Benihana Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar

Doesn't Recommend

LindseyLanaa

Joined 2 years ago

Not so great. This place isn't the greatest. The shrimp are kind of limp whe they served them making me think they were under cooked. This place is the McDonalds of Japanese food. I suggest Tokyo steakhouse if you are looking for a better quality of Japanese food.

Recommends

TX11

Joined 4 years ago

Regular, under NEW management! GREAT!!!. We are regulars at Benihana San Antonio, The service and atmosphere used to not be that great, but the food kept us coming back. Just recently it has been under new management and wow! Its 10 times cleaner! The service is fantastic and the food is as good as ever. I would agree with the previous posts about it being bad before. But like I said, the new managment seems to have really turned this place around. Highly recommended!!

Doesn't Recommend

serenity12

Joined 5 years ago

AVOID! UNSANITARY, OVERPRICED, & BAD SERVICE. We used to live here 2 years ago and we had frequented this Benihana often. On our recent visit back, we decided to eat here. However, the service and quality has gone way down, but the pricing has gone WAY UP. Expect to spend a minimum $25/person and this is only for the small portions like sauteed chicken. When we got there the place was a bit busy, and the hostess told us it was a 15 min wait, so we were fine with it. 20 mins went by, and we were still not seated. I asked the hostess about this, and she was like oh, you will be seated next. Then another 10 min goes by.. and by the time we had waited 45 mins we were seated. The server came and took our orders and we got our soup/ salad. We told the server we wanted some drinks and sushi from the bar and we?re not sure yet so check in on us in 5 minutes, they never came back! Then after another 30 min wait the chef came out, and still no server, so we gave up. The chef began cooking the meal, and he looked nervous the whole time, had no tricks and did not put on a show. Isn?t the restaurant all about a meal & show in one?? In the middle of the meal, I had to go to the RR and I had accidentally walked into the kitchen. I saw the employees putting together salads with their bare hands, no gloves at all!! On the way back to my table, I saw servers eating in the wait stations and dirty cups everywhere. I can?t even start to imagine how many other surfaces they have touched in the restaurant before serving the salad and sodas!! I am so glad I did not eat the salad!! Also, thank goodness the main course cooks directly in front of you, no dirty hands touching it! How do they even pass health inspections? This place is completely overpriced for the service and food received! There did not seem to be any quality standards left in this place. Avoid!

Doesn't Recommend

group5

Joined 5 years ago

Terrible food and terrible customer service. We were a group of 5, the server who we think his name was John, was unable to carry on a conversation. We all just sat there like lumps on a log. Very disappointing. Food was terrible, ordered rib eye and although coooked in front of us, it was not edible. He even tried a piece and said he would not eat it, tried to cook another rib eye but by that time, the rest of the party was done eating.

Highly over priced, food terrible, service terrible, NO ENTERTAINMENT AT ALL.

WOULD NOT RECOMMEND TO ANY ONE ELSE, WILL NOT EVER BE RETURNING

Celebrating birthdays so again very disappointing.

Recommends

Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Knife-wielding chefs put on a show at this communal Japanese grill.. In Short
Benihana started out as a tiny four-table restaurant in New York City's theater district before becoming an international chain. Diners sit around large tables where chefs ostentatiously chop, slice, stir-fry and grill. Entree options are simple--shrimp, chicken, steak and scallops--and preparation is uniform. Every entree comes with a similar stock of sides: rice, onion soup, shrimp appetizer, iceberg lettuce drizzled with dressing, sauteed vegetables and green tea.

Doesn't Recommend

rch2152

Joined 6 years ago

Gross Bland food, so expensive, dosen't worth it! just a big name with poor service‎. My husband and I went to Benihana, we both a big fan of Japaneas food so we tried alot of Japaneas in diffrent places, honestly it's so expensive but expensive is not a problem if the food worth it, the food was not good at all, there was no fried rice on the menu!! plus it was extremly expensive, and the other issue was once you intered the resturant there is a sushi bar which have a Japaneas cheff but once you get the table the Mexican cheffs strat cooking your food?? don't get me wrong I have no problem with mexican but when I go to Japaneas restaurant I want to have a Japaneas cheff. anyway the service was so poor, very expensive restaurant, and if you really want to try real JAPANEAS food, don't go there!! in other word it is another vertion of Sushi Zushi! not worth what you spend

Doesn't Recommend

PBtotheJ

Joined 5 years ago

Very disappointed! Don't waste your time and money at this Benihana. Poor chefs, bad show, marginal food.. I took my family for my son's birthday and we were looking for a fun evening. We have been to this Benihana a couple of times a few (2-4) years ago, with good results. This night's dining experience was nothing like our previous outings. Something has really changed at this restaurant. My guess is management?s attention to detail had fallen off and they haven?t retained quality personnel. None of the chefs I saw were sharp and polished. Our cook (you couldn't call him a chef) couldn't do much of anything right and wasn't very good. I mean he barely was able to get our food out. I doubt he had sufficient training and he didn't have any moves. He actually missed catching a bowl of fried rice and ended up tossing it at us. The rice and bowl scattered everywhere and onto two of us. The cook really had to concentrate to make the onion volcano and had trouble getting the salmon out of the cooking pouch The cook did a few token moves, flipped a couple shrimp, but he had minimal interaction with us, and even had trouble getting his knife back in the sheath each time...so much for the show.

The salad wasn't fresh and must have been sitting in the dressing in the refrigerator for quite some time. The fried rice (that portion that we weren't wearing), the hibachi steak & chicken were fine. The Diablo seafood as well as the calamari were reasonable but, the fillet minion of my father-in-law was very gristly?he might have been able to eat about half of it.

Overall, this dining experience wasn?t worth it. The show and fun at this San Antonio Benihana have really deteriorated. Go to PF Changs and enjoy the food and your evening.

Doesn't Recommend

bluerivertj

Joined 5 years ago

Why Bother???. Thought my friend and I was going to have a great japanese birthday dinner, made reservations on a weekend busy night, arrived on time, we waited 30 minutes and still not seated. Asked what was the problem they say they are just busy and we will be seated in a few minutes. Larger groups arrived got seated right away with NO reservation. After another 20 minutes we left and had a fantastic steak dinner instead, no waiting. Bad customer service, don't bother come here if you want to eat in a timely manner. There are better japanese restaurants in town with way better service.

Doesn't Recommend

jamstutz

Joined 6 years ago

No Air Conditioner for 3 months and won't tell you until it's to late!!!. No Air Conditioner for 3 months and won't tell you until it's to late!!! Call and ask before you go otherwise you will be told by the manager, Raul that he will tell, "the person who can do something about it". You will also sweat throughout your dinner.

Recommends

debomad

Joined 6 years ago

Great seasoned food. Great experience. I really enjoyed my experience here. The wait was average. The chefs take their time with each table to help give back a since of value. As far as price it is at the very top of the price range for Japanese steakhouses but there are perks that other do not offer. All meals come with steamed rice if you upgrade to fried rice it is chicken fried rice , which is very good. The chefs flair really depends on which chef you get some are better than others in show and cooking but they all know what they are doing. They try to make you happy, if you want something ask.