First, George was amazing. If it wasn't for him, our experience would have gotten one star. We were seated by a very friendly young lady, she took our drinks and had to switch out for break. Her replacement was not nearly as nice, and even seemed to be having a bad day. Empty drinks, whatever, it was kinda busy, it happens. But when I'm trying to clarify how we wanted the leftovers portioned, she snapped back at me, "I know!" And even the random guests at the other end of the table said, "oh, damn!" Turns out, she didn't know; they weren't packed how we asked. So, that, a few days and $200+ later, I still regret having my fiancées birthday lunch there. Even the kids made fun of me after that and the other attitude/off putting things she said, but eventually that lightened the mood a bit. George was phenomenal: great chef, entertainer and conversationalist. Wish I saw him later to give the tip directly; I'm hoping it got to him.
Emily S.
Went here for my birthday. We made reservations for 7:45. We got taken back to the table 7:50. Waited over an hour and a half before the chef came out. When he did, he had the wrong steak for my husband. He had to go get the right one. Our food wasn't finished being cooked til 10pm!!!! When my husband cut into and took a bite of his medium rare steak, it was cold still! We had our kids with us! If our chef wasn't going to be available for so long, they shouldn't have sat us! They could've told us the true wait time, that our reservation didn't matter. It was not a good experience! We go to other tepan style cooking place and have no issue! This was unacceptable!
Alan S.
I always like to see more restaurant choices in the area. Aside from the fast food strip mall selections, finding a really good place around here can be challenging. When Benihana arrived in Temecula, the beautiful babe and I gave a bit of time to get any issues resolved that a new place may have, and then came the day to try it. We have both been to Benihana at different locations, in my case long ago, and I was ready to experience some food with the "show". The wait was not too long, and we did have reservations. The hostess was friendly and showed us to our shared table, our neighbors being a family with two children, one being very young, but very active. This young boy put on quite a show, and although this can be quite annoying at a semi expensive place, it was amusing as well, as his various antics broke the monotony of the waiting for service, drinks, appetizers, etc. Then came the first birthday in the room, 4-5 servers with tambourines no less, singing and dancing in unison, ok that passed, and the wait continued for the "Chef". I guess this was the intermission. When the chef did arrive, she did her semi "Samurai" spatula and cooking fork routine, and I could see her level of concentration during this part of the cooking "experience". Tap-tap-tap and on to the grill went the oil, and so it began. The fried rice with chicken specks, the zucchini, the onions, the shrimp, and lastly the steak dishes. This was like being seated in the kitchen area of any restaurant, minus any potential for floor saves, as yes we were all watching. The slicing was slow, the dicing was slow, kind of like mine. Then it came time for the onion volcano. I give her a "C" for effort, as there were disco lights, but about 40% of the grill was ablaze due to all of the flammable stuff she poured into the onion cone, with her spatula motions attempting to control the blaze. That part needs work. It was more like a napalm run during the evening show, while at the disco. The food was not memorable at all. The cooking show was not memorable aside from the fire. No energy, maybe she was new. Other tables seemed to be enjoying their show, but at ours, our chef may have been trying, but missed the mark by a mile. No offense, everyone breaks an egg or two, misses their hat with a shrimp tail and blows up an onion volcano every now and then. More practice may solve the issue, but the food? Overpriced and just not worth it. Over cooked shrimp and steak drowned in teriyaki sauce, very dry fried rice, just not up to par with what one would expect. As far as the ongoing birthday announcements, perhaps it was just our table vibe by then, but the dance fever adjacent to us was a bit over the top, with one of the male servers seemingly doing a Chippendale's rehearsal. One of our table mates really being quite annoyed with it all. I helped by mentioning he only had a side view, but the action was in front of me, and along the the tambourines and tapping spatulas, well it was just weird. Too much going on, as this was for the most part, not a kids place with a guy in a giraffe outfit greeting with a cheap pizza. This must have happened about five times, making one wonder how low people will go for a scoop of ice cream. Of course if it was a "cream brulee", I could perhaps squeeze in an extra birthday here and there. My hypocrisy does have boundaries though. No this is not a "get off of my lawn" post, but maybe lose the tambourines and if you wanna shake your booty quite so much, well maybe not so close to the other tables and making one truly wish for the fire volcano to control things. It was like a outer limits moment, when one sees everything going on, but you are in a different dimension, just observing, with not so good food, you pay, you tip well, and walk out knowing you are never to return. Quite a waste of time, welcome to the Benihana zone. But maybe others enjoyed it.
MaryAnn S.
Easter Sunday came and we found ourselves looking for a place to eat. I find myself have never been to this restaurant. I heard it was very good. Buttery and delicious. Unlike some of the reviews that have come from this place, many people were being harsh. I felt like the place was given at bad wrap. Well, I was very much taken back to how heartwarming the people .
Luz M.
we have a bad experience in this restaurant.. they forgot about us seated in one of the table.. we have to wait for 45 minutes just to order our drinks.. when we ordered... they messed up our order... i am so mad.. we were starving waiting for the food that is not even good.. !!!!
IreneG
Jose was are chef for the evening and he was great!!! we were celebrating my son's 20th birthday and he definitely made us laugh. I would recommend him and request him again !!
RyanM
This is the second time in about 45-60 days that we visited(last time was lunch, this time was dinner) and 2 times in a row we were disappointed. I made a reservation for 1015p but got there about 950p and just let them know we were checking in and if we could get seated early, then cool but if not I understood. I didn't expect to get seated right away and I totally understood that because: it was busy(lot was full), good food/service takes time & since we were likely one of the last reservations of the night, we may not be able to get squeezed in. We were told they may be able to seat us but we waited until about 1010 before we sat down. So still, 5 mins before our reservations but we sat in limbo for about 20. Once we were seated, the person showing us to seats sat us down and said “I'm not going to be your waiter this evening, but we will be with your shortly.” I saw that same gentleman stand over near a sidewall, kind of talking to others, not really doing anything. 15 minutes later, someone finally comes and says “Hi. I'm not your waiter this evening but let me get you started with drinks while we find out who will help you.” They leave and bring us back a water and a tea about 5 mins later. Another almost 10 mins go by when that same person who took our drinks then said “we still don't know who your waiter is, but do you want any starters?” We order sushi. I asked for extra ginger. Had to ask again when the sushi came. Then about 10 mins in, that same person came back again to say “sorry, we still didn't find a waiter so if you want, I can just take your order.” We place our order. 20 or so minutes until the chef comes by. They realize the cooking top isn't working so they quickly/poorly cleaned a recently used table and had us move so get served there. I could tell he was trying to do routine but kind of felt “stuck” with us. We got our food. It tasted pretty decent. Last time they didn't make my wife's food, this time we were the ‘short straw'. Not good.
Kenyce Luo
I definitely wouldn’t be coming back after realizing even if multiple people sitting at your table is late over 30minutes you have to wait too and will not get any food. This is ridiculous and disrespectful quite frankly! Why am I waiting on the next person ??? I should’ve read the reviews before coming.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
gilbert perez
Went to the temecula location for my birthday,first time visiting this location.We had a party of 9 & reservations @ 6pm,our party was seated about 6:15pm,a server or anyone/ someone ?? didn't come to our table until 6:45pm & asked if we wanted something to drink,we got our drinks promptly,however an associate came to our table about 7:15 & took our order,our chef didn't come to our table until nearly 8pm,our chef was good,but we were forgotten from the beginning, terrible service, if I could give negative zero stars for service I would. FOOD WAS GOOD & CHEF WAS GREAT,BUT SERVICE WAS DISGRACEFUL. ??
Jason our server was awesome he attended to us and made our first visit pleasant. As for the food, we ordered the Yakisoba Trio and the Hibatchi steak. Very disappointed, especially for the price. We will stick to Shogun, their menu & prices are more appealing as we prefer not to sit for Teppanyaki and just order off the menu. Won't be returning unless it's for others celebration.
Our server was Jamie and she was very attentive and always aware of our needs...she was super friendly and informative......Raymond was our amazing chef for the night...he cooked our meals just the way we wanted and was so funny and entertaining to have...an amazing pleasure meeting him...this was our families first time going to Benihana and it was just such a fun and yummy experience.Kid-friendliness: I had my son in his car seat and they provided me with a sling so I can be more comfortable...it was very kind and useful.
my experience at the Temecula location was FANTABULOUS!!!!!... Angel AND Olivia made it the BEST experience EVERRRR!!!! i LOVED how Angel interacted with the table!!! His cooking talent is BEYOND WORDS!!! i also loved his FUNNY A.S.S. JOKES which had me rollin!!..??? GIVE THIS GUY A RAISE!!!... and Olivia was a STUPENDOUS server!!! also her guest service skills were BEYOND WORDS!!! She ALWAYS made sure we were doing okay and would deliver her services POST HASTE and sooooo FREINDLY and also very interactive with us!! GIVE THIS GIRL A RAISE!!!... both them are OFF THE CHARTS with no score necessary cuz they KILLED IT!!!! ?????? i would definitely go back there!! but ONLY if i get them together LoL! the DYNAMIC DUO/POWER TEAM!!! LOVE THEM SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!... ?? ?⭐️?????⛄️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
StephanieM
This was our first time ever visiting Benihana & we went for my dad's birthday on 3/21/24. I had made a reservation for 6pm & we were seated quickly for a party of 9. But it took 30 minutes for a server to even come over to get our drink order. He wasn't even our server but was checking to see if we had been helped yet. After that it took about another hour & 10 minutes for our chef to come out when larger parties were seated right away & their chef came out within 30 minutes. We spotted multiple families that came in after us that were served quicker. It was a disappointing experience especially with a 4 year old & waiting that long. We all ordered the 5 course meal & didn't even get our green tea after our meal was finished. Also after telling different waiters it was my dad's birthday no one came out to bring him ice cream or sing to him like multiple families around us received for their family members birthday. Maybe it was because they were white families & they thought us Mexican family didn't deserve the same treated. We won't be returning after feeling treated this way. We don't come out to eat often as a family like many other families do so when we go out we expect to be treated as if our waiter is serving their family.
Juan Diaz
this was ours first time in this location they treated us very well the service , the food .the chef Erik was amazing affordable prices the managers Liza and Shannon stoped by to say hiKeep up the good job guys ?
We made reservations for a party of 17 over a week in advance. Waited 30 min for our table and when we're seated we waited an additional 1 hr and 15 min until I got up to ask for the manager. Manager took 10 min to see me and asked what my reason for asking to see the manager because they were busy helping someone else. The lady next to me was there for the same reason and was really upset with the service. We had our chefs come out and prepare our food but the servers were not filling our beverages. Just a bad experience overall for 17 people; subsequently each couple spent over $100. at that table to be dismissed and not given great service. It's disappointing not to mention thay we were there to celebrate my nephews 18th bday. Thanks Benihana!
First, George was amazing. If it wasn't for him, our experience would have gotten one star. We were seated by a very friendly young lady, she took our drinks and had to switch out for break. Her replacement was not nearly as nice, and even seemed to be having a bad day. Empty drinks, whatever, it was kinda busy, it happens. But when I'm trying to clarify how we wanted the leftovers portioned, she snapped back at me, "I know!" And even the random guests at the other end of the table said, "oh, damn!" Turns out, she didn't know; they weren't packed how we asked. So, that, a few days and $200+ later, I still regret having my fiancées birthday lunch there. Even the kids made fun of me after that and the other attitude/off putting things she said, but eventually that lightened the mood a bit. George was phenomenal: great chef, entertainer and conversationalist. Wish I saw him later to give the tip directly; I'm hoping it got to him.
Went here for my birthday. We made reservations for 7:45. We got taken back to the table 7:50. Waited over an hour and a half before the chef came out. When he did, he had the wrong steak for my husband. He had to go get the right one. Our food wasn't finished being cooked til 10pm!!!! When my husband cut into and took a bite of his medium rare steak, it was cold still! We had our kids with us! If our chef wasn't going to be available for so long, they shouldn't have sat us! They could've told us the true wait time, that our reservation didn't matter. It was not a good experience! We go to other tepan style cooking place and have no issue! This was unacceptable!
I always like to see more restaurant choices in the area. Aside from the fast food strip mall selections, finding a really good place around here can be challenging. When Benihana arrived in Temecula, the beautiful babe and I gave a bit of time to get any issues resolved that a new place may have, and then came the day to try it. We have both been to Benihana at different locations, in my case long ago, and I was ready to experience some food with the "show". The wait was not too long, and we did have reservations. The hostess was friendly and showed us to our shared table, our neighbors being a family with two children, one being very young, but very active. This young boy put on quite a show, and although this can be quite annoying at a semi expensive place, it was amusing as well, as his various antics broke the monotony of the waiting for service, drinks, appetizers, etc. Then came the first birthday in the room, 4-5 servers with tambourines no less, singing and dancing in unison, ok that passed, and the wait continued for the "Chef". I guess this was the intermission. When the chef did arrive, she did her semi "Samurai" spatula and cooking fork routine, and I could see her level of concentration during this part of the cooking "experience". Tap-tap-tap and on to the grill went the oil, and so it began. The fried rice with chicken specks, the zucchini, the onions, the shrimp, and lastly the steak dishes. This was like being seated in the kitchen area of any restaurant, minus any potential for floor saves, as yes we were all watching. The slicing was slow, the dicing was slow, kind of like mine. Then it came time for the onion volcano. I give her a "C" for effort, as there were disco lights, but about 40% of the grill was ablaze due to all of the flammable stuff she poured into the onion cone, with her spatula motions attempting to control the blaze. That part needs work. It was more like a napalm run during the evening show, while at the disco. The food was not memorable at all. The cooking show was not memorable aside from the fire. No energy, maybe she was new. Other tables seemed to be enjoying their show, but at ours, our chef may have been trying, but missed the mark by a mile. No offense, everyone breaks an egg or two, misses their hat with a shrimp tail and blows up an onion volcano every now and then. More practice may solve the issue, but the food? Overpriced and just not worth it. Over cooked shrimp and steak drowned in teriyaki sauce, very dry fried rice, just not up to par with what one would expect. As far as the ongoing birthday announcements, perhaps it was just our table vibe by then, but the dance fever adjacent to us was a bit over the top, with one of the male servers seemingly doing a Chippendale's rehearsal. One of our table mates really being quite annoyed with it all. I helped by mentioning he only had a side view, but the action was in front of me, and along the the tambourines and tapping spatulas, well it was just weird. Too much going on, as this was for the most part, not a kids place with a guy in a giraffe outfit greeting with a cheap pizza. This must have happened about five times, making one wonder how low people will go for a scoop of ice cream. Of course if it was a "cream brulee", I could perhaps squeeze in an extra birthday here and there. My hypocrisy does have boundaries though. No this is not a "get off of my lawn" post, but maybe lose the tambourines and if you wanna shake your booty quite so much, well maybe not so close to the other tables and making one truly wish for the fire volcano to control things. It was like a outer limits moment, when one sees everything going on, but you are in a different dimension, just observing, with not so good food, you pay, you tip well, and walk out knowing you are never to return. Quite a waste of time, welcome to the Benihana zone. But maybe others enjoyed it.
Easter Sunday came and we found ourselves looking for a place to eat. I find myself have never been to this restaurant. I heard it was very good. Buttery and delicious. Unlike some of the reviews that have come from this place, many people were being harsh. I felt like the place was given at bad wrap. Well, I was very much taken back to how heartwarming the people .
we have a bad experience in this restaurant.. they forgot about us seated in one of the table.. we have to wait for 45 minutes just to order our drinks.. when we ordered... they messed up our order... i am so mad.. we were starving waiting for the food that is not even good.. !!!!
Jose was are chef for the evening and he was great!!! we were celebrating my son's 20th birthday and he definitely made us laugh. I would recommend him and request him again !!
This is the second time in about 45-60 days that we visited(last time was lunch, this time was dinner) and 2 times in a row we were disappointed. I made a reservation for 1015p but got there about 950p and just let them know we were checking in and if we could get seated early, then cool but if not I understood. I didn't expect to get seated right away and I totally understood that because: it was busy(lot was full), good food/service takes time & since we were likely one of the last reservations of the night, we may not be able to get squeezed in. We were told they may be able to seat us but we waited until about 1010 before we sat down. So still, 5 mins before our reservations but we sat in limbo for about 20. Once we were seated, the person showing us to seats sat us down and said “I'm not going to be your waiter this evening, but we will be with your shortly.” I saw that same gentleman stand over near a sidewall, kind of talking to others, not really doing anything. 15 minutes later, someone finally comes and says “Hi. I'm not your waiter this evening but let me get you started with drinks while we find out who will help you.” They leave and bring us back a water and a tea about 5 mins later. Another almost 10 mins go by when that same person who took our drinks then said “we still don't know who your waiter is, but do you want any starters?” We order sushi. I asked for extra ginger. Had to ask again when the sushi came. Then about 10 mins in, that same person came back again to say “sorry, we still didn't find a waiter so if you want, I can just take your order.” We place our order. 20 or so minutes until the chef comes by. They realize the cooking top isn't working so they quickly/poorly cleaned a recently used table and had us move so get served there. I could tell he was trying to do routine but kind of felt “stuck” with us. We got our food. It tasted pretty decent. Last time they didn't make my wife's food, this time we were the ‘short straw'. Not good.
I definitely wouldn’t be coming back after realizing even if multiple people sitting at your table is late over 30minutes you have to wait too and will not get any food. This is ridiculous and disrespectful quite frankly! Why am I waiting on the next person ??? I should’ve read the reviews before coming.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Went to the temecula location for my birthday,first time visiting this location.We had a party of 9 & reservations @ 6pm,our party was seated about 6:15pm,a server or anyone/ someone ?? didn't come to our table until 6:45pm & asked if we wanted something to drink,we got our drinks promptly,however an associate came to our table about 7:15 & took our order,our chef didn't come to our table until nearly 8pm,our chef was good,but we were forgotten from the beginning, terrible service, if I could give negative zero stars for service I would. FOOD WAS GOOD & CHEF WAS GREAT,BUT SERVICE WAS DISGRACEFUL. ??
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Chicken Fried Rice, Hibachi Steak
Jason our server was awesome he attended to us and made our first visit pleasant. As for the food, we ordered the Yakisoba Trio and the Hibatchi steak. Very disappointed, especially for the price. We will stick to Shogun, their menu & prices are more appealing as we prefer not to sit for Teppanyaki and just order off the menu. Won't be returning unless it's for others celebration.
Restaurantji Recommends
Our server was Jamie and she was very attentive and always aware of our needs...she was super friendly and informative......Raymond was our amazing chef for the night...he cooked our meals just the way we wanted and was so funny and entertaining to have...an amazing pleasure meeting him...this was our families first time going to Benihana and it was just such a fun and yummy experience.Kid-friendliness: I had my son in his car seat and they provided me with a sling so I can be more comfortable...it was very kind and useful.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Fried Rice, Benihana Onion Soup, Hibachi Steak, Steak Chicken Shrimp Trio, Habachi Fried Rice, Fried Rice Chicken
my experience at the Temecula location was FANTABULOUS!!!!!... Angel AND Olivia made it the BEST experience EVERRRR!!!! i LOVED how Angel interacted with the table!!! His cooking talent is BEYOND WORDS!!! i also loved his FUNNY A.S.S. JOKES which had me rollin!!..??? GIVE THIS GUY A RAISE!!!... and Olivia was a STUPENDOUS server!!! also her guest service skills were BEYOND WORDS!!! She ALWAYS made sure we were doing okay and would deliver her services POST HASTE and sooooo FREINDLY and also very interactive with us!! GIVE THIS GIRL A RAISE!!!... both them are OFF THE CHARTS with no score necessary cuz they KILLED IT!!!! ?????? i would definitely go back there!! but ONLY if i get them together LoL! the DYNAMIC DUO/POWER TEAM!!! LOVE THEM SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!... ?? ?⭐️?????⛄️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This was our first time ever visiting Benihana & we went for my dad's birthday on 3/21/24. I had made a reservation for 6pm & we were seated quickly for a party of 9. But it took 30 minutes for a server to even come over to get our drink order. He wasn't even our server but was checking to see if we had been helped yet. After that it took about another hour & 10 minutes for our chef to come out when larger parties were seated right away & their chef came out within 30 minutes. We spotted multiple families that came in after us that were served quicker. It was a disappointing experience especially with a 4 year old & waiting that long. We all ordered the 5 course meal & didn't even get our green tea after our meal was finished. Also after telling different waiters it was my dad's birthday no one came out to bring him ice cream or sing to him like multiple families around us received for their family members birthday. Maybe it was because they were white families & they thought us Mexican family didn't deserve the same treated. We won't be returning after feeling treated this way. We don't come out to eat often as a family like many other families do so when we go out we expect to be treated as if our waiter is serving their family.
this was ours first time in this location they treated us very well the service , the food .the chef Erik was amazing affordable prices the managers Liza and Shannon stoped by to say hiKeep up the good job guys ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Fried Rice, Hibachi Steak
We made reservations for a party of 17 over a week in advance. Waited 30 min for our table and when we're seated we waited an additional 1 hr and 15 min until I got up to ask for the manager. Manager took 10 min to see me and asked what my reason for asking to see the manager because they were busy helping someone else. The lady next to me was there for the same reason and was really upset with the service. We had our chefs come out and prepare our food but the servers were not filling our beverages. Just a bad experience overall for 17 people; subsequently each couple spent over $100. at that table to be dismissed and not given great service. It's disappointing not to mention thay we were there to celebrate my nephews 18th bday. Thanks Benihana!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1