Anticipation is always the biggest portion of appetite.
That is clear at the Benihana in Springdale, where Japanese cuisine meets the average American palate. A little wait is a good thing, so diners should expect a small pause out front before the show begins. Strangers sit next to strangers around a sizzling hot hibachi grill before the chefs arrive to start the performance in each of three dining rooms. Dinner here is something of an off-Broadway event, and the stages are rooms with thick wooden beams and high ceilings that has images of Japanese geishas and scowling Shoguns on the walls. First a bow, and then he went to work.