Benihana — Restaurant in Scott Township

I’ve been coming to this Benihana for over 15 years and the last year every time I’ve ate diner here it’s has been nothing but disappointing. The only reason I didn’t give 1 star is because of my past good experiences. I came for dinner today without reservations and the host told me they could not seat me until 8:30, I told them that open table showed openings for 6:45 which is why I didn’t make a reservation and the host said no there’s nothing open. We went and ate dinner at the bar and I also at the same time went into open table and made a 6:45 reservation, which Benihana confirmed and even texted me to notify me my table was ready 15 min early at 6:30. So I’m not sure why I was denied service at the hibachi table without them even checking the availability and then telling me they had no possible way of seating me until 8:30, but I was able to make a reservation online which they confirmed. Like I said we ate at the bar anyway and the waitress was great but the food not so much. My boyfriend and I both got the filet and colossal shrimp with fried rice, which was awful, the filets appeared like two different cuts of meat, and I could not even eat most of mine, the colossal shrimp was also over cooked and rubbery and the fried rice tasted like white rice. I asked the server for new rice which she said was fine and she came out less then a min later with the same rice, just covered in soy sauce and the bowls extremely hot from microwaving the rice and told us the chef made it fresh. I was a waitress for years and know the plate and bowls get hot from either sitting under the light or being microwaved. When she asked if the rice was better I couldn’t even get my self to lie and told her it was still awful but don’t worry about taking it off the bill even though she offered. My entire experience was already ruined and the factor that they didn’t even respect their customers enough to make new rice when spending $100+ on two meals is disheartening. Like I said I’ve been here 4 times in the last year and if the 4 times I was never once served good food but kept giving them a chance in hopes that they would be as good as they used to be. At this point after another awful experience I don’t think I can give them another chance in the future. There are dozens of hibachi restaurants in the area that are much better and at least respect their customers enough to give them fresh food when their food...

I've been coming here for a over a decade, and have always enjoyed the atmosphere and the food, but the service the time I was at this location on the night of May 22nd 2019 was awful.

Firstly the host was standing at the host station with his cell phone out and did not acknowledge us until I said something to him. We were shown to our table at the same time as another couple, that from conversation with the server seems to go to the restaurant on a near daily basis. When asked by the server if it was a special I attempted to answer yes, because it was my one year anniversary with my girlfriend. However the other couple interrupted me several times, and the server did not wait for an answer before beginning to converse with the other couple casually. After my third time repeating myself the server looked at me blankly and said "oh that's good" before returning to conversation with that same couple. Clearly our one year anniversary rates less than a casual visit from this couple.

The meal itself was the quality I expected, though the preferential treatment did not stop with the server. Our chef Fernando also seemed to be ignoring any attempts at conversation to focus on this couple the entire time throughout the service. We were basically ignored, while the other couple was provided with additional service that was far above and beyond what we were receiving, such as extra portion sizes.

After the chef had left our server came over, clearly intending to get us out of the restaurant as fast as possible, and gave us the check. I understand that it is beneficial for servers to clear tables quickly, but we had ordered a 6 course meal and had not even been offered our desserts at all. From the impression I gathered the server was happy to let us leave without giving us the final course which was included with our meal as described in the menu. When I asked about the desserts our server became very unhelpful saying "oh yeah, I could get that for you, I guess..."

I regret giving this server the tip I did, which is the reason for this review now. I came in for a special occasion and the level of service was the worst I have ever received or even seen in a dining franchise of this scale. We both left very disappointed and I do not think we will...

I went to Benihana of Pittsburgh and had a horrendous dining experience due to very poor and slow customer service from the waiter to the manager. Our party of 3 arrived a few minutes before our 6 PM reservation and were promptly seated at a hibachi table with another party of 3. Then we waited 15 minutes before the waiter came over to take our order. It took another 15 minutes for drinks to arrive. The 3 tables surrounding our table, who all were seated about 6:25 PM ALL had the hibachi fired up within 10 minutes. It took exactly ONE HOUR (7 PM) after arrival to have the chef start cooking our meal. There was no explanation or apology. The food that was prepared tableside was good. One person ordered Benihana Excellence and another shrimp and scallops. BUT...one member of our party ordered a sushi and sashimi entre, which did not arrive until after we asked for a manager and after the other diners were 3/4 finished with their prepared neal. When it did arrive, the steamed rice was cold and the tuna was sick looking. The manager agreed that the tuna should be replaced but I had to wait a bit further before a substituted fish arrived. When the manager came to see what was our issue, she said that she would check in the kitchen and return. She then disapoeared for 20 minutes and only came back when I politely asked the waiter to ask her to return. Eventually, the GM came to our table to apologize and state that they would give us an unsolicited discount. I was appalled of the $10 discount, considering it wasn't an inexpensive restaurant. I usually write 5 star reviews or just chalk up a less than 5 star experience due to the restaurant having a bad day. This was such a negative dining experience and fell so far below other Benihana experiences that we have had in the past that I felt obligated to write...