Benihana and Sushi Bar
- Price Range: $$$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
10 Reviews for Benihana and Sushi Bar
Oh how I wish I made more money so I could eat Benihana more often. I could chow down their fried rice just about everyday if I had the choice and luxury. My friends & I tend to visit this spot when birthdays roll around, and it always seems to be the perfect place. Keep in mind, that sometimes there will be a wait to sit at a table depending on the size of your party. Reason being because they have to try and fill out their tables w/as many people as possible. But to kill some time, their bar area is nice & clean, and the bartender has always been friendly and great w/drinks when we go. Not sure what it is called, but I usually get the plate w/chicken & shrimp w/fried rice. Everytime the portions are extremely generous that I am able to have some left over, which seems surprising to most because I can put some food down when it comes to it. But the waitresses have always been attentive and the chefs always put on a show. Last time a girl in our group had a $20 broken up and tipped the chef a couple singles here & there on how entertaining he was... and bonus if he made the shrimp in your mouth. Needless to say she ran out of those dollar bills pretty quick.
Now there are those occasions that I'm just craving Benihana but don't want to lay down a wad of cash, so every now & then, I'll go w/a friend and chill at the sushi bar during happy hour. We'll usually split a roll or two, grab a beer, w/a side of fried rice each. These type of visits usually results in a $10-15 bill for each of us, which grants me the satisfaction that I still have money left in my wallet, and I satisfied my Benihana/fried rice cravings for a while. So all in all, check it out when you can, and try and have a decent sized group w/you to enjoy it more. If not, just hit up the sushi bar for inexpensive but tasty sushi.
My wife really wanted to go to Benihana, so I took her out on a date last Saturday. We arrived at around 6:45 and they had one of the grills going. As we entered the person at the door said it would be about a half an hour wait, so we stepped up into the bar and waited. The first thing I notice was the place was rather dark, and just looked older. We were called to the grill when a group of four arrived, and were seated. I agree with many of the other reviews, It's probably best to go with a group of Six to Eight. The server took our drink orders, and then took our meal orders also (makes sense If they need to prep the tray to bring it out). Our cook (Jose) showed up, nice guy and did to average ordinary stunts I've seen many times, make a lot of noise and act like your doing something special with the cooking tools. I really wanted to see some knife action, but when he used his knife it was slow and diligent. The food was ok, nothing special. There wasn't anything customized to me, it was the same thing they do for everyone who orders the #1, we just happened to pay for the option of watching.
It's probably more fun with a larger group, and the little things get overlooked. From a business prospective I'm always looking for the Plus 1, the thing they did to grab my attention over the rest, and I can say honestly I didn't find it.
It's a chain.
It's pricey.
It's overrated.
Yes, I know it may seem redundant, but I want to reiterate the same three points that everyone else has already made because they're true.
On top of that, I recently went to a friend's birthday dinner there (not my top choice for a birthday celebration, but to each his own). His reservation was for 8:00 PM, but to everyone's surprise, they wouldn't seat six out of eight of our party. So after the rest of our party shows up (by 8:25 PM), they proceed to make us wait another 25 minutes before my birthday friend gives them an ultimatum that if they don't seat us by 9:00 PM, we're going to Fujiyama, which has a hibachi grill option, too. (We're starving by this point.)
At 8:58 PM, they decide to seat us (at a somewhat incompletely set up table) while I remarked that after waiting an hour and a half, we finally get a bowl of soup. Maybe this is an expensive homeless shelter of sorts...
I'll give them credit: the chef (Moses, from Guatemala) was rather punny and helped keep our minds off the horribly unreasonable wait.
The verdict: Please don't make this your first choice for any occasion. You are in Austin: there are better alternatives than Benihana! (See Yelp.com for more details.)
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Decent place to go if you want some entertainment while you eat. Food is pretty good but you are clearly paying for the service. Probably not a place I'll venture back to more than 1 time a year...may be more fun if you have a 5-7 people and are not sitting at a table with some goofy looking strangers who seemed like it was their first night out of the institution in a few years (as was the case with us).
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My Dad loves this place and always foots the bill so I love it too..
The cooking show is very entertaining for the kids and grown-ups. If you order Hibachi the meal comes with soup, salad, hibachi vegetables, rice, hot green tea, sherbet and choice of meat or fish or a combination. We always order family style so I get a taste of shrimp, lobster, beef and chicken.
No complaints as long as someone else is paying....
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I still cannot get why people are so attracted to these places. Ok, I actually enjoyed this stuff the FIRST time I saw it... but after that, it's just the same old song.... although the Godzilla is fa-reaking awesome.
The only reason you're paying a lot of money for mediocre food is because of the show. The food can be compared to any other Americanized Asian restaurant. It's not bad, but then it doesn't taste like something you really want later.
Also, the drinks here look cool but they really don't taste that great (for the price...). The mai tai did have a good kick to it though, so kudos to that.
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Benihana Austin -
How do I love thee
Let me count the ways - Ok done - none
Have been to others around the country and while the tables look the same -- the knives twirls and spin, the chef shows a toothy smile and tries the same humor -- it just doesn't go over as well for me here.
Maybe because the food tasted bland -- maybe the novelty has worn off -- maybe I wasn't drunk enough
Whatever -- I quit going because Benni baby -- You just don't ring my bell any more.
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I've been going to Benihana's for as long as I can remember, so it's hard to shake that feeling of nostalgia when I think about this place. I know it's a chain, I know it's expensive, and I know that a lot of people find the cooking "show" to be a little rehearsed.
But honestly, even as an adult, it's hard for me not to love Benihana's. I just have too many good memories associated with it. We're talking about the restaurant where I first learned how to use chopsticks as a toddler and impressed the hell out of all of the wait staff! How could I not be nostalgic about that?
Since I came here many times before I was vegetarian, I will tell you that personally, I simply love the food -- ALL OF IT! The salad, the beef, the chicken, the shrimp, veggies, the mushrooms, the green tea ice cream at the end. EVERYTHING. What's more, I think that they have some of the best dipping sauces I've ever tasted.
Even if this isn't your favorite place in the world, if you have kids, you gotta take them here. You owe it to them and their future as foodies. Trust me, it's a dining experience that they'll never forget.
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too expensive!! they keep raising their prices AND now they have a disclaimer that you cannot share! what the!!? as other says, only if someone else is paying! out in the bay area, you pay one third of the bill and you get the same amount of food and show. benihana = overrated.
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Ok...So I have never had the habachi at this Beni's, but I have been to their sushi happy hour many times. 50% off nigiri and rolls, can you really beat that? Not to mention that the sushi chef is really nice. If you talk to him enough, he is actually really helpful and if you are lucky he might let u try some of his favorites on the house. Top notch sushi for half the price, thats 4 stars in my book.
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