text: I have a friend who goes all the time to Benihana as it's her favorite place and I wanted to know what's so special. They do a $30 GC for your birthday if you sign up to their email so the BF and I decided to go. \n\nWhen you enter, there is this dark \"garden\" they lead you through that is just beautiful. There is a lounge over looking it and there are seating areas and sushi bars around it but oddly none of it is being used..perhaps not on weekdays?. They lead us up an elevator to a teppan room that is pretty ordinary comparatively to the ambiance of downstairs so ambiance was a bit wasted. \n\nThey start you off with getting you out a soup, a salad with ginger miso dressing. They hand you 2 different sauces (hot sauce on request), cook zucchini and onions, shrimp appetizer and seafood items, then fried rice (extra. steam rice is what comes with your food), meat entrees and the guy did some mushrooms.I had the scallops, calamari, shrimps and BF got shrimp and chicken. Our food was cooked nicely, but it wasn't particularly special. The sauces were just okay, they needed more punch, it's just a bit bland and runny. \n\nThey have a efficient little planned out show and then the guy was gone. I was barely getting into our food and the guy just packed off and left. I was glancing at another table that just started their show and it was almost the same thing.  Service from the server helping the teppan guy was very personable and attentive though. Definitely top notch service and he even gave us some green tea ice cream and chatted with us a bit after dinner. I will give them that- excellent service. However, a bit sad that the server was more memorable than the teppan show! \n\nI can't help compare them to Musashi, a local teppan place I've had great experiences at over and over. There is so much more they offer there and that really overshadowed my experience at Benihana. The show is lengthier, a bit more complex tricks, the jokes and stories are fantastic and each teppan person has their own unique style, a bit cheaper in price with a really awesome fried rice included, soup, salad, veggies and plenty of different flavorful sauces freshly made in front of you. \n\nGlad I tried it, but will not be back. Even with the $30 birthday discount the bill was $70+ for two plus the tip. I went to Musashi a few months ago and spent $70 for two including a hefty tip! I had way more fun and better food.\n\n Um yeah. This feels like a no brainer to where I'll be going to the next time I want a teppan experience to bring visiting friends and family to.