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    Benihana - Newport Beach

    3.2 (2.4k reviews)
    Closed • 10:00 am - 11:00 pm
    Updated 3 weeks ago

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    BENIHANA - NEWPORT BEACH ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Good for kids
    Good for groups

    Recommended Reviews - Benihana - Newport Beach

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    Reviews With Photos

    VEGETABLE FRIED RICE (Serves 4)
    Jaclyn M.

    I came tonight with a group of nine for a birthday dinner and received exceptional service from Tiffany. She was attentive, ensuring to refill our glasses when empty. It was my first time eating the yakisoba noodles with steak, and I was impressed. The meal was complemented with onion soup, salad, hibachi shrimp appetizer, vegetables, steamed rice, and green tea, all of which were of excellent. It was so much food!

    Volcano
    Lisa K.

    Started off with happy hour at the bar which has an amazing menu and delicious drinks for an excellent price. Will definitely check out the food some other time. Been celebrating my bday at Benihana for ages and it was nice to be back doing so again this year. The parking at this location has gotten terrible though and is $10 valet unless you can find one of the few spots available for self-park. That part was a bit of a turnoff although the valet explained why they are having to hoard spots for valet because apparently a neighboring business by the airport is just dropping off all their cars in the Benihana lot. I got the Seafood Diablo (shrimp, scallops and squid) and my friend got the NY Steak. It was perfect for sharing to create our own little surf and turf. Chefs are still pulling their usual tricks which was great. Hibachi fried rice still tastes good but I feel like they are overdoing the garlic butter which makes the rice soggy. Capped off the evening with my bday ice cream which was a nice touch.

    Let the fun begin.
    Joyce Y.

    9/13/26 Came for an early dinner with my sister, my fiance, and 3 nephews and my toddler son- we expected a great dinner (I come here maybe 1-2x a year?) and a good show. The past few years, the chefs have just put on fair-good shows, so we were IMMEDIATELY blown away by Pierce. He is hilarious and witty (he immediately had one-liners for everything and everyone, and we laughed the entire night), generous and thoughtful, and he sings like an angel. If you like Michael Jackson or Bruno Mars, get ready for the best show. He's on beat, and he cooks like a Michelin chef. Butter and garlic? Yes, please. I will NEVER forget tonight's experience, thanks to Pierce and the staff at Benihana Newport Beach. Even though the place was crazy busy (-0.5 stars for implementing $10 valet... They took away so many free spots! But even the valet tonight was sweet and worked hard! They had to deal with my Tesla without a key! Whoops... Thanks, sir!), the service was smooth and flowed really well. I got the 6-course "samurai treat" (filet mignon and colossal shrimp) and it was incredible. I can't wait for my leftovers tomorrow! Thank you, Pierce and staff! See you hopefully sooner than later!

    Steve C.

    We had a 7 PM reservation on a Sunday, but when we arrived, we were told to expect a 30-minute wait. Some people in the lobby had already been waiting 45 minutes. We weren't seated until around 7:30. Since our kids were starving by that point, we ordered quickly -- but then didn't see our chef until 8:30 PM. The chef himself was underwhelming. He mumbled through the whole thing so it was hard to follow what he was saying, and he skipped nearly all the usual tricks and flair you expect at a hibachi place -- it felt like he was just going through the motions. The food quality has also noticeably declined, our dishes came out over-salted and slightly overcooked. For 2 adults and 2 kids, with no alcohol ordered, our bill with tip came to over $240. Given the long waits, lackluster show, and mediocre food, it just wasn't worth it. Hoping this was an off night, but based on this visit, I can't recommend it right now.

    Beautifully colored mocktail
    Tiffany C.

    I've been here so many times but had to write a new review because we had the most fun ever with Chef Jordan! He had great handiwork with all the tricks and he was entertaining with nonstop jokes and singing. Somehow he was able to keep everyone entertained and still cook an amazing meal. The scallops and shrimp were nice and tender and the steak were the right temperature. Our server tonight wasn't very talkative but she was very efficient and came to refill our tea and water without us asking. When we asked for anything, she would bring it immediately.

    Tuna Tartare
    Nadeem J.

    Benihana is usually a reliable go-to for me, I visit this location pretty often, at least once a month, but this time, the visit started off on the wrong foot. I originally came in for the 45-minute power lunch, but was told there would be a 10-15 minute wait just to be seated.....this kinda defeated the purpose of a "quick" lunch. On top of that, I asked and learned that I wasn't able to use my $25 birthday reward toward the power lunch, which was disappointing and almost made me leave. I ended up staying and ordered one of the lunch boat specials in the lounge instead, and thankfully the experience improved from there. Within minutes of ordering, my soup and salad came out, and the full meal followed shortly after. The lunch boat presentation was nice and included a good variety: salmon as the main protein, half a California roll (4 pieces), 2 tempura shrimp with dipping sauce, assorted tempura veggies (onion ring, sweet potato, asparagus), 4 pieces of sashimi, edamame, rice, and even a peeled orange on the side . That said, the portion of salmon was surprisingly small--definitely not the highlight if you're coming in expecting a filling protein. The rest of the food was solid, but nothing particularly standout. Overall, the meal itself was decent and service was efficient, but between the initial confusion around the power lunch and reward restrictions, it didn't quite live up to expectations this time.

    Fern H.

    Tyler the tall server and Chef UNC took care of business; so kudos to them. They're the main reason I didn't score Benihana Lower on the yelp grading score. So yo, listen. Let's keep it a BUCK. The chicken fried rice is single handedly keeping this business afloat. It's just an all right restaurant across the board. I do insist it used to be slightly better and higher quality like 15-20 years ago but whatever, that's not really too important, just a side note. The doodle and the pregnant side chick seemed to enjoy the main courses though. 乾杯 P.S. God bless the ANACRIME DUCKS. Won series last night.

    My $69 trio minus the fried rice & half a squash. Super skimpy and over cooked.
    Nathan L.

    Horrible experience start to finish... Let's start with our arrival. They have a parking lot large enough to house all their guest. However, they chose to be greedy and block more than half of their parking lot off for valet parking. With no option to park on the street in that neighborhood it's pretty much forced valet parking. Now to our table. We had a Spanish speaking couple at our table and the cook was talking to them and ignoring the rest of the table most of the time. When it came to separate our portions he gave that couple larger portions than ours. Cutting into our meals. To top off the skimpy servings the food was over cooked and under seasoned. It was a very disappointing experience to say the least. If you charge top dollar prices you should give a top tier experience. Spent over a $140's for what's in the pic, one sushi roll, and extra fried rice. Unbelievable!

    Searching for loyalty app called Friends with benefits
    Michael J.

    First of all, more than half of the parking lot is Valet parking at a cost of $10. There is no available parking on the street due to "no parking anywhere" signs. Why should I have to pay $10 to park at a restaurant that is already overpriced. Valet parking used to be free. They were understaffed. It took an hour from the time we sat down to have a chef come to our table. We had a 545pm reservation and we didn't leave until 8pm. They said they had a large party and over 500 guests that night. Well if you knew this already why not prepare accordingly? Portion sizes have gotten smaller. Instead of getting a whole long piece of zucchini cut up they give you 3/4 of it. The onion soup is not filled up in the bowl as much. The salad is just bag o' salad mix. And if I'm paying $58 for chicken and filet mignon at least give me a whole breast of chicken not split in half between two customers. Even the chefs are not into the experience anymore. Our chef couldn't even make a heart with the fried rice. He did not perform tricks with the shrimp tails (apparently they now prep them without the tails before bringing them to the table). Just wants to push the food out as quick as possible. Just not a great experience overall and it has slowly declined every year for the past 3 years since it has merged with "friends with benefits" restaurant group. Which in itself is such a bad name when trying to find their app in the App Store (tinder, and other dating apps appear instead of thier app) I remember back in the late 80's and early 90's when this was the place to be and the atmosphere was amazing. Just not that way anymore and if you don't come with a $50 or $30 rewards you are going to pay too much.

    ROCKY'S CHOICE
    Mary K.

    Visited Benihana's in Newport Beach on a Monday for dinner. We made reservations for 7PM but truthfully we didn't need to because it was a walk-in. Our servers and chef were amazing. For drinks, we ordered a Mojito and a Long Island. My Mojito was delicious and made well. My Husband's Long Island drink was okay but could've used a lil' more kick. As for our meals, we ordered the "Rocky's Choice" and we added the chicken fried rice. The chicken fried rice is an extra charge. Rocky's Choice comes with steak and chicken and includes shrimp as an appetizer. It also includes soup and salad and let's not forget the dessert at the end, which is a choice of ice cream. Usually the flavors are green tea, rainbow sherbet, or I believe, vanilla. We always enjoy visiting Benihana's for either a casual dinner or a fun celebration and would highly recommend this location for either.

    Blue Hawaiian
    Jenni G.

    This is our favorite Benihana location so we came here to celebrate my husband's birthday. Our chef, Adagio, was amazing! The best chef experience we've had at any locations. He was so personable and entertaining. However, our server, Emily, wasn't that great. First of all, she wasn't very attentive. There were several times when we had to ask other staff to call her to our table. We had to request utensils, food we ordered, and finally the celebratory picture. When we asked her about it, she said "Oh, it's by request." Luckily, we know about the picture but if it's your first time, how do you know to request it? She seemed annoyed that we even asked. She just didn't have a nice attitude. It's the first time we've experienced this at this location. Usually, the service is exceptional. Maybe Emily was having a bad day but it sucks we got her the day we were celebrating my husband's birthday.

    Sheena V.

    Had a reservation at 6:30PM on a Saturday evening. Got there and got seated maybe within 15 minutes. It took a while to get our orders in. The manager I'm assuming came to say hi, a server who wasn't our server came to say hi, and then eventually our server came. She was very sweet, took our order, and went on. I get it, it's a Saturday evening and they're busy... but we didn't really get any food served or anything until about 7:45PM.... so to get there at a reservation and not eat for about an hour and 15 minutes was kind of a long time, especially with a 1.5 year old. We were lucky the family sitting next to us were so sweet as my kid was getting antsy and hungry, which rightfully so, as were we. Vincent, our chef, came out and he was super sweet. Very funny, impressionable, and just over all an awesome guy. 5/5 for him! Everything came out delicious none the less, just wished the service was a little faster and that it didn't take that long to at least take our orders.

    Soup
    Sam C.

    We used to come here a lot when our kids were younger because they loved the show. But after last night I think we all decided that we don't want to come anymore. They just can't manage their reservation at all! We had a 5:45 reservation and didn't get seated until 6:30 and the chef didn't come to our table until 7! The people at the check-in stand apologized that a couple of tables were late ... But that's ridiculous. A 5:45 reservation is probably only the second dinner seating. Are they saying every single one of their first seatings were 45 minutes late? I'd understand more if we had a 8:30 or 9pm reservation ... I can understand 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there, you end up a bit late by the end of the night. But we were at the beginning! Then, the food was not great either. I think the chefs spend so much effort on the show and trying to be entertaining that they don't pay attention to the food. I watched the chef cooking my steak -- salting one side heavily, flipping it over, salting it heavily again. And then 2-3 minutes later, doing it all over again. The steak was completely inedible. It was SO salty! The only good part was that I said it was salty and the chef immediately made another one -- this time pretty well. So kudos there, which is why I added one star. We're probably not coming back

    Compete meal

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    Page 1 of 61

    Benihana - Newport Beach Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Benihana - Newport Beach

    Out of the three options given - bar seating - communal table…

    communal table is the most fun. You get to see the Chef put on a show and interact with fun strangers who are also usually celebrating. I went recently with a friend for my birthday. They sat us with 2 other couples and a single guy. All were very… 

    On average, how much bill for 9 person?

    It's about $50 a person on average after tip

    Are we able to make a reservation to request outdoor seating?

    At the Newport location, all outdoor seating has been removed. You still have a choice at eating in their bar area, with separate tables spaced apart. Same food, just don't see the Chef and the show.

    What are the options for a vegan to dine here?

    They have vegetable tempura which is served as an appetizer but still big enough to be a dinner. But the best is the tofu. My wife gets that once in awhile. They have a spicy tofu option which really is spicy!

    Is soup and salad unlimited?

    No, it is not.

    Are they good for birthday parties, 12-14 people will be coming ? Do hey have a separate room or anything for birthday parties ? Also do you allow decor,balloons,cake,etc.?

    Pre-pandemic this was a good place for large gatherings and they do have one little room for a large party.… 

    How far in advance to I have to make a reservation?

    During this time, they recommend making a reservation at least a week in advance. They are at 50% capacity and can only sit so many people while maintaining the 6-ft apart requirement.

    Is there a maximum number of people allowed for a party?

    8 people Max per table or you can get 2 tables face to face for 16

    How can you get a table for a small party (under 4) to ourselves? I don't play well with others. LOL

    You can't really. It doesn't benefit the business to utilize one chef for a small party unless you want to hire the chef for a private function. Especially when the restaurant is constantly busy. Besides, you don't have to "play" with anyone lol.… 

    I made reservation online never been there before and just want to know if every meal is prepared in front of you on those big grills ? Or do you have to specially request it?

    Standard meals are cooked in front of you on the hibachi grill. If you eat in the bar/sushi area, you can still get food cooked on the grill but you will not get to watch the "show" (which, tbh, is worth it... and this is coming from someone who has… 

    Is there a corkage charge?

    $15 per bottle!

    View All 17 Questions

    Benihana - Newport Beach - sushi - Updated September 2026

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