Benihana - Columbus, OH

Review summary

1. F

   Fred

   Columbus

   2 reviews

   4.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   Rocky, our chef, was a hoot. Full of energy. Very interactive with a demanding group of customers. Very talented at cooking and serving exactly what each person requested. Well worth a cash tip at the end of the meal. Fun evening with my wife and three couples we had never met before, but rocky made it a fun experience with great food.
   

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2. ZF

   ZFeedsPeople

   Columbus

   8 reviews

   2.0

   8 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 1

   Me and some friends came in at 3 pm hoping to have quick service and some lighthearted entertainment. Unfortunately it appeared only the manager was serving tables and by the time our meals finished cooking we still hadn’t gotten our rice. Our chef also openly admitted repeatedly she was only doing certain performances because she had to, and seemed very uninterested in actually entertaining.
   

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3. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   Jacksonville

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   The food and the chef were not the problem. The issue here is communication and waitstaff. I must have told our waitress 4 times I was allergic to mushrooms. She sat a bowl of soup with mushrooms in front of me. She forgot our table numerous times, at one point even admitting it. Our dinner was over 3 hours long. Whole tables that came in after us, were seated, served , and left before we even got to our main meal. And it wasn’t just her. The table next to us had the same issue with allergies. They told their server they were allergic to shrimp- so the chef proceeds to cook this man’s meal alongside shrimp…smh. The manager was less than helpful. When we started to have issues I said something about how the server said she would get me a different bowl of soup without mushrooms and never came back . The managers response? Never once did she apologize. She told me how busy they were tonight and that to get a soup without mushrooms would take some time, and again they were busy. There are so many more things that made this a terrible experience , too many to list. She only refilled drinks 1 time (after promising over and over to do so) . She forgot who ordered what and had to come back multiple times to figure out the check. She brought items no one asked for and seemed confused as to who did. It goes on and on. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
   

   Benihana - Columbus, OHResponded 5 days ago

   Dear Guest! We sincerely apologize for the poor service you experienced. Your concerns about communication, allergy awareness, and wait times are deeply troubling, and we take them very seriously. There is no excuse for these oversights, especially when it comes to food allergies and basic service expectations. We will be addressing these issues with our team to ensure better training and attentiveness moving forward. Your experience does not reflect our standards, and we truly regret the frustration it caused. Please reach out to us directly so we can make this right. Thank you for your feedback.
   

   1 person found this helpful

4. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   VIP

   Columbus

   5 reviews

   5.0

   5 reviews

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Awesome experience for my Husbands Birthday. We had Rocky as our cook and he was excellent. The manager came to our table and was extremely nice.
   

   Benihana - Columbus, OHResponded 6 days ago

   Dear Guest! Thanks for visiting us at Benihana - Columbus, OH! We're thrilled to hear that you and your husband had an awesome experience celebrating his birthday with us. It's great to know that you enjoyed our food and service. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to serving you again soon. Thank you for choosing us for such a special occasion!
   

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5. L

   Larry

   VIP

   Columbus

   73 reviews

   4.0

   73 reviews

   Dined on 26 February 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Jeremy was a great server. Enjoyed our food look forward to going back
   

   Benihana - Columbus, OHResponded on 27 February 2025

   Thanks for the review, Larry! We're thrilled to hear that you had a positive experience with our service at Benihana - Columbus, OH. It's wonderful to know that you enjoyed our food and found our team to be great. We're always striving to provide the best service and food to our valued guests like you. We look forward to welcoming you back soon. Thanks again!
   

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6. J

   Jim

   Columbus

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined on 23 February 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   At 6:15pm on Fri 2/21/25, we made a reservation for 4 at 7:30. Someone from the restaurant called me a few minutes later and said they were full for that time and the system shouldn’t have let me book. They asked if we could move the reservation to 8:30, which I agreed to. When we arrived at 8:30, we were told they were running an hour late, and asked us to come back at 9:30. We were finally seated at 9:40. It was around 10:15 before a waiter came to our table and 10:45 before drinks from the bar arrived. A chef did not come to our table until 11:10, by which point we were the last table still with patrons in the hibachi area. Despite this, we never received a single drink refill, despite most of the guests at our table being out of water for the duration of our meal. The quality of the food was good, though the portions are quite small for the price. This was exacerbated by the waiter confusing the order of some of the guests who wanted chicken fried rice with their meals. The chef asked the waiter to bring 2 additional chicken servings to correct this, but when they never arrived, he ended up dividing the chicken from everyone else’s entrees into smaller portions. We never received some of the courses included with our meals. Green tea and ice cream were never offered to us. We paid for 2 kids meals, but our kids never got vegetables or shrimp appetizer as specified on the menu. We only got their ice cream after asking for a 3rd time on our way out the door. $29 is a lot for a kids meal with a couple chicken tenders and side of noodles and no drink included. The manager took 20% of our bill after my wife complained about the wait, but that was before we were missing food we paid for. The manager said the whole thing is corporate’s fault for making them accept too many reservations despite how far behind they get. She said nothing will be done about this, and it’s the same every weekend. This, more than anything, ensured we will never be going back.
   

   Benihana - Columbus, OHResponded on 27 February 2025

   Thanks for the review, Jim. We're truly sorry to hear about your experience at Benihana - Columbus, OH. We strive to provide excellent service and delicious food, and we regret that we fell short during your visit. We take your feedback about the service, food quality, and portion sizes very seriously and will address these issues with our team. We're also sorry for the confusion with your order, and we'll make sure to train our team on this. We hope you'll give us another chance to make it right.
   

   1 person found this helpful

7. S

   Stacy

   Fort Lauderdale

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined on 23 February 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Beware!!! They will seat you over an hour after your reservation time! They apparently are always overbooked!!!! Horrible!!!
   

   Benihana - Columbus, OHResponded on 24 February 2025

   Thanks for the review, Stacy! We're sorry to hear about your experience. It's disappointing to know that you were waited over an hour after your reservation, and that we were overbooked. We strive to provide excellent service and it's clear we fell short in your case. We're glad to hear that you enjoyed the food. We hope to serve you again and provide a better experience.
   

   1 person found this helpful

8. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   Los Angeles

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined on 22 February 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   We sent our son and a group of friends for his birthday, he's at OSU from California. With a :45 PM reservation they were sat after 8:00. I had to call from CA to speak to a manager and was informed that it wasn't their fault, they were backed up over 1.5 hours. She got them a chef, finally who they said was great and the food was good. The waitress was rude and snarky the entire meal, which somewhat ruined it for them. Would never return to that location. CA has always been great experiences in Newport Beach, Encino,...
   

   Benihana - Columbus, OHResponded 6 days ago

   Dear Guest! We're sorry to hear about your experience at our Benihana - Columbus, OH location. We understand that waiting can be frustrating, especially when you have a special occasion like your son's birthday. We apologize for the long wait and the behavior of our staff. We're glad that you enjoyed the food, but we understand that the overall experience was less than satisfactory. We appreciate your feedback and will use it to improve our service. We hope you'll give us another chance to make it right in the future. Best Regards, The Management Team
   

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9. T

   Todd

   Pittsburgh

   2 reviews

   1.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 22 February 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 1

   Restaurant was overbooked. Took over an hour to be seated even though we had a reservation. Food was over seasoned. Due to overbooking atmosphere was subpar
   

   Benihana - Columbus, OHResponded on 24 February 2025

   Hey Todd, We're really sorry to hear about your experience at Benihana - Columbus, OH. We understand how frustrating it can be to wait longer than expected, especially when you've made a reservation. We also take great pride in our food and it's disheartening to hear that it didn't meet your expectations. We appreciate your feedback and will definitely use it to improve our service and food quality. We hope you'll give us another chance to make it right and provide a better dining experience. Best, The Management Team
   

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10. OT

    OpenTable Diner

    Columbus

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined on 22 February 2025

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 3

    We were seated 2 hours after our reservation and it was another hour before we had food. Our reservation was at 6:30 and we didn’t eat until 9:30.
    

    Benihana - Columbus, OHResponded on 24 February 2025

    Dear Guest, We're truly sorry to hear about your recent experience at Benihana - Columbus, OH. It's clear that we fell short of our service commitments, especially given the extended wait times you experienced. We understand how frustrating this can be and we're truly sorry for any inconvenience. We appreciate your patience and understanding, and we're committed to making improvements. We hope you'll give us another chance to provide you with the quality of service you expect and deserve. Best Regards, The Management Team
    

    1 person found this helpful