Benihana — Restaurant in Key West

BEWARE if you go to Benihana in Key West!

Went tonight to eat dinner. Sat down and things were fine, but very slow going. I went to the bathroom which had puke on the men’s room floor. I noticed a very foul odor was coming from the women’s bathroom, as a note was placed on the doorIt read “Women’s Out of Order, if Emergency go to Men’s Room.” So ladies hold it or use a bathroom that has puke in it.

When I got back to the table I looked up and noticed flying termites. Slowly they got worse and a full swarm was happening inside the restaurant. That’s where things went downhill.

Termites swarming all throughout the inside. Falling on the cooking surface, plates and patrons. It seemed we were sitting underneath the hole they were escaping to swarm. We decided immediately it was time to leave. I asked to speak to the manager, who was named John, to let him know what we were planning to do. When he came to our table, he immediately started with a negative tone towards me, my girlfriend and the other guests at our table. He made excuses that he doesn’t control things, and no steps to rectify or apologies made. He started explaining who does his pest control, which had no relevance. I guess he wanted me to know who not to use for termite control. Not once did he acknowledge or start to clean the cooking surface which had 4 dead termites on it

He then tries to tell me that they were coming in through the door, every time it opened tonight. Since when did termites swarm from outside during 20 mile an hour winds and then come inside when we open the door? After that ridiculous statement we stood up and left. Right as we were leaving one flew down his apron, which I found funny.

As I write this from another restaurant whose door is wide open, I’m baffled they aren’t coming inside. Thats because the termites didn't swarm outside this evening due to winds and it hasn't rained in almost a month. Termites swarm inside a building that has an infestation!

If you enjoy termite laden hibachi food, and being treated like you are unintelligent by the manager, your in luck. Benihana Key West is right up your alley!

I gave 1 star because it...

if there a 0 for rating i will not give a star!.. I read a few reviews on Yelp n Google n saw one person saying a server charging 18% tip without her authorization! WTH!.. n other person saying his server told him go ahead n complain on yelp if he wanna!... WTH IS THIS PLACE?!.. i know this might not stop ppl from coming here to eat even after reading reviews n maybe cuz of the lil fire volcano n the tricks they do.. n they actually dont do the fire anymore.. but i still need to leave a review cuz im still not happy wit my services there!.. but leme start by saying I DID NOT LIKE THE HOST N THE WAITER TONIGHT!.. becuz they made this OMG face expression contact n i caught them n maybe jus cuz we hv a big group n yes there are few kids.. n they were a lil loud.. n we all know some kids are good n some arent.. we drove here from tampa n kinda tired n hungry so we decided to eat right next to our hotel (Hyatt Residence Club..jus so u know how close we are).. anyways.. we thought it would be the same like other hibachi places we've been to.. u can share ur food wit whomever u wanna without charge!.. but nope.. u will get the same amount of the entrees.. 6 course meal they will give u extra small bowl of soup, small bowl salad, veggies, japanese green tea WE DID NOT GET! N THE ICE CREAM.. SUPPOSE TO BE IN OUR 6COURSE MEAL WE HAD TO ASK FOR AT THE END CUZ THE KIDS WANT OTHERWISE I DON'T THINK OUR WAITER WOULD BRING OUT OR EVEN MENTION IT!... N SO.. for sharing those lil dishes would be $7.95 extra on top of a $35 entree we ordered!.. n so are the fried rice!.. that's like $50 per entree for food portion that's only enuff for one adult and a kid!.. maybe its vacation spot.. but thanks to Leo(our chef).. he kinda saved the night a bit wit his sweet n friendly talk.. I like Leo!.. the food is ok.. but for I think they over charged n over killed us here.. oh well..I wont be back to this place.. I shoulda let my family member complain to the manager.. I was a bit soft hearted earlier.. but it probly won't do any good cuz I saw some reviews in here n Yelp that some managers don't even care to take care of problems!!!.... VERY...

Never, never, never again will I eat at this chain. These people are liars, scammers and could care less about their customers. First of all let’s talk about $21 kids meals? That’s ridiculous. My daughter is a picky teenage eater and wanted to order from the kids menu. I asked the waitress if she could get noodles instead of the rice it comes with….She said yes…. That was a lie… was charged an extra $6 for noodles even though she didn’t get rice. I asked the waitress if I could get a second kids entree, just the entree with no extras for a lower cost, she said yes…. That was a lie…. Charged an extra $21 for nothing but a few chicken strips…. The meals come with ice cream….the waitress offered none and closed out the checks, I asked her if we could get what we were supposed to get and she then said yes and brought out some ice cream half a cup full to rush us out of the restaurant…. Finally, what kind of hibachi restaurant doesn’t include basic fried rice in the $40 hibachi meal charge????? We were asked by the waitress if we wanted fried rice only to find out when we got the bill it was $20 extra for the “fried rice upcharge” for 3 people. When I questioned the waitress about this she said “oh sorry! There’s an upcharge for fried rice”. Onion soup came out Luke warm. Waitress told us about 20 times it was her second day so she clearly had no idea what she was doing. These people are nuts!!!! There are a lot of great places to eat in Key West but this is NOT one of them. Do not walk but RUN away from this place. The only positive was the ocean view, other than that I would rather go without dinner than be robbed by this place again. Total waste of a restaurant meal almost $200 later for 2adults and 2 kids with kids meals. Only water to drink. No appetizers. DONE. Terrible experience with sub par food and limited engagement...