Everything was very good except that the waitress charged us “auto 22%” tip which I know that it was wrong but I did not want to create a scene. She probably thought that we were some kind of out of town hillbilly. This practice is NOT acceptable and should not have happened to anyone especially at an upscale restaurant. She was a so-so server and didn't deserve a 22% tip.
Kristina
I've been to Benihana several times before and it's great for a special occasion, but not sure what is happening. It is way too expensive for the shoddy service and lack of attention to detail. We had a table of 7 for a birthday and had a 25-30 minute wait between the soup and salad course before our hibachi chef showed up. We had ordered sushi rolls as an appetizer and they came during our meal. I had ordered the filet with mushrooms and got zero mushrooms....and my filet, which I asked to be cooked medium, was one of the last ones off the grill. So it was completely ruined. The menu clearly states a 5 or 6 course meal with an ending of sorbet or ice cream and those were not offered, only to the birthday guest. If the restaurant has changed what is part of the price - no longer serves mushrooms with steak or dessert - then you need to update your menu. We paid a check of $700 or so on this large party and it was not reflective of what we ate or the service that should be provided. Extremely disappointed and would like to be compensated.
Hannah
So absolutely terrible I will never go back again and the food didn't even taste good. Literally go to any other hibachi restaurant in the city.
Kenesha
The chef was boring he kept dropping the knives . He didn't engage with us . Seem very inexperienced. The food was good but the chef was all over the place and it was rushed. The waitress was all over the place kept forgetting to bring drinks to the table it was a lot of back and forth.
Tay
It was a location. The food was great. The service was not great as far as the waiters running around the restaurant.
Taylor
I visited Benihana last night, and while the atmosphere was what you'd expect, the service left a very sour taste in my mouth over something incredibly trivial: an onion. I don't eat zucchini, so I naturally gave my portion to my boyfriend. When our chef began preparing the vegetables, I noticed my portion of onions was particularly small. I politely asked the waitress if I could simply have a few more onions to make up for the vegetable I wasn't eating. What happened next was baffling. The waitress checked with the chef, and he refused to give me more onions because I had "given my zucchini away." I'm sorry, but are we really nickel-and-diming customers over a slices of onion? We aren't talking about an extra lobster tail, a shot of expensive sake, or even a premium side. It is a basic root vegetable. To be told "no" because I shared a portion of food I already paid for felt incredibly petty and frankly, poor hospitality. I moved on and enjoyed the rest of my night, but it left me thinking. If a major chain like Benihana is so "hard up" that they have to monitor onion slices like they're gold bullion, it's a sign of a business on a steep decline. In an industry built on the "experience," refusing a guest a few extra onions is a great way to ensure they don't come back. At this rate, I give them another three years max before they're out of business. Management needs to realize that being "right" about a 70-cent vegetable isn't worth losing a customer.
RoLo
We were overlooked for 45mins after being seated. After informing the manager, we were asked our orders, but there was still some time before the chef came over. They gave a free appetizer and money off the bill. After completing our meal, we were overlooked again. The total time in the restaurant was from 630pm-9pm. I still expected a better experience!
Grady
If you go expect bad service from the waitstaff. But the hibachi cook was amazing. His name was Ethan. Request him if you go.
Nadia
Reservation was for 8:45 pm, and we arrived early, but weren't seated until 9:15 pm, with no apology. Even after being seated, our chef didn't arrive until 9:45 pm, leaving three tired, hungry kids waiting an hour past our reservation time before he showed up. Aidan was our chef, and he was awesome, five stars for him. There was also a stain on our stove that he had to clean before cooking (picture attached). While waiting near the hostess stand for 15+ minutes, my 3-year-old briefly tossed a small cashmere kids' hat, which accidentally landed behind the hostess (did not touch her). The red headed hostess responded by raising her voice and yelling, “CAN WE STOP WITH THE HAT?” in front of other guests. This was especially inappropriate given that the extended delay was entirely on the restaurant's end, and no apology had been offered. We immediately apologized, sat our son down, and moved to a corner where we quietly entertained him. The situation was resolved, or so we thought. Two minutes later, while our son was sitting in our lap quietly, a man in a beige suit (Not Marco, possibly another manager, though he did not conduct himself as one) approached after the redhead hostess loudly complained to him about how “chaotic” our child was and how she “couldn't work with flying hats around.” Other waiting patrons even stepped in to say it was clearly an accident and not a big deal. While he attempted to de-escalate, he then unnecessarily lectured us about liability, long after the issue had already been handled. Other guests even came over to offer our kids candy and help entertain him, which says a lot. We fine dine out often with our kids and have never experienced this level of poor front-of-house management. This was my first time having to hand my child a phone just to take the edge off everyone. Delays happen, but yelling at guests, especially a 3-year-old, while running 30+ minutes late does not.
Matt
Waiter spilled hot soup and shattered bowl all over me. Manager was rude and non apologetic, ended up comping a portion of the bill after saying they'd take care of the whole thing (2 people)
Food was crazy salty. The price was insane for the quality of food. Especially since it was cold when we got it (we didn't do the hibachi tables).
Ron
We had a great experience last night at Benihana Chicago Michigan Ave...our server Scotti was excellent and even on a busy Friday recommended her favorites on the Happy Hour menu. We enjoyed the spicy chicken potstickers and shrimp tempura appetizers, that were fresh and crispy. We ordered the wagyu beef burgers that were toplist contenders of Chicago area burgers!! We live nearby and will be back very soon. Thank you Scotti for your calm professionalism and sincere hospitality. Note to management, give her a raise!!
Elilay
The waiter was very rude at the end of our experience and took very long to bring our food and take our order.
Tiffany
Reservation was at 7:30. Sat at 8:10 and began service at 9:07. We needed to be somewhere so we had to box up our dinners and take them with us! Went for my 50th Birthday specifically to use my annual Birthday certificate which they did NOT honor.
Adriana
Had an 8:30 reservation, we arrived at 8:20 as we got a message saying our table was just about ready. We finally got sat at 9:50! Our waitress, Katarina, seemed very attentive at first and told us our chef was on his way. Give it another 30 minutes and still no chef! She promised he'd be there shortly & still nothing. She told us she'd have the general manager, Lance, out to us in 2 minutes & he never came. She never came back either until the very end. Finally, at almost 11, our chef finally came to our table! He did apologize and told us that he doesn't know what happened as to our ticket being lost or skipped and that no one wanted to come out to us due to that huge mistake. He was the best part of our visit. The food was amazing except for Katarina not taking our food orders correctly but, he fixed it and made everything right. Katarina finally came back when we were almost done eating. She only got 2 drink refills & there were 7 of us there. I was left sharing my daughter's water as I never received a refill. She again told us the general manager would be out in 2 minutes. He still never showed up. A shift manager came out to speak to us to apologize and give us some b.s. excuses. We left there almost 4 hours after we arrived for my husband's birthday dinner. Needless to say, we will never be back, nor will we ever recommend this restaurant again.
Everything was very good except that the waitress charged us “auto 22%” tip which I know that it was wrong but I did not want to create a scene. She probably thought that we were some kind of out of town hillbilly. This practice is NOT acceptable and should not have happened to anyone especially at an upscale restaurant. She was a so-so server and didn't deserve a 22% tip.
I've been to Benihana several times before and it's great for a special occasion, but not sure what is happening. It is way too expensive for the shoddy service and lack of attention to detail. We had a table of 7 for a birthday and had a 25-30 minute wait between the soup and salad course before our hibachi chef showed up. We had ordered sushi rolls as an appetizer and they came during our meal. I had ordered the filet with mushrooms and got zero mushrooms....and my filet, which I asked to be cooked medium, was one of the last ones off the grill. So it was completely ruined. The menu clearly states a 5 or 6 course meal with an ending of sorbet or ice cream and those were not offered, only to the birthday guest. If the restaurant has changed what is part of the price - no longer serves mushrooms with steak or dessert - then you need to update your menu. We paid a check of $700 or so on this large party and it was not reflective of what we ate or the service that should be provided. Extremely disappointed and would like to be compensated.
So absolutely terrible I will never go back again and the food didn't even taste good. Literally go to any other hibachi restaurant in the city.
The chef was boring he kept dropping the knives . He didn't engage with us . Seem very inexperienced. The food was good but the chef was all over the place and it was rushed. The waitress was all over the place kept forgetting to bring drinks to the table it was a lot of back and forth.
It was a location. The food was great. The service was not great as far as the waiters running around the restaurant.
I visited Benihana last night, and while the atmosphere was what you'd expect, the service left a very sour taste in my mouth over something incredibly trivial: an onion. I don't eat zucchini, so I naturally gave my portion to my boyfriend. When our chef began preparing the vegetables, I noticed my portion of onions was particularly small. I politely asked the waitress if I could simply have a few more onions to make up for the vegetable I wasn't eating. What happened next was baffling. The waitress checked with the chef, and he refused to give me more onions because I had "given my zucchini away." I'm sorry, but are we really nickel-and-diming customers over a slices of onion? We aren't talking about an extra lobster tail, a shot of expensive sake, or even a premium side. It is a basic root vegetable. To be told "no" because I shared a portion of food I already paid for felt incredibly petty and frankly, poor hospitality. I moved on and enjoyed the rest of my night, but it left me thinking. If a major chain like Benihana is so "hard up" that they have to monitor onion slices like they're gold bullion, it's a sign of a business on a steep decline. In an industry built on the "experience," refusing a guest a few extra onions is a great way to ensure they don't come back. At this rate, I give them another three years max before they're out of business. Management needs to realize that being "right" about a 70-cent vegetable isn't worth losing a customer.
We were overlooked for 45mins after being seated. After informing the manager, we were asked our orders, but there was still some time before the chef came over. They gave a free appetizer and money off the bill. After completing our meal, we were overlooked again. The total time in the restaurant was from 630pm-9pm. I still expected a better experience!
If you go expect bad service from the waitstaff. But the hibachi cook was amazing. His name was Ethan. Request him if you go.
Reservation was for 8:45 pm, and we arrived early, but weren't seated until 9:15 pm, with no apology. Even after being seated, our chef didn't arrive until 9:45 pm, leaving three tired, hungry kids waiting an hour past our reservation time before he showed up. Aidan was our chef, and he was awesome, five stars for him. There was also a stain on our stove that he had to clean before cooking (picture attached). While waiting near the hostess stand for 15+ minutes, my 3-year-old briefly tossed a small cashmere kids' hat, which accidentally landed behind the hostess (did not touch her). The red headed hostess responded by raising her voice and yelling, “CAN WE STOP WITH THE HAT?” in front of other guests. This was especially inappropriate given that the extended delay was entirely on the restaurant's end, and no apology had been offered. We immediately apologized, sat our son down, and moved to a corner where we quietly entertained him. The situation was resolved, or so we thought. Two minutes later, while our son was sitting in our lap quietly, a man in a beige suit (Not Marco, possibly another manager, though he did not conduct himself as one) approached after the redhead hostess loudly complained to him about how “chaotic” our child was and how she “couldn't work with flying hats around.” Other waiting patrons even stepped in to say it was clearly an accident and not a big deal. While he attempted to de-escalate, he then unnecessarily lectured us about liability, long after the issue had already been handled. Other guests even came over to offer our kids candy and help entertain him, which says a lot. We fine dine out often with our kids and have never experienced this level of poor front-of-house management. This was my first time having to hand my child a phone just to take the edge off everyone. Delays happen, but yelling at guests, especially a 3-year-old, while running 30+ minutes late does not.
Waiter spilled hot soup and shattered bowl all over me. Manager was rude and non apologetic, ended up comping a portion of the bill after saying they'd take care of the whole thing (2 people)
Restaurantji Recommends
Food was crazy salty. The price was insane for the quality of food. Especially since it was cold when we got it (we didn't do the hibachi tables).
We had a great experience last night at Benihana Chicago Michigan Ave...our server Scotti was excellent and even on a busy Friday recommended her favorites on the Happy Hour menu. We enjoyed the spicy chicken potstickers and shrimp tempura appetizers, that were fresh and crispy. We ordered the wagyu beef burgers that were toplist contenders of Chicago area burgers!! We live nearby and will be back very soon. Thank you Scotti for your calm professionalism and sincere hospitality. Note to management, give her a raise!!
The waiter was very rude at the end of our experience and took very long to bring our food and take our order.
Reservation was at 7:30. Sat at 8:10 and began service at 9:07. We needed to be somewhere so we had to box up our dinners and take them with us! Went for my 50th Birthday specifically to use my annual Birthday certificate which they did NOT honor.
Had an 8:30 reservation, we arrived at 8:20 as we got a message saying our table was just about ready. We finally got sat at 9:50! Our waitress, Katarina, seemed very attentive at first and told us our chef was on his way. Give it another 30 minutes and still no chef! She promised he'd be there shortly & still nothing. She told us she'd have the general manager, Lance, out to us in 2 minutes & he never came. She never came back either until the very end. Finally, at almost 11, our chef finally came to our table! He did apologize and told us that he doesn't know what happened as to our ticket being lost or skipped and that no one wanted to come out to us due to that huge mistake. He was the best part of our visit. The food was amazing except for Katarina not taking our food orders correctly but, he fixed it and made everything right. Katarina finally came back when we were almost done eating. She only got 2 drink refills & there were 7 of us there. I was left sharing my daughter's water as I never received a refill. She again told us the general manager would be out in 2 minutes. He still never showed up. A shift manager came out to speak to us to apologize and give us some b.s. excuses. We left there almost 4 hours after we arrived for my husband's birthday dinner. Needless to say, we will never be back, nor will we ever recommend this restaurant again.
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