Benihana Anaheim

Benihana's is always a great way to celebrate birthdays or other special events. Register with their birthday club for discounts and offers. We receive a complimentary birthday each year. Also, make reservations before hand or you will have to wait, sometimes up to an hour. With reservations we only waited 5 minutes when we arrived and were seated. Last night was the tastiest dinner we have had yet at Benihana. Seafood cooked to perfection and the steak was fantastic.

So eating there is always a great experience. What isn't great is the wait to get a table.

We had 16 people in our party and they said it was a 2 and a half hour wait?! It's what the birthday girl wanted. They didn't seem to have much of a bar there that we could see. If they did they didn't bring it to our attention. Rather than sit outside in the pouring cold rain, we decided to go next door to El Torito for happy hour while we waited. Our bar tab was just over $400. Most of us were full and drunk by the time we got seated. It doesn't make sense to lose all that business to a competitor in the same parking lot. If they have a bar there then shame on them for not inviting us to wait for our table in the bar.

If they don't have a bar, still shame on them for having the slowest turn time in restaurant history.

What an incredible experience having the chef prepare the food you ordered right in front of your eyes. Added plus was you could have your own private dining area. Amazing...

Fun experience, would be more authentic if the chefs were Asian. Pretty expensive. They asked us "Do you want white rice or chicken fried rice?" And we said chicken fried rice, but we didn't know it was an extra $5 each for chicken rice. I guess that's my own fault? I assumed they were the same price.