Benihana - San Diego, CA

Review summary

1. S

   Shannon

   Los Angeles

   2 reviews

   4.0

   2 reviews

   Dined today

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

   Dinning at Benihana is always fun, the food was good and out chef was hilarious.
   

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2. J

   Jasmine

   San Diego

   6 reviews

   5.0

   6 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   It’s always a fun birthday event for me and my mom! We love it every year! And our chef Izak was so fun! It was a great night.
   

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3. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   San Diego

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   We had reservations for 7pm, did not get seated until 7:53 pm. We waited until 833 for a chef to come to our table. But not only that, while waiting we noticed something oily fell on our plate. Look up and the lights are covered in grease and it’s dripping down in the plate and our sons water cup. When I asked for manager the staff was prompt to get him but he never once apologized for the grease. Then argued with me that the reservation can mean waiting a while for us to be seated sometimes, also depending on how busy the night is. Once again no apology. I mean an apology would of been nice atleast . He got staff to clean it and that was it. I should of gotten the information for health department.
   

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4. j

   janny

   VIP

   San Diego

   8 reviews

   1.0

   8 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Restaurant was rundown. Servers looked tired and overworked. Never came back to check on us. When we asked for water the waitress was so rude. We will definitely not be returning. My daughter's birthday dinner was totally ruined. Waiter didn't even sing to her and said all the food was prepared in a factory.
   

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5. D

   Dave

   San Diego

   38 reviews

   5.0

   38 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   We had a rough start to our dinner... right before we were sat the restaurant's system went down and we had to wait about an hour. The good news was that once it was back up and running, the place had cleared out pretty well and we were sat right away. Allison was our server and she was amazing. The star of the show was Paul, our Chef. An absolute legend of a chef and he made the evening super enjoyable. Allison kept our drinks full and checked on us frequently. What started as a rough dinner experience ended up being one of our best Benihana meals ever! Oh, and kudos to the ladies at the host station... they did a great job keeping everyone informed on the progress and handled angry customers well.
   

   Benihana - San Diego, CAResponded 1 day ago

   Hello Dave, We're delighted to hear that you had a great experience at Benihana - San Diego, CA! It's wonderful to know that our team made your dinner enjoyable despite the initial hiccups. We're also thrilled that our chef's expertise and our team's attentive service made your evening memorable. We appreciate your kind words and look forward to serving you again soon! Best regards, The Management Team
   

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6. J

   Julie

   VIP

   San Diego

   3 reviews

   4.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

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

   Make your reservation an hour earlier than you actually want it. When we arrived for a 7pm. reservation, the lobby had over 60 people waiting for their seats from reservations. I asked the hostess what time reservation she was seating, she said, "I still have 3- 6 pms, 3- 615pms, 2- 630, 2- 645 and 3- 7pm parties to seat." This is not the first time this has happened to us. So my feeling is this is the way they run thier busines. This is insane! We brought a friend in for her birthday, so we decided to go into the bar and have a drink and an appetizer and just decided to eat in the bar. It was great service and the food was good. Plan ahead, people, if you want the show.
   

   Benihana - San Diego, CAResponded 2 days ago

   Thanks for visiting us, Julie. We appreciate your feedback and are sorry to hear about the inconvenience you experienced with the reservation time. We understand that waiting for a table can be frustrating and we apologize for any inconvenience. We'll definitely take your comments into consideration to improve our service. We're glad to hear that you enjoyed your meal in the bar and we hope to serve you again soon.
   

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7. M

   Miguel

   San Diego

   15 reviews

   4.0

   15 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

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

   Food was delicious, had to wait 1hr for a chef though.
   

   Benihana - San Diego, CAResponded 2 days ago

   Hi Miguel, We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed our food and service during your visit to Benihana - San Diego, CA. We apologize for the wait you experienced, but we're glad you found your meal to be delicious. We always aim to provide the best dining experience for our guests. Your feedback on the value we provide is appreciated and will be taken into consideration. We hope to welcome you back soon for an even better experience. Best Regards, The Management Team
   

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8. D

   David

   San Diego

   2 reviews

   4.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

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

   Great food but we had to wait an hour before being seated even with a reservation then another 45 min to and hour before the chef could serve us. The staff was great but they need more chefs
   

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9. C

   Carol

   San Diego

   25 reviews

   5.0

   25 reviews

   Dined 4 days ago

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

   We enjoyed a wonderful fun meal that was well prepared by our chef who was engagingly polite and friendly. He incorporated the kids into his magic preparations and was extremely polite. Our server was also excellent and stayed on top of our refills and overall service. Thank you for a special dinner for our family.
   

   Benihana - San Diego, CAResponded 2 days ago

   Thanks for visiting us, Carol! We're thrilled to hear that you and your family had a wonderful time at Benihana - San Diego, CA. It's great to know that our team was able to create a fun and memorable dining experience for you all. We're also glad that you appreciated our kid-friendly environment and our attentive service. We strive to make every visit a special one for our guests. We look forward to serving you again soon!
   

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10. a

    arturo

    VIP

    San Diego

    2 reviews

    2.0

    2 reviews

    Dined 4 days ago

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

    We had reservation at 8:30 pm, got seated at 9:40 pm, chef arrived 11:10 pm. We waited 2.5 hours to get our food when we had reservation 8:30 pm and arrived ag the restaurant to check in 8:25 pm. Horrible waiting times. They actually brought green peas on the house for the wait time, pff.
    

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