Where I'm from we call this hibachi, not teppanyaki. (Mt. Fuji I love you!) Hibachi was always a fun option for a birthday party as a kid and it had been a while since I had gone to one. This was my first experience at a Benihana, I've always gone to locally owned places. I went with a rather large group and although we waited about 25 minutes after our reservation time they were able to give us two tables next to each other. That was probably the best part of the experience.
As far as hibachi goes, it was a totally underwhelming experience. The only "trick" our chef did was the onion volcano thing and it didn't even fire! It only steamed! There was no flipping of shrimp tails, no egg trick, nothing. It was as if we were eating at a regular restaurant. I didn't expect the food to be stellar but I did expect a show, I mean isn't that the whole point?