Benihana — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

We are MONUMENTALLY DISAPPOINTED. I had heard what a great place this was and how much better it is than Tepanyaki, but that information is just plain wrong. The staff we dealt with were friendly, but beyond that, everything else was a trainwreck.

Disclaimer: I write a lot of online reviews and most of them are glowing. Whether the reviews are glowing or not so glowy (yes, I made that up), I am always fair and objective.

First, there is no information about parking on their website, so when you enter their driveway that says there is parking for Benihana, it is blocked off, so we and 3 other vehicles had to make 3 point turns to get back out onto the street. Take your damn parking sign down if the parking lot is closed! The construction that made it very difficult to find parking, so we made several loops until we found a garage nearby. Had to pay $19 for that.

Second, it was hard to find. There is an adjacent Mexican restaurant called Blue Iguana that has signs and flags and a cool glass entrance tube that takes you downstairs to the restaurant. The entrance to Benihana is around a corner of that building, and there are no signs directing you to the restaurant. The only reason I knew where to go is that we had a family member with us who had been there before. Otherwise, we would have had to walk around looking for it. Quite ridiculous, really. If you have a business, you WANT people to find you.

Third, despite all that, we made it on time. The greeter was very pleasant, told me they were running 15-20 minutes late, and offered a sincere apology. We waited closer to 30 minutes without anyone checking on us. The building is awkward inside and it is loud and crowded. The waiting room is around the corner from the reception desk, and it's not comfortable. So when they finally did call my name, I didn't hear it. One would think that in a restaurant that expressly claims to offer a high-end dining experience, they would have a staff member walk over to where we are and call our name.

Fourth, the restaurant is FILTHY. It looked like it had not been vacuumed for a week. I'm not exaggerating. The men's bathroom is also filthy.

Fifth, the dining area is up a steep, old staircase with a wooden banister. One of our party has a bad knee. I saw nothing on their website about that. Fortunately, she was having a good day and it didn't hurt her to go up the stairs. The stairs are also very narrow, so you have to wait a long time for the staircase to empty before you can go up or down. On top of that, the banisters are sticky. It's not like somebody spilled a coke on one sticky. It's like the old wood that only gets wiped down with water, but never cleaned sticky.

Sixth, the website does not have their menu items or prices, so I was very unpleasantly surprised with the selection and the prices. We would have chosen another place due to the lack of options.

Seventh, my waitress got my order wrong. I wanted steak, shrimp, and scallops. Instead, I got steak, chicken, and scallops. She also got one other order wrong. That aside, she was very friendly and attentive and did an extraordinary job making sure we all had what we needed.

Eighth, the restaurant is crowded, extremely loud, hard to navigate, and cramped. There is little room to put plates and drinks. It was awkward and uncomfortable.

Ninth, our table chef made quite a few mistakes, but was friendly and conversational, but not very entertaining.

Tenth, the food was extremely disappointing, especially considering the price! If one is going to pay $30 - $60 or more a plate, one would expect the flavor of the food to be at least better than average. It was not. It was just plain food with salt, pepper, butter, oil, and soy sauce. I can get that at a Mongolian Grill for fifteen bucks. I wish I would have. We paid $400 to have our high expectations shot down. That said--again, being objective and fair--the dipping sauces were delicious and so were the passionfruit cocktail and the passionfruit lemonade.

We would not return even if they offered to...

My experience at Benihana Sushi and Grill is still unfolding, but I feel compelled to share my thoughts so far. While the food has turned out to be good—and I appreciate that the sushi chef ultimately added more ingredients instead of leaving my dish lacking—the overall process to get here has left a bitter taste in my mouth.

From the very beginning, the experience was marked by frustration. The hostess area was empty when I arrived, leaving me waiting far too long to even be acknowledged. Once seated, I wasn’t handed a menu right away. When the waitress finally came, she kindly gave me one and even apologized, clearly confused as to why the other staff hadn’t provided it earlier. Her name was Kat, and I want to make sure to commend her for her kindness and professionalism. She did her best to make up for the disorganization, and her attentiveness stood out in an otherwise poor experience. Unfortunately, her efforts weren’t enough to compensate for the lack of care and attentiveness from the rest of the team.

The most upsetting part of the experience revolved around a simple request: to substitute the imitation crab in my sushi roll. Instead of offering reasonable alternatives, the sushi chef implied that removing the imitation crab would result in a roll made with nothing but cream cheese. This suggestion felt unnecessary and dismissive, as it completely disregarded the possibility of substituting with other ingredients. I had to insist repeatedly for a better solution, which only added to my frustration.

After a lot of unnecessary back-and-forth, the chef finally added more ingredients to the roll, resulting in a dish that was enjoyable. However, the difficulty of reaching that resolution overshadowed the meal itself. It’s hard to truly savor good food when the process leading up to it feels so dismissive and exhausting.

I came to Benihana Sushi and Grill expecting a smooth, enjoyable dining experience, but what I encountered was a series of hurdles that detracted from the atmosphere and left me feeling more frustrated than satisfied. While I’m glad the food eventually turned out well, the experience leading up to it showed a glaring lack of attentiveness and customer care.

I hope this review serves as a wake-up call for the staff to improve their service and communication. For me, dining out isn’t just about the food—it’s about the entire experience. I expect to feel welcomed, heard, and valued as a customer, but instead, I felt like an afterthought. While the food quality might bring some back, for me, the memory of this process lingers far too strongly.

Kat’s kindness was the one bright spot in this disappointing experience, but one kind server shouldn’t have to carry the burden of covering for an entire team’s lack of attentiveness. I hope the team takes this feedback seriously and makes the changes necessary to provide a better experience for future customers. As for me, I’m uncertain if I’d return or recommend this place, despite the eventual quality of the food. Dining out should never feel like this much...

READ THIS, DO NOT COME HERE!!!

Seriously broken hearted to give this place a 1 star review. Look at all the 1-2 star reviews in the past year, most of them are from long time customers. The owners and management should be ashamed of themselves!

We have been coming here for over 20 years. Same manager for the past 2 decades. We have really loved the food here and have always made this the birthday spot for our kids every year and for special occasions. The food and service has declined significantly. Tonight we brought our daughter her for here 14th birthday and It was awful!

When the server served us soup she grabbed the rim of the bowl and dipped her long thumb nail in all four soups. It was so gross I felt ill. We sent the soup back. The shrimp was super dry and fishy. It tasted like frozen fish processing plant ice or maybe like chlorine city tap water, gross! The service is slow and they are always behind. The over head vents had grease drips in several spots that look like they are going to drip into the food. The place is much dirtier than it was in years past. The sauces were way watered down and tasteless. Over the past three years the cleanliness and service has declined but the food was ok, Tonight it was wooden, dry and cheap tasteless. The portions are weak and anemic, this is the last time we will ever come here.

If you are in town and planning a large group, or a family celebrating a birthday just avoid this place, it’s no longer the fun and quality place it was in the past, the prices are way too high for the quality and experience, plus you will stink like filthy onion, oil and grease when you leave. If you are planning a date here good luck! You will stink like filthy onion BO and rancid oil when you leave!

The prices have risen over the years yet the food quality, service and cleanliness has declined tremendously.

If you are still reading, this is honest review, this is coming from a 20 year loyal customer. So this is not a one off experience. We are so sad and broken hearted that our beloved and favorite birthday spot has decayed to this level.

Don’t spend your money here. Don’t wast your time, they have lost the trust of the loyal local customer. :( I’m so sad this place has become so bad.

Stay Away, especially since SLC offers so many better options.

Benihana SLC needs to be shut down, cleaned, remodeled with a revamped staff and management. This place has grown sick and decrepit!

My wife made a commend when we got home tonight, for me to look at the side of our refrigerator, we have 9 red framed Benihana pictures from the past 8 years with family and friends. I noticed my daughter, so little only 8 years old and so happy and smiling.

Benihana SLC does not care about their loyal long term customers. Shame on this palace and the management for disrespecting the people that have kept them in business for decades. It’s time for some major...