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| - Went here today for my birthday lunch. Hadn't been to Benihana's for years but had loved it when I was a kid. We have always gone out for hibachi quite often and have had some very good experiences -elsewhere. We should've known it wasn't going to be a good experience when we entered the restaurant and were greeted halfheartedly by what I would laughably call the hostess. No smile or greeting, sat us and said that we should have had a reservation...for two...for lunch. Waited a while for our server to take our order for drinks. Sat with a nice family of four who were celebrating a birthday too! When we ordered they asked if we would like the lunch or dinner portion. When the food was prepared and served it turned out there was no difference in the size of the portions - but of course we had paid more for the dinner one. They also heavily pushed the upgrade to the fried rice, chicken fried rice. It seems like that might be the only fried rice available so we got it. Four dollars a person for a cup of rice with 2 pieces of chicken and it turns out we would've gotten fried rice anyway.
The server was just okay but the chef, Nick, was terrible. He was not Asian, which is OK - but he also did not have any clue on how to prepare hibachi. No sauces used, just lots of salt - tough meat, couldn't do any tricks, talked about how tired he was etc. food was NOT good. Not great quality and the chef didn't know how to cook it. Cut each piece slowly including the shrimp into small bites which makes the shrimp tough. Other tables were laughing and having fun- we just sat there and watched this guy slowly cut and cook the food poorly. At the end the server did not acknowledge the Birthday in our party.
By then the lunch was just a joke and we wanted to leave. As we left the hostess just stood at the hostess stand and did not even acknowledge our presence, say goodbye, have a happy new year, smile -anything! Benihana's in Scottsdale sucks-pure and simple. An expensive and disappointing waste of time and money we just moved to AZ but will never return and can NOT recommend.
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