I went here for the first time because I had a $30 gift card for my birthday from their Chef's Table Club. We went for lunch and sat at one of the grills with another group. I ordered the passion fruit lemonade which was way too sweet for my tastes, and the Benihana Excellence. My dining partner got the Lunch Sea Scallops. Both of our meals came with a "salad" and mine came with soup. These were incredibly disappointing and looked like something from a really cheap buffet. The salad was drenched in an unappetizing dressing and the soup tasted like salted hot water. Luckily the rest of the meal was a lot more enjoyable. The scallops came with fried rice; the scallops were great (especially for the rice) and the rice was good, although a bit on the salty side. My shrimp, and vegetables were really good and the teriyaki beef was good but it was drenched in too much sauce for me. I personally thought the food tasted better without any of their dipping sauces. At the end of the meal they gave me ice cream with a candle on it and sang happy birthday. They also took a photo of us and printed it out and put it in a little paper frame.
I definitely recommend signing up for the birthday special because it is a great deal. Also, of it's your first time go for lunch because they have a lot of reasonable lunch entrees. Not sure if I would be as pleased with the experience if I had to pay $50 for it; but for $20 it was fantastic.