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| - 3.5 stars. Look, I love a good gimmick and the founder of Benihana certainly stumbled upon a good one when he decided to make dinner a show decades ago. I've been going through a bizarre period of craving Benihana all the damn time recently and I get my fix at this location. The wait staff's service is very spotty (sometimes attentive, sometimes rushed, sometimes poor) but the teppanyaki chefs are consistently quite good. The food itself is also consistently good.
I've had a couple of incidents at this location with the way they've handled the bill but the manager is fabulously attentive and has always made it right, assuring that I will be back for more.
A lot of these reviews are pretty cynical about this joint and I'm not really sure why. No, I wouldn't come here specifically for sushi. Yes, this seems to be quite a destination for birthdays and you will hear that birthday jingle many times throughout the night. Yes, this is best suited to a special occasion given the cost but I always leave with leftovers for the next day. Yes, they cook with a lot of sodium and butter so if you're watching your figure, take heed. It's a noisy joint with a lot happening everywhere so if you're looking for a quiet place to take your sweetie, this may not be the restaurant for you.
The Chef's Table is a very good perk - they provide you with a $30 gift certificate for your birthday, hence all that singing. Kids (and kids at heart) generally get a kick out of the show - I know I do, even if it is a little silly. And quite frankly, we could ALL use a little silly in our lives.
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