Unfortunately this visit didn't stand up to the last time. Something has happened here. Whether it's a lack of training,, poor management, etc, the environment was stale. The table next to us had a silent chef. Isn't that why the customers come here for the, "show?" As local frequent customers, we have our favorite chef. We had asked for him. Now this may have upset the chef we received, or maybe the hostess was over us asking for him, but it was not a pleasant dinner. Our chef kept being condescending about the low star reviews on Yelp. So in theory, if you know your job is lacking and the restaurant is under review, make a change! Show the customers you're great and care about your job. It was as if the wind was out of all the staffs sails. Unfortunate because we came with our birthdays and the waitress forgot our birthdays even though we gave her our coupon. Distracted and overworked. Having been in the restaurant business, have a place designated in the back of the house for folding napkins, etc. Not using two tables across from where everyone is dining. To see staff on their phones, taking breaks, etc that is for the rear, behind the front of the restaurant. Sadly they were doing it in front of the management and it's a bad look. The positive on this visit is Nixy. She runs her bar with class and confidence. Shes pleasant, professional and funny. Next time, we will just sit at the bar and enjoy her instead of an unhappy chef and staff not wanting to have pride in their performance. I'd suggesting a divider or wall from the hostess stand to the bar. Their conversations are heard entirely, and even though you don't want to listen, they're right on top of you at the bar. Redesign that area for privacy. Please do better Temecula. read more

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José did so great, very funny. food was fantastic, enjoyed every part of his show , definitely will come back thank you . read more

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

We love it here! Especially the cook Kelly! Ali and Mariah are great and Josh always pleases the customers.

Worst experience coming here overbooked had a reservation just to rush over and wait an hour and not be seated. Do not recommend this terrible establishment that does no respect reservations and overbooked leaving plenty of people bothered and leaving. Do no recommend . If they had a no star option that would be the rating. read more

It was okay, the food was pretty good but I didn't like the atmosphere. The newly remodeled Shogun is more cozy and inviting

Such an amazing time! Great service! They accommodated our big party! The ambiance was great! And the food was delicious! read more

Benihana - Temecula - SASHIMI* SAMPLER YELLOWTAIL ROLL* - Sushi Bars Near Me - Temecula, California

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Excellent food! Excellent service! The staff was amazing and the manager there is five stars!

Completely ruined Thanksgiving dinner for our family. We arrived 5 minutes early at our 6:15pm reservation. We waited 45 minutes without a table. Service ladies repeatedly telling us with an attitude that we were the 'next' table. They were completely overbooked and nobody was on top of things. Worst experience. Will never get near this chain restaurant again. Go there at your own risk. read more

We had the most amazing time! Carlos was so attentive! This was our first time here and it did not disappoint, such a welcoming atmosphere to dine in. read more

This place never disappoints! Our server Josue was the best and came through the great drink recommendations.

Great customer service. Ask for Josue he is very friendly and will take care of you. Abel is also very funny and a great cook

Came here for a birthday dinner with a party of 10. Had reservations for 7pm & didn't get sat till 730. Once we sat, we didn't get drinks or soup/salad until 8:40pm. Our server, Jezebel, was completely incompetent. She forgot mostly every request that we asked for or would stand around talking with other servers rather than doing her job. By time the cook, Omar, came out it was 9pm. He did his best to entertain but at the point everyone was grumpy and hungry because we had been waiting 2 hours. The food was mid, the chicken he had served was raw still. I wish I taken pictures but whoever got chicken immediately threw it back on the grill. Once we were done eating it was close to 10 So we asked for boxes & the cake we provided to be brought out, again our server, Jezebel, was just walking around talking. At that point we were already irritated and wanted to leave. After about 15 minutes of waiting she finally brought the boxes but no cake. We told her if she wasn't back in the next five minutes with the bill & cake we were just going to walk out. Of course 5 minutes past, nothing. We chased her down and demanded she give us our cake back and bring the bill. Once we got the bill, they had added another Trio plate on that we didn't order nor were served. (Check your receipt if you come here, especially if Jezebel is your server. ) At this point it was close to 1030 and we didn't want to spend another 30 minutes trying to get the plate removed so we paid & left. We're usually a great tippers but in this case, that extra plate was their tip. If i could get zero or negative stars I would. We were there for nearly 4 unpleasant hours waiting around for mid food and horrible service. Would not recommend this place at all. read more

Levi's funny he cooked really good. He was really good at jokes and that's all I have to say.

Very friendly and professional service from Clarissa and Chef Omar. I'm not usually a fan of chain restaurants but the Temecula Benihana did not disappoint! The sushi was excellent, the pieces were generously sized and amazingly fresh. The hibachi food was very good though too salty for our taste; next time I'll just ask for less salt (and butter). A nice option for a group dinner or to celebrate a birthday. read more

Benihana has always been one of my favorite restaurants! The food is amazing. The service is always great. The employees are always a pleasure to talk to. The ambiance is a bit loud, but it is expected. I always look forward to eating at Benihana! read more

I took my wife here to celebrate her birthday. My expectation was that Benihana would be a step above Shogun's. Coming here for the first time was like expecting to shop at Target, and ending up at a grocery outlet instead. The cook was not enthusiastic and the show was quite boring. The best thing about the food was the sushi, and we came for the grill. Dinner took 2.5 hours. It was not good, and service was not up to our expectations. I prefer shoguns over this location, which kind of sucks because I really wanted to like it here and was excited for this new restaurant in our city. read more

The food was great. The staff were nice and professional; we even had an issue that caused the manager to intervine and compensate us. The location is laid out better than many bennihanas I've been to. The ambiance is on brand yet unique to this location. read more

We had a reservation and it took 20 mins to.get seated. They took other parties before us. Once we sat, we did get service right away. The waiter took our order and was refilling our drinks for about 20 mins... brought out our rolls, but then he disappeared. We saw no one for about 40 mins and waited for our hibachi chef... he never came. My husband then went to tell the manager to give us our bill and we were leaving... and suddenly the chef was coming out. I understand if they're busy... but no one said a word to us and the waiter disappeared, as if he was hiding. Don't plan on going back any time soon. read more

Friday February 2nd we made reservations for 3:30 pm, we were finally sat at our Teppan table at 4:10. Took over 20 minutes to get our drink order and the drinks were wrong, Teppan chef was the worst, tried to do his show and kept dropping his tools,served main courses before serving the set appetizers and couldn't remember who ordered what, portions are tiny, service is bad and prices are big! Save your money! read more

Hailey and Martin were on top of it. Great service. Definitely recommend. Will come back again

Was our first time at this location. Omar was amazing! Had a really great experience and ever better food.

The grill was filthy. Previous chef didn't clean it and we had to look at it for over an hour. Service was extremely slow Our reservation was 530. We sat at 600pm. Chef didn't come to grill until 645. Then this chef cleaned the grill. The food was ok. Not great. The lobster was teeny tiny..not worth it. The filet mignon was good. Definitely itely not with the $140 we paid for 2 people and we didn't get cocktails or fried rice..that's extra. Fried rice is $6 extra..ridiculous Never going there again. read more

Salad dressing was Ick. . .Shrimp was overcooked. . .ordered medium steak - WAY OVERCOOKED! Chef seemed new. . .didn't even do the onion haystack fire thing. All the people we encountered who worked there didn't seem happy. . . read more

so this place has been Temecula for a year or more. and because they training chefs there, it was great. When a few times after and the quality went down, I understand trying to get people working and getting used to the job. again today and the chef was great. The food was good. The atmosphere in that place is so cold and nothing. no plants no pictures. It just is not a calm environment. The management seems to not know how to manage, waitresses seemed overworked, and couple managers. I saw older women one wrote on her hand while taking the order at the table next to us. And the other one was just walking around with a frown on her face. when you first go in the restaurant. you're not even sure it's the front door because it's so plain. And then when you turn the corner, you see an empty bar very cold like I said just a hallway and a bar and a takeout window maybe. And the front desk which not a single plant not any white. Very uninviting. Like I said, the management really needs to work on managing this place because it's great food. . read more

Service was AWFUL; waited almost 30 minutes for an appetizer and finally had to cancel it when my food was ready at the table. Water and tea glasses were empty virtually all the time. Food was blah at best. Garbage service makes a blah meal even worse. Try harder... I will never come back. read more

David was a great chef, super kind and the food was delicious. Thank you. It is a great experience.

Great experience! Ian was hilarious!! Bad jokes, good food! Will definitely be coming back!!

Whatever you do, do not eat in the lounge area because you will be waiting an hour for your food that will consist of burned fried rice, under cooked colossal shrimp and a filet mignon with more gristle than not. The waitress who served us at 6pm on 4-1-24 had her long fingernail in our soup as she was placing the bowls on our table. The ONLY reason I gave 2 stars instead of 1 is because seating at the grill, you can at least see them cook your food & can request them to cook things longer if need be. Not happy at all. read more

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 . read more

On boy where do I start, brought my wife here on a quiet Sunday night. Table reserved for 8:15. Got there a few minutes early so I decided to have a drink at the bar. We over paid big time for a Christmas theme punchbowl margarita, it was all ice. After I watched the bartender make this drink, I questioned her why so much ice, she said its all measured out, well it's not. I watched here pour the a really bad premix that she eyeballed. Finally sat at the grill, the cook shows up and completely Obliterated our food. He was very slow, no showmanship, terrible jokes and he burnt everything. I ordered my stake med rare, it was outright well done with way too much salt. Come to find out after we were done eating we never got our soup and salad, waiter says oh sorry we're out right now, and expects us to just pay full price. Wtf. And on the final note, I woke up around 3am vomiting and peeing out of my butt.. it is just starting to hit my wife now around noon the next day. Sadly, I will never go there again. read more

The food quality was poor, the fish from sushi tasted like paper despite my many attempts douse it in soy and siracha. I asked for the rolls to come without rice and was questioned several times about my request like it was a foreign concept. The appetizer took over 30 minutes to arrive and by then our salad and soup had come at the same time. My husband's steak was almost well done and he asked for it medium rare, my son's child's plate was served 10-15 after our meals arrive. The plate was oily and not worth 30 dollars for a child's plate. The green tea was almost cold and we asked for a knife to cut my ahi steak, never got that so I was trying to cut the steak with my fork. The carpeted floors were disgusting , I watched several wait staff step over dirty straw wrappers and napkins until I picked it up myself. This place is the Fridays of Benihanas at best, and to top it all off 200 plus for family of four with two soda waters, which got filled up with water refill, yay ! The manager woman was the only person on the whole establishment that appeared to have any competency whatsoever, our server was nice enough but didn't have a clue poor guy. I will never come back, what a shame to the Benihana legacy:( read more

My family and I went to Benihana for Father's Day and the food was delicious. Our chef, Paul, was fantastic! He was funny, personable, and made me the best salmon dish I've ever had. read more

Eric was the best chef we've ever had at benihanas and we go every other weekend. He made the funniest dad jokes on Father's Day and knew how to cook at the same time. I hope we'll be able to request to have him as our chef for next time. Clarissa was a great waitress and was good with attention to detail. She didn't make any mistakes which is crazy because our family is big. She was on top of everything we've asked and we got great service quickly. Because of both of them, we've had the best experience at Benihanas today ! read more

I'm disgusted! They may as well close down! I used to go to Benihana's regularly when I traveled for work. I was super excited when this one opened up. My first visit was average at best, but this second visit was so terrible that I wouldn't even feed it to my dogs. The chef needs to be retrained. The filet mignon had no seasoning, literally just grilled meat. The onions were still raw. The rice and zucchini were lukewarm. The drinks came 2/3rd full. It was all absolutely disgusting. I wouldn't have wanted it even if it was free. I don't see them lasting long if this is the quality of the food and the custom service was below average as well. I don't ever plan on revisiting. I'd rather drive to Wabi Sabi in Rancho Cucamonga and get quality food over local convenience. read more

Hannah was our server and was absolutely pleasant and attentive to our needs! Thank you for the great service!! Definitely will be back

We had a BLAST at Benihana's tonight for my mothers 51st birthday!!! We had a spectacular chef who made our experience so fun and enjoyable!! Thanks so much for the great service! read more

Had a reservation and we checked in early. We were taken in near our reservation time, 3:15 but after being seated we waited until 4:06 for any chef to come out and actually begin cooking our food. They gave us our soup and salads and we had to wait about another 30 minutes after this. Having the time in between waiting really only built up our whole party to be even hungrier due to now having something small, making the mood sour. We had little kids as well and it's hard to explain to them the situation of waiting as they don't understand shift exchanges. Our chef Raymond was great, very kind and silly. I know we were a tough crowd due to us being hangry and waiting so long but I appreciate his honesty and hospitality towards us as a whole. Manager gave us some money off which we truly didn't care about because compare $80 off to 1 hour wasted for 5 individuals. My time is much more precious, we were so close to walking out before the cook came. Everything was clean and the environment was nice. Seems they simply didn't prepare to be booked and busy for the weekend.....? read more

This place is an absolute joke! The wait is crazy because they don't know how to seat people accordingly! I'm afraid to even eat the food! When the service at the front is that bad the food can't be any better! You can clearly see empty seats instead of seating the party of twos here and there maybe seat the party of four! The girl at the front clearly has signs of needing to feel as if "it's when I say and who o say gets seated" the I need to be superior attitude! A two hour wait! If it wasn't for my kids that really wanted to try it! I would shoved the menu up her ass! Not great business it wasn't that packed! We sat patiently with no signs of rudeness from us! But b line the place until they get their shit in order! The clearly need a better management read more

Clarissa and Ray were excellent! Definitely recommend coming to this place. Great service.

Chef Omar!! So live and I swear the food tasted better when he cooked it - was here about a month ago and didn't enjoy it half as much!! Very entertaining, great experience. read more