My favorite place ever! For celebrations or just when I have a few extra dollars and am craving their fried rice and shrimp sauce. Mmmmm I could eat here everyday but I'd be broke, lol. I first encountered this hibachi steakhouse when I lived in San Diego, CA and was super excited to find out there was one in Pittsburgh, PA. Reservations are advised to sit at the hibachi tables, which I think everyone should at least once. If I'm going out after I usually just sit in the bar area at a regular table and skip the hibachi show. I've NEVER had a bad experience at either location I've gone to in over 10 years. I'm not normally a fan of fried rice, however, Beni fried rice is phenom and I always get an extra side to take home. Its worth the extra $$ and it re-heats perfectly.
(5)
Lisa G.
This place has the weirdest entrance ever. Just be prepared. Came for my sons 5th birthday last night. He's a little foodie. The restaurant itself is nice and we were seated pretty quickly. Our waitress showed up 2 seconds later to take drink orders and appetizer/sushi orders. I just asked for water and some time to actually look at the menu. several min later out waitress came back with drinks and asked to take orders. I ordered chicken and steak along with a cranberry mojito. Quickly after taking orders our waitress brought out our soup. I liked it but it lacked salt. Before I even finished the salad course came out. I was able to enjoy both before the chef came out to prepare our meal. What did bother me was all the dishes in our area. I can't stand a dirty table and I wish our waitress would have removed them sooner. Our chef Penny wasn't the best hibachi chef I've seen but she was great with my son and he really enjoyed watching her. She was honestly a lot of fun. The hibachi itself was pretty good. I liked the fried rice which is an up charge. The steak was good and so was the chicken. I honestly don't think it was anything special. Dessert was ice cream also nothing special. So to sum it up our waitress seemed overwhelmed and managed to make me feel rushed even though I feel she could have visited our table a few more times then she did. That along with being overpriced is why only the 3 stars.
I thought the food was absolutely delicious and fresh. Our hibachi chef, Hoy, was fantastic! I ordered tofu and veggies (asparagus, broccoli, onion, snow peas), for me everything was prepared to perfection. We didn't get a show, but we had really good conversation throughout our lunch. Our server was, in his words "still waking up" and not on top of his game at all, he forgot to put in my boyfriends extra fried rice and something for the guests we were seated with. When the server doesn't put in an order, the kitchen doesn't put it on the cart and when your chef gets to the grill, he doesn't have everything he needs and everything gets held up. I left with a big happy belly which is not usually the case when I eat hibachi and everyone else in my party was just as pleased! Fun fact: Benihana is no longer able to pop food in your mouth because someone (in Florida I believe) got a hot shrimp to the eye and sued the company.
(4)
Brandi M.
Since the changes its just awful. Shortcuts in sushi. Quality of food is just not the same. The staff is very neglecting. It's sad to see what was once a great place go downhill due to changes in management. Very sad.
(2)
Lizzie D.
Benihana is good, yes, but it is not updated as other hibachi restaurants. The furnishings, carpet, set up hasn't changed in years and the staff/food isn't always up to par. I can eat Paleo here though, which was a new discovery. I've always appreciated sushi, but I never ordered it raw without the fun additions of tempura, sesame seeds, soy sauce, cream cheese, and everything else that makes sushi AWESOME, so this was a new experience. I ordered the Tuna Tatiki, which was 10 chunks of raw tuna. I ordered it without sauce or seeds. It was a little tough to get down because there were so many pieces and after a couple raw pieces, I needed some extra searing, which they did for me no problem! The server was wonderful- she was helpful and had no problem going to extra mile for someone with diet restrictions! I was very happy about this because the last time we sat in the bar, our waiter was really odd. He didn't explain the foods and extra charges (our waiter last night did) and he seemed like we were bothering him. I was happy to have a better experience last night, but I do think that Benihana needs to monitor their staff better. I had negative experiences twice related to incompetent staff, which really made my overall feeling of Benihana go from positive to neutral. Not to mention, the last time I was there, perhaps because we got hibachi at the bar, but it was not very good at all, and I got the most expensive dinner on the menu: "Ocean's Treasure." More recently when I visited Benihana though (the same time I got the raw tuna), I had a better experience- I ordered salmon and yellowtail sashimi. I was very nervous to bite into a raw cut of fish by itself, but was pleasantly surprised at how good the cuts of fish were. The yellowtail had a sweeter taste and the salmon was less sweet, but more flavorful. It was a great to jump outside of my comfort zone and appreciate the rawest of the raw food! I would definitely recommend Benihana due to its location- I love that it is on a hill all to itself, and it's unique mark in Pittsburgh, but I would choose other hibachi restaurants before I would choose this one.
(3)
Danielle Q.
Benihana is my absolute favorite restaurant. Every time I eat here the food is delicious and consistent. I pour that delicious pink sauce ("yum-yum sauce") all over everything, I would probably drink it. Although it is pricey, it is great for a date night!
(5)
Josh W.
I like this place it provides a great atmosphere and can handle big groups. They also send you a coupon for a free dinner on your birthday and can use it anytime during your birthday month. I would recommend making a reservation as they are normally busy and it takes awhile to eat. But this is a great place to go for a special occasion.
(5)
T G.
Only complaint was when we arrived we were basically told we had to wait for another party to arrive prior to being seated. Was told we could go to bar---after saying no we wanted to be seated they agreed. We made reservations for 3 and had no idea who other party was so why could we not be seated---we were not asking to be served. Over all experience was nice. Waitress very nice and attentive and so was Chef.
(3)
Amanda S.
My family and I have been going to Benihana for about 5 years now. We've always had to wait at least a half an hour to be seated, even when we've had reservations. In the past its been forgivable, mostly because its close to home for us, the food is okay (albeit a little pricey), and my Grandmother absolutely loves the entertainment of hibachi. But that all changed last night when we went out with a party of 8 for my and my mothers birthday. I made reservations two weeks in advance for our birthday dinner. When I called they were almost totally booked and only had a few spots left that evening. Our reservations were for 7:30. We arrive a little early at 7:20 and I let the hostess know that we are there and she checks us in. Then we basically just wait and wait and wait. We notice the hostess turning people away, and we notice two tables who have been seated for about 30 minutes now haven't even gotten their soups or salads. By now its nearly 8 O'clock. Then my mother overhears the hostess telling someone that they are short staffed and the wait is going to be extremely long. By this point we've been waiting for 45 minutes. My sister takes a walk through the restaurant and notices there is only 1 hibachi chef working, but there are SEVEN tables seated, all waiting for food/drinks. So I ask the hostess how much longer before we are seated. She informs me that it will be at least another half an hour before we get a table, because two hibachi chefs and two kitchen chefs called off sick. It would be another hour after were seated before they would even start taking our food orders. This is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. First of all, the hostess should have informed us when we arrived that they were short staffed and we would have a very very long wait. OR, the manager should have phoned people with reservations and asked if they could reschedule. Either way, we should have been informed instead of letting us stand in the lobby for an hour, not knowing that it would be another hour and a half before we would actually eat, on an evening when we had reservations. We decided to call Ichiban to see if they could accommodate us. They told us we could walk right in and be seated immediately. As we were leaving we ran into a gentleman who was outside smoking who told us that his party had reservations for 6:30 and they still had not ordered their food! It was now about 8:20pm. Our first dinner at Ichiban actually turned out to be much better than our previous dinners at Benihana, so I don't think we'll ever be going back there. I think Ichiban will be our new hibachi restaurant of choice.
(1)
Chris R.
If it isn't broken please for the love of god leave it alone!! I have had the good fortune to eat at and experience some really fine restaurants around the country. So it may suprise some that locally two chains never failed to bring me back again and again. Benihana was one of them. Sometimes I ate there 4 or 5 times a month. Imagine my disappointment when twice I order my "go to" chicken and shrimp only to find shrimp is now colossal shrimp that had the consistency of shoe leather and mushrooms apparently don't apply. Service consisted of being scorned by an older Asian lady and told "it will be a while" to get my order corrected because they are busy! Then while I wait at the bar I ask about my favorite bartender I'm told oh they fired is ass! Truly more info than I needed! Especially from the new bartender with no personality that took forever (I was alone empty bar) to serve me my ten dollar gin and tonic. Looks like I'll be sampling one of the many Japanese steak houses not called benihana in the future. W h at a shame. How can someone take a restaurant that was so good and ruin it so fast? It really must take some effort. I just hate to see it. I used to love this place.
(1)
Rachel B.
This is the WORST Hibachi I have ever had. We came here for a friends birthday, and I will never be going back. Service was mediocre, but the food was the real travesty. You go to Hibachi for a show, but it's not fun when the cook makes the SAME Giant Eagle joke the entire time. He also couldn't perform all the tricks that are pretty standard from Hibachi chefs. The food. Not good. My boyfriend ordered tofu and it was cold in the middle. He didn't bother to have the guy heat it more, b/c it would have just been a hassle. The chef forgot one friends meal completely and got rude with the server. Then after everything was cooked, he looked at me and asked did you eat all your shrimp. I replied "no, you never served me any." (I had ordered the chicken and shrimp.) He then sends the server back into the kitchen to get more. By the time they were cooked, everyone was finished eating. Come on. To make matters worse, when we left we saw that he was the head chef. That doesn't say too much for the rest of them. I don't know how people keep coming here. There is WAY better hibachi in Pittsburgh, for a lot less money. I mean honestly, I paid $9.50 for a glass of Kendall Jackson. No. The best part of the meal were the cupcakes that my friend brought. Do your wallet and your stomach a favor and go to a different Hibachi place. Benihana is not worth your time or money.
(1)
Kelly C.
We celebrated my daughter's 12th Birthday at Benihana on 10/16/14. The food was delicious and the chef was very talented and entertaining! He did things with the food on the Hibachi we hadn't seen before...a big heart made out of fried rice and made it "beat" using the spatula. The only negative was when it came time for them to sing Happy Birthday our waitress was the only one around so our poor waitress was stuck doing the birthday songs by herself So we joined in to help her. No wonder our waitress seemed so unhappy with her job. I was happy that we had the option of brown rice and not just white or fried rice.
(4)
Jason H.
Had a wonderful experience at Benihana with the family last night. We love hibachi restaurants and go to various area restaurants on a regular basis. Benihana is the oldest of the hibachi restaurants in the area, so we had not been for a while. We arrived early before the rest of our party and the staff was very welcoming. They would regularly stop by and make sure we didnt need anything. After our party arrived, we were seated and our chef came out. He was very entertaining and the food tasted amazing. The best part was how accommodating the staff was. One member of our party had a food allergy and the manager specifically came over to ensure that all food would be made in the back and would not come in contact with other ingredients. We had our 2 year old daughter with us and part way through the meal she started squirming and wanted to walk around the restaurant. After a few "laps" of the restaurant, without us asking, the manager came out with crayons and paper which made our daughter VERY happy. Everyone was so pleasant and the food was better than I had remembered. Benihana has a lot of competition from Saga, Nakama and others, but after our most recent visit, Benihana definitely has the best value and the best staff. We visited Saga shortly after going to Benihana and just kept commenting on how much better Benihaha was.
(5)
Jim M.
This far and beyond other hibachi in the area as far as taste and consistency. We had David who was great. Very entertaining and very well attentive chef. Everything was done properly. We had a party of 10 which was a little cramped but it all worked fine. We had a reservation for 8:30 and it was very close to the time we got seated. Not bad for this type of restaurant.
(5)
Sierra M.
I've been coming here regularly for almost 30 years, basically since I was born, starting back when it was Samurai. Some of the older waitresses (Hide!) are like family at this point, so I may be a bit bias. The food is always good, the servers are friendly, and the chefs are entertaining without being obnoxious like a lot of other hibachi places. I'm not big on sushi, but what I've had is good. They have a fantastic selection of wines, beers, and sake. I'll probably be coming here for another 30 years.
(5)
Eric C.
The absolutely WORST hibachi experience I've every had in my life! It was my granddaughter's 4th birthday and thought she'd get a kick out of a hibachi chef. Fist we wait 45 mins or so to be seated. The restaurant wasn't even half full. We chose the dinner portion instead of the lunch because by this time we were very hungry and the waitress said we would get larger portions. She lied. Our hibachi chef was absolutely horrible! He spoke so softly that you couldn't hear anything he said. He barely spoke and didn't put on any kind of show at all! Our 4 year old was so bored that she wanted to leave. The other party that was seated with us all ordered the lunch versions and they got more food! The chef mixed everything together so no one got a larger portion than anyone else. The only thing that we got instead of them was a half a slice of zuccini and a little bit of onions. None of us even like onions. My "steak" was at least 1/4 fat which the chef cut off and disposed of which didn't even leave enough for a small sandwich. By the time our main course was served our vegetables and rice were ice cold. We asked to speak to the manager who told us that they weigh the portions in the back before they bring them out to cook them. However like I said the chicken was all mixed together and at least 1/4 of my steak was complete fat and thrown out. The manager didn't seem to care at all about our situation. We paid almost $10 a meal extra for the "dinner" portion. He could have easily knocked it down to the "lunch" price, but he refused. After all this, we over heard another chef complaining that the place had new owners and everyone quit. I for one will never, EVER, go back there and would suggest everyone who reads this to stay away. We feel completely cheated.
(1)
Ricky L.
This place is crappy the only veggies u get is onions and zucchinis took the server 30 min to serv us drinks then took them 20 min to take orders by the time the chef comes out already an hour just for the food and the show after we ate our waiter didnt even recommend anny desserts just gave us the chek and leave with out saying anny thing els o i for got we were still eating like wtf im still eating and so was mi family and u just give me the check the chef just left like five min ago . I recamen go sime where els n eat
(1)
J M.
Never again. As a life long South Hills resident, BeniHana used to be "the place" to go. Birthdays, special occasions, date nights,etc... "used to" is the key statement here. This place has gone so downhill, it's no where near the quality it once was. A wait even with a reservation, a wait for every single thing we needed or requested, Over priced sake (for basically a slightly larger than a shot glass size amount) , an up charge for fried rice, lukewarm tea ( for the record, everyone is supposed to get tea with the meal and no one did, i had to ask for it), a "chef" that responded "I'm very tired" when asked "how are you this evening" . The "chef" did zero "show" while cooking the food very very slowly. I repeat, ZERO presentation, isn't that what half of the "Benihana" dinner is supposed to be?! We ate our steak and chicken with what remained of the zucchini/ onions and what remained of the rice that was presented way in advance of the meat. This was by far one of the most disappointing dinners ever. I give one star because the food still tasted good, but everything else was dismal. Dirty, stained menus, dirty floor around us, a lackluster cook, a server who was slow and over priced cocktails. We had a 7:30 pm reservation and left a little after 10:00 and not because we were having such a good time, it took 2 1/2 hours to complete this meal. Unacceptable. I will never , ever go back here and I will tell everyone I know to spend their money elsewhere.
(1)
Quay M.
I swore that Kobe Japanese Steakhouse in Orlando was the best one I had ever been to, but I think they may have some competition with this one. My boyfriend and I tried them out on Labor Day, just get something different from what we normally do. He had been some years back before, and this was my first time. Getting to the actual restaurant was a bit weird because of how you have to navigate the mountain (I don't know, is that considered a mountain, or is it a hill? Being from the south everything that makes me lift my legs/feet higher is a mountain). It was rather empty as it was only like 11.30AM, but that was ok with us as we're not a big fan of people (joke ... maybe). The interior is ridiculously awesome, especially the raised bar. Our chef walks up and it's a white man, which was a definite first for me at a Japanese steakhouse. And he seemed out of it. During the course of the meal, he did inform us that he was hungover ... it's Labor Day, what're gonna do? It didn't bother me too much, but I think he did annoy the hell out of my boyfriend lol. He told some good albeit corny jokes, did the usual tricks plus a few new ones - he was overall entertaining. The food: oh man, was it yummy. I got the soba noodles and beef julienne. The noodles were cooked in some type of sauce that I couldn't describe, but they were the best soba noodles I have ever had. The beef julienne was also super delicious. The sauce on it was described as a teriyaki sauce, but it didn't taste like it at all to me, which was fine with me because I'm not a big teriyaki fan. After eating we hit the bar and had drink apiece. The bartender was really cool and the bar area had a great vibe and atmosphere. Sure, Japanese Steakhouses are pricey, but this is one of the few I've been to that is more than worth it.
(5)
Paul D.
Love the food, but we get take out to the office and every time its a bit of an ordeal. Eat in. If you're planning on take out make it simple.
(4)
J K.
Many great memories and great experience at Benihana BUT last night WAS NOT! Horrible service! Took 15 mins to even take a drink order...then when I had a question about a speciality wine the waiter says he didn't know so ok no big deal, could he go find.. NO! Told me to go the bar and ask the bartender. Really?!? Then the chef came out and was pretty good although cooked everything separate starting with only onions and zucchini, where's the veggies?? From start to finish it was about half an hour! If we ate the dinner as a whole it would've been cold.. So we ate as we went. Also drink refills were a tough task too.. the chef had to keep asking other servers to assist. few and far between!! We had 3 birthdays at our table.. Not one song , which I didn't care, not one complimentary picture, no dessert was offered until another customer said something. Then the bill.. Oh the bill... That took another 15 mins!! At this point I told my family to go ahead home and I will wait considering this overall experience was almost a 2 hour ordeal. I was double charged on two items. At this point I was DONE dealing with this incompetent and appethetic waiter!!! Went to settle my bill with the manager who was nice and accommodating. Rectified the errors. And was generous with a $20 refund! I told him about the experience and all he said was "I can take picture now for you" UM... I was by myself!!! No thanks! One last thing, the male greeter needs some drug intervention.. He was high as a kite and made my daughter & I feel very uncomfortable to the point of invading our personal space and staring with those glazed over eyes as he staggered to and from his post. WOW & BOO!!! And sad : (
(1)
Kevin O.
Ok. It started out as a rough night . 40 minutes late honoring our reservation, lack of communication from management. Slow service once we did get seated. Our 8:30 reservation was not met with any food until at least 9:30. Really crazy. However, it was made alllll better by our chef, Tito. When we go back and we *will* go back -- we will ask for Tito. Is he Japanese? No, but he is awesome. To apologize the manager did comp our entire meal... We were a party of 10 -- and we took good care of our servers...it really wasn't their fault. Happy Xmas eve Tito you know how to do it right. Thanks.
(3)
Victoria C.
This is my favorite place to eat. The shrimp, fried rice, steak, sauces, and just everything are incredible. The prices can be a bit high but it is worth it!
(5)
Alynn B.
It's okay for me. I don't love it but I don't hate it either. The sushi and hibachi were good but nothing to be crazy over, imo. Went here on a weekend so it was really busy so we sat in the bar seats instead.
(3)
Mike S.
Love this place! Great sushi and have great sushi specials at lunch and HH. Bartenders are the best also. Marty is the man!
(5)
Kim F.
Very disappointing. We love Japanese steak houses and this was our least favorite meal in Pittsburgh. Nice atmosphere, service was fine, but our dinner was average to poor. The salad dressing was tasteless, the jumbo shrimp was under cooked and chewy. It tasted more steamed than hot grilled. The shrimp sauce was very thick and not that flavorful. Our chef ( new and slow) compulsively wiped his knives and the grill (which was dirty when we sat down) with a dirty rag? I guess a lot depends on the chef you get but ours cooked a tasteless meal. The sushi people ordered at the table looked good. We are not big on the circus atmosphere of Saga, but the Wexford location does have the best hibachi food in Pittsburgh to our taste.
(2)
Al S.
What a great time we had... but credit goes to the company I'm lucky enough to keep, not so much to this particular Benihana location. Sooo... if you're a fan of Teppanyaki, this review may ring familiar. If you've not done Teppan style before... consider this a sort of "what to look for" primer. There were five of us, sharing our table with a very nice young, near-newlywed couple; May 2010. Our table wait time, without a reservation, was about 35 minutes or so. (maybe they were waiting for a newlywed couple to join us?). And what lengthened the wait was the understaffed bar. We waited nearly 10 minutes to see a bar-server, and another 15 minutes to get our drink order. While everyone was friendly and apologetic, even apologies get old when they're used to salve away exceedingly slow service. Maybe the reason they appear to be busy, even on a Wednesday night.......? They had an abundance of tables celebrating "Birthdays." I'd guess I listened to at least twelve renditions of "Happy Birthday", sung by the "Greentree-Benihana-Bday Choir!" (Oi vay...... next time I'm bringing earplugs!) :-)) My impression? This is Pittsburgh; not my destination for "great Japanese cuisine." So while this fine city certainly has some excellent eateries, when it comes to chain or franchised restaurants, you have to compare each location to the balance of their nation-wide organization. And having eaten at Teppan style restaurants for many years, and many Benihanas, I'd have to grade this particular location in the "C" range; very average. Before we were seated, and while we were waiting in the bar, I spied the dining room. It appeared all the chefs were slow, seemingly ackward with their knives. And almost comically so. One Anglo chef, (no offense to Scandinavians that dream of becoming a Teppan-Guru), well, this guy looked like it was his first night, cutting off the shrimp tails...... almost one at a time, and still having a problem!? I think you get the idea. I've seen some Teppan-knife wielders, line up the shrimp and with one long swipe... de-tail-a-fy 30 with one stroke! Not here... some of the chefs may be on "beginner knife-speed restriction?" As one reviewer mentioned; "...it depends on which chef you get at your table." And with Teppanyaki style restaurants, and especially Benihanas, it's very true. It shouldn't be like that, but here in Greentree, and the evening we went, (Wednesday night around 630p), it was like going to a "Barber College" to get a free haircut, and trying to figure out how to judge the best out of a group of "beginners." Our chef was possibly the best of the crowd, (sounds like... "You have to go to my doctor, he's the best!"), but if compared to all the Benihanas I've visited, he too would be a C to C- level; maybe a "brown belt" in marshall arts vernacular? He did the "flip shrimp tail into the hat and pocket trick"..... finally making it on the third try. But he did smile throughout the demo. (A good attitude is worth allot in my book.) The food? Pretty good. Essentially, we ordered "everything on the right side of the menu"... mainly because I was treating my customer service staff... the greatest asset I have for my sales region. And because one of them had never Teppanyak-eed, I made sure we tried everything! Sushi, lobster, filet steak, scallops, shrimp, calamari, chicken..... well, you get the idea. What with the added rice and vegetables, it was a "belly-busting-feast." And again, because of the great company, we had a wonderful time. So overall, I gave this restaurant 3-stars. It was the total experience. The food was good, and more important, the company was great. But as you can see from my comments, I felt like this particular Benihanas location was struggling to meet the corporate concept; trying to do it with Pittsburgh locals who, from the hosts to the bartending staff, to the chef and server staff, just seemed like misfits. Had this been a "Lone Star Steakhouse", or a "Fridays", I'd have felt everything fitted just right.
(3)
Bruce P.
For years now, we have been going here on New Year's Day to bring in the new year. We decided to visit today with some friends for lunch. Dinner here can be a bit pricey, but if you go during the afternoon, the lunch menu is the way to go. Prices are much lower, the selection is almost the same as dinner and portion sizes are still good. Of course one of the best reasons for going here is to experience the meal preparations at the table. It can become a fun performance, but they can vary depending on the chef assigned to you. The food is usually excellent and the experience is great.
(4)
Lindsay J.
This is by the far the worst hibachi restaurant I have eaten at. The food is very bland from the onion soup to the fried rice (which basically was white rice with chopped onions) to the chicken (which was so pale it looked like it was boiled). Hibachi food typically has tons of flavor and tastes good because it has some grill marks and char, which none of our food had. I question whether it was even cooked on the hibachi table (we ate at a regular table but ordered from the hibachi menu). Not only was the food bad but the service was terrible. Our waiter didn't even know that hibachi dinners should come with the two sauces, he acted confused when I asked for them. Additionally, we ordered a sushi roll for an appetizer and instead of getting it before dinner, we received it after our dinner even though we saw it sitting at the sushi bar for a good 15 minutes beforehand. This restaurant may have been around for a long time but it doesn't even compare to other hibachi restaurants and was more expensive than any other I've eaten at.
(1)
Sean T.
The sushi during happy hour is great. The wife and I eat well for $20. That's drinking pop though. Don't judge.
(5)
Brian H.
Benihana is a chain restaurant, but the food is pretty good. It can get quite expensive though, especially if you adds drinks or an appetizer such as sushi.
(3)
AJA J.
Benihana. It's just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? No, unfortunately not.at .all...anymore. From hence forth, all mentions of Benihana are likely to cause anxiety in my usually calm heart. I hate complaining like this. I really do. But sometimes, you just have to, ya know? Tuesday evening I met a group of friends for a birthday dinner. The reservation for our party of nine was for 7:00pm. All but one of our party arrived prior to 7:00, but the hostess was curt in explaining that all party members needed to be present before we were seated, as our chef would be ready to begin meal preparation as soon as we were seated. Fortunately, the final member of our party arrived shortly and we were seated at 7:05pm. It was not until 7:40pm that first contact with our server was made. Without any apology for the delay she took our drink orders. She (name withheld because I don't want to be rude) returned more than 10 minutes later with our drinks, but waited another 10-15 minutes after that to take our dinner orders. As I was waiting I looked over at the table next to us, who were also clearly celebrating a child's birthday. At one point the mother (I'm assuming) smiled at me and said, "I hope you get out before midnight. We've been here over two hours. We're taking our cake and getting out of here." Upon taking our orders, one of our guests explained that due to a shrimp allergy it was necessary to cook any shrimp ordered by our group in another area (a neighboring grill, etc.). Our server said that she would have to ask the manager, who came to our table shortly thereafter. When the manager arrived at the table my guest explained her allergy and his response was that it might be in her best interest to leave. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he meant leaving the table, not the restaurant, but I'm not certain of this. Following this recommendation he mentioned that she could wait in the bar as the rest of us dined table-side. I asked him why it was not an option to prepare the shrimp at a neighboring table, but he expressed concern that other customers may require the use of the other available tables. I understand his point, but the restaurant was near-empty as the hour quickly approached 8:30pm. Finally, he offered to prepare the shrimp portions of our meals in the kitchen. I'm not sure why this wasn't initially mentioned as an option, but I'll leave it at that. Our chef Tom eventually arrived at our table. He was very pleasant and efficient during the course of our meal preparation. During his time at the table my Emperor's Salad was delivered, as were the majority of my table's sushi orders. However, two of our guests that ordered sushi were not served at this time. In fact, they were not served until a full 10 minutes after the rest of our party finished our meals. At one point, they inquired about the delay to she-whose-name-shall-not-be-mentioned, who responded that they were "waiting for the rice." When she delivered their food there was not a single mention of the delay. Two hours and thirty+ minutes after we arrived at Benihana, we left. From start to finish, the entire evening was a terrible experience. It was ridiculous to the point that there was not even soap or toilet paper available in the restroom. Were it not for the kindness and professionalism of Tom (and the awesome company of friends), the night would have been a complete waste. My final thought is this. The food was fine, but because I was feeling particularly piggish on this Tuesday evening, I enjoyed two California rolls from my stash of Costco sushi at home before departing for the restaurant. The difference between Costco's rolls and Benihana's...a toss up - just sayin. The good news is, this will give my friends something to whine about for YEARS to come...
(1)
Mayank R.
I have long wanted to eat Teppanyaki style food and been thinking of going to Benihana for a longest time. But after reading reviews on Yelp for the one in Sunnyvale, CA, I was quite apprehensive. I had also heard good things about Benihana in Pittsburgh from my brother in law and so decided to go there whenever I goto Pittsburgh. So, finally, we went there after New Years and had a blast. We had to wait at the bar even after making reservation, but thats OK. At the table we were not rushed at all. The food was tasty and the chef was funny and interesting. Not to mention very entertaining and friendly bartender - MARTY. Overall, it was one of the best restaurant experiences we ever had.
(5)
Lesley M.
I have to admit, I kind of thought Benihana was fictitious until we moved to Pittsburgh... and then low and behold, there was one right near where we live. The food is okay. There are better hibachi options in the area. The service can be okay or awful. One time, we were there with our kids and had an absolutely EVIL waitress. One of my kids isn't a big eater, so instead of ordering her a full kids' meal, we just got a side order of rice and soup. The kids' meal her brother was having came with ice cream, so when we were done with dinner, we asked if she could get ice cream as well. I don't know if she thought we wanted the ice cream free (which we definitely didn't!) but she said no, we absolutely COULD NOT order ice cream separately. You either get it with the kids' meal or you don't get it. WTF?
(2)
Lori J.
The atmosphere was fun. Our chef was very nice and entertaining. The filet was excellent. Their salad dressing is a little harsh for my taste. Over all it was a great time. I will definitely go back.
(5)
S E.
I have been going to Benihana's back when it was Samuri... I visit the Cleveland and Pittsburgh one frequently. The cleveland one is better but they are both going down hill at a very fast past. I keep giving them another chance and i keep getting disappointed. They have changed so many things in the past year and its for the worse. The shrimp the order they give you the food, the way the cut the veggies. Im becoming a Huge fan of Itchiban both the one in robinson and cranberry, Its cheaper and you get more food for your money . I hope Beni's changes. I even e mailed them and they didnt respond .
(2)
Jr A.
It all depends on the chef who is performing for you . I have been here twice in last several months and felt everything was average . I have seen other chefs in different restaurants and they have put on a much better show .
(3)
Emily H.
They took their vegetarian meal off the menu. They'll make one for you especially but I always feel demanding and would prefer if they had just kept it on the menu. Plus, this one is always really quiet. Like, I feel guilty, like I'm troubling the staff. And you have to drive through an apartment's parking lot to get there. Very awkward location and atmosphere.
(2)
J K.
Many great memories and great experience at Benihana BUT last night WAS NOT! Horrible service! Took 15 mins to even take a drink order...then when I had a question about a speciality wine the waiter says he didn't know so ok no big deal, could he go find.. NO! Told me to go the bar and ask the bartender. Really?!? Then the chef came out and was pretty good although cooked everything separate starting with only onions and zucchini, where's the veggies?? From start to finish it was about half an hour! If we ate the dinner as a whole it would've been cold.. So we ate as we went. Also drink refills were a tough task too.. the chef had to keep asking other servers to assist. few and far between!! We had 3 birthdays at our table.. Not one song , which I didn't care, not one complimentary picture, no dessert was offered until another customer said something. Then the bill.. Oh the bill... That took another 15 mins!! At this point I told my family to go ahead home and I will wait considering this overall experience was almost a 2 hour ordeal. I was double charged on two items. At this point I was DONE dealing with this incompetent and appethetic waiter!!! Went to settle my bill with the manager who was nice and accommodating. Rectified the errors. And was generous with a $20 refund! I told him about the experience and all he said was "I can take picture now for you" UM... I was by myself!!! No thanks! One last thing, the male greeter needs some drug intervention.. He was high as a kite and made my daughter & I feel very uncomfortable to the point of invading our personal space and staring with those glazed over eyes as he staggered to and from his post. WOW & BOO!!! And sad : (
(1)
Kelly C.
We celebrated my daughter's 12th Birthday at Benihana on 10/16/14. The food was delicious and the chef was very talented and entertaining! He did things with the food on the Hibachi we hadn't seen before...a big heart made out of fried rice and made it "beat" using the spatula. The only negative was when it came time for them to sing Happy Birthday our waitress was the only one around so our poor waitress was stuck doing the birthday songs by herself So we joined in to help her. No wonder our waitress seemed so unhappy with her job. I was happy that we had the option of brown rice and not just white or fried rice.
(4)
Jason H.
Had a wonderful experience at Benihana with the family last night. We love hibachi restaurants and go to various area restaurants on a regular basis. Benihana is the oldest of the hibachi restaurants in the area, so we had not been for a while. We arrived early before the rest of our party and the staff was very welcoming. They would regularly stop by and make sure we didnt need anything. After our party arrived, we were seated and our chef came out. He was very entertaining and the food tasted amazing. The best part was how accommodating the staff was. One member of our party had a food allergy and the manager specifically came over to ensure that all food would be made in the back and would not come in contact with other ingredients. We had our 2 year old daughter with us and part way through the meal she started squirming and wanted to walk around the restaurant. After a few "laps" of the restaurant, without us asking, the manager came out with crayons and paper which made our daughter VERY happy. Everyone was so pleasant and the food was better than I had remembered. Benihana has a lot of competition from Saga, Nakama and others, but after our most recent visit, Benihana definitely has the best value and the best staff. We visited Saga shortly after going to Benihana and just kept commenting on how much better Benihaha was.
(5)
Jim M.
This far and beyond other hibachi in the area as far as taste and consistency. We had David who was great. Very entertaining and very well attentive chef. Everything was done properly. We had a party of 10 which was a little cramped but it all worked fine. We had a reservation for 8:30 and it was very close to the time we got seated. Not bad for this type of restaurant.
(5)
Sierra M.
I've been coming here regularly for almost 30 years, basically since I was born, starting back when it was Samurai. Some of the older waitresses (Hide!) are like family at this point, so I may be a bit bias. The food is always good, the servers are friendly, and the chefs are entertaining without being obnoxious like a lot of other hibachi places. I'm not big on sushi, but what I've had is good. They have a fantastic selection of wines, beers, and sake. I'll probably be coming here for another 30 years.
(5)
Eric C.
The absolutely WORST hibachi experience I've every had in my life! It was my granddaughter's 4th birthday and thought she'd get a kick out of a hibachi chef. Fist we wait 45 mins or so to be seated. The restaurant wasn't even half full. We chose the dinner portion instead of the lunch because by this time we were very hungry and the waitress said we would get larger portions. She lied. Our hibachi chef was absolutely horrible! He spoke so softly that you couldn't hear anything he said. He barely spoke and didn't put on any kind of show at all! Our 4 year old was so bored that she wanted to leave. The other party that was seated with us all ordered the lunch versions and they got more food! The chef mixed everything together so no one got a larger portion than anyone else. The only thing that we got instead of them was a half a slice of zuccini and a little bit of onions. None of us even like onions. My "steak" was at least 1/4 fat which the chef cut off and disposed of which didn't even leave enough for a small sandwich. By the time our main course was served our vegetables and rice were ice cold. We asked to speak to the manager who told us that they weigh the portions in the back before they bring them out to cook them. However like I said the chicken was all mixed together and at least 1/4 of my steak was complete fat and thrown out. The manager didn't seem to care at all about our situation. We paid almost $10 a meal extra for the "dinner" portion. He could have easily knocked it down to the "lunch" price, but he refused. After all this, we over heard another chef complaining that the place had new owners and everyone quit. I for one will never, EVER, go back there and would suggest everyone who reads this to stay away. We feel completely cheated.
(1)
Ricky L.
This place is crappy the only veggies u get is onions and zucchinis took the server 30 min to serv us drinks then took them 20 min to take orders by the time the chef comes out already an hour just for the food and the show after we ate our waiter didnt even recommend anny desserts just gave us the chek and leave with out saying anny thing els o i for got we were still eating like wtf im still eating and so was mi family and u just give me the check the chef just left like five min ago . I recamen go sime where els n eat
(1)
Josh W.
I like this place it provides a great atmosphere and can handle big groups. They also send you a coupon for a free dinner on your birthday and can use it anytime during your birthday month. I would recommend making a reservation as they are normally busy and it takes awhile to eat. But this is a great place to go for a special occasion.
(5)
J M.
Never again. As a life long South Hills resident, BeniHana used to be "the place" to go. Birthdays, special occasions, date nights,etc... "used to" is the key statement here. This place has gone so downhill, it's no where near the quality it once was. A wait even with a reservation, a wait for every single thing we needed or requested, Over priced sake (for basically a slightly larger than a shot glass size amount) , an up charge for fried rice, lukewarm tea ( for the record, everyone is supposed to get tea with the meal and no one did, i had to ask for it), a "chef" that responded "I'm very tired" when asked "how are you this evening" . The "chef" did zero "show" while cooking the food very very slowly. I repeat, ZERO presentation, isn't that what half of the "Benihana" dinner is supposed to be?! We ate our steak and chicken with what remained of the zucchini/ onions and what remained of the rice that was presented way in advance of the meat. This was by far one of the most disappointing dinners ever. I give one star because the food still tasted good, but everything else was dismal. Dirty, stained menus, dirty floor around us, a lackluster cook, a server who was slow and over priced cocktails. We had a 7:30 pm reservation and left a little after 10:00 and not because we were having such a good time, it took 2 1/2 hours to complete this meal. Unacceptable. I will never , ever go back here and I will tell everyone I know to spend their money elsewhere.
(1)
Quay M.
I swore that Kobe Japanese Steakhouse in Orlando was the best one I had ever been to, but I think they may have some competition with this one. My boyfriend and I tried them out on Labor Day, just get something different from what we normally do. He had been some years back before, and this was my first time. Getting to the actual restaurant was a bit weird because of how you have to navigate the mountain (I don't know, is that considered a mountain, or is it a hill? Being from the south everything that makes me lift my legs/feet higher is a mountain). It was rather empty as it was only like 11.30AM, but that was ok with us as we're not a big fan of people (joke ... maybe). The interior is ridiculously awesome, especially the raised bar. Our chef walks up and it's a white man, which was a definite first for me at a Japanese steakhouse. And he seemed out of it. During the course of the meal, he did inform us that he was hungover ... it's Labor Day, what're gonna do? It didn't bother me too much, but I think he did annoy the hell out of my boyfriend lol. He told some good albeit corny jokes, did the usual tricks plus a few new ones - he was overall entertaining. The food: oh man, was it yummy. I got the soba noodles and beef julienne. The noodles were cooked in some type of sauce that I couldn't describe, but they were the best soba noodles I have ever had. The beef julienne was also super delicious. The sauce on it was described as a teriyaki sauce, but it didn't taste like it at all to me, which was fine with me because I'm not a big teriyaki fan. After eating we hit the bar and had drink apiece. The bartender was really cool and the bar area had a great vibe and atmosphere. Sure, Japanese Steakhouses are pricey, but this is one of the few I've been to that is more than worth it.
(5)
Kevin O.
Ok. It started out as a rough night . 40 minutes late honoring our reservation, lack of communication from management. Slow service once we did get seated. Our 8:30 reservation was not met with any food until at least 9:30. Really crazy. However, it was made alllll better by our chef, Tito. When we go back and we *will* go back -- we will ask for Tito. Is he Japanese? No, but he is awesome. To apologize the manager did comp our entire meal... We were a party of 10 -- and we took good care of our servers...it really wasn't their fault. Happy Xmas eve Tito you know how to do it right. Thanks.
(3)
Victoria C.
This is my favorite place to eat. The shrimp, fried rice, steak, sauces, and just everything are incredible. The prices can be a bit high but it is worth it!
(5)
Alynn B.
It's okay for me. I don't love it but I don't hate it either. The sushi and hibachi were good but nothing to be crazy over, imo. Went here on a weekend so it was really busy so we sat in the bar seats instead.
(3)
Mike S.
Love this place! Great sushi and have great sushi specials at lunch and HH. Bartenders are the best also. Marty is the man!
(5)
Kim F.
Very disappointing. We love Japanese steak houses and this was our least favorite meal in Pittsburgh. Nice atmosphere, service was fine, but our dinner was average to poor. The salad dressing was tasteless, the jumbo shrimp was under cooked and chewy. It tasted more steamed than hot grilled. The shrimp sauce was very thick and not that flavorful. Our chef ( new and slow) compulsively wiped his knives and the grill (which was dirty when we sat down) with a dirty rag? I guess a lot depends on the chef you get but ours cooked a tasteless meal. The sushi people ordered at the table looked good. We are not big on the circus atmosphere of Saga, but the Wexford location does have the best hibachi food in Pittsburgh to our taste.
(2)
Al S.
What a great time we had... but credit goes to the company I'm lucky enough to keep, not so much to this particular Benihana location. Sooo... if you're a fan of Teppanyaki, this review may ring familiar. If you've not done Teppan style before... consider this a sort of "what to look for" primer. There were five of us, sharing our table with a very nice young, near-newlywed couple; May 2010. Our table wait time, without a reservation, was about 35 minutes or so. (maybe they were waiting for a newlywed couple to join us?). And what lengthened the wait was the understaffed bar. We waited nearly 10 minutes to see a bar-server, and another 15 minutes to get our drink order. While everyone was friendly and apologetic, even apologies get old when they're used to salve away exceedingly slow service. Maybe the reason they appear to be busy, even on a Wednesday night.......? They had an abundance of tables celebrating "Birthdays." I'd guess I listened to at least twelve renditions of "Happy Birthday", sung by the "Greentree-Benihana-Bday Choir!" (Oi vay...... next time I'm bringing earplugs!) :-)) My impression? This is Pittsburgh; not my destination for "great Japanese cuisine." So while this fine city certainly has some excellent eateries, when it comes to chain or franchised restaurants, you have to compare each location to the balance of their nation-wide organization. And having eaten at Teppan style restaurants for many years, and many Benihanas, I'd have to grade this particular location in the "C" range; very average. Before we were seated, and while we were waiting in the bar, I spied the dining room. It appeared all the chefs were slow, seemingly ackward with their knives. And almost comically so. One Anglo chef, (no offense to Scandinavians that dream of becoming a Teppan-Guru), well, this guy looked like it was his first night, cutting off the shrimp tails...... almost one at a time, and still having a problem!? I think you get the idea. I've seen some Teppan-knife wielders, line up the shrimp and with one long swipe... de-tail-a-fy 30 with one stroke! Not here... some of the chefs may be on "beginner knife-speed restriction?" As one reviewer mentioned; "...it depends on which chef you get at your table." And with Teppanyaki style restaurants, and especially Benihanas, it's very true. It shouldn't be like that, but here in Greentree, and the evening we went, (Wednesday night around 630p), it was like going to a "Barber College" to get a free haircut, and trying to figure out how to judge the best out of a group of "beginners." Our chef was possibly the best of the crowd, (sounds like... "You have to go to my doctor, he's the best!"), but if compared to all the Benihanas I've visited, he too would be a C to C- level; maybe a "brown belt" in marshall arts vernacular? He did the "flip shrimp tail into the hat and pocket trick"..... finally making it on the third try. But he did smile throughout the demo. (A good attitude is worth allot in my book.) The food? Pretty good. Essentially, we ordered "everything on the right side of the menu"... mainly because I was treating my customer service staff... the greatest asset I have for my sales region. And because one of them had never Teppanyak-eed, I made sure we tried everything! Sushi, lobster, filet steak, scallops, shrimp, calamari, chicken..... well, you get the idea. What with the added rice and vegetables, it was a "belly-busting-feast." And again, because of the great company, we had a wonderful time. So overall, I gave this restaurant 3-stars. It was the total experience. The food was good, and more important, the company was great. But as you can see from my comments, I felt like this particular Benihanas location was struggling to meet the corporate concept; trying to do it with Pittsburgh locals who, from the hosts to the bartending staff, to the chef and server staff, just seemed like misfits. Had this been a "Lone Star Steakhouse", or a "Fridays", I'd have felt everything fitted just right.
(3)
Bruce P.
For years now, we have been going here on New Year's Day to bring in the new year. We decided to visit today with some friends for lunch. Dinner here can be a bit pricey, but if you go during the afternoon, the lunch menu is the way to go. Prices are much lower, the selection is almost the same as dinner and portion sizes are still good. Of course one of the best reasons for going here is to experience the meal preparations at the table. It can become a fun performance, but they can vary depending on the chef assigned to you. The food is usually excellent and the experience is great.
(4)
Mango K.
My favorite place ever! For celebrations or just when I have a few extra dollars and am craving their fried rice and shrimp sauce. Mmmmm I could eat here everyday but I'd be broke, lol. I first encountered this hibachi steakhouse when I lived in San Diego, CA and was super excited to find out there was one in Pittsburgh, PA. Reservations are advised to sit at the hibachi tables, which I think everyone should at least once. If I'm going out after I usually just sit in the bar area at a regular table and skip the hibachi show. I've NEVER had a bad experience at either location I've gone to in over 10 years. I'm not normally a fan of fried rice, however, Beni fried rice is phenom and I always get an extra side to take home. Its worth the extra $$ and it re-heats perfectly.
This place has the weirdest entrance ever. Just be prepared. Came for my sons 5th birthday last night. He's a little foodie. The restaurant itself is nice and we were seated pretty quickly. Our waitress showed up 2 seconds later to take drink orders and appetizer/sushi orders. I just asked for water and some time to actually look at the menu. several min later out waitress came back with drinks and asked to take orders. I ordered chicken and steak along with a cranberry mojito. Quickly after taking orders our waitress brought out our soup. I liked it but it lacked salt. Before I even finished the salad course came out. I was able to enjoy both before the chef came out to prepare our meal. What did bother me was all the dishes in our area. I can't stand a dirty table and I wish our waitress would have removed them sooner. Our chef Penny wasn't the best hibachi chef I've seen but she was great with my son and he really enjoyed watching her. She was honestly a lot of fun. The hibachi itself was pretty good. I liked the fried rice which is an up charge. The steak was good and so was the chicken. I honestly don't think it was anything special. Dessert was ice cream also nothing special. So to sum it up our waitress seemed overwhelmed and managed to make me feel rushed even though I feel she could have visited our table a few more times then she did. That along with being overpriced is why only the 3 stars.
(3)
October R.
I thought the food was absolutely delicious and fresh. Our hibachi chef, Hoy, was fantastic! I ordered tofu and veggies (asparagus, broccoli, onion, snow peas), for me everything was prepared to perfection. We didn't get a show, but we had really good conversation throughout our lunch. Our server was, in his words "still waking up" and not on top of his game at all, he forgot to put in my boyfriends extra fried rice and something for the guests we were seated with. When the server doesn't put in an order, the kitchen doesn't put it on the cart and when your chef gets to the grill, he doesn't have everything he needs and everything gets held up. I left with a big happy belly which is not usually the case when I eat hibachi and everyone else in my party was just as pleased! Fun fact: Benihana is no longer able to pop food in your mouth because someone (in Florida I believe) got a hot shrimp to the eye and sued the company.
(4)
Brandi M.
Since the changes its just awful. Shortcuts in sushi. Quality of food is just not the same. The staff is very neglecting. It's sad to see what was once a great place go downhill due to changes in management. Very sad.
(2)
T G.
Only complaint was when we arrived we were basically told we had to wait for another party to arrive prior to being seated. Was told we could go to bar---after saying no we wanted to be seated they agreed. We made reservations for 3 and had no idea who other party was so why could we not be seated---we were not asking to be served. Over all experience was nice. Waitress very nice and attentive and so was Chef.
(3)
Lizzie D.
Benihana is good, yes, but it is not updated as other hibachi restaurants. The furnishings, carpet, set up hasn't changed in years and the staff/food isn't always up to par. I can eat Paleo here though, which was a new discovery. I've always appreciated sushi, but I never ordered it raw without the fun additions of tempura, sesame seeds, soy sauce, cream cheese, and everything else that makes sushi AWESOME, so this was a new experience. I ordered the Tuna Tatiki, which was 10 chunks of raw tuna. I ordered it without sauce or seeds. It was a little tough to get down because there were so many pieces and after a couple raw pieces, I needed some extra searing, which they did for me no problem! The server was wonderful- she was helpful and had no problem going to extra mile for someone with diet restrictions! I was very happy about this because the last time we sat in the bar, our waiter was really odd. He didn't explain the foods and extra charges (our waiter last night did) and he seemed like we were bothering him. I was happy to have a better experience last night, but I do think that Benihana needs to monitor their staff better. I had negative experiences twice related to incompetent staff, which really made my overall feeling of Benihana go from positive to neutral. Not to mention, the last time I was there, perhaps because we got hibachi at the bar, but it was not very good at all, and I got the most expensive dinner on the menu: "Ocean's Treasure." More recently when I visited Benihana though (the same time I got the raw tuna), I had a better experience- I ordered salmon and yellowtail sashimi. I was very nervous to bite into a raw cut of fish by itself, but was pleasantly surprised at how good the cuts of fish were. The yellowtail had a sweeter taste and the salmon was less sweet, but more flavorful. It was a great to jump outside of my comfort zone and appreciate the rawest of the raw food! I would definitely recommend Benihana due to its location- I love that it is on a hill all to itself, and it's unique mark in Pittsburgh, but I would choose other hibachi restaurants before I would choose this one.
(3)
Danielle Q.
Benihana is my absolute favorite restaurant. Every time I eat here the food is delicious and consistent. I pour that delicious pink sauce ("yum-yum sauce") all over everything, I would probably drink it. Although it is pricey, it is great for a date night!
(5)
Amanda S.
My family and I have been going to Benihana for about 5 years now. We've always had to wait at least a half an hour to be seated, even when we've had reservations. In the past its been forgivable, mostly because its close to home for us, the food is okay (albeit a little pricey), and my Grandmother absolutely loves the entertainment of hibachi. But that all changed last night when we went out with a party of 8 for my and my mothers birthday. I made reservations two weeks in advance for our birthday dinner. When I called they were almost totally booked and only had a few spots left that evening. Our reservations were for 7:30. We arrive a little early at 7:20 and I let the hostess know that we are there and she checks us in. Then we basically just wait and wait and wait. We notice the hostess turning people away, and we notice two tables who have been seated for about 30 minutes now haven't even gotten their soups or salads. By now its nearly 8 O'clock. Then my mother overhears the hostess telling someone that they are short staffed and the wait is going to be extremely long. By this point we've been waiting for 45 minutes. My sister takes a walk through the restaurant and notices there is only 1 hibachi chef working, but there are SEVEN tables seated, all waiting for food/drinks. So I ask the hostess how much longer before we are seated. She informs me that it will be at least another half an hour before we get a table, because two hibachi chefs and two kitchen chefs called off sick. It would be another hour after were seated before they would even start taking our food orders. This is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. First of all, the hostess should have informed us when we arrived that they were short staffed and we would have a very very long wait. OR, the manager should have phoned people with reservations and asked if they could reschedule. Either way, we should have been informed instead of letting us stand in the lobby for an hour, not knowing that it would be another hour and a half before we would actually eat, on an evening when we had reservations. We decided to call Ichiban to see if they could accommodate us. They told us we could walk right in and be seated immediately. As we were leaving we ran into a gentleman who was outside smoking who told us that his party had reservations for 6:30 and they still had not ordered their food! It was now about 8:20pm. Our first dinner at Ichiban actually turned out to be much better than our previous dinners at Benihana, so I don't think we'll ever be going back there. I think Ichiban will be our new hibachi restaurant of choice.
(1)
Chris R.
If it isn't broken please for the love of god leave it alone!! I have had the good fortune to eat at and experience some really fine restaurants around the country. So it may suprise some that locally two chains never failed to bring me back again and again. Benihana was one of them. Sometimes I ate there 4 or 5 times a month. Imagine my disappointment when twice I order my "go to" chicken and shrimp only to find shrimp is now colossal shrimp that had the consistency of shoe leather and mushrooms apparently don't apply. Service consisted of being scorned by an older Asian lady and told "it will be a while" to get my order corrected because they are busy! Then while I wait at the bar I ask about my favorite bartender I'm told oh they fired is ass! Truly more info than I needed! Especially from the new bartender with no personality that took forever (I was alone empty bar) to serve me my ten dollar gin and tonic. Looks like I'll be sampling one of the many Japanese steak houses not called benihana in the future. W h at a shame. How can someone take a restaurant that was so good and ruin it so fast? It really must take some effort. I just hate to see it. I used to love this place.
(1)
Rachel B.
This is the WORST Hibachi I have ever had. We came here for a friends birthday, and I will never be going back. Service was mediocre, but the food was the real travesty. You go to Hibachi for a show, but it's not fun when the cook makes the SAME Giant Eagle joke the entire time. He also couldn't perform all the tricks that are pretty standard from Hibachi chefs. The food. Not good. My boyfriend ordered tofu and it was cold in the middle. He didn't bother to have the guy heat it more, b/c it would have just been a hassle. The chef forgot one friends meal completely and got rude with the server. Then after everything was cooked, he looked at me and asked did you eat all your shrimp. I replied "no, you never served me any." (I had ordered the chicken and shrimp.) He then sends the server back into the kitchen to get more. By the time they were cooked, everyone was finished eating. Come on. To make matters worse, when we left we saw that he was the head chef. That doesn't say too much for the rest of them. I don't know how people keep coming here. There is WAY better hibachi in Pittsburgh, for a lot less money. I mean honestly, I paid $9.50 for a glass of Kendall Jackson. No. The best part of the meal were the cupcakes that my friend brought. Do your wallet and your stomach a favor and go to a different Hibachi place. Benihana is not worth your time or money.
(1)
Paul D.
Love the food, but we get take out to the office and every time its a bit of an ordeal. Eat in. If you're planning on take out make it simple.
(4)
Lindsay J.
This is by the far the worst hibachi restaurant I have eaten at. The food is very bland from the onion soup to the fried rice (which basically was white rice with chopped onions) to the chicken (which was so pale it looked like it was boiled). Hibachi food typically has tons of flavor and tastes good because it has some grill marks and char, which none of our food had. I question whether it was even cooked on the hibachi table (we ate at a regular table but ordered from the hibachi menu). Not only was the food bad but the service was terrible. Our waiter didn't even know that hibachi dinners should come with the two sauces, he acted confused when I asked for them. Additionally, we ordered a sushi roll for an appetizer and instead of getting it before dinner, we received it after our dinner even though we saw it sitting at the sushi bar for a good 15 minutes beforehand. This restaurant may have been around for a long time but it doesn't even compare to other hibachi restaurants and was more expensive than any other I've eaten at.
(1)
Sean T.
The sushi during happy hour is great. The wife and I eat well for $20. That's drinking pop though. Don't judge.
(5)
Brian H.
Benihana is a chain restaurant, but the food is pretty good. It can get quite expensive though, especially if you adds drinks or an appetizer such as sushi.
(3)
Mayank R.
I have long wanted to eat Teppanyaki style food and been thinking of going to Benihana for a longest time. But after reading reviews on Yelp for the one in Sunnyvale, CA, I was quite apprehensive. I had also heard good things about Benihana in Pittsburgh from my brother in law and so decided to go there whenever I goto Pittsburgh. So, finally, we went there after New Years and had a blast. We had to wait at the bar even after making reservation, but thats OK. At the table we were not rushed at all. The food was tasty and the chef was funny and interesting. Not to mention very entertaining and friendly bartender - MARTY. Overall, it was one of the best restaurant experiences we ever had.
(5)
Lesley M.
I have to admit, I kind of thought Benihana was fictitious until we moved to Pittsburgh... and then low and behold, there was one right near where we live. The food is okay. There are better hibachi options in the area. The service can be okay or awful. One time, we were there with our kids and had an absolutely EVIL waitress. One of my kids isn't a big eater, so instead of ordering her a full kids' meal, we just got a side order of rice and soup. The kids' meal her brother was having came with ice cream, so when we were done with dinner, we asked if she could get ice cream as well. I don't know if she thought we wanted the ice cream free (which we definitely didn't!) but she said no, we absolutely COULD NOT order ice cream separately. You either get it with the kids' meal or you don't get it. WTF?
(2)
Lori J.
The atmosphere was fun. Our chef was very nice and entertaining. The filet was excellent. Their salad dressing is a little harsh for my taste. Over all it was a great time. I will definitely go back.
(5)
S E.
I have been going to Benihana's back when it was Samuri... I visit the Cleveland and Pittsburgh one frequently. The cleveland one is better but they are both going down hill at a very fast past. I keep giving them another chance and i keep getting disappointed. They have changed so many things in the past year and its for the worse. The shrimp the order they give you the food, the way the cut the veggies. Im becoming a Huge fan of Itchiban both the one in robinson and cranberry, Its cheaper and you get more food for your money . I hope Beni's changes. I even e mailed them and they didnt respond .
(2)
Jr A.
It all depends on the chef who is performing for you . I have been here twice in last several months and felt everything was average . I have seen other chefs in different restaurants and they have put on a much better show .
(3)
Emily H.
They took their vegetarian meal off the menu. They'll make one for you especially but I always feel demanding and would prefer if they had just kept it on the menu. Plus, this one is always really quiet. Like, I feel guilty, like I'm troubling the staff. And you have to drive through an apartment's parking lot to get there. Very awkward location and atmosphere.
(2)
AJA J.
Benihana. It's just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? No, unfortunately not.at .all...anymore. From hence forth, all mentions of Benihana are likely to cause anxiety in my usually calm heart. I hate complaining like this. I really do. But sometimes, you just have to, ya know? Tuesday evening I met a group of friends for a birthday dinner. The reservation for our party of nine was for 7:00pm. All but one of our party arrived prior to 7:00, but the hostess was curt in explaining that all party members needed to be present before we were seated, as our chef would be ready to begin meal preparation as soon as we were seated. Fortunately, the final member of our party arrived shortly and we were seated at 7:05pm. It was not until 7:40pm that first contact with our server was made. Without any apology for the delay she took our drink orders. She (name withheld because I don't want to be rude) returned more than 10 minutes later with our drinks, but waited another 10-15 minutes after that to take our dinner orders. As I was waiting I looked over at the table next to us, who were also clearly celebrating a child's birthday. At one point the mother (I'm assuming) smiled at me and said, "I hope you get out before midnight. We've been here over two hours. We're taking our cake and getting out of here." Upon taking our orders, one of our guests explained that due to a shrimp allergy it was necessary to cook any shrimp ordered by our group in another area (a neighboring grill, etc.). Our server said that she would have to ask the manager, who came to our table shortly thereafter. When the manager arrived at the table my guest explained her allergy and his response was that it might be in her best interest to leave. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he meant leaving the table, not the restaurant, but I'm not certain of this. Following this recommendation he mentioned that she could wait in the bar as the rest of us dined table-side. I asked him why it was not an option to prepare the shrimp at a neighboring table, but he expressed concern that other customers may require the use of the other available tables. I understand his point, but the restaurant was near-empty as the hour quickly approached 8:30pm. Finally, he offered to prepare the shrimp portions of our meals in the kitchen. I'm not sure why this wasn't initially mentioned as an option, but I'll leave it at that. Our chef Tom eventually arrived at our table. He was very pleasant and efficient during the course of our meal preparation. During his time at the table my Emperor's Salad was delivered, as were the majority of my table's sushi orders. However, two of our guests that ordered sushi were not served at this time. In fact, they were not served until a full 10 minutes after the rest of our party finished our meals. At one point, they inquired about the delay to she-whose-name-shall-not-be-mentioned, who responded that they were "waiting for the rice." When she delivered their food there was not a single mention of the delay. Two hours and thirty+ minutes after we arrived at Benihana, we left. From start to finish, the entire evening was a terrible experience. It was ridiculous to the point that there was not even soap or toilet paper available in the restroom. Were it not for the kindness and professionalism of Tom (and the awesome company of friends), the night would have been a complete waste. My final thought is this. The food was fine, but because I was feeling particularly piggish on this Tuesday evening, I enjoyed two California rolls from my stash of Costco sushi at home before departing for the restaurant. The difference between Costco's rolls and Benihana's...a toss up - just sayin. The good news is, this will give my friends something to whine about for YEARS to come...
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch, Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : No Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Trendy Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Dogs Allowed : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
Mango K.
My favorite place ever! For celebrations or just when I have a few extra dollars and am craving their fried rice and shrimp sauce. Mmmmm I could eat here everyday but I'd be broke, lol. I first encountered this hibachi steakhouse when I lived in San Diego, CA and was super excited to find out there was one in Pittsburgh, PA. Reservations are advised to sit at the hibachi tables, which I think everyone should at least once. If I'm going out after I usually just sit in the bar area at a regular table and skip the hibachi show. I've NEVER had a bad experience at either location I've gone to in over 10 years. I'm not normally a fan of fried rice, however, Beni fried rice is phenom and I always get an extra side to take home. Its worth the extra $$ and it re-heats perfectly.
(5)Lisa G.
This place has the weirdest entrance ever. Just be prepared. Came for my sons 5th birthday last night. He's a little foodie. The restaurant itself is nice and we were seated pretty quickly. Our waitress showed up 2 seconds later to take drink orders and appetizer/sushi orders. I just asked for water and some time to actually look at the menu. several min later out waitress came back with drinks and asked to take orders. I ordered chicken and steak along with a cranberry mojito. Quickly after taking orders our waitress brought out our soup. I liked it but it lacked salt. Before I even finished the salad course came out. I was able to enjoy both before the chef came out to prepare our meal. What did bother me was all the dishes in our area. I can't stand a dirty table and I wish our waitress would have removed them sooner. Our chef Penny wasn't the best hibachi chef I've seen but she was great with my son and he really enjoyed watching her. She was honestly a lot of fun. The hibachi itself was pretty good. I liked the fried rice which is an up charge. The steak was good and so was the chicken. I honestly don't think it was anything special. Dessert was ice cream also nothing special. So to sum it up our waitress seemed overwhelmed and managed to make me feel rushed even though I feel she could have visited our table a few more times then she did. That along with being overpriced is why only the 3 stars.
(3)Meghan B.
For my friend's birthday, we went to Benihana to celebrate. Honestly, the only time I have ever been to Benihana has been for birthdays. As many yelpers noted- their parking lot is VERY odd. Be prepared. I wanted to try some items that I never had at Benihana before, so I decided I would be adventurous and try some sushi....vegetable sushi that is (I am not a seafood lover). The vegetable roll consisted of: green leaf, avocado, cucumber, tomato, red cabbage and yamagobo. I dipped it in some soy sauce and added a small dab of wasabi to each bite. I didn't love it- I think sushi just all around is not something that I enjoy the taste of. For my meal, I ordered the hibachi chicken. My boyfriend ordered the spicy hibachi chicken. The first course was soup. It was a light, chicken broth based mushroom and green onion soup and it was decent, nothing crazy or packed with flavor. The salad came shortly after- ice berg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced radishes and ginger dressing. I loved the dressing! I wasn't a fan of the mediocre choice of greens and vegetables though. The main portion of the Benihana/hibachi experience, is the show. Our chef was very nice and very talented. He recognized the birthday girl at our table and gave her a special chef's hat, haha. He prepared our vegetables, shrimp appetizer and main entrees in front of us. The vegetables consisted of zucchini and onions. I agree with other yelpers- the vegetables could be improved. The portion isn't very large and more variety could be added. Having said that, they were delicious. The shrimp was also very tasty. My entire table ordered the fried rice with their meal and I HIGHLY recommend doing so, rather than ordering the white rice. The fried rice is made fresh right in front of you and is very good! The yum-yum sauce, of course, is the icing on the cake... SO GOOD. It went perfectly with the rice, chicken, veggies and shrimp. My whole table asked for additional sauce to go and the staff was very friendly and super accommodating! The hibachi chicken was very good and came with sautéed mushrooms. I really enjoyed my boyfriend's spicy hibachi chicken- the sauce was wonderful. At the end of the meal, everyone had a choice of sorbet. I had the rainbow sorbet- it was the perfect ending to a delicious meal. The staff also took our picture and printed a copy for the birthday girl. Benihana is not my favorite place to eat at all, but they are a great place to go for a birthday. The staff was wonderful, the food was good and we all had a great time. Oh and a side note- their Shirley temple's are awesome!
(3)October R.
I thought the food was absolutely delicious and fresh. Our hibachi chef, Hoy, was fantastic! I ordered tofu and veggies (asparagus, broccoli, onion, snow peas), for me everything was prepared to perfection. We didn't get a show, but we had really good conversation throughout our lunch. Our server was, in his words "still waking up" and not on top of his game at all, he forgot to put in my boyfriends extra fried rice and something for the guests we were seated with. When the server doesn't put in an order, the kitchen doesn't put it on the cart and when your chef gets to the grill, he doesn't have everything he needs and everything gets held up. I left with a big happy belly which is not usually the case when I eat hibachi and everyone else in my party was just as pleased! Fun fact: Benihana is no longer able to pop food in your mouth because someone (in Florida I believe) got a hot shrimp to the eye and sued the company.
(4)Brandi M.
Since the changes its just awful. Shortcuts in sushi. Quality of food is just not the same. The staff is very neglecting. It's sad to see what was once a great place go downhill due to changes in management. Very sad.
(2)Lizzie D.
Benihana is good, yes, but it is not updated as other hibachi restaurants. The furnishings, carpet, set up hasn't changed in years and the staff/food isn't always up to par. I can eat Paleo here though, which was a new discovery. I've always appreciated sushi, but I never ordered it raw without the fun additions of tempura, sesame seeds, soy sauce, cream cheese, and everything else that makes sushi AWESOME, so this was a new experience. I ordered the Tuna Tatiki, which was 10 chunks of raw tuna. I ordered it without sauce or seeds. It was a little tough to get down because there were so many pieces and after a couple raw pieces, I needed some extra searing, which they did for me no problem! The server was wonderful- she was helpful and had no problem going to extra mile for someone with diet restrictions! I was very happy about this because the last time we sat in the bar, our waiter was really odd. He didn't explain the foods and extra charges (our waiter last night did) and he seemed like we were bothering him. I was happy to have a better experience last night, but I do think that Benihana needs to monitor their staff better. I had negative experiences twice related to incompetent staff, which really made my overall feeling of Benihana go from positive to neutral. Not to mention, the last time I was there, perhaps because we got hibachi at the bar, but it was not very good at all, and I got the most expensive dinner on the menu: "Ocean's Treasure." More recently when I visited Benihana though (the same time I got the raw tuna), I had a better experience- I ordered salmon and yellowtail sashimi. I was very nervous to bite into a raw cut of fish by itself, but was pleasantly surprised at how good the cuts of fish were. The yellowtail had a sweeter taste and the salmon was less sweet, but more flavorful. It was a great to jump outside of my comfort zone and appreciate the rawest of the raw food! I would definitely recommend Benihana due to its location- I love that it is on a hill all to itself, and it's unique mark in Pittsburgh, but I would choose other hibachi restaurants before I would choose this one.
(3)Danielle Q.
Benihana is my absolute favorite restaurant. Every time I eat here the food is delicious and consistent. I pour that delicious pink sauce ("yum-yum sauce") all over everything, I would probably drink it. Although it is pricey, it is great for a date night!
(5)Josh W.
I like this place it provides a great atmosphere and can handle big groups. They also send you a coupon for a free dinner on your birthday and can use it anytime during your birthday month. I would recommend making a reservation as they are normally busy and it takes awhile to eat. But this is a great place to go for a special occasion.
(5)T G.
Only complaint was when we arrived we were basically told we had to wait for another party to arrive prior to being seated. Was told we could go to bar---after saying no we wanted to be seated they agreed. We made reservations for 3 and had no idea who other party was so why could we not be seated---we were not asking to be served. Over all experience was nice. Waitress very nice and attentive and so was Chef.
(3)Amanda S.
My family and I have been going to Benihana for about 5 years now. We've always had to wait at least a half an hour to be seated, even when we've had reservations. In the past its been forgivable, mostly because its close to home for us, the food is okay (albeit a little pricey), and my Grandmother absolutely loves the entertainment of hibachi. But that all changed last night when we went out with a party of 8 for my and my mothers birthday. I made reservations two weeks in advance for our birthday dinner. When I called they were almost totally booked and only had a few spots left that evening. Our reservations were for 7:30. We arrive a little early at 7:20 and I let the hostess know that we are there and she checks us in. Then we basically just wait and wait and wait. We notice the hostess turning people away, and we notice two tables who have been seated for about 30 minutes now haven't even gotten their soups or salads. By now its nearly 8 O'clock. Then my mother overhears the hostess telling someone that they are short staffed and the wait is going to be extremely long. By this point we've been waiting for 45 minutes. My sister takes a walk through the restaurant and notices there is only 1 hibachi chef working, but there are SEVEN tables seated, all waiting for food/drinks. So I ask the hostess how much longer before we are seated. She informs me that it will be at least another half an hour before we get a table, because two hibachi chefs and two kitchen chefs called off sick. It would be another hour after were seated before they would even start taking our food orders. This is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. First of all, the hostess should have informed us when we arrived that they were short staffed and we would have a very very long wait. OR, the manager should have phoned people with reservations and asked if they could reschedule. Either way, we should have been informed instead of letting us stand in the lobby for an hour, not knowing that it would be another hour and a half before we would actually eat, on an evening when we had reservations. We decided to call Ichiban to see if they could accommodate us. They told us we could walk right in and be seated immediately. As we were leaving we ran into a gentleman who was outside smoking who told us that his party had reservations for 6:30 and they still had not ordered their food! It was now about 8:20pm. Our first dinner at Ichiban actually turned out to be much better than our previous dinners at Benihana, so I don't think we'll ever be going back there. I think Ichiban will be our new hibachi restaurant of choice.
(1)Chris R.
If it isn't broken please for the love of god leave it alone!! I have had the good fortune to eat at and experience some really fine restaurants around the country. So it may suprise some that locally two chains never failed to bring me back again and again. Benihana was one of them. Sometimes I ate there 4 or 5 times a month. Imagine my disappointment when twice I order my "go to" chicken and shrimp only to find shrimp is now colossal shrimp that had the consistency of shoe leather and mushrooms apparently don't apply. Service consisted of being scorned by an older Asian lady and told "it will be a while" to get my order corrected because they are busy! Then while I wait at the bar I ask about my favorite bartender I'm told oh they fired is ass! Truly more info than I needed! Especially from the new bartender with no personality that took forever (I was alone empty bar) to serve me my ten dollar gin and tonic. Looks like I'll be sampling one of the many Japanese steak houses not called benihana in the future. W h at a shame. How can someone take a restaurant that was so good and ruin it so fast? It really must take some effort. I just hate to see it. I used to love this place.
(1)Rachel B.
This is the WORST Hibachi I have ever had. We came here for a friends birthday, and I will never be going back. Service was mediocre, but the food was the real travesty. You go to Hibachi for a show, but it's not fun when the cook makes the SAME Giant Eagle joke the entire time. He also couldn't perform all the tricks that are pretty standard from Hibachi chefs. The food. Not good. My boyfriend ordered tofu and it was cold in the middle. He didn't bother to have the guy heat it more, b/c it would have just been a hassle. The chef forgot one friends meal completely and got rude with the server. Then after everything was cooked, he looked at me and asked did you eat all your shrimp. I replied "no, you never served me any." (I had ordered the chicken and shrimp.) He then sends the server back into the kitchen to get more. By the time they were cooked, everyone was finished eating. Come on. To make matters worse, when we left we saw that he was the head chef. That doesn't say too much for the rest of them. I don't know how people keep coming here. There is WAY better hibachi in Pittsburgh, for a lot less money. I mean honestly, I paid $9.50 for a glass of Kendall Jackson. No. The best part of the meal were the cupcakes that my friend brought. Do your wallet and your stomach a favor and go to a different Hibachi place. Benihana is not worth your time or money.
(1)Kelly C.
We celebrated my daughter's 12th Birthday at Benihana on 10/16/14. The food was delicious and the chef was very talented and entertaining! He did things with the food on the Hibachi we hadn't seen before...a big heart made out of fried rice and made it "beat" using the spatula. The only negative was when it came time for them to sing Happy Birthday our waitress was the only one around so our poor waitress was stuck doing the birthday songs by herself So we joined in to help her. No wonder our waitress seemed so unhappy with her job. I was happy that we had the option of brown rice and not just white or fried rice.
(4)Jason H.
Had a wonderful experience at Benihana with the family last night. We love hibachi restaurants and go to various area restaurants on a regular basis. Benihana is the oldest of the hibachi restaurants in the area, so we had not been for a while. We arrived early before the rest of our party and the staff was very welcoming. They would regularly stop by and make sure we didnt need anything. After our party arrived, we were seated and our chef came out. He was very entertaining and the food tasted amazing. The best part was how accommodating the staff was. One member of our party had a food allergy and the manager specifically came over to ensure that all food would be made in the back and would not come in contact with other ingredients. We had our 2 year old daughter with us and part way through the meal she started squirming and wanted to walk around the restaurant. After a few "laps" of the restaurant, without us asking, the manager came out with crayons and paper which made our daughter VERY happy. Everyone was so pleasant and the food was better than I had remembered. Benihana has a lot of competition from Saga, Nakama and others, but after our most recent visit, Benihana definitely has the best value and the best staff. We visited Saga shortly after going to Benihana and just kept commenting on how much better Benihaha was.
(5)Jim M.
This far and beyond other hibachi in the area as far as taste and consistency. We had David who was great. Very entertaining and very well attentive chef. Everything was done properly. We had a party of 10 which was a little cramped but it all worked fine. We had a reservation for 8:30 and it was very close to the time we got seated. Not bad for this type of restaurant.
(5)Sierra M.
I've been coming here regularly for almost 30 years, basically since I was born, starting back when it was Samurai. Some of the older waitresses (Hide!) are like family at this point, so I may be a bit bias. The food is always good, the servers are friendly, and the chefs are entertaining without being obnoxious like a lot of other hibachi places. I'm not big on sushi, but what I've had is good. They have a fantastic selection of wines, beers, and sake. I'll probably be coming here for another 30 years.
(5)Eric C.
The absolutely WORST hibachi experience I've every had in my life! It was my granddaughter's 4th birthday and thought she'd get a kick out of a hibachi chef. Fist we wait 45 mins or so to be seated. The restaurant wasn't even half full. We chose the dinner portion instead of the lunch because by this time we were very hungry and the waitress said we would get larger portions. She lied. Our hibachi chef was absolutely horrible! He spoke so softly that you couldn't hear anything he said. He barely spoke and didn't put on any kind of show at all! Our 4 year old was so bored that she wanted to leave. The other party that was seated with us all ordered the lunch versions and they got more food! The chef mixed everything together so no one got a larger portion than anyone else. The only thing that we got instead of them was a half a slice of zuccini and a little bit of onions. None of us even like onions. My "steak" was at least 1/4 fat which the chef cut off and disposed of which didn't even leave enough for a small sandwich. By the time our main course was served our vegetables and rice were ice cold. We asked to speak to the manager who told us that they weigh the portions in the back before they bring them out to cook them. However like I said the chicken was all mixed together and at least 1/4 of my steak was complete fat and thrown out. The manager didn't seem to care at all about our situation. We paid almost $10 a meal extra for the "dinner" portion. He could have easily knocked it down to the "lunch" price, but he refused. After all this, we over heard another chef complaining that the place had new owners and everyone quit. I for one will never, EVER, go back there and would suggest everyone who reads this to stay away. We feel completely cheated.
(1)Ricky L.
This place is crappy the only veggies u get is onions and zucchinis took the server 30 min to serv us drinks then took them 20 min to take orders by the time the chef comes out already an hour just for the food and the show after we ate our waiter didnt even recommend anny desserts just gave us the chek and leave with out saying anny thing els o i for got we were still eating like wtf im still eating and so was mi family and u just give me the check the chef just left like five min ago . I recamen go sime where els n eat
(1)J M.
Never again. As a life long South Hills resident, BeniHana used to be "the place" to go. Birthdays, special occasions, date nights,etc... "used to" is the key statement here. This place has gone so downhill, it's no where near the quality it once was. A wait even with a reservation, a wait for every single thing we needed or requested, Over priced sake (for basically a slightly larger than a shot glass size amount) , an up charge for fried rice, lukewarm tea ( for the record, everyone is supposed to get tea with the meal and no one did, i had to ask for it), a "chef" that responded "I'm very tired" when asked "how are you this evening" . The "chef" did zero "show" while cooking the food very very slowly. I repeat, ZERO presentation, isn't that what half of the "Benihana" dinner is supposed to be?! We ate our steak and chicken with what remained of the zucchini/ onions and what remained of the rice that was presented way in advance of the meat. This was by far one of the most disappointing dinners ever. I give one star because the food still tasted good, but everything else was dismal. Dirty, stained menus, dirty floor around us, a lackluster cook, a server who was slow and over priced cocktails. We had a 7:30 pm reservation and left a little after 10:00 and not because we were having such a good time, it took 2 1/2 hours to complete this meal. Unacceptable. I will never , ever go back here and I will tell everyone I know to spend their money elsewhere.
(1)Quay M.
I swore that Kobe Japanese Steakhouse in Orlando was the best one I had ever been to, but I think they may have some competition with this one. My boyfriend and I tried them out on Labor Day, just get something different from what we normally do. He had been some years back before, and this was my first time. Getting to the actual restaurant was a bit weird because of how you have to navigate the mountain (I don't know, is that considered a mountain, or is it a hill? Being from the south everything that makes me lift my legs/feet higher is a mountain). It was rather empty as it was only like 11.30AM, but that was ok with us as we're not a big fan of people (joke ... maybe). The interior is ridiculously awesome, especially the raised bar. Our chef walks up and it's a white man, which was a definite first for me at a Japanese steakhouse. And he seemed out of it. During the course of the meal, he did inform us that he was hungover ... it's Labor Day, what're gonna do? It didn't bother me too much, but I think he did annoy the hell out of my boyfriend lol. He told some good albeit corny jokes, did the usual tricks plus a few new ones - he was overall entertaining. The food: oh man, was it yummy. I got the soba noodles and beef julienne. The noodles were cooked in some type of sauce that I couldn't describe, but they were the best soba noodles I have ever had. The beef julienne was also super delicious. The sauce on it was described as a teriyaki sauce, but it didn't taste like it at all to me, which was fine with me because I'm not a big teriyaki fan. After eating we hit the bar and had drink apiece. The bartender was really cool and the bar area had a great vibe and atmosphere. Sure, Japanese Steakhouses are pricey, but this is one of the few I've been to that is more than worth it.
(5)Paul D.
Love the food, but we get take out to the office and every time its a bit of an ordeal. Eat in. If you're planning on take out make it simple.
(4)J K.
Many great memories and great experience at Benihana BUT last night WAS NOT! Horrible service! Took 15 mins to even take a drink order...then when I had a question about a speciality wine the waiter says he didn't know so ok no big deal, could he go find.. NO! Told me to go the bar and ask the bartender. Really?!? Then the chef came out and was pretty good although cooked everything separate starting with only onions and zucchini, where's the veggies?? From start to finish it was about half an hour! If we ate the dinner as a whole it would've been cold.. So we ate as we went. Also drink refills were a tough task too.. the chef had to keep asking other servers to assist. few and far between!! We had 3 birthdays at our table.. Not one song , which I didn't care, not one complimentary picture, no dessert was offered until another customer said something. Then the bill.. Oh the bill... That took another 15 mins!! At this point I told my family to go ahead home and I will wait considering this overall experience was almost a 2 hour ordeal. I was double charged on two items. At this point I was DONE dealing with this incompetent and appethetic waiter!!! Went to settle my bill with the manager who was nice and accommodating. Rectified the errors. And was generous with a $20 refund! I told him about the experience and all he said was "I can take picture now for you" UM... I was by myself!!! No thanks! One last thing, the male greeter needs some drug intervention.. He was high as a kite and made my daughter & I feel very uncomfortable to the point of invading our personal space and staring with those glazed over eyes as he staggered to and from his post. WOW & BOO!!! And sad : (
(1)Kevin O.
Ok. It started out as a rough night . 40 minutes late honoring our reservation, lack of communication from management. Slow service once we did get seated. Our 8:30 reservation was not met with any food until at least 9:30. Really crazy. However, it was made alllll better by our chef, Tito. When we go back and we *will* go back -- we will ask for Tito. Is he Japanese? No, but he is awesome. To apologize the manager did comp our entire meal... We were a party of 10 -- and we took good care of our servers...it really wasn't their fault. Happy Xmas eve Tito you know how to do it right. Thanks.
(3)Victoria C.
This is my favorite place to eat. The shrimp, fried rice, steak, sauces, and just everything are incredible. The prices can be a bit high but it is worth it!
(5)Alynn B.
It's okay for me. I don't love it but I don't hate it either. The sushi and hibachi were good but nothing to be crazy over, imo. Went here on a weekend so it was really busy so we sat in the bar seats instead.
(3)Mike S.
Love this place! Great sushi and have great sushi specials at lunch and HH. Bartenders are the best also. Marty is the man!
(5)Kim F.
Very disappointing. We love Japanese steak houses and this was our least favorite meal in Pittsburgh. Nice atmosphere, service was fine, but our dinner was average to poor. The salad dressing was tasteless, the jumbo shrimp was under cooked and chewy. It tasted more steamed than hot grilled. The shrimp sauce was very thick and not that flavorful. Our chef ( new and slow) compulsively wiped his knives and the grill (which was dirty when we sat down) with a dirty rag? I guess a lot depends on the chef you get but ours cooked a tasteless meal. The sushi people ordered at the table looked good. We are not big on the circus atmosphere of Saga, but the Wexford location does have the best hibachi food in Pittsburgh to our taste.
(2)Al S.
What a great time we had... but credit goes to the company I'm lucky enough to keep, not so much to this particular Benihana location. Sooo... if you're a fan of Teppanyaki, this review may ring familiar. If you've not done Teppan style before... consider this a sort of "what to look for" primer. There were five of us, sharing our table with a very nice young, near-newlywed couple; May 2010. Our table wait time, without a reservation, was about 35 minutes or so. (maybe they were waiting for a newlywed couple to join us?). And what lengthened the wait was the understaffed bar. We waited nearly 10 minutes to see a bar-server, and another 15 minutes to get our drink order. While everyone was friendly and apologetic, even apologies get old when they're used to salve away exceedingly slow service. Maybe the reason they appear to be busy, even on a Wednesday night.......? They had an abundance of tables celebrating "Birthdays." I'd guess I listened to at least twelve renditions of "Happy Birthday", sung by the "Greentree-Benihana-Bday Choir!" (Oi vay...... next time I'm bringing earplugs!) :-)) My impression? This is Pittsburgh; not my destination for "great Japanese cuisine." So while this fine city certainly has some excellent eateries, when it comes to chain or franchised restaurants, you have to compare each location to the balance of their nation-wide organization. And having eaten at Teppan style restaurants for many years, and many Benihanas, I'd have to grade this particular location in the "C" range; very average. Before we were seated, and while we were waiting in the bar, I spied the dining room. It appeared all the chefs were slow, seemingly ackward with their knives. And almost comically so. One Anglo chef, (no offense to Scandinavians that dream of becoming a Teppan-Guru), well, this guy looked like it was his first night, cutting off the shrimp tails...... almost one at a time, and still having a problem!? I think you get the idea. I've seen some Teppan-knife wielders, line up the shrimp and with one long swipe... de-tail-a-fy 30 with one stroke! Not here... some of the chefs may be on "beginner knife-speed restriction?" As one reviewer mentioned; "...it depends on which chef you get at your table." And with Teppanyaki style restaurants, and especially Benihanas, it's very true. It shouldn't be like that, but here in Greentree, and the evening we went, (Wednesday night around 630p), it was like going to a "Barber College" to get a free haircut, and trying to figure out how to judge the best out of a group of "beginners." Our chef was possibly the best of the crowd, (sounds like... "You have to go to my doctor, he's the best!"), but if compared to all the Benihanas I've visited, he too would be a C to C- level; maybe a "brown belt" in marshall arts vernacular? He did the "flip shrimp tail into the hat and pocket trick"..... finally making it on the third try. But he did smile throughout the demo. (A good attitude is worth allot in my book.) The food? Pretty good. Essentially, we ordered "everything on the right side of the menu"... mainly because I was treating my customer service staff... the greatest asset I have for my sales region. And because one of them had never Teppanyak-eed, I made sure we tried everything! Sushi, lobster, filet steak, scallops, shrimp, calamari, chicken..... well, you get the idea. What with the added rice and vegetables, it was a "belly-busting-feast." And again, because of the great company, we had a wonderful time. So overall, I gave this restaurant 3-stars. It was the total experience. The food was good, and more important, the company was great. But as you can see from my comments, I felt like this particular Benihanas location was struggling to meet the corporate concept; trying to do it with Pittsburgh locals who, from the hosts to the bartending staff, to the chef and server staff, just seemed like misfits. Had this been a "Lone Star Steakhouse", or a "Fridays", I'd have felt everything fitted just right.
(3)Bruce P.
For years now, we have been going here on New Year's Day to bring in the new year. We decided to visit today with some friends for lunch. Dinner here can be a bit pricey, but if you go during the afternoon, the lunch menu is the way to go. Prices are much lower, the selection is almost the same as dinner and portion sizes are still good. Of course one of the best reasons for going here is to experience the meal preparations at the table. It can become a fun performance, but they can vary depending on the chef assigned to you. The food is usually excellent and the experience is great.
(4)Lindsay J.
This is by the far the worst hibachi restaurant I have eaten at. The food is very bland from the onion soup to the fried rice (which basically was white rice with chopped onions) to the chicken (which was so pale it looked like it was boiled). Hibachi food typically has tons of flavor and tastes good because it has some grill marks and char, which none of our food had. I question whether it was even cooked on the hibachi table (we ate at a regular table but ordered from the hibachi menu). Not only was the food bad but the service was terrible. Our waiter didn't even know that hibachi dinners should come with the two sauces, he acted confused when I asked for them. Additionally, we ordered a sushi roll for an appetizer and instead of getting it before dinner, we received it after our dinner even though we saw it sitting at the sushi bar for a good 15 minutes beforehand. This restaurant may have been around for a long time but it doesn't even compare to other hibachi restaurants and was more expensive than any other I've eaten at.
(1)Sean T.
The sushi during happy hour is great. The wife and I eat well for $20. That's drinking pop though. Don't judge.
(5)Brian H.
Benihana is a chain restaurant, but the food is pretty good. It can get quite expensive though, especially if you adds drinks or an appetizer such as sushi.
(3)AJA J.
Benihana. It's just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? No, unfortunately not.at .all...anymore. From hence forth, all mentions of Benihana are likely to cause anxiety in my usually calm heart. I hate complaining like this. I really do. But sometimes, you just have to, ya know? Tuesday evening I met a group of friends for a birthday dinner. The reservation for our party of nine was for 7:00pm. All but one of our party arrived prior to 7:00, but the hostess was curt in explaining that all party members needed to be present before we were seated, as our chef would be ready to begin meal preparation as soon as we were seated. Fortunately, the final member of our party arrived shortly and we were seated at 7:05pm. It was not until 7:40pm that first contact with our server was made. Without any apology for the delay she took our drink orders. She (name withheld because I don't want to be rude) returned more than 10 minutes later with our drinks, but waited another 10-15 minutes after that to take our dinner orders. As I was waiting I looked over at the table next to us, who were also clearly celebrating a child's birthday. At one point the mother (I'm assuming) smiled at me and said, "I hope you get out before midnight. We've been here over two hours. We're taking our cake and getting out of here." Upon taking our orders, one of our guests explained that due to a shrimp allergy it was necessary to cook any shrimp ordered by our group in another area (a neighboring grill, etc.). Our server said that she would have to ask the manager, who came to our table shortly thereafter. When the manager arrived at the table my guest explained her allergy and his response was that it might be in her best interest to leave. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he meant leaving the table, not the restaurant, but I'm not certain of this. Following this recommendation he mentioned that she could wait in the bar as the rest of us dined table-side. I asked him why it was not an option to prepare the shrimp at a neighboring table, but he expressed concern that other customers may require the use of the other available tables. I understand his point, but the restaurant was near-empty as the hour quickly approached 8:30pm. Finally, he offered to prepare the shrimp portions of our meals in the kitchen. I'm not sure why this wasn't initially mentioned as an option, but I'll leave it at that. Our chef Tom eventually arrived at our table. He was very pleasant and efficient during the course of our meal preparation. During his time at the table my Emperor's Salad was delivered, as were the majority of my table's sushi orders. However, two of our guests that ordered sushi were not served at this time. In fact, they were not served until a full 10 minutes after the rest of our party finished our meals. At one point, they inquired about the delay to she-whose-name-shall-not-be-mentioned, who responded that they were "waiting for the rice." When she delivered their food there was not a single mention of the delay. Two hours and thirty+ minutes after we arrived at Benihana, we left. From start to finish, the entire evening was a terrible experience. It was ridiculous to the point that there was not even soap or toilet paper available in the restroom. Were it not for the kindness and professionalism of Tom (and the awesome company of friends), the night would have been a complete waste. My final thought is this. The food was fine, but because I was feeling particularly piggish on this Tuesday evening, I enjoyed two California rolls from my stash of Costco sushi at home before departing for the restaurant. The difference between Costco's rolls and Benihana's...a toss up - just sayin. The good news is, this will give my friends something to whine about for YEARS to come...
(1)Mayank R.
I have long wanted to eat Teppanyaki style food and been thinking of going to Benihana for a longest time. But after reading reviews on Yelp for the one in Sunnyvale, CA, I was quite apprehensive. I had also heard good things about Benihana in Pittsburgh from my brother in law and so decided to go there whenever I goto Pittsburgh. So, finally, we went there after New Years and had a blast. We had to wait at the bar even after making reservation, but thats OK. At the table we were not rushed at all. The food was tasty and the chef was funny and interesting. Not to mention very entertaining and friendly bartender - MARTY. Overall, it was one of the best restaurant experiences we ever had.
(5)Lesley M.
I have to admit, I kind of thought Benihana was fictitious until we moved to Pittsburgh... and then low and behold, there was one right near where we live. The food is okay. There are better hibachi options in the area. The service can be okay or awful. One time, we were there with our kids and had an absolutely EVIL waitress. One of my kids isn't a big eater, so instead of ordering her a full kids' meal, we just got a side order of rice and soup. The kids' meal her brother was having came with ice cream, so when we were done with dinner, we asked if she could get ice cream as well. I don't know if she thought we wanted the ice cream free (which we definitely didn't!) but she said no, we absolutely COULD NOT order ice cream separately. You either get it with the kids' meal or you don't get it. WTF?
(2)Lori J.
The atmosphere was fun. Our chef was very nice and entertaining. The filet was excellent. Their salad dressing is a little harsh for my taste. Over all it was a great time. I will definitely go back.
(5)S E.
I have been going to Benihana's back when it was Samuri... I visit the Cleveland and Pittsburgh one frequently. The cleveland one is better but they are both going down hill at a very fast past. I keep giving them another chance and i keep getting disappointed. They have changed so many things in the past year and its for the worse. The shrimp the order they give you the food, the way the cut the veggies. Im becoming a Huge fan of Itchiban both the one in robinson and cranberry, Its cheaper and you get more food for your money . I hope Beni's changes. I even e mailed them and they didnt respond .
(2)Jr A.
It all depends on the chef who is performing for you . I have been here twice in last several months and felt everything was average . I have seen other chefs in different restaurants and they have put on a much better show .
(3)Emily H.
They took their vegetarian meal off the menu. They'll make one for you especially but I always feel demanding and would prefer if they had just kept it on the menu. Plus, this one is always really quiet. Like, I feel guilty, like I'm troubling the staff. And you have to drive through an apartment's parking lot to get there. Very awkward location and atmosphere.
(2)J K.
Many great memories and great experience at Benihana BUT last night WAS NOT! Horrible service! Took 15 mins to even take a drink order...then when I had a question about a speciality wine the waiter says he didn't know so ok no big deal, could he go find.. NO! Told me to go the bar and ask the bartender. Really?!? Then the chef came out and was pretty good although cooked everything separate starting with only onions and zucchini, where's the veggies?? From start to finish it was about half an hour! If we ate the dinner as a whole it would've been cold.. So we ate as we went. Also drink refills were a tough task too.. the chef had to keep asking other servers to assist. few and far between!! We had 3 birthdays at our table.. Not one song , which I didn't care, not one complimentary picture, no dessert was offered until another customer said something. Then the bill.. Oh the bill... That took another 15 mins!! At this point I told my family to go ahead home and I will wait considering this overall experience was almost a 2 hour ordeal. I was double charged on two items. At this point I was DONE dealing with this incompetent and appethetic waiter!!! Went to settle my bill with the manager who was nice and accommodating. Rectified the errors. And was generous with a $20 refund! I told him about the experience and all he said was "I can take picture now for you" UM... I was by myself!!! No thanks! One last thing, the male greeter needs some drug intervention.. He was high as a kite and made my daughter & I feel very uncomfortable to the point of invading our personal space and staring with those glazed over eyes as he staggered to and from his post. WOW & BOO!!! And sad : (
(1)Kelly C.
We celebrated my daughter's 12th Birthday at Benihana on 10/16/14. The food was delicious and the chef was very talented and entertaining! He did things with the food on the Hibachi we hadn't seen before...a big heart made out of fried rice and made it "beat" using the spatula. The only negative was when it came time for them to sing Happy Birthday our waitress was the only one around so our poor waitress was stuck doing the birthday songs by herself So we joined in to help her. No wonder our waitress seemed so unhappy with her job. I was happy that we had the option of brown rice and not just white or fried rice.
(4)Jason H.
Had a wonderful experience at Benihana with the family last night. We love hibachi restaurants and go to various area restaurants on a regular basis. Benihana is the oldest of the hibachi restaurants in the area, so we had not been for a while. We arrived early before the rest of our party and the staff was very welcoming. They would regularly stop by and make sure we didnt need anything. After our party arrived, we were seated and our chef came out. He was very entertaining and the food tasted amazing. The best part was how accommodating the staff was. One member of our party had a food allergy and the manager specifically came over to ensure that all food would be made in the back and would not come in contact with other ingredients. We had our 2 year old daughter with us and part way through the meal she started squirming and wanted to walk around the restaurant. After a few "laps" of the restaurant, without us asking, the manager came out with crayons and paper which made our daughter VERY happy. Everyone was so pleasant and the food was better than I had remembered. Benihana has a lot of competition from Saga, Nakama and others, but after our most recent visit, Benihana definitely has the best value and the best staff. We visited Saga shortly after going to Benihana and just kept commenting on how much better Benihaha was.
(5)Jim M.
This far and beyond other hibachi in the area as far as taste and consistency. We had David who was great. Very entertaining and very well attentive chef. Everything was done properly. We had a party of 10 which was a little cramped but it all worked fine. We had a reservation for 8:30 and it was very close to the time we got seated. Not bad for this type of restaurant.
(5)Sierra M.
I've been coming here regularly for almost 30 years, basically since I was born, starting back when it was Samurai. Some of the older waitresses (Hide!) are like family at this point, so I may be a bit bias. The food is always good, the servers are friendly, and the chefs are entertaining without being obnoxious like a lot of other hibachi places. I'm not big on sushi, but what I've had is good. They have a fantastic selection of wines, beers, and sake. I'll probably be coming here for another 30 years.
(5)Eric C.
The absolutely WORST hibachi experience I've every had in my life! It was my granddaughter's 4th birthday and thought she'd get a kick out of a hibachi chef. Fist we wait 45 mins or so to be seated. The restaurant wasn't even half full. We chose the dinner portion instead of the lunch because by this time we were very hungry and the waitress said we would get larger portions. She lied. Our hibachi chef was absolutely horrible! He spoke so softly that you couldn't hear anything he said. He barely spoke and didn't put on any kind of show at all! Our 4 year old was so bored that she wanted to leave. The other party that was seated with us all ordered the lunch versions and they got more food! The chef mixed everything together so no one got a larger portion than anyone else. The only thing that we got instead of them was a half a slice of zuccini and a little bit of onions. None of us even like onions. My "steak" was at least 1/4 fat which the chef cut off and disposed of which didn't even leave enough for a small sandwich. By the time our main course was served our vegetables and rice were ice cold. We asked to speak to the manager who told us that they weigh the portions in the back before they bring them out to cook them. However like I said the chicken was all mixed together and at least 1/4 of my steak was complete fat and thrown out. The manager didn't seem to care at all about our situation. We paid almost $10 a meal extra for the "dinner" portion. He could have easily knocked it down to the "lunch" price, but he refused. After all this, we over heard another chef complaining that the place had new owners and everyone quit. I for one will never, EVER, go back there and would suggest everyone who reads this to stay away. We feel completely cheated.
(1)Ricky L.
This place is crappy the only veggies u get is onions and zucchinis took the server 30 min to serv us drinks then took them 20 min to take orders by the time the chef comes out already an hour just for the food and the show after we ate our waiter didnt even recommend anny desserts just gave us the chek and leave with out saying anny thing els o i for got we were still eating like wtf im still eating and so was mi family and u just give me the check the chef just left like five min ago . I recamen go sime where els n eat
(1)Josh W.
I like this place it provides a great atmosphere and can handle big groups. They also send you a coupon for a free dinner on your birthday and can use it anytime during your birthday month. I would recommend making a reservation as they are normally busy and it takes awhile to eat. But this is a great place to go for a special occasion.
(5)J M.
Never again. As a life long South Hills resident, BeniHana used to be "the place" to go. Birthdays, special occasions, date nights,etc... "used to" is the key statement here. This place has gone so downhill, it's no where near the quality it once was. A wait even with a reservation, a wait for every single thing we needed or requested, Over priced sake (for basically a slightly larger than a shot glass size amount) , an up charge for fried rice, lukewarm tea ( for the record, everyone is supposed to get tea with the meal and no one did, i had to ask for it), a "chef" that responded "I'm very tired" when asked "how are you this evening" . The "chef" did zero "show" while cooking the food very very slowly. I repeat, ZERO presentation, isn't that what half of the "Benihana" dinner is supposed to be?! We ate our steak and chicken with what remained of the zucchini/ onions and what remained of the rice that was presented way in advance of the meat. This was by far one of the most disappointing dinners ever. I give one star because the food still tasted good, but everything else was dismal. Dirty, stained menus, dirty floor around us, a lackluster cook, a server who was slow and over priced cocktails. We had a 7:30 pm reservation and left a little after 10:00 and not because we were having such a good time, it took 2 1/2 hours to complete this meal. Unacceptable. I will never , ever go back here and I will tell everyone I know to spend their money elsewhere.
(1)Quay M.
I swore that Kobe Japanese Steakhouse in Orlando was the best one I had ever been to, but I think they may have some competition with this one. My boyfriend and I tried them out on Labor Day, just get something different from what we normally do. He had been some years back before, and this was my first time. Getting to the actual restaurant was a bit weird because of how you have to navigate the mountain (I don't know, is that considered a mountain, or is it a hill? Being from the south everything that makes me lift my legs/feet higher is a mountain). It was rather empty as it was only like 11.30AM, but that was ok with us as we're not a big fan of people (joke ... maybe). The interior is ridiculously awesome, especially the raised bar. Our chef walks up and it's a white man, which was a definite first for me at a Japanese steakhouse. And he seemed out of it. During the course of the meal, he did inform us that he was hungover ... it's Labor Day, what're gonna do? It didn't bother me too much, but I think he did annoy the hell out of my boyfriend lol. He told some good albeit corny jokes, did the usual tricks plus a few new ones - he was overall entertaining. The food: oh man, was it yummy. I got the soba noodles and beef julienne. The noodles were cooked in some type of sauce that I couldn't describe, but they were the best soba noodles I have ever had. The beef julienne was also super delicious. The sauce on it was described as a teriyaki sauce, but it didn't taste like it at all to me, which was fine with me because I'm not a big teriyaki fan. After eating we hit the bar and had drink apiece. The bartender was really cool and the bar area had a great vibe and atmosphere. Sure, Japanese Steakhouses are pricey, but this is one of the few I've been to that is more than worth it.
(5)Kevin O.
Ok. It started out as a rough night . 40 minutes late honoring our reservation, lack of communication from management. Slow service once we did get seated. Our 8:30 reservation was not met with any food until at least 9:30. Really crazy. However, it was made alllll better by our chef, Tito. When we go back and we *will* go back -- we will ask for Tito. Is he Japanese? No, but he is awesome. To apologize the manager did comp our entire meal... We were a party of 10 -- and we took good care of our servers...it really wasn't their fault. Happy Xmas eve Tito you know how to do it right. Thanks.
(3)Victoria C.
This is my favorite place to eat. The shrimp, fried rice, steak, sauces, and just everything are incredible. The prices can be a bit high but it is worth it!
(5)Alynn B.
It's okay for me. I don't love it but I don't hate it either. The sushi and hibachi were good but nothing to be crazy over, imo. Went here on a weekend so it was really busy so we sat in the bar seats instead.
(3)Mike S.
Love this place! Great sushi and have great sushi specials at lunch and HH. Bartenders are the best also. Marty is the man!
(5)Kim F.
Very disappointing. We love Japanese steak houses and this was our least favorite meal in Pittsburgh. Nice atmosphere, service was fine, but our dinner was average to poor. The salad dressing was tasteless, the jumbo shrimp was under cooked and chewy. It tasted more steamed than hot grilled. The shrimp sauce was very thick and not that flavorful. Our chef ( new and slow) compulsively wiped his knives and the grill (which was dirty when we sat down) with a dirty rag? I guess a lot depends on the chef you get but ours cooked a tasteless meal. The sushi people ordered at the table looked good. We are not big on the circus atmosphere of Saga, but the Wexford location does have the best hibachi food in Pittsburgh to our taste.
(2)Al S.
What a great time we had... but credit goes to the company I'm lucky enough to keep, not so much to this particular Benihana location. Sooo... if you're a fan of Teppanyaki, this review may ring familiar. If you've not done Teppan style before... consider this a sort of "what to look for" primer. There were five of us, sharing our table with a very nice young, near-newlywed couple; May 2010. Our table wait time, without a reservation, was about 35 minutes or so. (maybe they were waiting for a newlywed couple to join us?). And what lengthened the wait was the understaffed bar. We waited nearly 10 minutes to see a bar-server, and another 15 minutes to get our drink order. While everyone was friendly and apologetic, even apologies get old when they're used to salve away exceedingly slow service. Maybe the reason they appear to be busy, even on a Wednesday night.......? They had an abundance of tables celebrating "Birthdays." I'd guess I listened to at least twelve renditions of "Happy Birthday", sung by the "Greentree-Benihana-Bday Choir!" (Oi vay...... next time I'm bringing earplugs!) :-)) My impression? This is Pittsburgh; not my destination for "great Japanese cuisine." So while this fine city certainly has some excellent eateries, when it comes to chain or franchised restaurants, you have to compare each location to the balance of their nation-wide organization. And having eaten at Teppan style restaurants for many years, and many Benihanas, I'd have to grade this particular location in the "C" range; very average. Before we were seated, and while we were waiting in the bar, I spied the dining room. It appeared all the chefs were slow, seemingly ackward with their knives. And almost comically so. One Anglo chef, (no offense to Scandinavians that dream of becoming a Teppan-Guru), well, this guy looked like it was his first night, cutting off the shrimp tails...... almost one at a time, and still having a problem!? I think you get the idea. I've seen some Teppan-knife wielders, line up the shrimp and with one long swipe... de-tail-a-fy 30 with one stroke! Not here... some of the chefs may be on "beginner knife-speed restriction?" As one reviewer mentioned; "...it depends on which chef you get at your table." And with Teppanyaki style restaurants, and especially Benihanas, it's very true. It shouldn't be like that, but here in Greentree, and the evening we went, (Wednesday night around 630p), it was like going to a "Barber College" to get a free haircut, and trying to figure out how to judge the best out of a group of "beginners." Our chef was possibly the best of the crowd, (sounds like... "You have to go to my doctor, he's the best!"), but if compared to all the Benihanas I've visited, he too would be a C to C- level; maybe a "brown belt" in marshall arts vernacular? He did the "flip shrimp tail into the hat and pocket trick"..... finally making it on the third try. But he did smile throughout the demo. (A good attitude is worth allot in my book.) The food? Pretty good. Essentially, we ordered "everything on the right side of the menu"... mainly because I was treating my customer service staff... the greatest asset I have for my sales region. And because one of them had never Teppanyak-eed, I made sure we tried everything! Sushi, lobster, filet steak, scallops, shrimp, calamari, chicken..... well, you get the idea. What with the added rice and vegetables, it was a "belly-busting-feast." And again, because of the great company, we had a wonderful time. So overall, I gave this restaurant 3-stars. It was the total experience. The food was good, and more important, the company was great. But as you can see from my comments, I felt like this particular Benihanas location was struggling to meet the corporate concept; trying to do it with Pittsburgh locals who, from the hosts to the bartending staff, to the chef and server staff, just seemed like misfits. Had this been a "Lone Star Steakhouse", or a "Fridays", I'd have felt everything fitted just right.
(3)Bruce P.
For years now, we have been going here on New Year's Day to bring in the new year. We decided to visit today with some friends for lunch. Dinner here can be a bit pricey, but if you go during the afternoon, the lunch menu is the way to go. Prices are much lower, the selection is almost the same as dinner and portion sizes are still good. Of course one of the best reasons for going here is to experience the meal preparations at the table. It can become a fun performance, but they can vary depending on the chef assigned to you. The food is usually excellent and the experience is great.
(4)Mango K.
My favorite place ever! For celebrations or just when I have a few extra dollars and am craving their fried rice and shrimp sauce. Mmmmm I could eat here everyday but I'd be broke, lol. I first encountered this hibachi steakhouse when I lived in San Diego, CA and was super excited to find out there was one in Pittsburgh, PA. Reservations are advised to sit at the hibachi tables, which I think everyone should at least once. If I'm going out after I usually just sit in the bar area at a regular table and skip the hibachi show. I've NEVER had a bad experience at either location I've gone to in over 10 years. I'm not normally a fan of fried rice, however, Beni fried rice is phenom and I always get an extra side to take home. Its worth the extra $$ and it re-heats perfectly.
(5)Meghan B.
For my friend's birthday, we went to Benihana to celebrate. Honestly, the only time I have ever been to Benihana has been for birthdays. As many yelpers noted- their parking lot is VERY odd. Be prepared. I wanted to try some items that I never had at Benihana before, so I decided I would be adventurous and try some sushi....vegetable sushi that is (I am not a seafood lover). The vegetable roll consisted of: green leaf, avocado, cucumber, tomato, red cabbage and yamagobo. I dipped it in some soy sauce and added a small dab of wasabi to each bite. I didn't love it- I think sushi just all around is not something that I enjoy the taste of. For my meal, I ordered the hibachi chicken. My boyfriend ordered the spicy hibachi chicken. The first course was soup. It was a light, chicken broth based mushroom and green onion soup and it was decent, nothing crazy or packed with flavor. The salad came shortly after- ice berg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced radishes and ginger dressing. I loved the dressing! I wasn't a fan of the mediocre choice of greens and vegetables though. The main portion of the Benihana/hibachi experience, is the show. Our chef was very nice and very talented. He recognized the birthday girl at our table and gave her a special chef's hat, haha. He prepared our vegetables, shrimp appetizer and main entrees in front of us. The vegetables consisted of zucchini and onions. I agree with other yelpers- the vegetables could be improved. The portion isn't very large and more variety could be added. Having said that, they were delicious. The shrimp was also very tasty. My entire table ordered the fried rice with their meal and I HIGHLY recommend doing so, rather than ordering the white rice. The fried rice is made fresh right in front of you and is very good! The yum-yum sauce, of course, is the icing on the cake... SO GOOD. It went perfectly with the rice, chicken, veggies and shrimp. My whole table asked for additional sauce to go and the staff was very friendly and super accommodating! The hibachi chicken was very good and came with sautéed mushrooms. I really enjoyed my boyfriend's spicy hibachi chicken- the sauce was wonderful. At the end of the meal, everyone had a choice of sorbet. I had the rainbow sorbet- it was the perfect ending to a delicious meal. The staff also took our picture and printed a copy for the birthday girl. Benihana is not my favorite place to eat at all, but they are a great place to go for a birthday. The staff was wonderful, the food was good and we all had a great time. Oh and a side note- their Shirley temple's are awesome!
(3)Lisa G.
This place has the weirdest entrance ever. Just be prepared. Came for my sons 5th birthday last night. He's a little foodie. The restaurant itself is nice and we were seated pretty quickly. Our waitress showed up 2 seconds later to take drink orders and appetizer/sushi orders. I just asked for water and some time to actually look at the menu. several min later out waitress came back with drinks and asked to take orders. I ordered chicken and steak along with a cranberry mojito. Quickly after taking orders our waitress brought out our soup. I liked it but it lacked salt. Before I even finished the salad course came out. I was able to enjoy both before the chef came out to prepare our meal. What did bother me was all the dishes in our area. I can't stand a dirty table and I wish our waitress would have removed them sooner. Our chef Penny wasn't the best hibachi chef I've seen but she was great with my son and he really enjoyed watching her. She was honestly a lot of fun. The hibachi itself was pretty good. I liked the fried rice which is an up charge. The steak was good and so was the chicken. I honestly don't think it was anything special. Dessert was ice cream also nothing special. So to sum it up our waitress seemed overwhelmed and managed to make me feel rushed even though I feel she could have visited our table a few more times then she did. That along with being overpriced is why only the 3 stars.
(3)October R.
I thought the food was absolutely delicious and fresh. Our hibachi chef, Hoy, was fantastic! I ordered tofu and veggies (asparagus, broccoli, onion, snow peas), for me everything was prepared to perfection. We didn't get a show, but we had really good conversation throughout our lunch. Our server was, in his words "still waking up" and not on top of his game at all, he forgot to put in my boyfriends extra fried rice and something for the guests we were seated with. When the server doesn't put in an order, the kitchen doesn't put it on the cart and when your chef gets to the grill, he doesn't have everything he needs and everything gets held up. I left with a big happy belly which is not usually the case when I eat hibachi and everyone else in my party was just as pleased! Fun fact: Benihana is no longer able to pop food in your mouth because someone (in Florida I believe) got a hot shrimp to the eye and sued the company.
(4)Brandi M.
Since the changes its just awful. Shortcuts in sushi. Quality of food is just not the same. The staff is very neglecting. It's sad to see what was once a great place go downhill due to changes in management. Very sad.
(2)T G.
Only complaint was when we arrived we were basically told we had to wait for another party to arrive prior to being seated. Was told we could go to bar---after saying no we wanted to be seated they agreed. We made reservations for 3 and had no idea who other party was so why could we not be seated---we were not asking to be served. Over all experience was nice. Waitress very nice and attentive and so was Chef.
(3)Lizzie D.
Benihana is good, yes, but it is not updated as other hibachi restaurants. The furnishings, carpet, set up hasn't changed in years and the staff/food isn't always up to par. I can eat Paleo here though, which was a new discovery. I've always appreciated sushi, but I never ordered it raw without the fun additions of tempura, sesame seeds, soy sauce, cream cheese, and everything else that makes sushi AWESOME, so this was a new experience. I ordered the Tuna Tatiki, which was 10 chunks of raw tuna. I ordered it without sauce or seeds. It was a little tough to get down because there were so many pieces and after a couple raw pieces, I needed some extra searing, which they did for me no problem! The server was wonderful- she was helpful and had no problem going to extra mile for someone with diet restrictions! I was very happy about this because the last time we sat in the bar, our waiter was really odd. He didn't explain the foods and extra charges (our waiter last night did) and he seemed like we were bothering him. I was happy to have a better experience last night, but I do think that Benihana needs to monitor their staff better. I had negative experiences twice related to incompetent staff, which really made my overall feeling of Benihana go from positive to neutral. Not to mention, the last time I was there, perhaps because we got hibachi at the bar, but it was not very good at all, and I got the most expensive dinner on the menu: "Ocean's Treasure." More recently when I visited Benihana though (the same time I got the raw tuna), I had a better experience- I ordered salmon and yellowtail sashimi. I was very nervous to bite into a raw cut of fish by itself, but was pleasantly surprised at how good the cuts of fish were. The yellowtail had a sweeter taste and the salmon was less sweet, but more flavorful. It was a great to jump outside of my comfort zone and appreciate the rawest of the raw food! I would definitely recommend Benihana due to its location- I love that it is on a hill all to itself, and it's unique mark in Pittsburgh, but I would choose other hibachi restaurants before I would choose this one.
(3)Danielle Q.
Benihana is my absolute favorite restaurant. Every time I eat here the food is delicious and consistent. I pour that delicious pink sauce ("yum-yum sauce") all over everything, I would probably drink it. Although it is pricey, it is great for a date night!
(5)Amanda S.
My family and I have been going to Benihana for about 5 years now. We've always had to wait at least a half an hour to be seated, even when we've had reservations. In the past its been forgivable, mostly because its close to home for us, the food is okay (albeit a little pricey), and my Grandmother absolutely loves the entertainment of hibachi. But that all changed last night when we went out with a party of 8 for my and my mothers birthday. I made reservations two weeks in advance for our birthday dinner. When I called they were almost totally booked and only had a few spots left that evening. Our reservations were for 7:30. We arrive a little early at 7:20 and I let the hostess know that we are there and she checks us in. Then we basically just wait and wait and wait. We notice the hostess turning people away, and we notice two tables who have been seated for about 30 minutes now haven't even gotten their soups or salads. By now its nearly 8 O'clock. Then my mother overhears the hostess telling someone that they are short staffed and the wait is going to be extremely long. By this point we've been waiting for 45 minutes. My sister takes a walk through the restaurant and notices there is only 1 hibachi chef working, but there are SEVEN tables seated, all waiting for food/drinks. So I ask the hostess how much longer before we are seated. She informs me that it will be at least another half an hour before we get a table, because two hibachi chefs and two kitchen chefs called off sick. It would be another hour after were seated before they would even start taking our food orders. This is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. First of all, the hostess should have informed us when we arrived that they were short staffed and we would have a very very long wait. OR, the manager should have phoned people with reservations and asked if they could reschedule. Either way, we should have been informed instead of letting us stand in the lobby for an hour, not knowing that it would be another hour and a half before we would actually eat, on an evening when we had reservations. We decided to call Ichiban to see if they could accommodate us. They told us we could walk right in and be seated immediately. As we were leaving we ran into a gentleman who was outside smoking who told us that his party had reservations for 6:30 and they still had not ordered their food! It was now about 8:20pm. Our first dinner at Ichiban actually turned out to be much better than our previous dinners at Benihana, so I don't think we'll ever be going back there. I think Ichiban will be our new hibachi restaurant of choice.
(1)Chris R.
If it isn't broken please for the love of god leave it alone!! I have had the good fortune to eat at and experience some really fine restaurants around the country. So it may suprise some that locally two chains never failed to bring me back again and again. Benihana was one of them. Sometimes I ate there 4 or 5 times a month. Imagine my disappointment when twice I order my "go to" chicken and shrimp only to find shrimp is now colossal shrimp that had the consistency of shoe leather and mushrooms apparently don't apply. Service consisted of being scorned by an older Asian lady and told "it will be a while" to get my order corrected because they are busy! Then while I wait at the bar I ask about my favorite bartender I'm told oh they fired is ass! Truly more info than I needed! Especially from the new bartender with no personality that took forever (I was alone empty bar) to serve me my ten dollar gin and tonic. Looks like I'll be sampling one of the many Japanese steak houses not called benihana in the future. W h at a shame. How can someone take a restaurant that was so good and ruin it so fast? It really must take some effort. I just hate to see it. I used to love this place.
(1)Rachel B.
This is the WORST Hibachi I have ever had. We came here for a friends birthday, and I will never be going back. Service was mediocre, but the food was the real travesty. You go to Hibachi for a show, but it's not fun when the cook makes the SAME Giant Eagle joke the entire time. He also couldn't perform all the tricks that are pretty standard from Hibachi chefs. The food. Not good. My boyfriend ordered tofu and it was cold in the middle. He didn't bother to have the guy heat it more, b/c it would have just been a hassle. The chef forgot one friends meal completely and got rude with the server. Then after everything was cooked, he looked at me and asked did you eat all your shrimp. I replied "no, you never served me any." (I had ordered the chicken and shrimp.) He then sends the server back into the kitchen to get more. By the time they were cooked, everyone was finished eating. Come on. To make matters worse, when we left we saw that he was the head chef. That doesn't say too much for the rest of them. I don't know how people keep coming here. There is WAY better hibachi in Pittsburgh, for a lot less money. I mean honestly, I paid $9.50 for a glass of Kendall Jackson. No. The best part of the meal were the cupcakes that my friend brought. Do your wallet and your stomach a favor and go to a different Hibachi place. Benihana is not worth your time or money.
(1)Paul D.
Love the food, but we get take out to the office and every time its a bit of an ordeal. Eat in. If you're planning on take out make it simple.
(4)Lindsay J.
This is by the far the worst hibachi restaurant I have eaten at. The food is very bland from the onion soup to the fried rice (which basically was white rice with chopped onions) to the chicken (which was so pale it looked like it was boiled). Hibachi food typically has tons of flavor and tastes good because it has some grill marks and char, which none of our food had. I question whether it was even cooked on the hibachi table (we ate at a regular table but ordered from the hibachi menu). Not only was the food bad but the service was terrible. Our waiter didn't even know that hibachi dinners should come with the two sauces, he acted confused when I asked for them. Additionally, we ordered a sushi roll for an appetizer and instead of getting it before dinner, we received it after our dinner even though we saw it sitting at the sushi bar for a good 15 minutes beforehand. This restaurant may have been around for a long time but it doesn't even compare to other hibachi restaurants and was more expensive than any other I've eaten at.
(1)Sean T.
The sushi during happy hour is great. The wife and I eat well for $20. That's drinking pop though. Don't judge.
(5)Brian H.
Benihana is a chain restaurant, but the food is pretty good. It can get quite expensive though, especially if you adds drinks or an appetizer such as sushi.
(3)Mayank R.
I have long wanted to eat Teppanyaki style food and been thinking of going to Benihana for a longest time. But after reading reviews on Yelp for the one in Sunnyvale, CA, I was quite apprehensive. I had also heard good things about Benihana in Pittsburgh from my brother in law and so decided to go there whenever I goto Pittsburgh. So, finally, we went there after New Years and had a blast. We had to wait at the bar even after making reservation, but thats OK. At the table we were not rushed at all. The food was tasty and the chef was funny and interesting. Not to mention very entertaining and friendly bartender - MARTY. Overall, it was one of the best restaurant experiences we ever had.
(5)Lesley M.
I have to admit, I kind of thought Benihana was fictitious until we moved to Pittsburgh... and then low and behold, there was one right near where we live. The food is okay. There are better hibachi options in the area. The service can be okay or awful. One time, we were there with our kids and had an absolutely EVIL waitress. One of my kids isn't a big eater, so instead of ordering her a full kids' meal, we just got a side order of rice and soup. The kids' meal her brother was having came with ice cream, so when we were done with dinner, we asked if she could get ice cream as well. I don't know if she thought we wanted the ice cream free (which we definitely didn't!) but she said no, we absolutely COULD NOT order ice cream separately. You either get it with the kids' meal or you don't get it. WTF?
(2)Lori J.
The atmosphere was fun. Our chef was very nice and entertaining. The filet was excellent. Their salad dressing is a little harsh for my taste. Over all it was a great time. I will definitely go back.
(5)S E.
I have been going to Benihana's back when it was Samuri... I visit the Cleveland and Pittsburgh one frequently. The cleveland one is better but they are both going down hill at a very fast past. I keep giving them another chance and i keep getting disappointed. They have changed so many things in the past year and its for the worse. The shrimp the order they give you the food, the way the cut the veggies. Im becoming a Huge fan of Itchiban both the one in robinson and cranberry, Its cheaper and you get more food for your money . I hope Beni's changes. I even e mailed them and they didnt respond .
(2)Jr A.
It all depends on the chef who is performing for you . I have been here twice in last several months and felt everything was average . I have seen other chefs in different restaurants and they have put on a much better show .
(3)Emily H.
They took their vegetarian meal off the menu. They'll make one for you especially but I always feel demanding and would prefer if they had just kept it on the menu. Plus, this one is always really quiet. Like, I feel guilty, like I'm troubling the staff. And you have to drive through an apartment's parking lot to get there. Very awkward location and atmosphere.
(2)AJA J.
Benihana. It's just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? No, unfortunately not.at .all...anymore. From hence forth, all mentions of Benihana are likely to cause anxiety in my usually calm heart. I hate complaining like this. I really do. But sometimes, you just have to, ya know? Tuesday evening I met a group of friends for a birthday dinner. The reservation for our party of nine was for 7:00pm. All but one of our party arrived prior to 7:00, but the hostess was curt in explaining that all party members needed to be present before we were seated, as our chef would be ready to begin meal preparation as soon as we were seated. Fortunately, the final member of our party arrived shortly and we were seated at 7:05pm. It was not until 7:40pm that first contact with our server was made. Without any apology for the delay she took our drink orders. She (name withheld because I don't want to be rude) returned more than 10 minutes later with our drinks, but waited another 10-15 minutes after that to take our dinner orders. As I was waiting I looked over at the table next to us, who were also clearly celebrating a child's birthday. At one point the mother (I'm assuming) smiled at me and said, "I hope you get out before midnight. We've been here over two hours. We're taking our cake and getting out of here." Upon taking our orders, one of our guests explained that due to a shrimp allergy it was necessary to cook any shrimp ordered by our group in another area (a neighboring grill, etc.). Our server said that she would have to ask the manager, who came to our table shortly thereafter. When the manager arrived at the table my guest explained her allergy and his response was that it might be in her best interest to leave. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he meant leaving the table, not the restaurant, but I'm not certain of this. Following this recommendation he mentioned that she could wait in the bar as the rest of us dined table-side. I asked him why it was not an option to prepare the shrimp at a neighboring table, but he expressed concern that other customers may require the use of the other available tables. I understand his point, but the restaurant was near-empty as the hour quickly approached 8:30pm. Finally, he offered to prepare the shrimp portions of our meals in the kitchen. I'm not sure why this wasn't initially mentioned as an option, but I'll leave it at that. Our chef Tom eventually arrived at our table. He was very pleasant and efficient during the course of our meal preparation. During his time at the table my Emperor's Salad was delivered, as were the majority of my table's sushi orders. However, two of our guests that ordered sushi were not served at this time. In fact, they were not served until a full 10 minutes after the rest of our party finished our meals. At one point, they inquired about the delay to she-whose-name-shall-not-be-mentioned, who responded that they were "waiting for the rice." When she delivered their food there was not a single mention of the delay. Two hours and thirty+ minutes after we arrived at Benihana, we left. From start to finish, the entire evening was a terrible experience. It was ridiculous to the point that there was not even soap or toilet paper available in the restroom. Were it not for the kindness and professionalism of Tom (and the awesome company of friends), the night would have been a complete waste. My final thought is this. The food was fine, but because I was feeling particularly piggish on this Tuesday evening, I enjoyed two California rolls from my stash of Costco sushi at home before departing for the restaurant. The difference between Costco's rolls and Benihana's...a toss up - just sayin. The good news is, this will give my friends something to whine about for YEARS to come...
(1)