Benihana

Just tried the new Benihana at Bridgepointe Center in San Mateo for a celebratory work lunch. Our group was 8 so we had our own hibachi grill to ourselves. Love how they converted the old Red Robin restaurant to a Benihana. The interior was red and black with huge stainless steel vents over the grills. The place felt clean, fresh and new. Our server was engaging and attentive and our chef was very diligent in accommodating our food restrictions. Two of us were gluten-free plus I was allergic to seafood. Normally Benihana chefs just keep the meats and seafood separate on the grill but he cooked everything first before the seafood. He even showed us the gluten-free soy sauce bottle. Well-done, chef! Come for lunch; it's much more affordable than dinner and not crowded so you receive excellent service. Lunch Duet is the way to go: you get get a choice of 2 proteins, veggies, soup and rice for just under $30. The portion is just right. Tip: start eating your food once it's plated so it's hot. We were all being polite by waiting for everyone's food to cook, so needless to say some of our food was lukewarm. Otherwise, great fun! Will come again.

This was my first time in Benihana and i am glad we made the reservations beforehand. This place was jam packed and people were waiting for their turn to be seated. May be because it was a weekend, but still making reservations is highly recommended. Food was great, servers were nice and Chef was great. It was an entertaining experience. Not much vegetarian options on the menu, but as a vegetarian myself, i enjoyed my 5 course meal.

We had CHEF DAVID for our Mothers Day lunch/dinner. The food was top notch , the atmosphere was amazing. David not only cooked the meals to perfection but he was so ENTERTAINING and ENTHUSIASTIC! We all had a wonderful time. Made memories and went home stuffed like a duck!

We had such a great experience at Benihana in Foster City! Our server, Martin, was absolutely amazing—he went above and beyond to make sure our food came out timely and was so friendly and personable throughout the night. The food was really tasty, and the $39 Taste of Benihana deal was a great value—salad, soup, appetizer, entrée, and dessert all included! Just a heads up: to do the Taste of Benihana or Happy Hour deals, you have to sit in the bar area. So make sure to come early to grab a seat—by 6pm, the place was PACKED! Totally worth it though. We’ll definitely be back!

Same classic show, but this time we tried the fancy wagyu cuts and were genuinely surprised how great they were. Competitive with fancy steak houses and Omakase joints. Quite impressive for such a venerable chain.

Had our family of five, four adults and one child. The dinner was fantastic! Delicious food, Chef Danny did a great job. We always have a difficult order, no garlic on two of our dinners and he nailed it perfectly. Kayla our server was attentive and friendly. Highly recommend! Will be coming back for sure

Outstanding atmosphere paired with exceptional cuisine. Our server Max was spot-on with recommendations and incredibly attentive throughout the evening. Easily one of our best dining experiences

My husband and I had a nice lunch at this new Benihana restaurant. We had eaten at several other ones and were very excited when they opened this new one. I was extremely happy to not have to wait the typical 45 minutes we usually have to wait even with a reservation. We had an early reservation (11:30) though. However when we left (12:50) there were swarms of people waiting. Dixon was our chef and he did good. He opened with the standard fork and spatula toss and dropped them a few times (as well as the shrimp tail toss) however he was trying his best and was pleasant. He cooked our food the way we asked and that was more important. Azad was our server and he was excellent. He was very polite and attentive to our every need. I especially enjoyed Roger who stopped by to see how our experience was. It was a nice touch and showed the management cared.

Came here by myself on Wednesday for lunch. There was literally one other customer. Ordered a power lunch, super fast service. Food was good. Portion is a litttttle small for $20 but its good enough for me. Will definitely come again. Place is nice and clean. Nothing to be picky about. Just to reiterate, this was a Wednesday lunch. Food: 5/5 Atmosphere: 5/5 Service: 5/5

I think it's the the motto of this restaurant that you got seated 40 minutes after your reservation time. We were told that the tables we are getting are paying the bills. I saw deserts were served 20 minutes past our time. I like some honesty from the server. Finally we got apologies from the managers. Food is nothing to write about. Burned and has only butter taste. Rice was still raw. I hope the new owners will bring some organization and food quality into the restaurant. The area was not clean in between customers.

First time coming to this location since it opened. Food: yummy! Service: staff cared about our needs and wants. Ambiance: cool and casual! Looking forward to coming back but not every day because it's pricey !

Came for the Power Lunch Deal and it was an excellent deal and experience. They bring out the fried rice to save on cooking time. The hibachi grill was used for the veggies and protein. Nice server named Tony and chef named Adan. Hostess was nice as well. Shrimp, chicken, and steak all cooked well and to our liking. Place is clean and the bathrooms are conveniently located near the entrance. Great weekday lunch deal!

I love to visit Benihana on my "Me Time" days. I tried this location since it's new and looked really cute. I was extremely disappointed with this location. I didn't realize all Benihana locations weren't created equal. It was almost as if this location didn't have the recipes. My shrimp Tempura came out and it had no flavor and wasn't served with the standard sauce but arrived with a ginger sauce (not supposed to be served with this). Then I had the Hibachi Shrimp with chicken fried rice and veggies, the shrimp was almost raw and somehow the rice was burnt. The rice was very crunchy with very very very very dry pieces of chicken in the rice. My soup was okay just could've been hotter, my salad was yummy that was correct. I ordered two cocktails during this time which came out delicious!

Extremely slow service. We waited so long for just sushi. We were not looking at a hamachi service. Awful food! Very unimpressive how they handled customers. The salmon "sashimi" was clearly just defrosted salmon. Definitely not sushi grade. They are violating health code.

New location in San Mateo. They were busy on this Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and yet took our reservation right away, sat us, and got us started immediately. They had a constant flow of customers coming in and waiting in lobby. Plenty of attentive staff on hand if you needed anything.and timely in clearing off empty dishes from the table. Nothing special about the ambiance. Fast pace and a bit noisy, which is to be expected of course. Many birthday celebrations being sung and shrieks of enjoyment from guests intrigued by their chef's tricks. The food was consistent for a Benihana location. Certainly pricey, but a good amount of food. I appreciate the variety of protein options and lots of veggies. I'd come back.

Had some folks visiting from India so thought it would be a great experience for them !! The food was great and so was the service, our chef cld have been more friendly . But overall nice and my guests loved it too. The shrimps and the Diablo sauce were a hit too. We celebrated her bday as well

Love this location. Shoutout to our bartender Jackie and the manager Shelli who is Awesome!! This will definitely be our new go to spot.

The place was very clean but a bit smoky. Our reservation was at 6:45 but we didn't get seated maybe until 20 minutes after so hopefully they can have this organized well . There were so many people waiting still even though they had their reservations. There was this husky guy who was saying if we are waiting for our reservations we can grab a drink at the bar a.k.a. Spend more money while you wait lol then someone asked if he was paying and he responded no but since you guys are just waiting, might as well waiting in the bar (kind of rude lol) Me and my husband went and got a drink anyways with our toddler and once our table was called another guy and a gray suit actually offered to hold our drinks for us because we had our hands full, which was actually nice . Small gestures goes a long way. The chef was nice, but I think he can be more entertaining. I was pretty much bored and our son lost interest lol but that's what toddlers do I guess I was hoping that the mini entertainment would have helped . The chef hats coloring sheet was not helpful because there wasn't much of anything to even color lol We got the Wagyu . I got the American ribeye Wagyu and my husband got the A5 broil, which was a lot better. since this is still new, I think there are some minor improvements that can be made .

Came in for a work dinner and overall it was just okay. I ordered the beef and shrimp hibachi with a side of fried rice. The flavors were decent, but the texture of the rice felt a little off, kind of mushy and not as expected. Service was fine, nothing special. Not bad, but nothing stood out either. Probably wouldn't go out of my way to come back.

We've been here a few times now and here are some things that have stuck out from our visits Negative: - we purchased the garlic butter and mustard sauce to go for home and they gave us a soup container that was only 1/4 full. - there's always a 30+ minute wait even when we have reservations - our shrimp was undercooked Positive: - clean bathrooms - chefs are actually enthusiastic and trying - they give samples of California rolls and potstickers when busy - they were accommodating when I asked to move our reservation to a earlier time It is a new location that opened a few months ago so I'm sure there are still a few things that need to be worked out.

Made a reservation. Couldn't get seated until entire party arrived. Our cook David was funny and nice. Managers walking around and watching like a hawk was very off putting. Micromanaging cooks. Food was very pricey and not that great (personal tatste) new location. We had a problem getting the receipt and when we finally got the receipt after waiting and speaking to multiple people it was the wrong receipt. Calling and speaking to costumer service was a nightmare. The place looked nice smaller not to great . Again personal preference. Personally will not be coming back.

Benihana is always a great time. Their chicken fried rice is the best I've had so far at any Teppanyaki restaurants. This location is new - it feels fresh and clean. It remains a puzzle to me why Bay Area Benihanas average 3 stars on yelp. My favorite part is when they dump dollops of garlic butter on the fried rice. Yum! America! I had Teppan in Taiwan once, and the chef literally steamed the lobster with a lid and added a tiny cube of butter to finish it. It tasted as sad as it looked. I vividly remember what I thought at that moment: "I miss Benihana."

This is by far my favorite Benihana. It's clean and refreshing. I love that the employees go around making sure guests are fine and making sure requests are taken care of on time. A few managers came to our table also checking on us and making sure everything was good. I enjoyed this! I came last Saturday with family, and we had an awesome time. Our hibachi check did an excellent job with his tricks and keeping us entertained specially making my niece and nephew laugh. Our food was perfect! everything was cooked great and seasoned well. He also listened to every request we wanted which was also a huge plus. Overall, the food is always phenomenal, and we just enjoy every aspect of dining here. We'll be back again!

This place is racist and discriminatory, they refused service to me and my family. We came from out of town and made reservations at this location. We made it clear several times that we had an emotional support dog for our Daughter who has special needs. The manager on duty Tuesday night assured us that there would be no issues when we called and made the reservation, In fact they asked us to confirm the day of reservation and again we notified them that we would be there and we had our emotional support dog. Mind you our dog is really small and is trained. He will not bark in public, he sits still and behaves. Upon arrival we were attacked by the manager on duty Grace Yao, she never said good evening or asked how we were doing her first words were,"Do you have paperwork for the dog?" We were never told we had to bring any paperwork to dine so we had nothing on us, she then said, "Well do you have a picture of it or can you upload it on your phone?" We told her we didn't have anything with us at the time, she said, "Well sorry you can't dine here."In all my years I've never been treated this way in regard to our dog, she was extremely aggressive in her tone towards us. At this point her condescending and negative tone towards us made us not want to eat here at all so we left, after driving over 40 minutes to eat here, still hungry, disappointed, and extremely embarrassed by the treatment my family and I received at the entrance of the restaurant. We drove another 15 minutes to San Carlos and dined at The Town with our dog and they accommodated all of our needs with no problem with great service and not once did they ask us for anything pertaining to our dog. It's extremely disappointing that Benihana allows their Managers to discriminate against patrons with disabilities.

This is our first time at this new beautiful location and we were so impressed. The service from Tony was excellent- he was so kind, knowledgeable and accommodating to our group. He went above and beyond for us! We enjoyed the delicious food and show by Chef Dixon. He was great! Our birthday girls both felt special and celebrated. We will definitely be back!

I've been going to Benihana restaurant(s) for over 40 years. I most often frequent the Cupertino and the Burlingame locations. This is the first time we visit the San Mateo location. I will preface this review by saying that the servers & restaurant staff were accommodating & lovely. However, I honestly contemplated removing an additional star because of the terrible experience we had with the poor ventilation. We sat in the room at the back of the restaurant (almost like a private room which we were excited about). Little did we know & Unlike every other Benihana I've ever visited, in this particular room they had no fans overhead. The smoke from the food was literally choking us. Everybody in our party was coughing and could barely breathe at certain points during the cooking. Honestly, I am shocked that this restaurant is allowed to operate in that room with so little ventilation!! It is a health hazard. Also, I'd like to mention that the floors are slippery, so please be careful!

tl;dr: Better suited for families with young children. Recommend signing up for their free loyalty program or getting gift cards for extra discount! First time at Benihana in about 15 years. This location opened up in the last month. Inside was clean and spacious. Sake was surprisingly cheap: $16 for a carafe We went with the Benihana Trio, Rocky's choice, Yakisoba Noodle and also got an order of fried rice. The main difference between the 5 and 6 course meal is ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, green tea or rainbow sherbert). For 4 adults and 1 child, this was just enough food to feel satiated so don't feel like you need an entree for every person. If I just ordered the food, the price is expensive for the quality. The food didn't necessarily taste bad, but definitely not worth $50+ for a small portion of protein. A nice hack is to sign up for their Chef's Table loyalty program or get gift cards where they often run promotions (e.g. $60 off for a $200 GC). You are paying for the entertainment and from prior reviewers, your experience will dependent on your chef. Personally, I think its geared much better for younger children and I probably wouldn't come back if it was just a group of adults. For birthday celebrations, they give a complimentary ice cream (although this comes with several of the entrees). They also provided a complimentary photo, which was a nice touch.

We typically go to the Burlingame location but decided to try the one in Foster City. The difference between the 2. The Burlingame location has a bit more space inside while the Foster City location seems more compact. We also noticed that the Burlingame location will use a fresh egg when making the fried rice vs the foster city using the liquid egg . This egg burns rather quickly and doesn't taste anywhere near the same as a real egg would. By the time the chef is done making his little character face out of the egg it's too late. Nothing worse than Burt eggs in your Benihana Fried rice. The chef we had in particular had the grill a bit too hot and used way too much pepper. The food was so so. Nothing to write home about.

Worst. Experience. Ever!!! They are obviously not ready to service customers. Our reservation was at 6:30. 2 hours later and still no chef to prepare our dinner. And this was my daughter's 18th birthday!!! Our "chef" had ZERO entertainment factor which is ultimately why you celebrate any occasion at Benihana. The manager's apology won't make up for my daughter's lousy birthday experience. 4 hours later and all we got was disappointment. To top it off our server was extremely rude and acted like she didn't have time for our request for a simple family photo. Absolutely HORRIBLE, The manager offered free prints of the photos they took on their camera that came out just as bad as their service. Save your money. This place wasn't worth my $400.

I remember as a child going to Benihanas and loving the show. Unfortunately, our experience was lacking. First, we had to wait another 15 mins after already being seated for 20 mins. Since they forgot to heat up cooking space. We asked for substitution for shrimp and got nothing. Onions and zucchini were blacken burnt. Steak and chicken were good. Our cook may have been new because he didn't do any tricks or interact much with our table. No jokes, no laughs.. crickets. Our cook didn't portion out food evenly so 5 people before us too much mushrooms like a solid handful and we got 4 pieces of what was stuck on then cooking table he was able to literally scrap together. Sadly, wouldn't recommend

We were seated (group of 5, another 3 joined shortly after) around 7:50pm, around 8:30pm we finally received news that they were short staffed and would meet our chef in a moment. 15mins later, the chef shows up. It was apparent the chef was fairly new but he did his best and we appreciated his service. There was alot of smoke blown towards my sister's face, never experienced that at a Benihana. When we looked inside our cup of water, you can see the oil or grease floating. My sister ordered her steak medium rare, she received well done. All in all, we probably won't return to this location and continue to visit Burlingames.

I am writing to express my disappointment following my first order from your location, placed through the DoorDash app. I ordered the Family Meal for Two (Deluxe - Steak and Shrimp) for pickup. While at the restaurant, I kindly requested additional mustard and ginger sauce. I was surprised and disappointed to receive only 1 oz of each sauce per meal, especially as they were served in 2 oz containers and considering the size of the order. When I asked about receiving more, I was told there would be an extra charge by the manager, Esmeralda. I explained that if I were dining in, I could receive sauces freely from the chef, and the amount provided would exceed what I was given for a takeout meal. I left the restaurant feeling very dissatisfied with the service and lack of flexibility. This experience has left me frustrated and incredibly disappointed. I've always associated Benihana with quality food and excellent service, but today's visit did not meet those standards. Regrettably, I will not be ordering from this location again.

While most come for the hibachi grill and show, we sat at the bar and had a good experience. The food was just as good, and the service was top-notch. Bartenders were attentive, followed up to make sure everything was great, and were very aware and accommodating of my partner's food allergies -- which we really appreciated. shoutout to Martin and Carlos at the bar -- super friendly and gave great food and drink recs. Definitely worth a visit, especially if you're looking for a more relaxed setting with TVs to catch the game and great vibes all around.

This is a mixed review for a very mixed/uneven experience. 0 stars for the manager-in-training, Dave, at the host stand who kept us waiting over half an hour for our 6:30 reservation and somehow made us feel like it we should have known better/expected it. No apology was given, or even a kind smile with some empathy. He just gave us a dismissive attitude, then started blaming other customers for the issue because they came late before us. He seriously needs to take some basic customer service lessons, and I was surprised that the staff at the front had better training than he did. We were considering leaving, but one kind hostess overheard how offended we were by his rude answers and came over to check on us and apologize. She continued to check in with us until we were seated. 5 stars to her as well as our awesome chef Brian who kept us laughing and smiling throughout our meal. The food was great, and such a good deal! Our table got the Japanese and American Wagyu, Samurai Treat, and Hibachi Supreme...and all were delicious. Thanks to Brian and the lovely hostess for saving our night!

I booked online for a birthday but they didn't offer the birthday discount until you go for your next birthday. They try to sneak as many charges as they can on your order that you find out when you get the bill as they purposely don't tell you the charges unless you ask them point blank. There were items on the menu that we had to ask them to bring as they would have skipped it if you didn't notice. They asked for feedback but never bothered to call back. The food was ok and the chef ok. We were seated quickly but had to wait almost 30 min before the chef arrived. Overall very disappointed and won't be coming back.

We have blast day las week to have dinner here , the food was great and the stuff was very friendly, also we enjoyed the show from the chef that cook for us, the place is nice and clean with the new furniture. Love it ! I recommend this place especially if you eat with family and friends.

I thought since this location was brand new it would be better than the run down dingy Burlingame location but nope. They try to up sell you on the meat to Wagu Beef - the chef seemed really young and inexperienced. The steak should have been cut into bite sizes but he left them huge. The chicken was questionable whether it was cooked enough. No big thrill and it's not cheap to eat here at all. Last night I went back because I had my $30 birthday coupon and again - wah wah.... It was a Monday night and we did not have a reservation. So we sat at the bar. Bartender - Parker was awesome but the food was no big thrill. I had the shrimp and they seemed undercooked. Benihana seems more like a circus act rather than dining experience.

Most fun and amazing food prepared by chef Armando. Meat cooked to perfection. A fantastic birthday lunch celebration!

Came here with my friend to celebrate my bday. I love how they always pair you up here with others celebrating. The martinis here are great. I tried the tofu for the first time and loved it. The locations very clean.

I booked this venue for my wife's birthday a few days before the actual day. They could have at least told us before hand to register online so that we could have used the $30 off on my wife's birthday. Benihana changed over the years. The performance while cooking went down under. The food, mediocre now. It's my wife's 1st time here, I have been going to Benihana's for years. This will be our last.

We've been loyal Benihana customers since 1984, but our recent visit to the San Mateo location on May 17, 2025, was deeply disappointing. While waiting to be seated, a large flower pot fell and shattered right behind me, splashing water on my cousins back. Despite multiple staff and a manager witnessing it, no one checked if I--or my visibly pregnant guest--was okay. I had to approach them myself 25 minutes later, and was met with indifference. Once seated, we encountered rude service and were denied menu accommodations we've received for years. Even the traditional dessert was refused without explanation. For four people, we paid nearly $340--unjustifiable given the experience. Benihana has always been a place for special memories, but this visit left us feeling dismissed, unsafe, and overcharged. We expected much better.

This location wasn't full, only 1 grill was occupied when we were seated and by the time we finished the restaurant only had 5 occupied grills and I had to wait and remind the servers 4 different times that we needed forks, after patiently waiting I had to get forks myself. Shorash is a horrible server and I highly recommend training for him before more customers stop coming to a NOT so busy location. Not sure these problems occurred to this location being so new or is it just Shorash incompetences. I will not come back and nor recommend this Benihana(San Mateo)

It sucks that my first time there will probably be my last. My husband and I sat at the bar, underneath a vent, AC on full blast. My husband ordered the '$39/person menu' and I ordered a spicy crispy roll. His food came out quickly and mine took a very long time. Again, we sat at the bar and our waiter couldn't see that one person had food in front of him and the other had absolutely nothing in front her. I understand that things happen, mistakes happen, whatever it is, it would've been nice to have that communication from our waiter. (It was not busy at all) Also, my husband was given the wrong rice, his cup was empty, and his food got cold very fast because remember, we sat under the AC on FULL BLAST. This Easily could've been a better experience if our waiter was more attentive. We shouldn't have to keep flagging you down at the bar when it's not busy.

First time at this location and wow was it refreshing compared to the Burlingame location! Was seated at the bar almost instantly because we didn't want the show and Parker was our server 10/10 service and 10/10 food, Parker made sure everything came out quickly, ensured our drinks were constantly filled, had a great conversation. Definitely recommend!

4/17/25. First, I just want to give a shout out to our server Kyla I believe was her name. She was amazing, with such a positive attitude. We were excited bout a new location closer to us. First, we have reservations for 4 at 7pm for a birthday. We arrived at 6:45pm, checked in and waited. 40 mins after waiting, we were seated. So what's the point of a 7pm reservation?? When we were seated, Kyla got our drinks and appetizers order right away. We ordered out entrees and shortly after, she brought out our soups and salads. But, that's when the long wait begin. Kyla kept checkin in on us and assuring us that a chef will be with us shortly. But, looking around, tables that sat before us didn't have a chef at their table yet so we knew, it was going to be a while. We waited so long that the party of two at our same table, got up and left! And the other family of 3 to complete our table seemed very frustrated as they had a small child and it was definitely a school night. We told ourselves if we don't get a chef by 8:45pm, we will be leaving too. The chef arrived at 8:42pm. And it was the same chef from the table next to us, so they were definitely short staffed. We saw the performance he gave to the table next to us, laughing, loud & a lot of interaction. But we didn't get that at our table. But I think he knew our table was very tired and just wanted to eat and go home. So he cooked our meals with little to no entertainment and mid way, the family of 3 asked for their bill. I was no longer hungry & asked for my bill & boxes as well. Our waiter told us we would get some discount. But I was more surprised management didn't come talk to us. Overall, we love beNIhanna & hope it was just a bad night. Food was good though.

My first and last time here. This place has only made appreciate going to Shirasoni a lot more. It's a similar restaurant in Alameda that has a great atmosphere, food, and service. This place is not what I thought it would be. Our waitresses, her name was Kayla. had a stank look on her face the entire time while also being super dismissive, ignoring us when we wanted her attention for something. We did give her a decent cash tip and she didn't even "thank you." She just walked off. She must really hate her job. The food portions were laughable. It was good but not for no $475 for a family of five. I wouldn't care to come back here again at all.

The only reason I didn't give this place 5 stars was because of the wait time. I am not a fan of waiting and even with a reservation, still had to wait about 30 minutes to be seated. Apart from that, the food is your usual delicious Benihana food and the service here is wonderful! Our chef was fun and did a great job. Tony is one of the best waiters. He's so attentive, fun and just made the whole experience even better. If you do end up going, be prepared to wait but don't forget to ask for Tony! You won't regret it :)

The food was ok, the wagyu was too fatty and the wait was ridiculously long. Ive been to many benihana locations and i feel the time i went here the reservations was managed poorly. The staff was nice but the place is small. Even with a reservation we had to wait over an hour, i THINK because its fairly new their system for reservations was not well thought out and they had receptionists not going in order of the reservation slots. Hopefully in the future it gets better. I gave it 3 starts because of it being unorganized and the wagyu could have been better for the price.

I went for the first time in Friday to pick up a small online takeout order. We placed 40 minutes earlier. We arrived 5 min before their scheduled pickup time. We checked in and was told our food order would be right out. For the next 45 minutes I stood around waiting for my order. Every 10 minutes I asked for an update on my food and each time was told they will check the kitchen and came back and told me the order will be right out. The store manager was standing 10 feet from me and saw me stand there for 45 minutes before finally coming over. He went back to the kitchen to check on my order and came back to tell me the order would be out soon. Finally it came out. Before I left, I went back to the manager and asked what the hell happened. He apologized to me and told me they just opened 3 weeks ago and were still having start-up issues (really ) He then told me they refunded my credit card charge and gave me 2 cards for 2 free appetizers. Which was appreciated. The good news was the salmon meal was delicious. Overview of the restaurant: The restaurants design looks beautiful. However, the place was very busy, extremely noisy and a dozen kids running around. It looks like a fun place for large groups of family, friends and kids. It does not look like a great place for dates, business meetings or any dinner conversation without yelling across the table. We've always liked Benihana restaurants and I hope this location gets better at their operations, kitchen and service soon

I want to give 5 stars to the manager, Esmeralda, for ensuring my nephew's birthday ended on a high note. She was extremely professional, kind, and attentive--truly outstanding customer service. It was clear that she genuinely cares about her customers, and because of her, my family and I would absolutely return just to see her again. However, I can't say the same about our experience with Kayla, our waitress. Unfortunately, she was unprofessional, aggressive, and rude throughout our meal. Not only was her attitude off-putting, but she made an extremely inappropriate and unnecessary comment at the end of our dinner. As we were leaving, she told us, "Next time, if you guys don't want to pay for your service, then I recommend not eating out again." This was completely uncalled for and left a bad impression on our entire family. No one should have to deal with such disrespect while dining out, and it's a shame that her attitude overshadowed what could have been a great experience. Thank you again Esmeralda !

Unacceptable front-of-the-house staff and service, from someone who worked in the restaurant service industry. I should have also looked at the OpenTable reviews about this place before making a reservation, as there seem to be more honest reviews there; unfortunately I relied mostly on Google reviews which seem to only skew positive. OpenTable has multiple reviews similar to my experience. We had a 6pm reservation for 4 people to celebrate our kids' birthday. We arrived on time and waited 25 minutes before finally leaving--frustrated and disappointed. Despite there being 6-8 staff members at the front, every interaction felt like they had no idea what was going on. They kept pointing at the screen when I checked in and when I checked up several times, and they seemed to be guessing their way through basic host responsibilities. The only time they approached me was to ask if I was part of a completely different party. Around the 15-minute mark, I asked if there was confusion about our reservation. My kids were getting hungry and visibly upset. NOT ONCE did anyone check in with us, offer a menu, crayons, --anything--to make the wait more tolerable for our children who were starting to get squirmy. Just a group of untrained front-of-house staff awkwardly standing around and talking to each other, and making zero effort to help or communicate with waiting customers. At 6:25pm, I finally approached the manager, who casually told me it "might take 5 minutes, might take 20" and while she apologized I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that they felt it was acceptable for a family to spend up to 45mins waiting for their RESERVED table / seating. That's when it really hit me--this place is mismanaged and they have inexperienced front of the house staff. We left. No dinner. No celebration. Just two disappointed and hungry kids and two very frustrated parents. TRAIN YOUR STAFF. Do better. Families come here to celebrate. What we got was confusion and apathy.

This was my first time in Benihana. We celebrated several birthdays that day. I enjoyed the atmosphere and food. The service was amazing and entertaining. I'll be back soon!

Chef was amateurish, at times cringey. Medium rare steak order came well done. Was it bad? No. But it answered my question, "what if McDonald's got into the teppanyaki business?" Solved. Meh.

We had the 45 minute power lunch today at new San Mateo location and all four of us were impressed! Wait time - we were few minutes earlier than our reservation time yet she seated us right away. There are dedicated tables for power lunch special so make sure you reserve this experience online and mention to the host. Menu - It's a limited menu and everyone in your group must order a power lunch. There's a choice of soup or salad and one of several entrees at two price points, all under $20 Food - our group ordered tofu, chicken, shrimp and filet mignon. The vegetables were precut and veg fried rice was cooked in back (not at table). Everything was excellent Benihana quality, and a good portion size for lunch. Great value under $20 so I will definitely be back for power lunch and the full dinner menu. I'm reluctant to post this review because once word gets out, this place will be packed!

It's my first time at this establishment. I went there with my friends. Let's start with the noise level. The noise level was over the roof. It was too loud and we could not hear what our chef and server was saying. Lots of confusion with the orders. My friend ordered a a filet mignon and she wanted it cooked rare but it was over cooked. Other guests had their order messed up too. We waited too long for our food to be cooked and by the time it was done, it was cold. The salad was salty and the food was so blend. Overall ambient was good and service was good. Ryan our server did his best to accommodate us. The chef couldn't speak English so it was difficult in terms of communication. Overall the drinks were good I was not impressed at all and for the amount of money spent was not worth it.

Our server is named Cheyanne and the chef's name was Dixon, big shout outs for making my birthday dinner special. Our experience was perfect. We had our own table since we came early and the ambiance was perfect. There was no wait. All of our requests were met and we were very satisfied. Drink refills came without asking. Thank you Cheyanne. Dixon was great and put on a good show. He did quite a few trick and cooked our food to perfection. Thank you sir! The crew came together and sang me happy birthday and that completed another year at Benihana for my birthday. This location was overall a much better experience compared to Burlingame and I will definitely be back between my birthday next year! Thank you!

Initially, our experience was pretty great. We stood at the bar and were still able to order drinks for happy hour which was pretty easy. The cocktails and hibachi experience are not worth it...I wish I had gone to Lazy Dog's happy hour! It's always a good time with same quality food at half the price. Back to Benihana. The hibachi performance was non-existent for my table, which was vastly opposite for the tables next to us. There were issues with the shrimp, which was brought up by another patron eating at the table....the shrimp was not de-veined. While not my personal complaint, it affected the whole table. Ordered the filet mignon for medium rare. It came out rare than rare, which the manager agreed. Still wondering where my edamame is! I ordered it and never got it...even after asking about it later. Oh well. No vents in the back room area, smoke just blew into my friend's face. It was so bad don't sit on a corner end!!!! You've been warned!