Benihana - San Diego, CA

Review summary

1. D

   Dave

   San Diego

   38 reviews

   5.0

   38 reviews

   Dined today

   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.
   

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2. J

   Julie

   VIP

   San Diego

   3 reviews

   4.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 1 day 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 today

   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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3. M

   Miguel

   San Diego

   15 reviews

   4.0

   15 reviews

   Dined 1 day 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 today

   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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4. D

   David

   San Diego

   2 reviews

   4.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 1 day 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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5. C

   Carol

   San Diego

   25 reviews

   5.0

   25 reviews

   Dined 2 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 today

   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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6. a

   arturo

   VIP

   San Diego

   2 reviews

   2.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 2 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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7. M

   Maria

   VIP

   San Diego

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   Waited forr 1:30 hours to get seated and the waited over one hour to actually get served anything. It was a horrible experience we where there for over 4 hours
   

   Benihana - San Diego, CAResponded today

   Thanks for the feedback, Maria. We're truly sorry to hear about your recent experience at Benihana - San Diego, CA. We understand how frustrating it can be to wait, especially when you're looking forward to a meal. We apologize for the inconvenience you've experienced and assure you that it's not the norm for us. We're taking your comments seriously and will address this issue with our team to ensure a better experience in the future. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you again and provide a better experience.
   

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8. N

   Naj

   San Diego

   7 reviews

   1.0

   7 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   Our reservation was at 7.30pm. Upon check in, the host told us that we are all checked in. Half hour later, more guests check in and the host told them that they were running behind and just now sitting 6.30 reservation?!?! This was not informed to us when we checked in. An hr went by, more guest checked in and the host told them the same thing, this time they are sitting 7pm reservation and they are welcome to hang out at the bar area while they wait. Why was this not offer to us?? We ended up getting our table at 9.20pm!!! Chef finally showed up at 9.45pm and we left a little after 11pm. Food was expensive and the charge to upgrade to fried rice is ridiculously expensive. Okawa in Santee has much better value of their food and much faster service as we went to Okawa the next day and were in and out of the restaurant within an hr 15 mins. Benihana should have offer complimentary appetizer or a round of sake to all this guest that was waiting for 2 hrs past their reservation time. They should not have overbooked the restaurant if they are short staffed rather than blaming the guest taking their time eating and chatting at their table. Very disappointed and won't be going there again.
   

   Benihana - San Diego, CAResponded today

   Hello Naj, We're truly sorry for your recent experience at Benihana - San Diego, CA. We understand the frustration of waiting and it's clear we fell short in informing you about your reservation. We're also sorry for any confusion about the timing. Your feedback is invaluable and will be used to improve our reservation system and communication. We hope for another chance to serve you better. Best, Benihana - San Diego, CA Management Team
   

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9. K

   Kira

   VIP

   San Diego

   10 reviews

   1.0

   10 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   Running 1hr behind on reservations with no notice prior to arriving and still showing reservations available on OpenTable. We ended up in the bar paying the same $$ without the real Benihana fun ambiance. Server in the bar was good at her job but no personality at all and acted like we were bothering her by being there.
   

   Benihana - San Diego, CAResponded 1 day ago

   Hi Kira, We're sorry to hear about your recent experience at Benihana - San Diego, CA. We understand that waiting for a reservation can be frustrating and we apologize for the inconvenience caused. We're glad to hear that you enjoyed the food and the server in the bar. We value your feedback and will work on improving our service. Best Regards, The Management Team
   

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10. M

    Michael

    Orange County

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined 2 days ago

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

    Besides the food, worse dining experience of my life!
    

    Benihana - San Diego, CAResponded 1 day ago

    Thanks for visiting us, Michael. We're truly sorry to hear about your disappointing experience at Benihana - San Diego, CA. It's unfortunate that our service did not meet your expectations. We strive to provide top-notch service to all our guests and we're sorry we fell short this time. We appreciate your feedback and will use it to improve. We hope you'll give us another chance to serve you better in the future. Best, The Management Team
    

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