Benihana - San Diego, CA

Review summary

1. M

   Miguel

   San Diego

   15 reviews

   4.0

   15 reviews

   Dined today

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

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

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2. D

   David

   San Diego

   2 reviews

   4.0

   2 reviews

   Dined today

   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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3. C

   Carol

   San Diego

   25 reviews

   5.0

   25 reviews

   Dined 1 day 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.
   

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4. a

   arturo

   VIP

   San Diego

   2 reviews

   2.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 1 day 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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5. M

   Maria

   VIP

   San Diego

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day 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
   

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6. K

   Kira

   VIP

   San Diego

   10 reviews

   1.0

   10 reviews

   Dined 1 day 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.
   

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7. M

   Michael

   Orange County

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Besides the food, worse dining experience of my life!
   

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8. A

   Alondra

   San Diego

   2 reviews

   3.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Our chef told us some chefs had called out which is why it took longer for him to get to our table to cook. The waiter tried her best but took a while to bring out the soup and salad. Overall, I recommend getting a table rather than sitting where the chef cooks. Also, book during the week instead of the weekend it was busy on a Saturday. Food was good though. Also, drinks are crazy expensive so I’d just reserve to a lemonade next time.
   

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9. S

   Susan

   San Diego

   15 reviews

   5.0

   15 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   Very smart for the restaurant to cut back slightly on food amounts instead of jacking up prices or decreasing quality of food and seasonings. Everyone is still full and there is less food waste, while keeping the restaurant profitable.
   

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10. WA

    WillnAli

    VIP

    San Diego

    9 reviews

    3.0

    9 reviews

    Dined 3 days ago

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

    We had a 7:00pm reservation, checked in at 6:45pm when they explained there was currently an hour and a half wait, they were just seating the 6:00pm reservations. FYI, you might want to call ahead and see if they are on time or running behind. After we finally got to our table (8:15pm), the service and food was excellent! Fausto was our teppanyaki chef, and he was magnificent. Always enjoy it more when there’s a show and dinner. Erick our server, went above and beyond, 5 stars to Erick!! He will be the reason we try Benihanas again.
    

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