Benihana - Carlsbad, CA

Benihana - Carlsbad, CA reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Review summary

1. E

   Evelyn

   Los Angeles10 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 3 days ago

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

   Great food, good ambience, friendly staff and our chef was incredible.
   

   Benihana - Carlsbad, CAResponded 2 days ago

   Thanks for the review, Evelyn! We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed your dining experience at Benihana - Carlsbad, CA. Our team takes great pride in providing excellent service and it's wonderful to know that our chef made your visit memorable. We're also glad you appreciated our ambiance and food. We look forward to welcoming you back soon!
   

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2. L

   Leigh Anne

   San Diego2 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 3 days ago

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

   Great food and super fun way to celebrate a birthday. We had three birthdays at our table!
   

   Benihana - Carlsbad, CAResponded 2 days ago

   Thanks for visiting us, Leigh Anne! We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed your birthday celebration at Benihana - Carlsbad, CA. It's wonderful to know that our food and the fun atmosphere contributed to making your celebration memorable. We look forward to serving you again soon. Best, The Management Team
   

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3. B

   Behnaz VIP

   San Diego15 reviews

   1.0

   Dined 7 days ago

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

   We had a confirmed reservation at 7 pm to celebrate my elderly mom The chef did not start our food til 9 pm !!!! We waited for 2 hours for our food !!! The level of noise also was unbearable we could not even hear any of our guests Food was ok Really a bad experience Such a long wait is totally not acceptable
   

   Benihana - Carlsbad, CAResponded 5 days ago

   Thanks for the review, Behnaz. We're truly sorry to hear about your experience at Benihana - Carlsbad, CA. It's never our intention to keep guests waiting, and we apologize for the delay you experienced. We're also sorry to hear that the noise level affected your dining experience. We take your feedback seriously and will address these issues with our team to ensure a better experience for all our guests in the future. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you again and provide a more enjoyable dining experience.
   

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4. D

   Desiree

   Las Vegas1 review

   1.0

   Dined on April 6, 2025

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

   Waited over an 1.5 hours over my reservation. My server left for the evening in the middle of dinner and I didn’t have a server until I flagged someone down at the end of dinner.
   

   Benihana - Carlsbad, CAResponded 5 days ago

   Hi Desiree, We're really sorry to hear about your recent experience at Benihana - Carlsbad, CA. We understand how frustrating it can be to wait over an hour for your table, especially when you have a reservation. We also apologize for the inconvenience caused by the absence of our service team. We're taking your feedback seriously and will use it to improve our service. We hope you'll give us another chance to provide a better dining experience in the future. Best regards, The Management Team
   

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5. M

   Malik

   Los Angeles1 review

   1.0

   Dined on April 6, 2025

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

   Our reservation was an hr behind, food also took exponentially long to be served.
   

   Benihana - Carlsbad, CAResponded on April 7, 2025

   Hello Malik, We're truly sorry to hear about your recent experience at Benihana - Carlsbad, CA. We understand that waiting can be frustrating and we apologize for the delay in service you experienced. We're taking your feedback seriously and will ensure that we improve our reservation and food service timings. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you better in the future. Best, The Management Team
   

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6. L

   Laurie

   San Diego1 review

   2.0

   Dined on April 6, 2025

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

   BEWARE it took 2 hours and 45 minutes for our 6pm reservation. We made a reservation 2 weeks in advance for 6pm on Saturday evening. We arrived shortly before 6 pm to a full lobby and full restaurant and told to hang out and they would call our name when our table was ready. So we decided to have a drink at the bar and wait... at 6:30 I went and asked when our table would be ready, told we were getting closer and it shouldn't be much longer. Finally at almost 7pm we were seated. Once seated we waited for another 10 minutes before the waiter took drink orders and brought the soup / salad pre-dinner offerings. At 7:30 we still did NOT have a chef, my husband asked the "manager" and we were told it was almost our turn. A gentleman at the companion table complained about 5 minutes later and finally at 7:42pm we got a chef. The chef seemed rushed, and all the cooking and the "show" was done by 8:19pm... at 8:25pm the waiter brought out bill and to go boxes trying to rush us off the table. At 8:34pm we left the restaurant. Between the 5 of us it was almost $600 for the evening. Absolutely ridiculous to spend that kind of money and it take 1 hour and 42 minutes to have an actual chef after having reservations. It had been about 5 years since we were there and not sure we will ever go back. The restaurant hasn't been updated or carpet cleaned in years and the bathrooms need some serious cleaning. Benihana needs to figure it out and have more chefs to handle the amount of people trying to dine at their restaurant. Not worth your time or money.
   

   Benihana - Carlsbad, CAResponded on April 8, 2025

   Thanks for visiting us, Laurie. We're truly sorry to hear about your experience at Benihana - Carlsbad, CA. It's clear that we fell short in delivering the quality of service we pride ourselves on. We understand how frustrating it must have been to wait for your table and for your meal, especially considering your reservations. We also apologize for the inconvenience caused by the uncleanliness in our restaurant. Your feedback is invaluable and will be taken into consideration as we strive to improve. We hope you'll consider giving us another chance in the future.
   

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7. P

   Paige

   Los Angeles1 review

   3.0

   Dined on April 4, 2025

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

   The food was good, but this was our second time making a reservation and then having a long wait for our table. The first time, we were quoted an hour even with a reservation so we left. This time we were quoted 20 minutes, which ended up being 40. Then once seated it took a long time to get our food, so the whole experience took two hours.
   

   Benihana - Carlsbad, CAResponded on April 5, 2025

   Hey Paige, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We're glad to hear that you enjoyed the food but we're sorry to hear about your experience with the reservation system and the wait time. We understand how frustrating that can be and we apologize for any inconvenience caused. We're always striving to improve our service and your feedback is invaluable in this process. We hope you'll give us another chance to provide a better dining experience. Best Regards, Benihana - Carlsbad, CA The Management Team
   

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8. J

   Jean

   Los Angeles1 review

   1.0

   Dined on April 4, 2025

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

   For starters, this was a birthday celebration for my wife and me, but there was no effort made to make the experience special. The chef arrived late, appeared disoriented—possibly intoxicated—and made no attempt to create a memorable or exciting atmosphere. The entire table was visibly upset with his behavior. Additionally, the server was slow, and the chef didn’t even prepare the child’s meal. To make matters worse, the manager was outright disrespectful and showed no interest in resolving the situation or making things right.
   

   Benihana - Carlsbad, CAResponded on April 8, 2025

   Thanks for visiting us, Jean. We're truly sorry to hear about your experience at Benihana - Carlsbad, CA. It's clear we didn't meet your expectations, and for that, we apologize. We strive to create memorable experiences for our guests, and we're sorry to hear we fell short this time. We also regret any dissatisfaction you experienced with our service. We will address these issues with our team to ensure we maintain the high standards we strive for. We hope you'll give us another chance to make your next visit a better experience. Best regards, Benihana - Carlsbad, CA Management Team
   

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9. M

   Mary

   Los Angeles176 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on April 3, 2025

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

   Tableside entertainmant and good food. A fun place Andres was a great table-side Chef!
   

   Benihana - Carlsbad, CAResponded on April 7, 2025

   Hey Mary, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed our food and the tableside entertainment at Benihana - Carlsbad, CA. We're always striving to provide fun and memorable dining experiences for our guests. We've noted your feedback on the value and we'll continue to work on it. We hope to see you again soon!
   

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10. A

    Andrew VIP

    San Diego13 reviews

    3.0

    Dined on April 3, 2025

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

    Great food but make sure you avoid high traffic times. You will experience a long wait past your reservation time.
    

    Benihana - Carlsbad, CAResponded on April 5, 2025

    Thanks for the feedback, Andrew! We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed our food at Benihana - Carlsbad, CA. We're sorry to hear that you found the wait time to be longer than expected, despite the restaurant being at a lower traffic level. We always aim to provide our guests with a smooth dining experience, and we appreciate your patience. Your feedback is invaluable and we will certainly take it into consideration to improve our service. Looking forward to serving you again soon!
    

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