Benihana

We show up to Benihana with a party of 10. Half of us were ordering sushi so we all sat at a regular table downstairs. We had water at our table (thank goodness because our server never asked us for our drink order) and only about 3 menus to share between 10 people. We asked for more menus and our server brought over 1 more. No one received their food at the same time. The sushi orderers got their food immediately. Everyone oredered a salad and they all came out at different times. When the soup came out, some had full bowls of soup and others had only 1/2 full bowls of soup. They also came out at different times. Then the entrees came. 2 came out, then.. 15 minutes later 1 or 2 came out, then... 15 minutes later 2 more came out. Everyone's order came with rice, but only about 3 received it. My husband asked for Medium rare Filet Minon. It came out well done. The sushi orderers didn't get everything they ordered. My son, who is 5, got his meal the very last! He ordered the teriyaki steak and they brought out chicken. (We sat down at our table at 7:15. My son finally got his meal at 9:00) The server never explained why things were going the way they were he just dropped off the food and bolted away before we could ask him any questions. He finally said something like there was only ONE cook in the kitchen. He also told me he wouldn't charge me for the kid's meal. He DID charge us for it. (We noticed after we already paid for our meal) We were so mad and it was getting so late, we just wanted to get out of there so we just left and didn't fight it. I think our server's name was Eric. Dude, serving is not for you. Get another job!

Pros: I'm sure the upstairs customers had great service

Cons: Everything

Posted 12/10/08

The nice thing is if you want sushi and someone with you likes "regular food" they have a good variety for both of you.
The all-you-can eat is great if you are starving for 30.00 but not the highest of quality sushi.
the atmosphere is decent but parking is a pain - gotta walk a little ways. Sunday the parking garage is closed but some on street available within a block or so.
Not a #1 pick for sushi in SLC but if you have others with "regular food" needs consider Benihana.

Pros: all-you-can-eat

Cons: parking

Posted 06/07/08

This place does quite a business. Be sure to be on time if you have reservations.

We had a group of 20 people, with several showing up late, and had to wait for an hour to get seated. That was partly our fault, and the place was very busy for 6 pm on a Saturday. Service was a bit slow at the beginning of our dinner, but the servers picked up the pace, after dinner started, and the second round of drinks showed up in a normal time frame.

Food and drink were good, and the sushi was fresh. Our group had a number of sushi fans, and I didnt hear any bad comments about anything other than the initial wait.

I would do dinner here again, and probably will in the near future.

Posted 12/02/07

When a place says there's no wait, you shouldn't have to wait an hour for your food, right? Well, that's what we thought. Wednesday night is not usually a busy night for dinner out, so 5 of us went out for sushi. Because Benihana said they had no wait, we changed our plans and came here. They also were running their "Endless Sushi" deal. We had all been there before with great experiences, but this one was HORRIBLE. We will NEVER go there again. When the 5 of us were seated, there were 2 other tables - 1 with 8 and 1 with 4. Not too many people. 4 out of 5 of us ordered the endless sushi deal, the other ordered 2 handrolls. When we sat down, it was close to 7:30, but we figured we'd be able to get a couple of rounds before the 8:30 cutoff. Well, an hour later, they were just barely bringing out our first round! They said there was a "special order" from upstairs they had to take care of first. Apparently, we were NOT special at all so we just had to wait. When the sushi arrived, it was GARBAGE. I don't claim to be a sushi expert, but I know what quality sushi looks and tastes like and this was not it! The fish that was slapped on the nigiri pieces was falling apart! There was no care in presentation - they just squeezed as many pieces on a plate as they could! The 2nd round made it out at almost 10 PM! RIDICULOUS! When this 2nd round came out was when the 2 handrolls finally made it out. When they arrived, they had been sitting for so long the seaweed was soggy! We asked why they didn't just bring out the different items as they were made, the manager said they didn't want too many dirty dishes. That's what a dishwasher's for, buddy. And if you don't want dirty dishes, you're probably in the wrong business! When we were leaving the manager refused to give us more than a 90 minute validation and we had to argue with the parking garage attendant just to get out! WORST RESTAURANT EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD!

Pros: Immediate Seating

Cons: Bad Food, Rude Management, Refused Adequate Parking Validation

Posted 11/09/06

My family and I have been eating weekly (and often twice weekly) at the Salt Lake City, Benihana sushi bar for quite some time. The sushi chefs are cordial and skilled and the food is good, but on the occassions that we are served by the older woman waitress, the experience has become unbareable. The younger waitresses are accomodating and quite friendly, but the older waitress has a big chip on her shoulder and is actually quite rude. I mentioned this to other Benihana regulars - they feel the same way. Even though we are "frequent dining" (Emperor Club) patrons, we will probably not eat there again.

Posted 03/22/06

We went last weekend for a friends birthday and we had a party of 12. The reservation was set for 7:30pm. They ended up informing us that they were running behind and that they wouldn't be able to seat us until 8pm. So our entire party arrived back at the restaurant at 8:00pm. Well, after 30 minutes of waiting around in the waiting area,My husband went to speak to a manager to find out what the hold up was. The manager was completely unsympathetic and argumentative and did nothing to rectify the situation. By that time we were all starving to death.We were not even seated until about 9:15. And the manager was acting as if we were a complete burden on them because we were upset about having to wait almost 2 hours for a table. I wouldn't say it was worth the wait, especially after having a reservation.

Pros: Food was good, entertaining chefs

Cons: reservation process, management, customer treatment

Posted 01/31/06

This place is awesome in terms of good sushi at a good price. I have been eating sushi there for over a year and they *always* have some sushi special or another running. Currently, you can get nigiri for ~$1.00 a piece and some of the more basic rolls for between $2.50 and $3.50 during their "Sushi Happy Hour" at lunch (between 11:30 and 2:00). If you are in a hurry, especially on Fridays, you had better show up early for the lunch deal, it gets crazy-busy in that place.

Pros: Quality, Presentation

Cons: Can get busy

Posted 07/19/05

By far, Benihana's has the freshest sushi fish in SLC. I love the sushi bar deals for $1 nigri/$2 handrolls. Definately get the eels and scallops. Only con is that it's a bit tricky to find the first time - it's in the middle of the block.

Pros: Sushi, Fresh Fish, Great deals

Posted 10/04/04

I do not particularly like chain restauranst and Benihana's is the exception. Their filet mignon is melt in your mouth tender. The ginger salad dressing is the best I have ever had. The fried rice is excellent and the service is impeccable. I highly recommend it...it is worth the money.

Posted 06/06/04

I loved the food, you DO go home smelling like the food, but I honestly didn't mind it at all. I loved the smell. Having a birthday there is awesome, everyone sings happy birthday, you get some tasty ice cream and a Polaroid! The chefs are way cool, although I prefer Tepanyaki in Provo, because the chefs and Benihana don't throw food at you like they do in Tepanyaki! LOL! But it was still good stuff. :)

Pros: good food, bright colors, awesome chefs

Cons: No parking, tiny space big tables

Posted 08/15/03

Usually when I've gone to Benihana's I've had an enjoyable time. This was true, but also not true. All these years I heard people raving about Rockies Choice. So last week I broke down and got it. I didn't think it was that spectacular. Actually, my meat was more sashmi style than cooked. I know that sashmi is popular but when I order medium I expect medium. So next I would just stick to chicken or seafood. Don't go to the steak

Posted 01/06/03

We went to Benihana so our friend could try the table cooking, but we wanted sushi. Low and behold we were informed "Sorry, cannot have sushi." Apperantly they were too busy to make us sushi, even though we spent over $100 that night. I won't be back.

Posted 10/22/02

Great food, great atmosphere & great prices. A wonderful place to go for any special occation.

Posted 10/03/02

The Sushi Bar is close to my office, so I can be found there often for lunch. Specials at lunch are filling and affordable.

Posted 08/17/02

The food is great, but kinda bland. THe best part it the fried rice. I love to watch the chefs make my food. If your going out after dinner here you will probably wann eat somewhere else, cause U WILL SMELL LIKE THE FOOD, I mean its really bad. But I am a lover of Benihanas

Pros: Food

Cons: Smell

Posted 07/08/02