Benihana - Newport Beach, CA

Review summary

1. s

   stella

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   11 reviews

   1.0

   11 reviews

   Dined today

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

   Expect 1-hour wait at least after the reservation time. This place was my favorite. Turned out to disaster with 2 kids who had been waiting to be seated for 1 hour + 30mins extra for their food to arrive
   

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2. K

   Khanh

   Orange County

   8 reviews

   4.0

   8 reviews

   Dined today

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

   Benihana offers a great dining experience with delicious food and a chill, relaxed ambiance. The dishes are flavorful, well-prepared, and served in generous portions, making it a fantastic spot for enjoying Japanese cuisine. The lively teppanyaki cooking adds a fun, interactive element to the meal, further enhancing the overall experience. However, the service could use improvement. While the food and atmosphere shine, the waitress seemed rushed, offering only brief interactions that felt impersonal. A little more friendliness and attentiveness would go a long way in complementing the otherwise enjoyable dining experience. Overall, Benihana is worth visiting for its excellent food and ambiance, but a focus on improving customer service would make it truly exceptional.
   

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3. A

   Andrew

   Orange County

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   We showed up for our reservation and they told us we had to wait another hour and half
   

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4. L

   Linda

   Los Angeles

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Our reservation was at 7:45pm. We waited over an hour to be seated! The bar/waiting hour had NO bar service. Eventually once we were seated it took over 20 minutes before a chef showed up. The table service was prompt. We ordered an appetizer and they told us AFTER our order that the kitchen said it would take about an hour to get appetizer out and our chef would probably show up first. It seems the restaurant was overbooked! There were many customers that came in as well with reservations complaining about the wait time even with a reservation. It is a tradition for us to eat at Benihana‘s every New Year’s eve and this year was the worst experience at this location ever. 
   

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5. K

   Kim

   Orange County

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Restaurant overbooked and made people wait an hour with reservations. A lot of upset people in the waiting areas.
   

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6. C

   Charles

   VIP

   Salt Lake City

   26 reviews

   4.0

   26 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Little busy on New Years which is expected. Chef l, service, food was all amazing. Great New Years which is a tradition for a group of friends
   

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7. S

   Steen

   VIP

   Orange County

   25 reviews

   5.0

   25 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   as always our go to spot. Food was excellent the service was strained, could easily have used another 6 servers or pull from the front desk that had too many. managers were putting out fires rather than stopping them from becoming fires but Benihana is always the best there is for great food
   

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8. J

   Jonathan

   Orange County

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   Took forever to seat us even though we had a reservation. Chef was giving more food to other party who split a plate to three people
   

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9. A

   Amar

   New York City

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined 3 days ago

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

   Did not get some of the ordered food. Had to ask for it again. Even then never received steam rice with one of the orders. Food was bland and portions were on the smaller size.
   

   Benihana - Newport Beach, CAResponded 3 days ago

   Dear valued guest, thank you for your feedback. We're sorry that your experience didn’t meet expectations. We’d love the opportunity to improve and provide a better visit next time. Please reach out to us by visiting our "Contact Us" page on our website.
   

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10. H

    Heartof

    Orange County

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined 4 days ago

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

    Celebrated a birthday last night. Made a reservation for 745p, so arrived early hoping to possibly get seated sooner. We checked in around 711p with our complete party of 5. We understood it was a busy night, so staff was running behind. They acknowledged we were early, though good we were all there, so they would do their best to seat us asap. After watching others checking after us and asking the status multiple times, we were seated at 830p. Staff kept telling others and us that there were 1 or 2 tables ahead, table is being cleaned, give us 5min then 10min then a few min. Server was friendly and worked well. Chef was nice, though frazzled by all the allergies and special requests, which were mentioned multiple times. Food tasted good, hasn't changed. For the birthday, others had a group of 4 or more singers, we had 2. Wondering if it was cause of the late hour even on a Saturday night. I'd suggest another location for the price and food, unless prefer dinner after 9p and are very patient.
    

    Benihana - Newport Beach, CAResponded 3 days ago

    Dear valued guest, thank you for your review. We apologize for any inconvenience you experienced and would appreciate the opportunity to learn more. Please contact us by visiting our "Contact Us" page on our website
    

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