Benihana - Santa Monica, CA

Review summary

1. D

   Dana

   Los Angeles

   3 reviews

   2.0

   3 reviews

   Dined today

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

   I had a 4:30 reservation and got seated by 5! I came early to avoid the waiting in the front!!!The front girl didn’t get us a server so we sat until Eduardo (mgr) came over to help! Issac the waiter was our savior and if it wasn’t for his good service, and fixing what was ruined, I might have never considered coming back! Get your business together! If you can’t teach and hire smart leadership then close your doors!
   

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2. G

   Gustavo

   VIP

   San Francisco

   22 reviews

   2.0

   22 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Overall the place is out dated. Very dirty carpet and the place doesn’t look clean. Food, Service and pricing is very poor. Next time we will look some where else to celebrate a birthday.
   

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3. R

   Ron

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   2 reviews

   2.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Host staff didn’t smile or even look you in the face. Had to wait to be seated even with early reservations. Waitress forgot an item on our order and seemed to bothered when asked for things. Place is outdated and it’s obvious they are living off the legacy of place. If it wasn’t for the lack of hibachi options in LA, we would never go back.
   

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4. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   8:30 reservation. Left when we still hadn’t been seated by 9:05. Disappointed in the managemet and host staff as we checked in a few times to enquire about a table and were consistently told we were next. After two more parties were sat and we passed 30 minutes of waiting we left.
   

   Benihana - Santa Monica, CAResponded 1 day ago

   Hello, We're truly sorry to hear about your recent experience at Benihana - Santa Monica, CA. It's our goal to provide every guest with a memorable dining experience, and we apologize for falling short this time. We understand how frustrating it must have been to wait for your table despite having a reservation. We also regret that you felt ignored by our staff. We assure you that this is not the standard we aim for. We appreciate your feedback and will use it to improve our service. Best Regards, The Management Team
   

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5. S

   Susan

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   The table was not ready until a full hour after the reservation time and then we had to wait another 45 mins for a chef to come make the food. My kids used to love going here but suffice to say we will not be returning.
   

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6. P

   Parisa

   Los Angeles

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   We had to leave before even ordering. Took forever to be seated. The ambiance is complete trash. Like a Chuck E. Cheese. Loud. Dark. No service. Nightmare.
   

   Benihana - Santa Monica, CAResponded 1 day ago

   Hello Parisa, We're truly sorry to hear about your disappointing experience at Benihana - Santa Monica, CA. It's clear that we fell short in meeting your expectations, and for that, we sincerely apologize. We understand that the ambiance and the service were not up to our usual standards. We appreciate your feedback as it helps us identify areas where we can improve. We hope you will give us another chance to provide a better dining experience in the future. Best regards, Benihana - Santa Monica, CA Management Team
   

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7. D

   Daniel

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   70 reviews

   3.0

   70 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   We've dined at this location many times and service, food and cleanliness of this store varies drastically visit-to-vist and appears to be on a downward trend. Tonight's visit was no exception. We arrived at 4pm to a very quiet restaurant and we were seated by a lovely hostess without delay. The dining room was okaish in cleanliness, but carpeting, tables, grills and ductwork/hoods over the tables were greasy and show serious signs of wear-and-tear. This restaurant is overdue for a full top-to-bottom deep cleaning (or better, rennovations!) Our server was delightful at the beginning of service - promptly taking orders, delivering beverages, soups and salads. Then, after our chef arrived, she completely disappeared. No refills, no dishes removed, no dessert delivered, no check. Our Teppenyaki Chef, Joey, was fantastic, skilled and knowledgeable. He was creative with his "show" and offered unique comedy (stuff we hadn't heard 100 times) as he prepared our dinner. Food was tasty, delicious and perfectly cooked. The pace of the meal was great. After the dinner was done and we finished our meal, we waited around for 20 minutes before flagging down a manager for desserts, refills and a check. When asked what happened to our server, the manager explained she hurt herself. (Nobody could come over to our table and inform us or take over?) She was spotted as we were paying attending to other tables, so we guess she was OK. Payment was eventually taken, but even that was slow to process. The dining room was lively and energetic with many children's birthday parties going on concurrently. Overall, this visit ranked high in food quality but poor in service and overall experience. We trust this was the exception and not the standard and hope for a better visit next time.
   

   Benihana - Santa Monica, CAResponded 1 day ago

   Hi Daniel, Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to share your experience at Benihana - Santa Monica, CA. We're glad to hear that you enjoyed our food and found our chef creative and skilled. However, we're truly sorry to hear about the service you received and we appreciate your patience. We're committed to maintaining the cleanliness of our facilities and we're sorry if this caused you any inconvenience. We're also sorry for the delay in payment and any confusion about your server. Your feedback is valuable and will help us improve. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you better in the future. Best Regards, The Management Team
   

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8. D

   Denise

   Los Angeles

   1 review

   3.0

   1 review

   Dined 4 days ago

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

   even though we had reservations after we were fully checked in, we still waited another 45 minutes to be seated on a Tuesday night at 8 PM. We didn’t end up eating until 10 o’clock, which I was too tired and ready to go to eat. The food was good, the cook was great. The server was OK but the wait time was horrible.
   

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9. P

   Peter

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   12 reviews

   3.0

   12 reviews

   Dined 4 days ago

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

   Not what it used to be. Left all the dirty dishes on the table the whole meal. Potions smaller than before.
   

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10. A

    Aja

    Los Angeles

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined 6 days ago

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

    Our chef failed to clean the grill before he started until i reminded him to do so. He failed to clean his utensils between cooking raw chicken and everything else. He failed to properly season the food. Just a big fat failure and I was disgusted. The manager took 20% off but that in my opinion was not sufficient. Really disappointed.
    

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