Benihana — Restaurant in Millburn

I went to this location on Valentine's Day with my two kids and my parents. We had a reservation for 6 o'clock and arrived at 6:02, we still had to wait about 10 minutes for a tables which is fine because I'm used to that when it comes to hibachi. The real nightmare started when we got to the table. My wife had asked the bus boy who seated us for two booster seats for our kids, when we received them, they were filthy and sticky. Naturally we asked the gentlemen to wipe down the booster seats and he immediately gave us attitude. He went and got a napkin but it wasn't getting the sticky substance off the booster so we then asked him to wet it. After we asked him to wet it he threw the napkin on the floor in disgust, but then realized he screwed up and picked it up. We thanked him for cleansing the chairs and he didn't respond like he was angry with us. Just a super unfriendly way to start off what was a very expensive mistake.

Then the chef that was preparing the food at the table next us kept flinging butter around and landed on me and my phone 3 times. After the 2nd time he had realized and apologized but it was just super unprofessional and he was extremely disorganized.

The waitress came to the table and proceeded to talk extremely low and we couldn't hear a word she was saying. It was around 6:45 pm and the place was absolutely mobbed so a little projection in her voice would've been nice. Also every 10 minutes or so there was a glass being broken or dropped. When we asked the waitress what weight the steak was she responded "I don't know" which is crazy because she should know the answer to simple menu questions.

I must preface this next portion by saying, if you are expecting to spend less then $200 then go somewhere else because no option except chicken on the menu is less then $45. Also unlike other hibachi restaurants, your entree only comes with white rice OR noodles, usually the meal comes with both. Adding plain fried rice is a $7 up charge which is absurd. The 6 of us spent over $500 on alcohol and food after tax and tip, NEVER AGAIN WILL I SPEND THIS MUCH FOR THE AMOUNT OF FOOD WE GOT.

The salad came to the table and was swimming in what looked like brown garlic and ginger water, it didn't taste or look right. Then came the onion soup which is just beef broth warmed up with mushrooms and green onions floating in it. After we ordered our entrees the chef came and started to cook our food in a timely manner and was very friendly with the kids. He cooked all the steaks too exact temperature requests and added extra garlic butter when asked. We definitely received one of the better chefs on duty that night.

This location was horrendous and didn't seem prepared for what was obviously going to be a crazy night due to it being Valentine's Day. I'm not sure what happened to the Edison location but last time we went to Benihana we went there and it was a much better experience. Definitely did not receive the service we were expecting especially for the amount of money we wasted. WILL NOT BE RETURNING...

From the very beginning I should have known what to expect from this place. I booked a party of 12. Before my party was even sat the manager came up to us and said “ are you the party of 12, I said yes and he goes ok you’re going to have an 18 percent service charge to your check for the large party.” Understandable yes, but his tone, absolutely not. There are other ways to let your customers know of this. Like try letting them know when the reservation is made. Or perhaps when I checked in. The way he went about it left a poor taste in my mouth. Next, they only had “one table” apparently that could accommodate our group. So imagine my surprise when we get to our table and see that they added a small corner table that wasn’t even level with the hibachi table on the side to fit our party. Whatever, it is what it is at this point. It’s my mom’s birthday and we just want to have a nice dinner. As we’re all getting situated this manager, Joe comes over and immediately starts yelling at my sister in law that she can’t sit where she is because she’s blocking the path of the chef. Ok so as we are trying to figure out how to move around he starts yelling at us that we should fit because the table was set up for 12 and that’s our party size. So he starts counting and says well you don’t fit because you’re 13. We can’t fit thirteen this is for 12. (He's counting the one year old in the highchair as our 13). As I responded to him, oh well you’re counting the baby. His response to me is, of course I’m counting him. Do you expect him to sit at another table over there alone. To which at this point he gestures and hits the baby on the head!!!! His attitude was so poor, for him to be the manager of this place is disgusting and disgraceful. I’ve worked in restaurants my whole life and this type of behavior should never be tolerated from someone who is meant to be the face of the restaurant as front house staff. Thankfully after I told him off about his attitude he stayed away from the table. I’m shocked this is how Benihana in Short Hills, operates. I’ve been to other locations and always had a great time. BUT I’LL DEFINITELY NEVER BE RETURNING HERE!! And on top of that. My son bit into his maraschino cherry that he got with his ice cream and there was a pit !!!! NEVER AGAIN!! Expensive and not worth the crappy...

It really hurts me to give below 5 reviews, and I am very understanding and accommodating usually, you can tell when things are busy and stuff happens. But Benihana being such a reputed place was quite a disappointment for us last week. We had booked a table for 12 people (very much in advance) and were told by the restaurant that "we will not be able to sit you unless everyone is here sharp on time (7:30PM)" ... we were 3 families meeting there and all live an hour away, so we called everyone and told them make sure to be there on time.

We made it there on time, "every single one of us", and the manager told us, it should be a short wait. My questions to them was that if I had made a reservation, why was the table not reserved? I mean that's the whole idea of making a reservation. Sometimes you go to a restaurant and see a placard on a table that says "RESERVED", so I would expect that. However, there is an exception to the rule, if someone was at the table from earlier and have not finished yet, so yes, that's understandable. It would have been my 5 stars right there, because it happens.

HOWEVER, That's not the case, because all the tables that had the capacity to seat 12 people had people sitting on it waiting for the chef, some had just started. So ok, we all got there before 7.30, and are waiting, talking to each other, 15 minute wait won't hurt anyone, 20 would be a stretch. We were offered a table past 8:30. We waited more than one hour after our reservation time to be seated. It obviously pushed everything late, we started late, the service was rushed and still not something that would make you feel that they are trying to make up for the time loss, the chef looked tired and wanted to probably wrap us up and leave, drinks took forever, the waitress didn't know what kind of drinks they have at the bar that are not on the menu. The table we got was crammed, thinking were spilling, it was not a fun night. We chose the wrong location, travelled an hour to get there and went back disappointed. This was not OK.

It isn't what it used to be earlier. The prices have gone up, and the service has gone down. Sorry, but I am giving 3 stars just because they did say sorry for the wait, and the fact that we were served food that we went there for. Really disappointed in...