Benihana - San Diego, CA

Review summary

1. C

   Corrina

   San Diego

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined today

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   The wait was long no point in using the app we waited for aprox 1 hour our reservation was at 8:15 Got sat literally 50 mins later.
   

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2. A

   Alma

   San Diego

   6 reviews

   3.0

   6 reviews

   Dined today

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   We've been going to Benihana for decades and last night was the worst experience. We had a reservation at 7:30. We arrived at 7:20, there were dozens of people waiting both inside and outside of the restaurant. At around 7:45 we overheard the hostess telling other patrons that they were running at least 45 minutes behind and were barely finishing to seat the 6:45 reservations. Their excuse was "people aren't leaving their tables." We finally got seated around 8:40 pm. The server came to take our drink order and also asked if she could take it for orders. All the tables around were full, only one chef was cooking. People loudly cheered when they finally received something. We were served the soup and salad and our drinks had still not arrived. When they came to serve the salad we were informed they were out of carrots. Still no drinks. We finished the carrotless salad and finally drinks came, minus one drink. The chef finally came out and we were eating our meal at 9:50 PM. The server never came back to check on us, and when she did appear, it was to inform us she would be going on break and someone else would tend to our table. The food was fine, the typical garlicky flavors and extra sodium.... When it came to dessert, the portions were tiny, maybe half a scoop of super soft ice cream. We finally left after 10:30. We'll definitely come back, but we'll never again go in that time slot on a Saturday when they're clearly unprepared, unmanaged and out of carrots.
   

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3. C

   Curtis

   San Diego

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   It is always a great food experience. Unfortunately we were not sat down until an hour and 15 minutes past our reservation time. To make things worse we sat and had to wait over an hour for our chef to arrive to the table. Our reservation was at 745p. The chef arrived past 1000p…we finally started to eat at 1020p. The waitress was nice but told us we had to order our food as soon as we were sat down so it could be added to the long line of orders. She said we could not wait.
   

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4. S

   Stacey

   VIP

   San Diego

   2 reviews

   3.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 3

   6:15 reservation, seated at 7:00. No chef to our table until 8:10. Chef Luis was fantastic but waitress was rude and made judgmental comments to our group about requests. We’ve been big fans in the past but wait times have gotten ridiculous and the restaurant feels run down.
   

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5. G

   Greg

   VIP

   San Diego

   56 reviews

   1.0

   56 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 5

   We have been there for over 25 yrs, were locals. Salads, rice and drinks arrived at the end of dinner.
   

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6. G

   Gigi

   VIP

   New York City

   17 reviews

   5.0

   17 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Wonderful experience. Our server Trevor was amazing, cooked soooo good and provided great entertainment. Happy holidays to everyone who made a great experience for our family.
   

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7. M

   Mark

   San Diego

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Loved it. Long wait but we'll worth it. Food was amazing.
   

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8. J

   Jeff

   Seattle

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   We had a 7:30 RESERVATION but we were not called for our table until 8:27. The first course (soup) did not get to the table until 8:59. The food was great as per usual, but the service experience was terrible.
   

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9. G

   Gary

   San Diego

   1 review

   3.0

   1 review

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 3

   We had a 7:00PM reservation, arrived at 6:30PM, and was told they had a lot of walk-ins so they couldn't seat us until 8:00PM which made us late for our next venue. The people who sat next to us had a 6:30PM reservation. You don't put walk-ins above people who make reservations. It's just bad management! I won't ever come back and I was a local regular.
   

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10. H

    Haydee

    VIP

    San Diego

    6 reviews

    2.0

    6 reviews

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 2
    4. Ambience 3

    Had a 6:30 pm reservation and was seated at 7:26 pm - almost an hour later. Had to ask the server for silverware and napkin to which she had a slight attitude about getting them. She did not offer any to the other guests and took her time in getting me a napkin with utensils as requested. Chef arrived at 8:16 pm - almost two hours after our reservation. Fausto cooked a delicious meal. The server at table 10 kept on telling those patrons that they could take however long they wanted - that the longer they were there - the longer she got paid. Guess that explains why we were seated almost an hour after our reservation time. All in all the food was delicious but they continue to overbook and do not respect reservation times as they should. It’s like a doctor’s office - they make patrons wait but if the patron is tad bit late - reservation is cancelled. Honestly, don’t know why I continue returning to Benihana - knowing I’ll be waiting longer than my reservation time to be seated.
    

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