I wanted to see what everyone was talking about, I heard good and bad reviews. Didn't need to make a reservation on a Wednesday. My friend arrived at 5:15, put our names down and got seated at 5:26 I was still on my way to the location. Our chef was named Jonathan, he was nice seemed nervous but that's okay! Food was good -no complaints Our waiter was named Dylan according to the receipt, he was the life of the restaurant it was definitely not what my friend and I was expecting but we enjoyed how excited and happy he was and very attentive to the table. Yes I will agree with everyone, it took a long while to get our food, but our group of people who were seated with us were nice and talkative so it didn't seem to long. read more

Levi you was the man! Made my bro-in-law birthday special. Very entertaining and very delicious. Thanks again! Ask for Levi!

The food was great. Ray was attentive and cooked our meal perfectly. He even remembered the double zucchini without us having to remind him. Thank you!! read more

Not good - this newly opened restaurant was understaffed and service was poor. The table side chef seemed like he'd rather be anywhere but with us - zero enthusiasm and just going through the motions. I also notice he used the same utensils from start to finish while cooking - raw to cooked is a definite no no! Update - I did as they asked and filled out a review on their website. Yet, I have not heard back from anyone. read more

Raymond was very entertaining, polite, and funny. He also made that personal connection with the people at our table. Exceptional experience overall! read more

We had reservations for 7 pm, it's 7:45 pm and they are not sure when they can seat us. Isn't that why you make reservations??? Hostesses totally unhelpful. Party if 6 not that hard! read more

We really enjoyed the atmosphere and our waitress was on time, friendly and never had us waiting for drinks! Our chef, Levi, grilled our scallops, shrimp, chicken, and steak to perfection. We left full and happy! I highly recommend the spicy tuna crispy rice app! read more

Benihana - Temecula - Levi cooking was fire at Benihana! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Temecula, California

At the beginning of February, 2024 we were getting pummeled with rain here in California. That rain didn't stop it from being my wife's birthday and it wouldn't stop us from celebrating in her traditionally-approved way: dinner at Benihana. I made a reservation weeks in advance on the website - cinchy. Now, to get to this location from where we live we have to take 15 north for several miles before getting off at Winchester and if you're from the area you know that, if you're on the 15N after 2pm you're going to be sitting in traffic. Everyone knows this. With that, and taking the rain into account, we left the house early to get to dinner on time. As it turned out, the rain was fairly epic and kept a lot of people off the road. We got there early but I found a great parking spot on the end of the row where we wouldn't risk door dings. It might have been a little farther to walk in the rain but my wife is really particular when it comes to the paint on her cars and, with it being her birthday, I didn't want to gift her with added stress. I try to look out for her like that. She's the best and deserves the best, hence we're at Benihana. After parking and walking into the restaurant we checked in and sat on the one long bench in the lobby. We really weren't sitting there long but it was long enough for me to notice that the paint around the front door trim was already getting beat up. This location really hasn't been open long enough to have finishes looking like this so I started imagining all manner of rude and clumsy patrons this place has seen kicking the doors on their way out after a delicious and filling meal. Or maybe they never got to eat. Maybe they didn't make a reservation and were told it would be like a 30-minute wait and they stormed off in- I was halfway through this daydream when we were called to our table (way earlier than our reserved time!). Jazlyn promptly took our drink orders, left, and returned with our beverages. While she had stepped away my wife and I started having a conversation about nut allergies and whether or not we could safely bring our nieces to this place. We poured through the menu and found references to "vegan" and "gluten free" (side note: every time I read "GF" in a menu or at a store I read it as "girlfriend". e.g. "We should go to the store and get some of that girlfriend bread they have there lol") but there's not a word in the entire Benihana menu about nuts. Do they even have nuts in Japan? Oh, Jazlyn is back. We placed our dinner orders and then secretly eavesdropped as the other family at our table placed their orders. Oddly enough, it was their matriarch's birthday as well and while we didn't discuss it there, I think she was several years older than my wife. Honestly though, you're only as old as you feel when you're at Benihana and I hope this lady felt like she was 21 because you should have seen the drink she ordered. It was a fru-fru looking thing that was served in one of those glasses that lounge pianists set out to collect tips. I laughed because, had I ordered and drank something like that, I'd've left there in an ambulance. Several minutes later Chef Jonathan emerged from the kitchen with his trusty cart full of mains and sides and garlic butter and got to work. Most all of us had ordered the fried rice but Jonathan threw us a curve ball right off the bat. "Would you like spicy fried rice?" Reader, I have been frequenting Benihana for a great portion of my life. I've never been offered spicy fried rice. Jonathan, you have me intrigued. I'm in. So were the others. I think my wife was the only one who didn't. She didn't say why but I wasn't going to press her for a reason on her birthday of all days. I know better than that. So Jonathan starts swinging his knives around and doing his work, slicing up veggies, explaining what's there and checking in with everyone to make sure that folks were getting the correct orders and enjoying their fare. He put on a great show and kept the cook top scraped off the entire time - entertainment and hygiene. Who could ask for more? I'm certain someone could but not me. What I did ask, realizing that I had heard happy birthday sung about twenty-seven times since we arrived, was how many folks here are having a birthday? Jonathan didn't miss a beat. "Everyone." Do patrons not frequent this establishment unless they're celebrating a birthday? Seems like a bucketful of missed opportunities that we might need folks to correct soon. Anyway, dinner was wonderful and we emerged back into the rain (without kicking the bottom of the front door) happy and satisfied. And maybe one of the best parts? No door dings! read more

VERY overpriced for mediocre food. Took the family here for Thanksgiving dinner. Not my first time at a Benihana, others are good. Just first time at the new Temecula location. We were all very disappointed with the food compared to how much it cost, NOT worth it. The servers were all very polite and friendly. Our chef however barely spoke to us and it took him forever to get all of the food out. The shrimp was on the grill for over 20 minutes and ended up way over cooked and was chewy and rubbery. $330 for 5 people with NO alcohol. The prices DO NOT reflect the quality or quantity of food you are paying for. I'll stick with SHOGUN. They are much better. read more

We came out for dinner for the first time and had the most amazing time! We sat at the bar, the drinks were great, and the service was on point. We will definitely be back to see Eddie and Danny. The prickly pear margarita was my favorite!!! read more

Kevin is the man and so is our waiter Nathan! . Fun as hell! Food was super good!!!!! read more

Benihana - Temecula - Sushi Bars Near Me - Temecula, California

Had a great time celebrating a family members birthday at Benihana. Omar was a fantastic chef, everything was delicious and he really added to the ambiance with his great personality. Our server Darryl was amazing and attentive. He made sure our wants and needs were covered without having to ask him or track him down. Was always there when we needed him. We had a great celebration because of them! read more

Especially compared to the other restaurants around town that do the exact same thing, save your time and money. My wife and I wanted to try this place for the hype that came with the name and were terribly disappointed. We opted to not having a show as it was just us two and we wanted to eat rather quickly. This wasn't the case. My wife and I ordered the same thing, shrimp, chicken, & steak. Once we finally got our food, we noticed we only received one plate. A cold plate at that. From there, we were confused if we were supposed to share this? Mind you, it also had no rice. So we asked our server, and he told us we only ordered one meal. Confused, we told him we each ordered the same thing. So he said he would put a second order in for us. Mind you, we still haven't received the rice for our food after 10 minutes had passed. So then it dawned on us, is this why he didn't bring my wife a salad? Because he assumed we only ordered one meal? Because we had asked him for a second salad and he said he would have to charge us. So we payed no mind to it. Anywho, we finally receive the second order and honestly, this food and the couple of drinks we had were 1,000% not worth the near $160 we paid for two, especially without a show. Speaking of the shows or cooking in front of others, we looked around and those cooking for others honestly had no wow factor. Nothing about this place was amazing at all. The food is not worth the hype of the name. Oh yeah, I almost forgot the best part. It was 48 degrees last night when we went. The ac was on full blast inside the restaurant, further making the food even colder. I can't state this enough, I do not recommend this place at all. read more

Benihana - Temecula - Proof of dining. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Temecula, California

Service was great, restaurant is so clean and the ambiance is great! The food is to die for, always go for the filet and some sushi

We usually go to Shogun but wanted to check out Benihanas! I've always heard about this place and was glad one finally came back to Temecula. Our chef Angel and Waitress Allison were top notch! Angel is a great chef and is hilarious. Allison was super on top of everything and is super polite and really nice. The food was absolutely delicious. The lunch specials are really good! The atmosphere in here is way better than shogun. It's lite up and not very dark. And a very open lay out! We will definently be back!! read more

First time at this location in Temecula, CA, we went to celebrate my sisters birthday! We had 8 in our party. Our Chef was Daniel, he was awesome, funny and gave us a great show and food was tasty and great. The grilled shrimp that Daniel cooked was tender and yummy! Our server Olivia was vigilant on our drinks and friendly. I ordered the Benihana Special it came with steak and lobster tail and I ordered it with hibachi chicken fried rice. I also loved the tempura battered shrimp. Had such a blast I can't wait to come back here again. read more

Food was great! Service was awesome. The employees are so awsome!!! Everything was perfect due to Maggie and Eli

Disappointed. I was so excited to finally have a local Benihana! Ordered lunch to go, salad had no dressing, soup was pure broth with no ingredients, fried rice was lacking flavor and shrimp were just ok. None of the requested sides sauces were included. I will give them some time... I know the location is new. read more

DO NOT EAT AT THIS RESTAURANT!!Went there for my bd, when we were seated, just the 2 of us at a table for 8. Sitting by ourselves was the worst feeling. While waiting, I looked up at the vents and they were covered in greasy filth, I was disgusted and we should have left but, we stayed because it was my bd. ( BAD DECISION) Considering how expensive our meal cost and our food was mediocre, we will never return to this location again. read more

We came to This location for the first time. The wait was not long at all actually because we had reservations so make those first. Our server Malakai was great, phenomenal service. We have been coming to benihanas for years. We did not know you can get oil and vinegar for your salad instead of that gross ginger sauce. He shared that with us!! There were different things he shared with us that we did not know. We were both aware of the options for the fried rice, we always thought just white rice and chicken fried rice because that's all the waiters would ever say until we met Malakai!!!! The service in the front of the house was ok. Food was great and our chef did not add an overly excessive amount of butter or soy sauce, so that was great. Some of the chefs forget that we have to eat this food and get to caught up in the "show" and can be very heavy on the butter and soy sauce. Like we don't want a heart attack or high blood pressure, please and thank you. read more

My family and I were excited about Benihana's opening in Temecula. We were so overjoyed and relieved about not having to make the long drive to Carlsbad. Upon arriving we noticed the new location is bigger and more spacious! We were quickly greeted and seated by their wait staff. After being seated, we ordered drinks and appetizers. The appetizers and drinks were great! And now for the main attraction and a sharp decline in our dinning experience. Our group were assigned the new guy who possesses no Hibachi grilling skills and added no flavor to our cuisine. He managed to even mess up the flaming onion trick. That's like a Hibachi 101 trick. I ordered filet mignon cooked with teriyaki sauce and chicken fried rice. My wife ordered twin lobster tails and fried rice. My food was prepared okay, considering he was an inexperienced chef. My wife twin lobster tails were bland and lacked flavor. She didn't enjoy it as much as the Carlsbad location. After all the food was cooked, the inexperienced Chef began to clean the "hot" grill top surface and somehow flung hot grease from the surface onto her bare arm and blouse. She suffered mild burns. I am sure it was an honest mistake, but it ruined our dinning experience. Management was notified and they greeted us to address the unfortunate event. Her meal was compensated and they offered to reimburse her dry cleaning, but she was not a happy patron. It will probably be a while before or if we return to this location. Unfortunately, hibachi Chief ruined our experience and excitement. read more

2nd time I've placed a to go order for solely just steamed rice n garlic butter and have had to wait more than 10min the last time I waited almost 20min for items that are already premade. We come here all the time since they've opened this location and we've never had this problem prior to the last 2 experiences where we've just ordered 2 go read more

Love this place. Food was incredible. Staff are awesome. Even my picky 9 year old son ate a lot! read more

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Clarissa and James did a great job with our double birthday party of 8 people including 3 hyper needy kids. Thank you for a great time!

Kelly was a phenomenal chef with great customer service! We will definitely be coming back!

Alright, to be fair I wanted to take half a star off because the sushi rolls ordered looked nothing like they're advertised-- but it did taste just as good as it was supposed to look, so instead of going 4 stairs I'll go 5. We also ordered the chicken fried rice (without veggies for the kids) and the spicy shrimp habachi fried rice! It was all good! Flavors were just like on Ventura blvd.. hmm but just realized they forgot the pint of sauce we ordered- so maybe I'll go 4 stars after all. It's delivery so, I wouldn't expect anything great. We plan to try out the new restaurant sometime, hopefully it's kid friendly. read more

Benihana - Temecula - Gojira Roll? - Sushi Bars Near Me - Temecula, California

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I frequent Benihana often and last night was the best service from Franky and his trainee, Arturo the chef was creative as welll! Franky stood out and made everyone feel welcomed, comfortable, and an overall great dinning experience! One young girl and one adult had their birthdays at our table and Franky went out of his way to make sure everyone had a great time! Thank you Franky! read more

So we had the pleasure of having Emma, Tyrell, and Salvador as our servers/ cooks/floor managers today; and from the moment we walked in to the moment we walked out we had an incredible experience, thank you so much Benihana for a wonderful time and a celebratory 60th bday! We will definitely be back soon!! read more

Big shout out to Lily and Raymond for great service! The food was great as well. Haven't been at Benihana for a few years but our visit today didn't disappoint! Thank you Lily and Raymond! read more

So, normally this place is great! Yesterday was horrible! The chef was fine but the server was the worst I have ever had. He didn't bring out the soup/salad until the chef had been cooking for like at least 10 minutes (I have been to this location and other numerous times and I have never gotten that after the chef has arrived). I ordered an appetizer that I was told had 9 pieces, it came with 6. It also did not arrive to the table until the chef was almost finishing up the food. The app definitely tasted like it had sat out for a while. The cold fish was almost lukewarm. The server didn't check on us and then burped right in front of us as he handed us our check! Worst service ever! read more

My family and I went here for my neice's birthday and we had a wonderful time. Our server, Carissa, was very attentive and welcoming. She even prepared the cheesecake that we were able to bring in for the birthday girl, something that she did not have to do. Our chef, Daniel, was fun and very personable. Overall, the experience was great and the location is great! Thank you again! read more

We went to Benehana for my mother's 84th birthday. We had an 11:45 am reservation. My son was 10 min late, and we still had to wait about 20 more minutes for a table to be ready. We saw workers still coming in, but I believe they also could have been waiting for another family to fill our table. We had a party of 5 and a family of 3 came in to complete our table. We were sat and told where the restrooms were located. We were also told not to walk behind the stove and not to touch it. Then the drink server came and told us the same things. The restaurant used to be a Souplantation restaurant. My daughter worked there when she was a teenager. The building looks great. They really transformed it to look like other Benehana restaurants that I have been to. I believe the bar is in a great place, near the entrance. Guests can enter the restaurant and order a drink while waiting. They gave us plenty of time to review the menu and make our decisions. When the server came over to take our order, we were all ready. We started ordering from the lunch specials, since it was still around noon. The server told us, the lunch specials are only good on weekdays. So now we had to check the menu again and find another meal. Finally we ordered, but it took a while for the cook to come out. Our cook was Brayden. Brayden was cool and the food was very delicious. Brayden apologized for taking so long to cook, because he was new. Brayden also apologized for not being so entertaining. Complaints: We got there at about 11:35 am for our 11:45 am reservation. My card was finally charged at 2:51 pm. That is WAY TOO LONG for the entire process. It is not like we sat and had adult beverages and were just busy talking and socializing. There is no soy sauce container on the table. When we asked for soy sauce, they brought a very small dish, which is probably what they use to serve the wasabi for your sushi. Then, they fill it with soy sauce, which was not even enough for my rice. Sad... they won't leave a soy sauce container on the table. Then we asked for chili sauce, and the server forgot. Then we asked again and she had another person bring it out to us. Our drinks were not filled as quickly as I had hoped. The linen napkins appeared clean, but smelled like a wet rag. I went to wipe my mouth and caught a whiff of a nasty wet rag. I almost lost my appetite. I threw the wet rag napkin under my seat and asked for paper napkins. The restroom had four toilet paper holders, between two stalls. There was only one roll of toilet paper for all four toilet paper holders. There were three soap dispensers at the sink and two were not filled. The only dispenser that was filled was on the wall to one side. They had three paper towel holders/ dispensers, but only one was filled. I have been to many other Benehana restaurants and I have never had an experience like this one. I will attribute this to it being a recently opened business and hopefully they will work out the kinks. I would recommend this restaurant to all my family and friends, AFTER THE KINKS ARE WORKED OUT. read more

The food was horrible cooked horribly and tasted bad, the service was pretty bad as well the jokes and the wasted time there was too much, the cook would stop cooking to tell a lame joke and only cook one item (steak) at a time. It was like a 3 hour dinner, with no drink refills bad jokes and I just remembered the cook was also sick had a cold and kept sneezing while cooking, he would turn his head and sneeze then continue to cook. Then he would wipe his nose on his sleeve and then tell a bad joke it was too much ....Most of the customers around the table were just staring at each other .. read more

Our first time at this Benihana in Temecula. Had a reservation and was seated on time. Nabil "The Bald-Headed Bartender and his sidekick Mimi of who is new and learning the trade, were our servers. We didn't sit at the teppan grill table, we actually sat at a lower table in the lounge area, and this was the first time that we ever had a server get down on his knees to talk to us. Nabil and Mimi took care and attended to our every need professionally. When the meal was finished the "Chef Paul" came out to see if we enjoyed our food. This was a nice thing to check on his cooking. It is a very nice to see that he cares about his customers. This Benihana has a very wonderful staff. So, from me and my wife you have our highest praises. We Will definitely return quite often. Thank you very much for a wonderful experience at your Benihana. read more

Benihana - Temecula - Sushi Bars Near Me - Temecula, California

Went for a birthday with a group of 9. We were sat promptly after all our party was there. Our chef Kelly was awesome and cooked everything perfectly! No complaints! read more

I have been to Benihana's many times and was hoping this one close to home would be better. ITS NOT.. *Reservation for 3pm.. I waited about 5-7 minutes.. that I understand. *Cook had an exposed cut on his finger that was scabbed over .. I couldn't help but stare at it the whole time. Also had another cut finger with blue tape on it. Servers/cooks with open wounds should wear gloves to protect themselves and patrons. *Cook made his lunch.. on the same table .. stuffed it in a bowl and rolled out .. was that from the tables servings ? Either way employees lunch/dinner should be cooked separate and not in view of patrons. If it wasn't for the exposed cut I would have rated higher..everything else I could have overlooked.. Oh and they ran out of GREEN TEA ice cream? Really!?? Did they not plan for their grand opening? 185$ later .... Guess I'll try Sho Gun read more

My wife and I came here for the first time with our daughter and son-in-law because a friend recommended this place and it was ok. We had a reservation at 6:00 but we didn't get sat until 6:20. That's fine, I understand they're busy but after we finally sat down we ordered drinks and our server was very nice but obviously had a lot to do so we waited another 20 minutes before we could actually order. Then, the chef didn't actually show up until another 20 mins later. The whole experience of having the chef cooking in front of us and the tricks with his spatula were very cool but it was dampened by how hungry we were at that point. The food was tasty if a little salty, especially the vegetables. At the end, our server gave us ice cream even though we didn't get the 6 course meal which was very kind of him. The bill was pretty high as expected with hibachi restaurants but we still enjoyed it nonetheless. We will probably only come for special occasions from now on though. read more

I do not recommend this restaurant for several reasons. We dined here this evening with a reservation for my son's high school graduation. We arrived early and got seated 30 minutes past our reservation time. It then took the staff 25 minutes to get us our drink order. After our drinks were received, our orders were taken. It took 45 minutes for a chef to come to our table to begin cooking. The hostess felt bad and gave our party free appetizers. Once the chef finally arrived at our table, he cooked our meals, but didn't put on any show that we are accustomed to, such as at Shogun, for example. It was a serious let down and frankly, we were very disappointed. Our reservation was at 7 p.m. and we left at 10:15 p.m. Beware......do not go here. I should add the food quality was very bad. Chicken was bland, shrimp was mediocre. We will not be back. Sad we celebrated our son's graduation there. read more

James was a great chef! However our wait time even with a reservation was ridiculous. Our reservation time was 645p we got seated at 745p and did not start enjoying our meal until 9pm. For a restaurant priced this high please get more staff. read more

The service was great! Our Chef, Luis, was phenomenal. Funny, great skills, and very understanding with our daughter who has a food allergy. Food was really good. The price was high, but worth the great service and food. read more