Benihana - Schaumburg — Restaurant in Schaumburg Township

Disclaimer: Typically this location is very good. We come here a few times a year at a minimum. That said, my last visit was so uncharacteristically bad that I need to leave this review. So bad in fact that there are potentially life threatening practices taking place.

We came in for a birthday dinner and everything was as usual. Our server, Simon, was very friendly. Our first problem came when we received our soups. My wife's soup had hair in it. On it's own not a deal breaker but in hindsight, this was certainly a sign of what was to come. When our chef came out we told him about the hair in the soup and he seemed very confused and offered no help. To his credit, he did bring the server over but this was at the same time we had made eye contact to get his attention already. To say that this meal was not to the standard of Benihana is an understatement. Typically the chef begins with the veggies on the grill however our chef began with the rice. The rice itself was fine however the chef was flinging rice and other ingredients all over the grill and even on to plates while mixing the ingredients together. Something I'd never seen before. When he began cooking the veggies and appetizers he also started my wife's scallops and my colossal shrimp. He cooked the scallops for as long as he cooked the appetizer shrimp. Given that my wife's meal was $50 I was not too pleased when the scallops were very rubbery and overcooked. The timing of other meal items were off as well. My appetizer shrimp were finished at the same time as the colossal shrimp that were supposed to come with my entree. The last major mistake was the cooking of the steak. After putting the steak on the grill, he immediately cut them all into small pieces. This is absolutely not the way to cook steak. Unsurprisingly, my wife's steak had pieces that were well done along with pieces that were rare at best. To finish off the experience he wiped the grill down with a rag. The problem with this was that he did not clean any food off the grill before doing so. He was flinging grains of rice and other left over food all over the table.

This experience alone would have not made me leave a review. What I witnessed from the same chef cooking one table over is where I drew the line. This is nothing short of a medical hazard and a lawsuit waiting to happen. While serving the fried rice to his diners he did the flourish where he flips the bowl of rice through the air and catches it in the other hand. He dropped the bowl on the grill and the shatter was heard audibly throughout the restaurant. He did not clear the grill and restart the food despite a dish breaking ON the cooking surface. While serving the rice the chef working behind him turned and said he needed to remake the rice. His response was to point to the spot the bowl broke and say "it broke over there, it's fine". The other chef shrugged and continued his meal as if to say, "That's not gonna be my problem". The table full of gentlemen took it in stride making jokes like, "Man, this rice is sharp!". I did not think it was as funny. Swallowing glass is nothing to joke about and is a serious medical issue that can be life threatening. The entire grill needed to be cleared of food, cleaned, and the meal restarted. It was at this point we decided we could not watch any longer and decided to leave.

To the managers credit, she comped my wife's meal due to the poor scallops, steak, and hair in the soup. She did this without hesitation as well and was extremely understanding. I do not know if this was a trial run for this chef or if it was his first night but that does not excuse the blatant disregard of customer...

WORST EVER. I worked at a sushi and hibachi restaurant for many years, and it's my favorite type of food. However, this was by far the worst sushi and hibachi restaurant I've been to. The service from our server was good, but that was the highlight of my experience. The chef was another story I'll get into. I ordered a steak hibachi with fried rice and a 2 piece salmon sashimi. The meal comes with some sides. Here are my thoughts...the salmon sashimi was delivered first. The salmon tasted fine, but it was not a true sashimi cut. It was so thin and flimsy. The quality was poor. At least it didn't smell fishy, so it was somewhat fresh. Then the soup came, and it tasted fine - nothing special. The salad was another story. The dressing had clearly been sitting on that salad forever - maybe all day. It was watery and soupy in the bottom. The taste was ok, but I could tell it wasn't prepared fresh. For the restaurant: I'd recommend having a pitcher of the ginger dressing in the fridge and pouring it on the salad just before they're taken to customers. Otherwise, like I said, it'll be soupy salad. Finally, the dinner was being prepared. The chef had to leave the table 4 or 5 times because he forgot ingredients and messed up orders. Twice a kitchen staffer had to deliver ingredients to him as well. He didn't seem confident, which was the first red flag signaling that he didn't know what he was doing. I'm assuming he's a new chef, but he clearly wasn't ready to be out in the hibachi. He over peppered everything. When I or others tried to correct him on orders or indicate how we preferred our food, he didn't understand or didn't hear us. I know he wanted to do his best and probably tried to do so, but he plainly was not ready. I asked for medium rare to medium steak. There were completely raw parts in a couple of pieces of steak. I didn't eat those ones, but the texture when I examined them with my fork seemed they'd be chewy. The steak bits were cut in long strips. The 3 or so slices I ate were again super peppery but cooked to the right temperature. The zucchini was also majorly over peppered. The onions were decent at best, but they at least weren't over peppered somehow. I didn't even eat the mushrooms because by that time, I was sick of it all. The only other decent item was the fried rice. It was just...eh. The chef messed up the fried rice order(s) 3 times, and mine ended up with burnt eggs from him leaving the table to get things. I didn't stay for the scoop of ice cream that was included with my meal, and neither did the guys next to me. It was so bad that I just wanted to leave. I'm glad I did because I was sick afterward. In the end, I told the server how awful the food was. I was there alone, but even the 2 other guys next to me agreed it was the worst food they'd had at Benihana. The manager gave me a discount, but I'll still not be coming back here. It was the worst sushi and hibachi I've ever had, and I'll be sure to warn others about it. I've attached pictures, including the receipt. Although you'll see the tip says 0 on my receipt, I did tip my server in cash and 20% of the...

We recently visited Benihana for a family member’s birthday after hearing great things from friends. Unfortunately, our experience was nothing like what we were expecting.

The food was the biggest disappointment. Nearly everything was either overcooked or poorly seasoned. The scallops, shrimp, steak, and chicken were all extremely overcooked—so dry and chewy that they were difficult to eat. The chicken, in particular, had been left on the grill so long that it was almost like jerky by the time it reached our plates. On top of that, the seasoning was completely inconsistent. The chicken fried rice was overloaded with soy sauce, making it the only flavor we could taste, while other dishes, like the chicken and steak, were completely underseasoned and flavorless.

The vegetables weren’t much better. The onions had an incredibly strong flavor and were tough, which usually indicates they weren’t fresh. The salad was also a mess—it had a pool of water sitting at the bottom of the bowl. Either the lettuce wasn’t dried properly after being washed, or, more likely, the salads were pre-made and left sitting for too long with the dressing already on them. I don’t know why they would do that, considering it takes almost no time to dress and serve a salad fresh to avoid this issue.

To be fair, our chef was friendly and did a great job with the tricks and entertainment aspect of the meal. However, his actual cooking skills were lacking. I didn’t say anything at the time because I didn’t want to get him in trouble - he seemed like a nice person, and I would have felt terrible if my complaint had cost him his job. But at the end of the day, the food just wasn’t prepared well and we didn't enjoy anything we ate, and that’s a huge problem for a restaurant at any price point. The fact that we paid over $50 per person after tax and tip just made the poor quality even harder to overlook.

Adding to the disappointment, the restaurant itself wasn’t very clean. Even though it wasn’t particularly busy (which may be normal for a Monday night), the dining area floors were noticeably dirty, with bits of food, paper wrappers, and other trash scattered around.

I don’t know if things have changed recently with the ownership or staff, but our experience was nothing like what our friends had described from their visits in past years. Sadly, this visit left us with no reason to come back.

Our experience at Benihana has all the hallmarks of a restaurant that's pinching pennies and cutting staff and quality to save money, while keeping their prices the same. I wouldn't be surprised to see a change of ownership or the business to fail within...