Benihana — Restaurant in Paradise

This is my 2nd time posting this review. My other pictures were saved through that post and is not longer available. The visit was not great at all. I made reservations with the westgate location for 10pm, it was altered to the fashion show location. Upon getting there sat in the waiting area for about 15 minutes after being told that they had room for us. After being seated in our own private section we were shown menus and asked what we wanted to drink. I notice that presentation is not important. The bowls that were placed on the table were not clean, the plates had grease still sitting through out. I asked about the Long Island, she informed us that they were really strong giving an example of another customer. I informed her that that's not the case with me, she said she would tell the bar tender to make it "challenging". When my drink was delivered I took a sip and to no surprise it tasted like triple sec or lemon, there was no liquor in it. My wife tasted it as well to see if my taste buds were off, she agreed that it was just juice. I dont drink everywhere, but when I do I like to have what I ordered. After our drinks were delivered, we noticed that the glasses were dirty. The glasses were wet and stained from dirty hands and it showed. We noticed upon sitting down that the griddle was still dirty. The sauce bowls had the sauces on the rim and outside. They weren't cleaned up to look good. The rice bowl for the entree was overflowing and just messy looking. When the chef arrived he notice that it was dirty as well, he had to use 3 scrub brushes just to get it clean. When my wife's soup was delivered the waitresses finger was in rim of the bowl. Being that it was her birthday they sang it in Japanese. The problem I have is that we lived in Japan for 4 years and knowing some Japanese we noticed all they did was count in Japanese, my son caught that error. I taught it to them for my wife's birthday in 2017. They brought out a bowl of ice cream for her. The waitress had fingers in the bowl as she handed it to her. The lemonade and Sprite were flat, the lemonade tasted dirty. As our food was being handed to us there was no care to ensure hands or fingers were not placed in the food. Just now realizing that we did not get the ice cream nor the green tea that was supposed to come with the meal. Having been to Hibachi restaurants in the US and in Asia, I have NEVER been to one that doesnt serve fried rice or chowmien with the entree. White rice just doesnt do it for me. The sushi rolls were the best part of the dinner. Presentation was good for some of the sushi plates that were delivered. For a $200 bill this was not worth it. Just because we wanted to give it a full try we stayed, but thought of leaving about 5 minutes after being seated. The saving grace and reason there was a 2 star was because the chef was very good. He entertained was neat and clean, interacted with us and very interested in his craft. He paid attention to all of the orders, and we had many different orders, all of the dinners were presented properly. At 19 years old he was very professional and I would if I could have him be my chef at a different location. No matter if its noon or 10pm the service should still...

I decided to try Benihana in Las Vegas after receiving a $30 birthday certificate, and the entire experience was a disaster. The host initially suggested the $39 tasting menu and told us we could use the birthday certificate if we sat in the bar or lounge area instead of at the hibachi grill. However, once our server finally arrived—more than 10 minutes later in an almost empty restaurant—he informed us we actually could not use the certificate on the tasting menu. That completely contradicted what the host had told us. We ended up in the lounge thinking we would order the tasting menu, but instead had to switch to the regular menu—losing out on the hibachi experience altogether.

When the server did show up, he was immediately rambunctious and invasive—his first words to my partner were, “What’s wrong with you? Under the weather? Want a Red Bull?” And this was at 5:30 PM! After disappearing for another 15 minutes, I had to involve someone who appeared to be a manager just to track him down again. We eventually ordered Seafood Diablo ($46), a single lobster tail ($28), and a Mango Colada ($11). Despite the place being nearly empty, our food took forever to arrive. The dining area was freezing, the seats were uncomfortable, and I ended up standing just to wait for our order.

The server never cleared our table after we finished our soup and salad; I had to stack the empty bowls myself and move them aside. When the dishes finally came, the food was extremely salty and oily, and the udon was overcooked. Our supposed “5-course meal” only included soup, salad, and a main dish—nothing else was served. We couldn’t even get water refills without going to the bar ourselves.

Worse yet, I noticed the cook spraying some kind of substance onto the fan directly above the grill, which could have easily drifted down onto our food. And to top it all off, everything was outrageously overpriced compared to its quality. Spending $46 on an overly salty dish, $28 for a single (tiny) lobster tail, and $11 for a so-so drink is downright ridiculous when the food and service are this poor.

Overall, my birthday dinner was ruined by poor communication, inattentive service, and subpar, overpriced food. I definitely won’t be returning, and I can’t recommend Benihana to anyone looking for a pleasant or reliable...

Beware of getting hustled.

My company booked for 20 a couple nights ago. Food was on par for a hibachi grill, atmosphere was loud per normal, service was also fairly standard and honestly a decent show.

So why the poor rating?

Part of the show, tossing the eggs around ... doing a bit of juggling with the spatula and knives the chef tosses a bowl over one egg. Pretty standard trick - one becomes many. He asks all of us how many eggs, blah blah blah you know the story.

He singles out one of my colleagues that said 1 and starts a bet - 'oh really how much would you bet?' My colleague says 100. There were several of us at the table that had seen this and were smirking - he was a couple cups in and about to get shocked. But we did not believe this was a licensed gaming establishment and everything was just part of the show, or I would have personally stopped the 'bet'.

So show goes on, he reveals 4 eggs. Laughs and wows, good trick chef. We had food, my steak was perfect. All is well and everyone is happy, merry all the way around. Chef cleans up, he starts to push off and the stops and stares at my friend, so how about that 100 bet, you going to pay up?

The table is a bit shocked all kinds of watching for a laugh. My friend pulls out his wallet and pays. Chef walks away.

Well chef, you made your 100 - you would have made a lot more than that in tip. And Benihana, the group of 15-25 that comes here to conventions every year won't be back here to eat. I hope anyone reading this is also fairly warned - don't make bets with street hustlers, and you will find at least one hustler in Benihana.

Update1: I followed the instructions from the owner account here on google and I filled out the report on their website. What has happened in the past week is no acknowledgement, no follow up, no recognition that they should do corrective training. I have however received 4 separate spam emails adverting the place. Why they think I will go back there, I don't know.

Therefore I am left to assume that this is an intended practice of their employees and likely have some sort of split with the house system. So I will report them to the Nevada gaming commission to verify that they have a gaming license, I did not see one displayed - and...