We usually go to the Burlingame location and have been for 20+ years. Have been to the San Mateo location 3 times and what a difference. The loud bang music that was playing in 1/1/2026 was loud, obnoxious and just noise. I asked someone if they could turn it down because instead of enjoying my dinner I was getting a migraine. Not sure if the San Mateo location is trying to attract a younger with the loud music but it's not for me. We have celebrated New Year's for the past 20 years at Benihanas
David
Everything was fine with the exception of a waitress who had a very bad attitude- she acted as if she was doing us a huge favor by providing very mediocre service
Carol
We brought the entire family (10 of us) to Benihana to celebrate my birthday. Our waiter was very efficient and polite. All went well until we were ready for our cook to begin preparing our food. The gap between salad and the cook arriving to begin our meal was well over an hour. The kids were hungry and and antsy. mid way through our wait the two orders of chicken strips for two of the kids were served. They ended up sharing with the other kids because they were all starving by this time. At last, the chef arrived, no smile, no personality and no apology for the wait. The food was good and prepared with normal skill. The whole experience was way below what one would expect when paying $600.00 for dinner. Needless to say we were all very disappointed. Having been to Benihana before, we had an expectation of a much better experience.
julie
Elijah was out teppan chef and he was so personable. He made our experience very fun. He was very accommodating to our needs and cooked our food to order.
charmane
We always go to Benihana for Christmas dinner! Always our tradition , tried the new location and it was great! Food is always amazing kids loved it.
Jessica Lei
dined at benihana for christmas for the first time in maybe 20 years. reservations after 5pm only listed bar lounge as the seating option but we were still seated at a grill! our reservation was for 5pm and we sat closer to 545pm. not sure why slots are every 15 minutes when this is an involved and lengthy dining experience. smooth sailing once we got to our table. tasty food, fun chef, attentive server. beware, the food smells really cling to you. would dine here again!
melissa
Good food & service. Pretty expensive dinner but it was Christmas too. Will be back when it's not a holiday. Certainly glad they were open for Christmas was not feeling up to cooking at home.
Joyce
They looked overwhelmed. Our young chef was inexperienced and totally forgot my rice and totally forgot the dishes of sauce. When I asked for some sauce he still looked confused. I asked for my very expensive steak to be cooked med rare. He was so busy cooking everything at once that I told him to please take my steak off of the grill, when I could see it was cooked. Our waiter was very nice and responsive, but it was clearly too much for him. I will return soon as to give them another chance.
michele
It was amazing!! Staff was great for it was jammed packed! One grinch at table next to us got loud & scary! Their chef was amazing ...manager assisted only to also be yelled at most likely wanted free food! I didn't know if it would become violent but staff was amazing! I don't honestly believe other tables were even aware everyone was happy & eating just scared me!
Carnicmom
Although it took about 20 minutes to get seated with a reservation our experience was really good. Our waiter was super attentive always keeping our drinks filled which we appreciate. It was a busy night but our dinner was great -food was delicious. Very happy overall!
Don't sit in the window section. The do not have proper ventilation The smoke coming off the grill was terrible my eyes were tearing
manuel
Terrible! Over priced, noisy and exhaust system awful! Service was horrible, with the cook terribly trained a the wait certainly not worth it. BENIHANA has now been owned and operated by a big corp and isn't even a dot close to its original food , service and ambience!!! Not worth spending close to $200 per person !!! Not coming back
Alex
For the price point, the portions are kind of small. Food was very good though and the entertainment value of course that's always there.
Marisa
A group of friends and I went to have dinner and enjoy time after work. The food was great and our cook was fun and engaging. However, our service was not the best as we had to keep asking to bring some of our items more than a few times, he seemed short with us every time he came to our table, and was bothered because we asked for multiple checks after he asked if together or separate. If it is going to be a bother why even ask; he charged some items to the wrong people (there was 8 of us), which we sorted amongst each other. Though, he did t even offer us our ice cream and tea and charged our tabs and it wasn't until one person in our group asked about our ice cream and he replied “oh you still want that? Sorry.” That was rude! I did leave a tip; but honestly I only did it because our cook was very nice and fun, but otherwise, I would have not. It is not okay to have that attitude. Though we are fun bunch and didn't let that ruin our evening; but it was definitely annoying.
Beth
I went to Benihana in San Mateo with my son and my daughter and one of her friends. The chef was very personable-too much in fact. He spent most of his time flirting with my daughter. The “show” part of the experience was just ok - less than I've experienced in previous visits at other Benihana locations. The food was very tasty and the meat and seafood were cooked perfectly.
We usually go to the Burlingame location and have been for 20+ years. Have been to the San Mateo location 3 times and what a difference. The loud bang music that was playing in 1/1/2026 was loud, obnoxious and just noise. I asked someone if they could turn it down because instead of enjoying my dinner I was getting a migraine. Not sure if the San Mateo location is trying to attract a younger with the loud music but it's not for me. We have celebrated New Year's for the past 20 years at Benihanas
Everything was fine with the exception of a waitress who had a very bad attitude- she acted as if she was doing us a huge favor by providing very mediocre service
We brought the entire family (10 of us) to Benihana to celebrate my birthday. Our waiter was very efficient and polite. All went well until we were ready for our cook to begin preparing our food. The gap between salad and the cook arriving to begin our meal was well over an hour. The kids were hungry and and antsy. mid way through our wait the two orders of chicken strips for two of the kids were served. They ended up sharing with the other kids because they were all starving by this time. At last, the chef arrived, no smile, no personality and no apology for the wait. The food was good and prepared with normal skill. The whole experience was way below what one would expect when paying $600.00 for dinner. Needless to say we were all very disappointed. Having been to Benihana before, we had an expectation of a much better experience.
Elijah was out teppan chef and he was so personable. He made our experience very fun. He was very accommodating to our needs and cooked our food to order.
We always go to Benihana for Christmas dinner! Always our tradition , tried the new location and it was great! Food is always amazing kids loved it.
dined at benihana for christmas for the first time in maybe 20 years. reservations after 5pm only listed bar lounge as the seating option but we were still seated at a grill! our reservation was for 5pm and we sat closer to 545pm. not sure why slots are every 15 minutes when this is an involved and lengthy dining experience. smooth sailing once we got to our table. tasty food, fun chef, attentive server. beware, the food smells really cling to you. would dine here again!
Good food & service. Pretty expensive dinner but it was Christmas too. Will be back when it's not a holiday. Certainly glad they were open for Christmas was not feeling up to cooking at home.
They looked overwhelmed. Our young chef was inexperienced and totally forgot my rice and totally forgot the dishes of sauce. When I asked for some sauce he still looked confused. I asked for my very expensive steak to be cooked med rare. He was so busy cooking everything at once that I told him to please take my steak off of the grill, when I could see it was cooked. Our waiter was very nice and responsive, but it was clearly too much for him. I will return soon as to give them another chance.
It was amazing!! Staff was great for it was jammed packed! One grinch at table next to us got loud & scary! Their chef was amazing ...manager assisted only to also be yelled at most likely wanted free food! I didn't know if it would become violent but staff was amazing! I don't honestly believe other tables were even aware everyone was happy & eating just scared me!
Although it took about 20 minutes to get seated with a reservation our experience was really good. Our waiter was super attentive always keeping our drinks filled which we appreciate. It was a busy night but our dinner was great -food was delicious. Very happy overall!
Restaurantji Recommends
Don't sit in the window section. The do not have proper ventilation The smoke coming off the grill was terrible my eyes were tearing
Terrible! Over priced, noisy and exhaust system awful! Service was horrible, with the cook terribly trained a the wait certainly not worth it. BENIHANA has now been owned and operated by a big corp and isn't even a dot close to its original food , service and ambience!!! Not worth spending close to $200 per person !!! Not coming back
For the price point, the portions are kind of small. Food was very good though and the entertainment value of course that's always there.
A group of friends and I went to have dinner and enjoy time after work. The food was great and our cook was fun and engaging. However, our service was not the best as we had to keep asking to bring some of our items more than a few times, he seemed short with us every time he came to our table, and was bothered because we asked for multiple checks after he asked if together or separate. If it is going to be a bother why even ask; he charged some items to the wrong people (there was 8 of us), which we sorted amongst each other. Though, he did t even offer us our ice cream and tea and charged our tabs and it wasn't until one person in our group asked about our ice cream and he replied “oh you still want that? Sorry.” That was rude! I did leave a tip; but honestly I only did it because our cook was very nice and fun, but otherwise, I would have not. It is not okay to have that attitude. Though we are fun bunch and didn't let that ruin our evening; but it was definitely annoying.
I went to Benihana in San Mateo with my son and my daughter and one of her friends. The chef was very personable-too much in fact. He spent most of his time flirting with my daughter. The “show” part of the experience was just ok - less than I've experienced in previous visits at other Benihana locations. The food was very tasty and the meat and seafood were cooked perfectly.
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