and seated right away. Ordered the lunch duet with chicken and beef. Outstanding, as was the service and our Chef Dre was a true showman as well as being a great chef. Will return! read more

So there isn't enough stars for this restaurant. That goes for the food and definitely the service/servers. The relaxing atmosphere. The interaction with customers was wonderful. They even had a drum and tambourine player. They played a special Anniversary song for my kids. I would go back and back again. read more

Where to start.... I called Benihana's to see if they had availability since Old Fisherman's Grotto was completely booked up for the night. I have been to other Benihana locations and I enjoyed the experience, the food was good and service was great! But they assured me that they had availability, took my name and we got there in 10 minutes. It started off okay, they sat us promptly, they took our order within 5-10 minutes of arriving, but then it started. We received our soups, a salad after 35 minutes of waiting, then we waited another 45 minutes before getting our main entrees, I ordered the steak and lobster, everyone else ordered chicken and shrimp and it was cold.... I don't like sending food back because the last thing I want to do was piss off the person handling my food so we ate a bit then decided screw this let's just pack it up and microwave it at Home. At this point we hadn't gotten any drinks yet. Not even water! I was doing my best to stay calm. I tried getting the waitresses attention to ask her for to go boxes and my tab and it felt like she was intentionally ignoring me. I got up and went to the checkout counter and asked for my boxes and my tab and she tells me okay I will bring them to your table. I go back to my table to wait and she comes out with our drinks and the beers were already opened up so we slammed them packed our food and left. Talk about the most disappointing $243 I have ever spent. I will NEVER go back to this location, I prefer to go to McDonald's than come here. read more

This place is usually our Birthday dinner celebrations goto. Just as for every other local around the 831 I'm sure. Always bomb, and LOVE their fried rice w/ that garlic butter mhmmm VERY GOOD! A little pricey but worth it in the end along with the performance they do at the grill top. read more

Benihana - Monterey - Just about every locals Birthday dinner celebration goto place. Best part is the fried rice BOOOMB!! &the sushi rolls of course. - Japanese Near Me - Monterey, California

Couldn't accommodate a Togo order of chicken fried rice I tried to make at 7:30 which is a joke saying they were to busy yet still had reservations open for 8:00 8:30 and 8:45. Guy over the phone was extremely rude said it's not his problem and there are plenty of places to get chicken fried rice. Place has been steadily going downhill I go hear often for birthday parties but it's time to find somewhere else. read more

Love coming for lunch every week. Haha. Staff is friendly I'm obsessed with the green tea and julienne steak

I don't know what has happened but the service is declining. My co worker and I came here for a quick lunch, they open at 1130am. We only have an hour to get back to office it's a food thing that our work is a 5 minute drive and we were lucky enough to find a parking in the front. We were there when the doors open since we wanted to be one of the first customers, the host sat us down at 1135 with another group for the Tepan table. Nick was our sever and in his name tag it said he was a manager as well. 1145 he took away the other tables which meant no other guests would be joining our table. Nick came back after he cleared the plates to take our order. At 1210 I asked if our chef was coming out soon as nick was clearing out our soups, that cane with the lunch special. He said in 5 minutes. I told him we have been waiting for half an hour and he replied he will tell his manager. The chef finally came out. He was quick and efficient, no nonsense chef even if there were two kids in our table. Hardly any jokes or eye contact. The only time he engaged with us was when he repeated the order, fire show and serve us. Nick was attentive in refilling our teas and asking if there is anything else we needed. We did stay out a bit longer than we wanted. We found the food, the fried rice, scallops and beef julienne to be more on salty side than we remembered it from the last time I came. If I come back for lunch it would for the sushi side. read more

Service was good, friendly staff. Our chef cooked well but not very entertaining. Food was good but the restaraunt was pretty shabby. Wouldnt spend $100. dinner for 2 to eat there again. Overall experience ok but not great. read more

I've went here with my family on my birthday and I had a great time. The food was good the chef was nice and although he was not as flashy as those around us he was kind to entertain my younger brother. We received free ice cream snd a picture frame as a birthday privilege which was quite cool. i would have given this a 5 star if it was not for the fact that my sister had gotten spoiled lobster tail. It was luckily replaced at no extra cost though which was expected. Other than that misstep this place is very satisfying. read more

This location is absolutely horrible. We live local and I must say that this location is just horrible. The food is tasteless, the sushi was served warm oh, our waiter never came out to offer us a refill at any point and I was looking for him to ask him for a glass of water but of course I could not locate him to get that water from him. When we spoke with the manager the manager took $20 off of our bill but on a $250 Bill $20 doesn't make anybody satisfied, because my husband did not eat his meal. After all was said and done we complained again because she didn't want to do anything more than $20 she went ahead and was very irritated but took my husband's meal off the bill. This is not the first time that we've had a negative experience at this location it's every time that we go there the other locations are so much better, like Cupertino. It's worth the drive if you would like Benihana!! read more

Visited the Monterey Benihana for lunch yesterday. The prices were great. The dining room was completely empty other than my sister and I. I did not like the miso soup. The chef putting on the show dropped the spatula on the table and it fell on the floor. He just looked at it and said sorry but he is new. Other than that, the food tasted good. Slower service than normal, but still good. read more

Benihana - Monterey - $11 chicken boat. - Japanese Near Me - Monterey, California

Our waiter Nick was fantastic. Other than that, food and chef were just ok. I'm not sure if the grill and surrounding areas were up to the cleanliness standard. Came here to scratch an itch but not coming back. read more

I have to say most of the bad reviews are completely senseless....we have been coming to this place for years, and time and time again we are treated with great service! One time we showed up late(our reservation was at 8pm and we showed up at 830) since they were literally closing they weren't able to give us a show but they still made it possible to seat us at a table and they honestly went out of their way to still give us the best service possible! The food is honestly the best from any of the other Benihanas we have visited here in California, Florida and Hawaii(when it was open). We have never left dissatisfied....Try the exotic mojito, one of my favorites! And don't forget to the spicy edamame!!!! read more

Sorry not sorry for the rating, but what a terrible experience. We had a 7:15 reservation for our son's 13th birthday. We weren't seated till 7:30, and our waitress didn't make any appearance for approximately 5 minutes. She finally showed up to take our drink orders. Another 3 to 4 minutes minutes, and finally got our entree orders. Sitting there for 25 minutes and wondering where our "chef" is. We flagged down the manager as she was working the room, (nice lady) and explained to her we had been waiting for nearly 30 minutes for the chef. She apologized and she explained that a huge birthday party had tied up most of the staff, because the guests of that party trickled in slow, which delayed everything for everyone. She told us she was going to get our chef over in a few minutes. 5 minutes later he shows up. He hurried to get our food cooked and did a half ass job of "entertaining" with their utensils. He over cooked the scallops. The food was bland and we were so disappointed that we just wanted to get out of there. This used to be a nice place to eat years ago, but now...not so much. read more

The manager here wasn't very polite or welcoming which is the main reason for low rating. Our server did a great job. The food was just okay but nice ambiance that went along with it. Unfortunately when my wife had a few questions about the food she was treated as if she didn't belong there. Sad, has never happened at other locations. Corporate should step in here. read more

Never order take-out from this place. They are not set up for it. My husband and I ordered 2 orders of the Splash & Meadow and were on-time to pick it up. The food was already completely cold by the time we got it AND half the order was missing. Really disappointing. read more

The cook was extremely urgently preparing our dinner. We had a long wait to be seated although we made reservations. The cook made up for the lengthy wait by cooking our meals rapidly. Thank you read more

They close at 9PM on Tuesdays but today it's closed at 8:15. Manager's approval. I don't know if the food is good or not. Was gonna be our first time so we were excited because we've heard good thing about the chain. Oh well... now we'll never know. read more

Food ok, show/entertainment was better. Good place to take your kids. Better than expected. Place is busy and packed, most people had reservations, we got lucky and seated right away. read more

We love Benihana and its tradition to go for birthdays in our family. This year we happened to be in Monterey so we went to this one and I was disappointed with how the food came out. Perhaps the Chef was not as experienced as the ones we've had in the past. My boyfriend and I have always been fans of the hibachi shrimp but this place just didn't make it up to par as the other Benihana Restaurants I have been to. I don't know if it was because of how it was cooked or the quality of the shrimp itself. (Which you would expect the seafood to be exceptional considering it's in Monterey). I also ordered the Ahi Tuna Steak and it was extremely over cooked to the point where the fish was no longer pink anymore. Total waste of money for what you're spending and Benihana's isn't cheap! Nevertheless, the experience is always a good time, but I do not anticipate coming back to this location again. read more