text: I had not been to one of these places where the food is actually cooked in front of you Ultimately it allows you to really get into how this restaurant works but it kind of backfires I know enough to cook Japanesestyle now for about th the price nnThe layout here is kind of weird Forget anything intimateI was kind of fearing the placement of our largely dysfunctional get together near the rather normal couple but it worked out well enough Problems arise in the layout of the placeeverybody faces out a window with the majority having their backs to the entrances I hate that The view is a massive parking lot bookended by a LaZBoy store and a Chilis Switching the layout of the place might have been a small salvation nnWhat you are really getting is the cooking show worthy of a sixth star our chef was extremely friendly and we had a great time as our food was cooked nnBut it is not a grand luxury it is just Eastern efficiency You do not wait for your food they do not have to hire expos and they need less kitchen infrastructure As soon as the food is done it is on your platethe tradeoff of the show as I would have liked to have it all out at the same time Something is slightly taken away from it when the other chef on the other table does the train sound again with his butcher knife It feels like a preprogrammed repertoire to go with the preprogrammed food This is why chains leave me bitter even good ones like Benihana nnThe ingredients are nothing specialfor a table of they bust out a few zucchinis a couple handfuls of generic white mushrooms a couple white onions small slabs of steak and chicken etc What really gives this place its Dennysplus quality was immediately apparent in the side salada bag of store bought mix and a couple tomatoes It appears to add up to a lot of food but I have spent less at other restaurants and usually bring home a box nnThe sauces they use are what saves the place food wise but they are all clearly premade elsewhere for a generic nationwide palettethe hot mustard just was not hot at all On the other hand the two ginger sauces a red one in the meat and a yellow one in the salad were absolutely deliciousnnUnfortunately this place severely loses on price and service The server was basically gone the whole time Fuck her She splits her tip with the awesome chef and drags his performance down nnAt one point I got up and went back to the front end to ask for the bathroom waiting impatiently for the hostess to finish chatting with a friend who came in with another table What the hell The bathroom itself was a stickyfloored messsomething I would expect at Veterans Memorial Coliseum or some douchebag bar not a place that charges this much for dinner Drinks were extremely expensive charging for a oz bottle of beer nnThe magic here is the presentation the sauce and the overall delivery but it is severely hampered by food quality prices and poor service It would have been two stars but I could not be angry at the place after having such wonderful ice cream and a picture scantly offered as it were at the end nnOverall Benihana is worth the onetime experience but needs significant improvement to happily lure me back as a repeat customer