Benihana — Restaurant in San Mateo

Being a lifelong Northern Californian, whenever friends and family wanted to celebrate a special occasion we’d naturally make a reservation at the Burlingame Benihana. We’ve experienced many birthdays, anniversaries, proms and even had a tradition of going to Benihanas on New Years to ring in the newest year! So when we heard that Benihanas was opening in San Mateo, we were so excited to try it with some close friends.

We made reservations for Saturday (4/5) at 6:15 and the place was packed when we opened the front door. We checked in at 6:05 and decided to grab a quick drink at the bar where we were immediately greeted by the bartender (Parker) who was upbeat, personal and made us feel “right at home” where we decided to try Parker’s recommendation of “Benihana Punch” that came in a collectible mug.

After a quick drink, we heard our name called and we were promptly seated at 6:15.

The “magic” about San Mateo Benihana is as follows:

1. You instantly meet new people and “new friends” since you'll will be engaging in a special dining experience that is unique to Benihanas at any of their 17 teppanyaki grills. We ate at one of the two grills in the bar, so we were able to keep an eye on the SF Giants and Final Four games.
2. Drink service was excellent and dinner flowed perfectly. Gotta love the onion volcano!
3. Try teriyaki and garlic butter on any steak :) The Ginger sauce mixed into their world famous chicken fried rice makes it an 11/10.
4. If you like champagne, try the sake sampler and then you’ll probably order the Bai Mio Sparkling Sake (it’s the third drink in the sampler). It’s so good straight up... we also drank it on ice as it’s pretty refreshing. After dinner, we strolled across the Bridgepointe parking lot to Total Wine and brought a bottle home.
5. Two people at our table had birthdays so Benihana employees sung Happy Birthday in English and Japanese with some pretty cool sounding tambourines!
6. The staff took a group picture of us and they had it back to us in a Benihana frame within minutes.
7. We took an Uber since we knew we’d have a few cocktails but they actually have Valet Parking!

We want to personally thank Josh (Bar Manager) and Roger Chan (Restaurant Manager) who spent quality time with us during and after dinner asking for feedback, how was the dining experience, etc.. Two genuine individuals who take Benihanas to the next level as an elite customer dining experience.

What we also learned during our dining experience...do yourself a favor and sign up for their Birthday program on their website. Save $30 on dinner M-Th after you spend $30.

Their Happy Hour is a phenomenal deal (M-F) which I think goes from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM in the bar area. Such a great selection of their delicious sushi rolls and exotic drinks.

Overall, I encourage everyone to make a reservation and enjoy the best dining experience in the...

Benihana San Mateo Injured My Mother - Corporate Apologized, But San Mateo Management Ignored Us

On 4/19/25, we went to Benihana San Mateo to celebrate my grandmother's 89th birthday.

After our meal, as we stood up and began walking out to leave, a chef came rushing through the crowded aisle with a heavy metal cart. He was distracted, talking to a waitress while walking, and not watching where he was going. As he attempted to maneuver around my mother, the cart slammed into the back of her ankle with such force it caused her to bleed.

The chef offered a quick, dismissive apology and continued on without checking if she was okay. I notified front desk staff of the incident. No one notified a manager. No manager ever came to check on her. One staff member took a photo of the injury, but that was the only action taken. I had to ask for a first aid kit myself and attend to my mother as she had to take a seat in the lobby area due to the pain and bleeding at her ankle.

We reached out to Benihana's corporate office soon after. To the corporate office's credit, they were apologetic and agreed the service and response we received in San Mateo was unacceptable. They assured us the San Mateo location would follow up directly.

But no one ever did. No call. No email. Nothing, and it has been over a week since corporate stated we would receive any type of response.

We spent over $400 that afternoon. We've supported Benihana for over 30 years at their Burlingame location. It's disheartening when your team injured a loyal guest, your management failed to act--then completely ignored us.

Even your corporate office acknowledged this was mishandled. Why hasn't your San Mateo team shown the same accountability?

This wasn't just a service failure. It was a complete breakdown of responsibility and care. And that's something no customer should ever have...

We had a rough experience. Our table was given a prep cook instead of a hibachi chef. We know because it said so on his nametag. Because of this, the food and experience greatly suffered.

I'm not upset with the prep cook. He tried his best, bless his heart, but he just wasn't ready. It was a bit difficult to see the other tables having hibachi chefs doing tricks and being really energetic, and ours couldn't do it. I felt really bad for him.

The food itself was also not good. The chicken fried rice was not fried and the chicken was basically unseasoned. The top wasnt hot enough at first, and it was a bit concerning to see him move around the raw chicken on a cold top, then use the same tool on the veggies and rice.

We were concerned enough that some of our party talked to a manager about it. Nothing was done. We never got a hibachi chef. At the end, they apologized for the experience, and comped one of the meals. It is a nice gesture, but the damage had already been done.

I can excuse the wait because this place is new and it was incredibly busy. That being said, I should mention that we got our first food, the soup, about an hour after our reservation time. In all, the experience was 3 hours long.

Overall, I'm sure that if you got an actual hibachi chef, you would have good food and good experience. If you are as unlucky as our party to get a prep cook instead, you will have an awful time. It baffled me that this decision was made, and that nothing was done to remedy it.

I'm a local, and I was incredibly excited about this place opening up. It's so disappointing that we had the experience that we did. I wish I could give it 4 or 5 stars, but I just cant, not if you get a prep cook, bad food, and a bad experience. If you go, I hope you get a hibachi chef instead of a prep cook. Do you really want to chance it when spending that much...