Benihana - Milwaukee, WI

Service was very solid, but it was slow on a Tuesday. Upgrading to the chicken fried rice with the hibachi is definitely worthwhile.

We went here on V-day and it did not disappoint. The food was great and the cook made sure that our allergies were taken care of. The person that served us was a bit off. Had to make multiple trips back to ask what we ordered again. It did not seem like the other tables had that issue though.

Three of us ladies went to Benihan before the PAC for dinner. I hadn't been there in years. My Mai Tai was quite yummy and dinner was excellent. We sat at a hibachi table and our Chef was super fun. I had the special fried rice and the Lobster, scallops, and shrimp 5 course meal. I've been thinking about my leftovers all day long. I can't wait to finish it tonight. I want to mention that our server was great as well. She was very attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. We will definitely be back. ♡

Food was awesome. So was the show! U have never been there before, but I'll go again. It was a little pricey, but for the cool cooking right in front of you, its worth it.

My girlfriend and I had a great time ! The staff was amazing, the chef was entertaining, and the food was great! We enjoyed talking with the two other couples at the grill.

Despite the fact (as may other reviews have mentioned) it doesn’t seem like the building has been renovated since this location opened in 2000 and the building is basically falling apart, the food is really good I mean it’s Benihana and tastes like every other location in flavor and quality. I thought everything was also very clean despite it maybe looking not sparkling clean due to the age of everything (the windows, the carpet, etc). The service could be a better (I got the wrong size drink/they didn’t ask what size I wanted, they told us they were out of the tenderloin but came back and said never mind they had it. But I would say it’s on par with other locations. The restaurant is under new ownership and I think if they did some much needed renovations they could easily improve their ratings on Google. If you want a tasty hibachi meal and don’t need 10/10 (or even 7/10) atmosphere you’ll be in the right place!

I loved it. I didnt care much for our chef he was a little rude but whatever. Our host was great the good was so good. My 51st birthday was pretty nice there

Excellent waitor, very personable and attentive. Chef was good. Chicken fried rice was best I ever had! Prices were crazy over the top. Fun place to have dinner!

First time doing a hibachi style dinner and it did not disappoint. Our chef was very talented and funny, and did a great job cooking. 5 course meal was delicious, but I requested no mushrooms with my steak, but got mushrooms anyways, but overall a good experience. I would definitely come again.

Had a 7:15 reservation. Finally after much questioning we were seated at 7:45. Not enough cooks. Our server was fantastic. Cook was lots of fun. Will not be going back.

The experience from Benihana to another is so different! This one is low frill. The food was good, but it is missing the energy and atmosphere of a great hibachi restaurant.

The food was good. I'm not a big fan of the table cooking just because the smoke can become overwhelming. They have awesome fans and ventilation systems though but 2 or 3 tables cooking at once gets a bit overwhelming. Over all it's a good experience.

Meh. It was fine. Hibachi can be entertaining. We were seated with another couple, they were friendly. That's a weird aspect of hibachi. You get combined with other people. The restaurant was pretty empty, but we came before 5 pm. Maybe it gets busy later. I probably won't come back. There are so many other options. It was worth a shot. I would rather order a meal and let the kitchen staff do their thing in the kitchen.

Brought a group who have never experienced hibachi, and safly, they still have not had the experience. Service was very slow. Chef banged his spatula on the grill for a few minutes while reading the order.. cart was not fully prepared. There was no shoe or display of fun or talent. Just stood in front and cooked. Food was cooked decent so that is a plus. However, he delivered the wrong meal to one of the guest midway through and they had to scrape it off from one plate to another. Server and chef never acknowledged that they messed up. Poor. Didn’t earn the mandatory 20% gratuity. Might be okay for takeout but the hibachi experience here is a fail.

Steak was made to my liking. Our Hibachi chef was somewhat entertaining and good spirited. Our server was a little inattentive and seating should be a bit more spaced out. You're sitting extremely close to the table next to you. The more room would mean less seating at one time which would probably raise prices that are already a bit questionable. 20% gratuity is automatically added which I feel is ridiculous because there's no incentive for excellent service due to the tip being instantaneous. So, tight seating, average service, food was prepared properly but overpriced and if you include gratuity it should never rise above 15%. That way you may get service that deserves more. With 20% being the baseline expectations were not met. Thus receiving 3 stars. The ginger salad dressing was a miss for us, taste good in small portions but not overall on a salad.

Food was good but it was really dull experience. No music, could barely hear the server talk because they were very quiet. No tricks by the hibachi chef. The only thing we got was the onion volcano at the very end. No flipping of eggs, no flipping of the shrimp, just not engaging. When paying 300 dollars plus for 5 people for some chicken, fried rice and noodles I expect an entertaining time.

Reservations were very limited, yet when we arrived for ours, the place was 60% empty. Food was AMAZING, 5/5, but the manager was horrible. My 16yo daughter ordered an entree thinking it was cooked, but when it arrived, it was raw. She asked if she could get something else and the server said no problem. I went up to the bar to let the manager know what she decided on, and that know one but the server touched the plate, but she glared at me and very rudely reprimanded me saying, BUT I CAN’T SERVE THIS NOW, and slammed the plate against a bottle. Maybe as a parent I should’ve been aware of what my daughter was ordering and asked questions, but she has never ordered something that she sent back. We were there for my birthday, and there were notes on the reservation about that, and we were also asked as we were being seated if we were there for any special occasions, so they were well aware. During our apps, they were celebrating a birthday next to us by singing and serving dessert, yet they never acknowledged mine, probably because of the incident with my daughter. I didn’t want to be sung to anyway, so we didn’t remind them, but my fam who brought me and requested a birthday acknowledgement was disappointed. 20% gratuity is automatically applied to all bills, which should be the minimum anyway, but our server was less than attentive, like she knew no matter what kind of service provided, she would still receive at least 20% on our bill of apps, drinks, and 5 course entrees. Even though the food was very delicious, we would never go back considering the experience as a whole. There are many other places to go get delicious food and amazing service.

Disappointed, 2/10 Benihana Yall need to work on your staff service and attitude. They had a stank attitude and racist. When we brought up a food allergy their entire attitude shifted. Also when someone has a food allergy they SHOULDNT have to remind the server and the cook individually 5 times along with having to get the head chef. We originally asked our server Sebastian if he could tell the head Cook and he told us to tell our main Cook . Which is something that we obviously are going to do, but it’s part of the job as the server to let them as well. So he disregarded it and said “ he wasn’t sure.” We looked up the Ingredients and the allergy was in the butter and fried rice. So all we asked was for one plate to be cooked separately from the rest. Once again the cook disregard and started cooking with the allergy item. Also 2 of those times we had to remind the cook after they started cooking. And still needed the head chef. Also it’s my little brother birthday and they have no shout out to him after we told them. No birthday special for dessert, barely any acknowledgment Outside of the couple that was next to us. The couple had the decency to wish him happy birthday after noticing the server didn’t! No good service, forgotten items and completely overcharged. I won't be going again. We weren’t given bags or any complimentary items for the almost life threatening mishap with the cook, they actually gave bags to the couple next to us and completely regarded us. Once again feeling like a racial or personal issue they had with us from the start. And we still never got our sauce to go. They also left a stem in our ice cream dessert after we had to ask about dessert that CAME with the meal. I felt like it was retaliation for us having a “food allergy”. -TERRIBLE SERVICE 👎🏽

The food itself was good. For 3 people we spent $182, 25 of that was the required tip. I ordered a the filet mignon and mushrooms. After watching everyone else get served the chef said thank you enjoy and started to walk away, and I had no filet nor mushrooms. Brought it to his attention he apologized and after about 7 minutes a filet was brought out. Since the rest of my party already had their food and were already eating, I asked for it to be medium rare to save time. I finally got my fillet he apologized again and walked away, I had no mushrooms. I assumed missing half of my entree I would have been compensated at least a little. Nope. Not please at all will not be back and will not recommend to anyone. They REQUIRE a 20% gratuity fee be added to your bill, and then still ask for a tip on the receipt.

I made reservations. Waited fifteen minutes to be seated. Waited another fifteen to get a server. I went for my birthday which has been a tradition for years and we were no longer offered a picture. We ordered food we never received. Had to have the bill fixed twice. Service seriously lacking. The cook was great. I agree with other reviews that the food has gotten expensive and the experience isn’t meeting the price point. Hibachi dinners include dessert on the menu but only one was offered (because I told them it was my birthday). Seems like I need a new restaurant for my tradition.

Our party of four adults were put at the same table as a family of two with a one-year-old. Not good. He was too noisy and the parents used a iPad to entertain him....and the rest of the table. They sat us next to a window overlooking the city...but unfortunately, our backs were against the window and no view...except the kitchen door. We had a new chef so not really any show, just a lot of banging the spatula. When distributing the food, he got it wrong and gave us the wrong items. Our food was cooked to order and seasoned well. The waitress messed up our bill and overcharged us and the other family got away with paying less than what they ordered. After waiting an extra 15 minutes to get it straightened out, we were finally able to leave. Won't be back...not worth the money and tip (mandatory 20%)

Had a 7pm reservation. I know you have to wait until a table fills up, but our table was filled and seated at 7:30. The chef didn't start cooking until 9:10. Our waitress was nice and did her best to explain everything with all the yelling going on. But even with her being nice, she was so slow to service us. We were seated at 7:30 and the waitress didn't really address us until about 8. She got waters and asked food what everybody was ordering, and we didn't see her until another 20 minutes just to deliver the drinks. We got the most low energy chef there who actually dropped noddles someone ordered and proceeded to cook everything like he didn't. He seemed like he was done and I called out to him about the dropped try and pointed out that someone didn't get their noodles. He then had a bus boy bring out a tray of noodles that he just threw on the grill, squirt some oil on it, tossed it about 3 or 4 times and then dumped it on the lady's plate. There was also a lot of talks about how filthy the bathrooms was. If you're reading this review, please don't waste your money here. There's so many other amazing hibachis in Milwaukee that food, service, and price will blow this out the park.

The new management leaves a lot to be desired from a hospitality standpoint. To keep it brief, I arrived 5 minutes early for my 8p reservation but the table wasn’t ready. I received an alcoholic beverage when I ordered a virgin drink, the bartender (whose breath smelled like alcohol) overcharged us for our drinks, then management was combative in their attempts to resolve it. Management made us feel uncomfortable, so much so that we didn’t stay for our dinner reservation. There are better options out there, especially in Milwaukee. I would recommend going somewhere else. :)

So where do I start….. Food just down right not good. I don’t know what they call sushi here in the establishment but that was like a can of TUNA in a roll. The chief didn’t season the food. I requested season and butter on my seafood and he continued to cooked it as if I didn’t ask for specifics. Burned the RICE. Salad had horrible dressing. The soup was a broth with chopped onions and mushrooms basically. Oh yeah no need to add a tip 20% per person is automatically added!

Don’t waste your time or money here! Terrible service from super rude staff - not just one but every single person from the host to both servers. We had 2 full tables on our reservation. Both chefs were subpar on performance and chef quality, both tables had multiple food clarifications and one person didn’t get any chicken because they didn’t proportion it out. Then the smells were nauseating. There was a burning rubber and strong cleaning chemical odor throughout second floor and down the stairs. All that and it’s overpriced for quantity and quality compared to so many other hibachi restaurants.

Our experience at Benihana Milwaukee was, to put it lightly, a dumpster fire with a side of overcooked steak. For context, my wife and I are Benihana regulars - birthdays, celebrations, the works. We’ve had great experiences at other locations. But this? This was a two plus-hour test of patience and bad management decisions. We reserved two tables for 16 people - 8 adults and 8 kids (6 under 6, and 2 high-chair commandos). I personally called ahead to confirm they could handle this circus and was reassured everything would be smooth. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. We showed up at 5 PM, right when they opened, only to wait outside like groupies for the doors to unlock. Once inside, we were told to wait another 15 minutes for our tables. Okay, fine. Then the manager asked us to sit by families to "help with splitting checks." Logical. Except the servers then announced they don’t split checks. Um, what? After a back-and-forth, they reluctantly agreed, looking like we’d just asked them to perform open-heart surgery. Drinks were ordered, but our server vanished like Houdini. Table 2 got their drinks, food, and a chef while we sat twiddling our chopsticks. Twenty minutes later, my toddler was eyeing the grill like she might climb on and cook herself. I asked about our chef and was told, “We only have two, and one’s with another party.” After more prodding, a third chef magically appeared - where was he hiding? The freezer? The manager came by to apologize, offering free drinks (to our table with 5 kids!) or apps, but we just wanted food. We did ask for chicken tenders for my 1.5 year old. When the chef did arrive, he seemed like a last-minute hire. Nervous, fumbling, and clearly unprepared, he had to keep raiding other carts for supplies. My wife and I ordered hibachi steak medium. He cooked it perfectly, then proceeded to keep cooking it until it was chewy enough to patch a tire. My wife had to step in and tell him to stop before it turned to charcoal. He also forgot our daughter’s entire meal, which we ended up canceling because, honestly, why pay $20 for a thin chicken breast with no rice or vegetables? Meanwhile, table 2 finished their meal, complete with birthday ice cream for my dad, who was serenaded alone while the rest of us sat there starving. A family photo? Not until I asked the manager directly because our server kept dodging the request. And the ketchup for the chicken tenders? It had to be "ordered from downstairs" and arrived in an overflowing ramekin 15 minutes later, as if mocking us for even asking. By the time we got our food, table 2 had been done so long they could’ve gone home, taken a nap, and come back to pick us up. In fact, my sister and her family did leave, which meant my parents sat alone at the other table and watched us eat having long finished their own meals. As for us, the shrimp appetizer came last, because why not. And surprise, one wasn’t cleaned. The chef cleaned the grill before cooking our noodles, remembered them too late, and tossed them on when we were ready to pack up leftovers (they were delicious though!). Drinks weren’t refilled until the bill was requested. My parents really enjoyed their steak and chicken. My one sister absolutely loved the spicy tofu and my BIL loved the spicy chicken. My other sister and BIL loved their steaks. The kids enjoyed their kids' meal California rolls. Everyone thought the fried rice was great. To the servers' and chef’s credit, they were clearly overwhelmed, and I don’t blame them for this disaster. The fault lies squarely with management, who should’ve known they were understaffed and warned us upfront. We would’ve happily changed plans instead of celebrating two birthdays in shifts with 8 cranky kids. The manager did comp the tenders and gave one table (not the other) a 20% discount. Nice gesture, but it didn’t erase the chaos. The food was tasty but nowhere near worth the drama or the price. Save yourself the headache—skip Benihana Milwaukee. Other locations know how to make a birthday fun. This one barely managed to make it edible.

The concept of sashimi is very different than what they serve here, nothing extraordinary. We did a reservation and they told us that we need to wait 40 minutes! We decide to order a la carte because we have ticket for a musical and can’t wait, however it took more than an hour to have our food and wait for the whole order to eat together! Atmosphere was very noisy, they don’t have a waiting area for big party to wait so they are standing in between the tables.

Every decade or so… we try this place. lol. Pretty sure I’ll never go back before I die. It’s just super slow, crazy expensive, and just not very good. If you have to have hibachi, I think it’s best to leave the downtown. But for sushi, there are A LOT of better options close by for half the price and twice the quality.

I am giving one star because I can’t give less. It was a very disappointing experience. We went for dinner with my husband to celebrate my birthday. I wish we would have gone somewhere else or checked the reviews. To start, the place look old and dirty. I order the yakisoba noddles with shrimp and every meal is 5 dinner course. So they brought us to all of us in the table a miso soup, a small bowl with salad (tomato and lettuce) like 3 spoonfuls. Then the Chef grilled shrimp for everybody and gave us 3 small shrimp to each of us. Followed by some grilled veggies, that were just an onion and 2 zucchinis for 6 people sitting in the table. He grilled them and gave another spoonful of those to each of us. Mine only had onions and two pieces of zucchinis. Ok all good if you are going to have a nice main course. The chef forgot the sauce for my noodles and he kept calling someone that never came. So he went to ask for help while my noodles sat in the grilled for long time getting dry. Finally the sauce came, and he put tons of it in the noodles. The sauce tested good but it is a sweet sauce so if you put too much is not good. I couldn’t eat the noodles. My husband dinner was ok though but we paid $150 for me to eat a miso soup, two spoonfuls of lettuce, 3 shrimp and a few grilled onions. What a birthday dinner! On top of that my husband mentioned my birthday when he booked and when we were sitting the chef asked if someone was celebrating anything special. My husband mentioned it again. There were 2 other tables that they celebrated birthdays. They sang happy birthday and gave them something special, I imagine a piece of cake or something? Not sure because they forgot mine and I got nothing. I wish we would have gone somewhere else.

Not the Benihana I remember. Update: attempted to give them another try. They seated 11 of us at a table for 8. They ended up adding a table but it was still very tight and uncomfortable. Our party did not want to make a fuss so we just enjoyed the elbow to elbow dining. The chef had excuse after excuse and did not accept accountability for his terrible listening skills and cooking. Steak and vegetables over cooked. He offered our table the fat of the steak, that must be new. The waiter saved the day with her professionalism. Looking forward to Benihana MKE stepping their game up with competition coming into the area.

This is by far the worse Benihana’s I’ve been to!! The rice wasn’t cooked well the veggies were huge they didn’t have the mustard sauce you couldn’t use your bday coupon if you could use it they wanted it to be printed out I can go on!!!!! THE WORSE DONT SEE HOW THEY’RE STILL OPEN!!!!

Had to wait approximately 20 minutes after our reservation, very underwhelming service from Angela, add to that the required 20% tip. Yeah not thrilled

Coming from Denver , worst hibachi experience I’ve ever had. No performance no show. Cook couldn’t speak English or even try to interact with anyone. Cooked our food and left. Didn’t serve one person, and cooked shrimp on stove top after being asked not to, having another have to have his meal cooked back in the kitchen. Energy in the place was dead , should researched before. Incredibly lame and expensive at $100 a person after drink and tip

I went last night with my girlfriend for valentines and my experience was horrible, I had a reservation and took forever to be served, there seemed ton only be one waiter. Food was not seasoned or cooked well, portion size small, rice was too hot that I couldn’t taste it. I wouldn’t go back, prices are way too high for what they offer, was a big disappointment for me and my girlfriend

***Edit: I would have posted this review on OpenTable, as I made my reservation there. But they deleted my reservation so I conveniently have no way of leaving a review there*** I was really looking forward to celebrating with a birthday certificate that Benihana sent me, but the experience ended up being very disappointing. The fine print required the certificate to be printed, which I unfortunately missed. When I showed the certificate on my phone, the server informed me I would need to physically print it and advised me to leave the restaurant and go to Walgreens to print it. I explained that I was wearing a knee brace and physically could not do that, and asked if there was any flexibility. The response was rigid and lacked empathy. When I asked to speak to a manager, I was told she was the manager, but there was still no attempt to offer a reasonable solution or even acknowledge the inconvenience. Policies are policies, but customer service is about how those policies are applied. The lack of compassion and willingness to help made me feel unwelcome, so I chose to take my business elsewhere to a similar establishment that treated me much better. I expected more from a restaurant of this caliber. I have been coming to Benihana for over 20 years with family and friends to celebrate special occasions, including my birthday. Those visits created wonderful memories, which made tonight’s experience especially disappointing. When I choose to spend my money somewhere, I expect to be treated with respect. Due to the lack of flexibility and poor customer service, I will be taking my business elsewhere and will not be returning to this establishment.

We visited for a friend’s birthday dinner and were really disappointed with the experience. The front-of-house customer service was poor from the start. Despite the restaurant being mostly empty, we were told we couldn’t be seated with our friend and ended up being over 30+ minutes for a table. We might have been more understanding about the delay if the staff had been more courteous or accommodating, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Overall, it was a frustrating experience, and I don’t plan on returning.

Shame to see how bad this place has gotten. I think a majority of Hibachi spots are pretty comparable food wise, so the hospitality is what makes a the difference. I have never had a bad experience at Benihana until the last visit, it is clearly a shell of itself since reopening. I’m sure their shut down gutted the staff, but as a chain restaurant they have a standard to uphold for the price they charge. Portions were borderline comical and the service was incredibly slow. The workers are being let down by poor management/leadership. Hopefully they can right the ship, but in its current state you will likely leave disappointed.

To make a long story short everything we asked for they said NO we don’t do that here. Only wanted a couple of simple things like mustard sauce…NO we don’t have that. Can I use my bday certificate in my email? NO it has to be printed. Can I have shrimp fried rice instead of chicken. NO you have to order colossal shrimp on the side. Can I have extra garlic butter. Oh it’s $1.50. The worst part is when she told us they didn’t have mustard sauce we reduced our order from 4 rice to 2 rice. She still charged us for 4. I asked why don’t you do things like all the other Benihanas they said they are not a corporate restaurant. I wanted BENIHANA not some off brand wanna be Benihana. If I wanted

I’ve dined at multiple Benihana locations throughout the United States and even at the Tokyo, Japan location. This was hands down the worst Benihana experience I’ve ever had. The food was completely flavorless and overcooked, the vegetables tasted stale and far from fresh, and the overall quality was unacceptable. To make matters worse, the manager was extremely rude and unprofessional. This location clearly does not meet the standards Benihana is known for. I will not be returning.

Front of house staff was quite unfriendly. The place was dead yet a 20-30min wait for a party of two. Whole place is meh. Definitely won’t be back.