Ray ray was awesome, very personable. Unfortunately, 20 minutes after my meal not to the fault of anything I ate, I was having severe acid reflux and made a mess in the restroom and the staff were very understanding and professional. It was appreciated. read more

Went for a Power Lunch with my husband and daughter last Friday. I'll keep it brief...got sat in a dirty table (rice and food on the floor and in the chairs - had to ask to have it cleaned before sitting down. Chef was nice. Wait staff was mid and all three of us left with diarrhea. I was personally sick for two days. read more

I walked in and the girl was very cold and rude . She said there was a 40 min wait I said okay that's fine . I have a baby with me I need a high chair . She then said she could only give me a high top seating cus the low top was only for handicap people so she couldn't accomadate me with the baby, I then just decided to leave . read more

Hadn't been here in years and well I'll never go back. How is it 9 dollars to get fried rice??? Most places come with it. One slice of zucchini, tiny portion of onions, onion soup came out late, bagged lettuce, 2 dollars to get teriyaki sauce which is normally part of the entree price, steak super tough! I only went because I had a birthday offer. Other wise it would have been 60 for a New York and fried rice. I can go to a nice steakhouse and get a filet for 60. Don't waste your money. The quality of awful and it's way overpriced. read more

Dined here last night with one of my Best Friends. I just wanted something to drink and some decent sushi with eel sauce. We sat away from the group areas at a Table so we could hear each other talk. She only had her Go-To Drink ~ Water with Lemon. 〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰 She drove so I had a Tasty Mohito that hit the spot. 〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰 We started with some really Delicious Appetizers Tempura Shrimp * Tasty with Tempura Sauce 〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰 I had their Yellowtail Roll ~ as well as their Spicy Las Vegas Roll sans cream cheese with jalapeño. The spice of the sliced Jalapeño tasted just right and Tasty We both split the Lobster Roll. 〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰 Service was great, our server Nabil was very attentive when we needed him. read more

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Waited for 45 minutes, don't even have water yet!!!! Horrible service tonight, it's usually much better.

This is the second or third time we've been and have had an issue here. It warrants a review. We make a reservation for 7am. Don't get seated for 20 minutes. We order the food and it starts to come out. But it's just not the same. Soup is bland. Salad dressing is ok. We wait forever for the cook to come out. And everything just took so long to get cooked. It seemed like everything was cooked individually and took forever. The sauces seemed watered down and bland. Rice was bland. Vegetables all cooked separately. I would like to eat all the vegetables at once not all zucchini then all onions then all mushrooms. Scallops were overcooked. Chicken was the last to come out and was so dry we could barely swallow it. Server maybe checked on the table once. Just not worth $175 for two people for the food to taste bland and take an hour and a half. Didn't even get the desert we were just ready to go. The service is just not there with the cost. Place was half empty. We will not be coming back. No more chances given. Would recommend shogun. We have always had a consistent experience there. read more

For the price the food quality is not it. You can tell they have started to skimp on the seasonings of all of the food served. The garlic butter they use on the food looked different it was also runny? I don't know the food just didn't look good and didn't taste good either. The "mustard" dipping sauce was super oily and runny. The chef cooking our food left the chicken on the grill way to long that it was dry and over cooked. This is the second time I have visited and have been disappointed in the food, which is sad because when they first opened the food was actually good. Oh and I forgot to add I had made a reservation for 2 at 7 pm we didn't get taken to a table until about 7:20 it then took them until 8 pm to actually start cooking our food and we didn't get done eating until 9. I also had to eat everything separately because it took the cook so long to cook all of them food. If I would have waiting for my over cooked chicken to be done and off the grill before I ate the rest of my food would have been cold. read more

I have visited plenty of Benihanas locations bc I enjoy the food, but this location seemed like a playground on Saturday night. Too many unsupervised kids between 5pm -6pm in the bar area and the parents don't seem to control them. The bar and the waiting area are the same. Couldn't enjoy my drink at the bar...I'm so happy the bartenders were telling the parents that their kids cannot be sitting at the bar !!! Our cook and server were great as was our food. The next time I visit this location I'll make sure I come after 8pm to avoid the family crowds. read more

This post is for Destination smokehouse in Murrieta Ca. Not Benihana in Temecula. My apologies for the mix up. This is a great bbq place to really enjoy Great food! Awesome menu good flavors good staff and and relaxing setting I hope they open more locations I'd recommend them anytime! read more

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Sat at the bar and enjoyed Happy Hour. Bartenders were very friendly, service was great! read more

Had a wonderful time at Benihana! Maggie went above and beyond with her service and made us feel so welcomed. Chef Ian was entertaining, and such a joy to watch cook. Great food and an even better experience! read more

Benihana - Temecula - Birthday ice cream - Sushi Bars Near Me - Temecula, California

I'd say it's a 3.5 tbh. Gian (hibachi chef) and Hannah (server) deserve the full 5 stars. They were wonderful. We'd ask for something and we'd receive it with a smile. They were both super personable. I'd even ask for them again specifically. My only real complaints, are portion size and price. But that's Benihana's MO everywhere. You can go to another teppanyaki place and receive much more for significantly less, even with equivalent cuts/types of meat. We eat at a lot of "smaller" or local teppanyaki places and usually and feel much more satisfied with what we get vs what we paid. Benihana comes across as a tad greedy as a business, not specific to this location at all. As far as this location goes, I've been to the actual worst and the best. It lands pretty middle but has better service. It's Benihana as you expect. All around good time but do be prepared to pull out a second mortgage for a date. We paid $216.95 with a 20% tip included in that (tip your servers yall!!) We got filet mignon and chicken, w/ chicken fried rice, filet mignon and jumbo shrimp, with chicken fried rice, gyoza, and split a glass of champagne. Other places that's about $100 less than we paid. read more

I had never been to a Benihana before, and my sister wanted to try it for her birthday which also happened to land on my daughter's graduation. There were 9 of us total. We had a reservation for 6:00. One of our party members was stuck in traffic and running behind. They wouldn't seat us with 8 of the 9 for about 10 minutes, even though there were plenty of open hibachi tables. We thought it was kind of dumb but we were fine with it, understanding it was policy and we were running late. But then a manager came up to the front for some other reason and noticed us all sitting/standing there, crowding the weirdly shaped entrance waiting for our last party member. He told the hostess to go ahead and get us seated. Once sat, our last member arrived about 4 minutes later. From there it took about another 20-25 minutes to get drinks. Another 20 minutes to order food, and another 10 minutes for our chef to arrive. He was nice, had some jokes. I don't know what I was expecting food wise but jfc, it was not this. Dried out, overcooked food with terrible flavor for WILDLY EXORBITANT prices. Not a single person was impressed by their meal. My poor sister felt sooo bad for choosing this place after seeing the bill, which was north of $600. Lesson learned the hard way. read more

Tonight was very disappointing ....and this isn't the first time ...at the Temecula location. With a reservation we waited between 50-60 minutes to be seated. Menu items, ie tofu and the traditional green tea dessert were not available..two of the reasons we went. The chef (Ian) was mediocre. To top things off, I had a birthday gift certificate which was not approved because unbeknownst to me the certificate was not valid on Sundays . Not a fan read more

Tonight was my birthday and I chose to celebrate here with my husband and daughter's family. Bad idea. We were on time for our reservation. Waited 65 minutes for our first course, soup. 15 minutes later we received our salad. We went to the bar to refill our drinks. 2 hours and 5 minutes later I finally received my main course. By that time it was 9:35. In my party was a 12 year old student, a toddler, and a nurse who had an early shift at the hospital. Again it was my birthday and at the end of the meal I forfeited my only birthday celebration for the check, just so we could all go home. read more

We had an awesome lady chef! I have never seen a lady chef before at Benihana so I thought this facility was really open to giving equal rights opportunity to both genders! She was very professional, funny and patient... We had reservations at 3:15pm and we were seated around 3:25pm. The waitress came to take our orders and we decided to share the Land N Sea which comes with the filet mignon & the scallops. I believe the chefs might be a bit short staffed too. I only saw about 4 chefs so please be patient. The salads and soup came out around 3:45pm-4pm. So if you are feeling hungry I would recommend ordering an appetizer because it does take a while for the chefs to prepare and cook. The chef came around 4:15pm & he or she will clean the stove first so we were waiting patiently for the stove to be cleaned and then the oil to be heated. Our chef started cooking around 4:30pm and we were waiting patiently for the zucchini, onions and fried rice to be cooked. We finally got to eat the zucchini & onions around 4:45pm. Then the filet mignon and scallops came out around 5pm... We were not that hungry so we were able to wait patiently for everything to be cooked otherwise we would have probably ordered some tempura or sushi rolls while waiting. The scallops were a bit over cooked but, I did enjoy the flavor of the food very much... We finished our course with some green tea ice cream which was very thick and creamy... I think I will be back to celebrate a birthday for a certain somebody because they do sing and dance for your bday as well... I'm so happy this place opened in Temecula! We have another nice restaurant to enjoy!! Cheers!! Do expect to be there for about 2 hours or more because it does take quite a bit of work and time for the chef to cook and prepare everything for you. read more

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It's beautiful inside & has tons of tables & room for a big group. Their waitlist was crazy on the day we dined here. 2 hrs. But it was during the week they first opened. Let me start off with I love Benihana. I cannot get enough of their mustard sauce. But this location left us a bad experience that my husband never wants to go back. It was really our cook that was inexperienced. He was obviously new at this & he was cooking our meats one by one & was extremely slow. It left our fried rice & veggies cold. The fried rice was under-seasoned & not buttery enough like Benihana's fried rice normally is. I do want to go back & hopefully the cook is more experienced now, or we get a different cook. I just have to get my husband on board to trying again. lol read more

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We made a reservation for 630 on New Years Day. It was crazy busy as to be expected. We were a little late being seated (due to the amount of people) but everyone was nice and communicative about the wait which helped us to know we weren't forgotten about. Once we were seated, the serving staff was awesome. They were training a new person so things were slow, but again, it was Jan 1 and we expected it, so no worries on our end. Our chef's name was Ian. He's been at Benihana for about a year. He was funny with his dad jokes, very personable and even entertained my 14 month old that was with us. He was very sweet in warning us prior to the "onion volcano" as it would cause some fire that would possibly scare my daughter. It was so tasty, not complains at all. We had a blast. The manager (I didn't get her name), gave us a discount for our troubles with the long wait times, which we didn't expect, but was very sweet of her. Thank you to Ian and the staff that worked with us to ensure our night was amazing. We love Benihana and we are looking forward to visiting again soon. read more

Benihana - Temecula - My daughter enjoying the show. Ian did great at entertaining her so she was included. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Temecula, California

Incredible experience every time my family and I go all around: food, service and ambiance. This is a special occasion place for my family and I and Kelly has been our chef the past 3 times that we have gone and we absolutely love her. Not only does she have an incredible personality her food is amazing and always delicious and every time we have gone. Our server was Megan this time and she was amazing as well. We were there for my birthday and they made my family and i's experience the best ever! Thank you guys for helping me have a great celebration!! Definitely recommend this location read more

This place when it first opened quickly became the crown jewel of teppan in the area. Today, it has lost all of its appeal due to mismanagement locally and at corporate. Last night we waited over an hour and 15 minutes past our reservation to finally get seated. They then crammed us into a table with 4 plates for 5 people. The manager couldn't keep his word on seating us when he said. He claimed that corporate has now gone to the overbook method like airlines. The poor hostesses kept getting bombarded. The manager literally let my handicap son have a melt down for not seating us. My wife left in tears and management did zero to attempt to make it right. Your just a number here. They blame corporate. There is no accountability. They have lost a customer. Back to ShoGun we go! read more

I never like letting negative reviews stand alone and always try to give establishments the benefit of the doubt and at least a second chance. So I decided to give this Benihana 8 more chances just to make absolutely sure this re-review would be accurate *wink wink*. Okay, not gonna lie, I haven't visited a Benihana I didn't love. My initial experience wasn't up to par mainly because this location went through an extended period of growing pains brought on by a lack of experienced chefs coupled with a rather large influx of new customers due to the grand opening. Now that the chefs and wait staff are finding their stride and the hype has died down a bit, the service and food have improved dramatically. Of the 9 times I've visited, I had a different chef everytime and a different waitress 7 of 9 times. Although not every visit was perfect, I had an excellent or near perfect visit 6 out of the 9 visits, with the last three visits clocking in at the five stars level. In all, I feel like it did take this location a little long to get things working smoothly but I'm not going to complain...better late than never! I'm just glad to have another Benihana in the area. read more

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RJ and Charles were amazing, they were a lot of fun and we had a wonderful time and will be returning :)

We came for my dad's birthday because he loves hibachi and was super excited. We came on a Saturday and had a reservation at 7:30PM--we got seated an hour later. The hostess was very rude and not very helpful, they need to be trained better. Tired and hungry we debated on going somewhere else but we decided to stick around. The chef on the other side of us kept accidentally throwing food on my family (I get it, it's a show but cmon) which was pretty annoying. After 45 minutes waiting for our chef he finally shows up, he had a great attitude and was fun but we were just so tired and hungry. We didn't leave until 11PM. I don't recommend coming on a weekend, you'll be wasting your time even if you make a reservation. read more

This place is a joke. Call me impatient, sure. BUT at this restaurant reservations mean nothing. So expect to wait and then be ignored when asked how much longer. We had dinner reservations for 5:30pm on a Sunday for my daughter's birthday. At 5:15 I received a text from Benihana saying my table was ready. I was expecting to be seated right away when we walked in at 5:30. They told us to wait a bit. Okay, no biggie. The lobby was the most crowded with tons of large groups and people lined down the hallway. 5:45 my kiddo is getting tired so I asked. A young teen said, not sure we have two other reservations ahead of you. Okay 5:55, asked again. "Not sure we have 1 other reservation ahead of you". Now we're getting annoyed. At 6:10pm we walked over to Karl Strauss and got seated right away and had the best meal as a family. Service was excellent. Our server and host told us they always hear that people wait an hour even with reservations. Benihana you are a joke. Get some staff and hire new hosts. Not kids with attitudes. Never will try this spot again. Probably make the drive to Carlsbad if I'm desperate. read more

We had a reservation for 9 last night. Yazlin (If I remember correctly) was our server. She was very nice, informative and always made sure we were taken care of. Our cook was Martin, we had a lot of fun with him. The food was delicious and He really knew how to entertain our group, especially great in entertaining the kids in the group. In total for a group of 7 adults and 2 children our bill was about 395$. We tipped our server and our cook separately. We also had an order of 5 drinks at the bar before being seated and that was 100$ (drinks were delicious we loved the ocean blue and the prickly pear). Definitely a fun place to be. Portions are very small for the price, but you are truly paying for the ambiance. read more

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

The quality of the food here is good however the price is kind of steep when you can get the same thing at Shogun down the street for a lot less. read more

The hosts at this place is completely garbage and extremely rude. We had a reservation at 5pm and we were all there complete in attendance and ready. We had to wait almost 30 min when we saw countless of other people getting seated ahead of us. I went to go ask what's up and this host dude gave me this stupid look like he was confused or something when we were in the waiting area right in front of him. Like why are you confused when you're asked what's up? He def needs more training. I didn't get his name but I do remember the confused look on his face. read more

I had read and heard about other guests and the slow service they received. Probably because it's only been a couple of months since this location opened. We came on a Friday night and the restaurant wasn't at full capacity. Which makes sense if training is still ongoing. I've never had a female Benihana chef before until now and I was pleasantly surprised. We could tell that she was new but I enjoy seeing either staff in training or their beginning moments. Her performance wasn't perfect but it was appreciated. It's expected when you're fairly new. Everyone has to start somewhere. She did take her time in cooking the food and trimming the shrimp. Overall, the food was satisfactory and in appropriate portions. The decor and placement of tables was spacious enough. The service is slow right now but give it a couple of more months until they have a more established routine. I would definitely come back again. read more

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

Food was great! The service was even better! Nikki is an excellent server and very sweet. read more

Every few years it is fun to come here. Their lunch specials can't be beat during the week or if you sign up for the club, they send out a birthday certificate, for kids as well. My kids always enjoy the show and I'm obsessed with their salad dressing as well as the sesame chicken entrée. Perfectly with their fried rice and a drink this is a fun and kitschy meal that we always enjoy. read more

My family and I came to this specific location because of the new location (Temecula). My wife and I have both been to a Benihana restaurant prior to attending this location (San Diego and Ontario), so we aren't new to the restaurant itself. I had read some of the Yelp reviews prior to coming to this one. I observed the reviews to be on the low side, but we decided to try it out anyway. Our reservation was at 2015 hrs (815pm) on a Tuesday night. We immediately noticed that there were people sitting at the hibachi tables, while almost half the tables did not have chef's with them. Our chef finally arrived to our table at 925pm, which is unacceptable. Our Chef "Chase" was great. He apologized several times on being extended and he mentioned that the restaurant did not have enough chef's. Chef was great and we had no issues with him at all. The issue was the wait time of receiving a chef because of the staffing issue. The food was good. I wish the portions of the meats were a little bit bigger. The ambiance was good, with dim lighting and a clean interior. The staff as a whole was great. I am giving three stars only because of the long wait for the chef and the shortages on chef's in which I believe could cause some issues in the future. Fix the shortages of chef's and the restaurant will be fine. read more

Benihana - Temecula - Shrimp Tempura roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Temecula, California

I went to Benihana for my birthday, and it was one of the most disappointing dining experiences I've ever had -- especially for the price. Our chef was clearly inexperienced, and while I understand that everyone has to learn, basic elements of the meal were completely missing. There was no egg in the fried rice, no sesame seeds on the chicken, and the zucchini was undercooked to the point of being raw. The mushrooms had no garlic butter and were dry from sitting untouched on the grill. For a restaurant known for its flavor and showmanship, this was unacceptable. We had a 7:30 reservation and didn't leave until almost 10 PM. I expected a longer dinner -- it's Benihana, after all -- but the excessive delays and lack of quality made the experience drag on in the worst way. I spoke with the manager, who offered a free return meal, but that doesn't make up for the fact that I spent my one birthday dinner of the year here -- and paid over $120 for food that was poorly prepared and lacked the basics I could've done better at home. I've always thought of Benihana as a fun and reliable place to celebrate something special. After this experience, I won't be back. read more

Yes! One of my favorite restaurant chains to dine at has opened in beautiful Temecula *Hits Easy access from the I-15 freeway Parking is plentiful Ambiance Friendly staff *Please have understanding during any "Grand Opening" phase. Take this time to share with management about ANY concerns you experienced while dining. The employees will get it right. If your entrée didn't taste like that other Benihana you frequent, remember ... every hand that does the seasoning is different. Example: How about that fried rice you upgraded to?? ... yeah, the scrambled egg was cooked too long (burnt) which affected the delicate flavor that you're used to. At some point, share with a manager. They need to know to make it right. However, never right to make a scene in public. I'll be back, I'm sure it'll be an improvement from my recent visit. Why 5 stars??? Because Benihana rocks! Also, don't forget to join their e-club. -Take care read more

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We had a great experience at this location. We got sat at the grill right away. The chef David came by quickly and was entertaining. Our server Megan was bubbly and attentive. Would definitely come back again! read more

Number one teach your ignorant uneducated staff that work in a very high-end restaurant how to answer a freaking phone call they should not be answering the phone yeah hello!! Oh I mean Benihana Temecula. Me can you tell me what time happy hour is ? No I don't know. Can you check and see what time happy hour is ? No cause I don't know?! Let me just get a manager! for the prices that you guys are charging for food at least you could do is have the decency to train your stupid staff how to answer a freaking phone call in a place where two meals cost over $100.00 Seriously what a joke! read more

So happy to finally have our own Benihana, the Carlsbad location was not it anymore. Came in for lunch, wanted a regular table but told me we could only do the chefs table which was disappointing cause we had a reservation and wanted a quick lunch. Other than that everything was great! Food and service was amazing. Really hope the location is here for the long haul. read more

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THE ESSENCE OF DELICIOUSNESS Umami means "the essence of deliciousness" in Japanese (Ajinomoto.com). Just think about seaweed and shiitake mushroom flavors that: * Taste spreads across the tongue. * Lasts longer than other basic tastes. * Provides a mouthwatering sensation. (Ajinomoto.com - Umami's 3 distinct properties). Umami was very understated and my dishes lacked deliciousness. BINIHANA - Temecula must significantly improve its Umami game. Here's why. STIR-FRIED CHICKEN RICE * Diced chicken lacked flavor beyond basic pepper. * Veggies were sparse and tasteless. * Rice was cooked and flavorless as well. * Eggs were chopped too fine or not used. TERIYAKI WINGS * Wings were a bit tough. * Glaze was bland. * No seasonings penetrated the wing meat. It was painful paying $35 for the two dishes ordered. And, I don't like paying big brand prices, for too little flavor satisfaction. ARNOLD SCHWARTZENNEGAR RATING I Won't be back! read more

Benihana - Temecula - $35 order - Sushi Bars Near Me - Temecula, California

Kelly the chef was amazing Perfect wagyu steak that came with an amazing cooking skills read more

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Jonathan was our chef and did a great job. Was friendly and enthusiastic. The food and service were good.