Benihana - Short Hills, NJ

Benihana - Short Hills, NJ reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Review summary

1. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   New York City1 review

   1.0

   Dined 1 day ago

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

   I’ll start with the only nice thing I have to say: I’ve been here a few times before and had an average to good time. Unfortunately, last nights experience was genuinely that bad I don’t think I’d ever want to go back to any Benihana ever again. We had an 8pm reservation and we didn’t get seated until 8:45pm. We were not given any updates as to how long it would take to be seated. We then get to our table and have to wait another 45 minutes before the chef shows up to the table. The chef himself tells us that he is over worked and stressed because they don’t have enough staff to adequately serve the amount of customers they’re trying to seat. I felt bad for him but also didn’t feel good to hear when you’re about to spend $75 pp for a meal. He then rushed to cook all our food. Shrimp was undercooked and chewy, rice was burnt and hurt my tooth. I asked for my steak to be cooked medium rare and some pieces were basically blue. Every aspect of this experience was so bad. And we weren’t offered a discount, or even an apology from anyone for how terrible of an experience we were being provided. Obviously other customers were also frustrated by this experience. We even witnessed the manager calling the police on 3 female customers. I’m not sure what happened but the 3 customers were at least handling themselves with dignity. The manager was acting like a hot mess and think he should probably find a new job outside of hospitality and away from other people. He embarrassed himself.
   

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2. D

   DAVID

   New York City1 review

   5.0

   Dined 5 days ago

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

   Upon arrival, we were the only diners there, so we had a private table and chef. Very nice!
   

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3. M

   Malika

   Miami1 review

   1.0

   Dined 7 days ago

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

   The place was freezing and we complained about it plenty of times Waited 2 hours for a cook and no one even came to say sorry for the delay ,apologies, offer anything for our patience nothing We spoke to the manager whom walked around the whole night and never even checked on us and he said oo sorry I’ll takes the drinks off Didn’t even take all the drinks off it was a party of 5 he took four drinks off I just feel like for the money ppl spend in there the service should be so much better I spent over 300$ and I never see myself coming back to this location Very bad for business
   

   Benihana - Short Hills, NJResponded 5 days ago

   Dear Malika, We’re deeply sorry to hear about your frustrating experience. We truly appreciate you sharing your feedback, and we’ll be addressing these issues with our team immediately to ensure better communication, service, and overall experience for our guests. Your concerns about the manager’s response and the overall service quality are heard loud and clear. We regret that we let you down and that this experience has made you decide not to return. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you, and we wish we could have made this a much better experience for you and your party.
   

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4. R

   Rio

   Baltimore2 reviews

   3.0

   Dined on 16 March 2025

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

   Highly recommend Chef Vincent - he saved the night
   

   Benihana - Short Hills, NJResponded 6 days ago

   Dear Rio, We’re truly sorry for your terrible experience and appreciate you sharing it with us. Waiting two hours for food and not receiving proper service is unacceptable, and we sincerely apologize for the frustration you felt. While we’re glad Chef Vincent helped save the night with his excellent cooking, we’re disappointed to hear about the manager’s attitude and the lack of attentiveness from our staff. Your feedback is invaluable, and we’ll address these issues with our team to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
   

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5. n

   nate

   New York City1 review

   1.0

   Dined on 16 March 2025

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

   Wait time is ridiculous. Waited almost a hour to be seated and 1 hour precisely before APPETIZER came. The place is not clean. Food portion is small with no taste or flavor with a price that don’t match. No class! It’s not a place you take someone on a first date, they’ll not want a second date especially if they don’t like you! 😂. Overpriced!! Waste of money time! No vibe! Noise everywhere. Lmao. If you are a germaphobe do not go! WAIT TIME IS RIDICULOUS especially when the service and food is trassshhhh! Overall it’s a 1/10.
   

   Benihana - Short Hills, NJResponded 6 days ago

   Dear Nate, We’re truly sorry to hear about your terrible experience. Waiting an hour to be seated and another hour for an appetizer is unacceptable, and we deeply regret the frustration this caused. The issues you mentioned with cleanliness, food quality, and service are far from the standards we strive to uphold, and we sincerely apologize for falling short. Your feedback is incredibly important, and we’ll address these concerns with our team to make immediate improvements. We truly regret that your visit was such a disappointment and appreciate you sharing your experience.
   

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6. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   New York City2 reviews

   1.0

   Dined on 16 March 2025

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

   This was the worse experience I had here. We had a new chef, I felt bad for the young man brocade obviously he was not trained properly. The dining experience was without enthusiasm and the food was not even subpar. My children had chicken and shrimp hibachi, chicken was raw both times they gave it to them which was twice. The portions were were horrible. I asked the manager to remove the food from my bill and he cut a piece of chicken open instead to show that it was not raw, I explained to him that he didn’t t have to eat it. We were there at 5:45, but the food was not done until 7:47. It was not very pleasing to the eye. I had hibachi shrimp, I did not even touch my food as it looked nasty. The vegetables were very skimpy. The manager was not very concerned about my experience as he tried to convince me I was wrong about the portion and food.
   

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   Benihana - Short Hills, NJResponded 6 days ago

   Dear Guest, We’re truly sorry to hear about your disappointing experience. What you described is unacceptable, especially when it comes to food quality and service. Serving undercooked food, long wait times, and poor portions are serious concerns, and we deeply regret that your dining experience fell far short of expectations. We’re also sorry the manager didn’t handle your concerns with the care they deserved. Your feedback is invaluable, and we’ll address these issues with our team immediately to ensure improvements are made. Thank you for sharing your experience, and we truly regret that we let you down.
   

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7. S

   Stavonne

   New York City1 review

   1.0

   Dined on 15 March 2025

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

   Horrible! So we went there to celebrate my son’s 16th birthday. We made a reservation for 7pm only to get there and was told we have to wait 30 moons to be seated. Got to the table, placed order and had to wait about another hour for the chef. The presentation was okay but the food was poorly seasoned and from what we were told from the person who took our order, the 5 specialties we ordered were enough for our entire table to share. One of our guests didn’t get food and there wasn’t enough rice to go around. We had to wait for rice that was supposed to be a part of the specialty we ordered. I was highly disappointed. We’re definitely not going back or would recommend to anyone!!!!
   

   Benihana - Short Hills, NJResponded 7 days ago

   Dear Stavonne, We’re truly sorry to hear about your disappointing experience, especially on such an important occasion. We understand how frustrating it must have been to deal with long waits and issues with the food and service. This is not the experience we want to provide, and we deeply apologize for the miscommunication and lack of attention to detail. Your feedback is valuable, and we will be addressing these concerns with our team to ensure this doesn’t happen again. We hope you’ll reconsider and give us another chance in the future. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
   

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8. C

   Craig VIP

   New York City2 reviews

   2.0

   Dined on 15 March 2025

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

   Had a 6:45 reservation with my kids (earliest available). Didn’t get sat until a little after 7:15. They didn’t bring a chef to our table until 8:30. The meal wasn’t over until 9:30. Won’t be bringing my kids back here.
   

   Benihana - Short Hills, NJResponded 7 days ago

   Dear Craig, We’re very sorry for the long wait and disappointing experience you and your kids had. Waiting over 30 minutes past your reservation and the delay in service are unacceptable, and we truly apologize for the frustration it caused. We strive to provide timely and attentive service, and it’s clear we fell short during your visit. Your feedback is invaluable, and we’ll address these issues with our team to prevent this from happening again. We appreciate you sharing your experience and are sorry to hear you won’t be returning.
   

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9. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   New York City1 review

   1.0

   Dined on 9 March 2025

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

   Sad to say this was an awful experience. Service is pretty close to terrible.
   

   Benihana - Short Hills, NJResponded on 12 March 2025

   Dear Guest! Thanks for the review. We're truly sorry to hear that your experience at Benihana - Short Hills, NJ didn't meet your expectations. We always strive to provide excellent service and it's clear we missed the mark during your visit. Your feedback is valuable and will be used to improve our service. We hope you'll give us another chance to turn your experience around in the future. Best, The Management Team
   

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10. A

    Amarachi

    New Jersey1 review

    2.0

    Dined on 9 March 2025

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

    I made a reservation for 7:00 PM, but I did not receive my seat until approximately 7:30-7:40 PM. This is somewhat inconvenient, as I am uncertain of the purpose of making a reservation if one is not seated at the time of the reservation. Despite this minor inconvenience, the restaurant itself was amazing.
    

    Benihana - Short Hills, NJResponded on 10 March 2025

    Hi Amarachi, Thank you for your feedback. We apologize for the delay in seating you. We understand that waiting can be frustrating and we're sorry for any inconvenience caused. We're glad to hear that you found the food and value to be great. We hope to serve you again soon and provide a better experience. Best Regards, The Management Team at Benihana - Short Hills, NJ
    

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