article written by Habi-Bees of Santa Monica in
the Forum at JAPANESE FOOD LOVERS UNITE of myspace.com

Friday, August 04, 2006

Benihana's ruined my sister's birthday
Current mood: ****ed off
Category: Food and Restaurants


Last night, I took my sisters to Benihanas for teppen-yaki. It was for
my sister J's 21st birthday.

We got there at 7:50, and were told we'd have a 30 minute wait, so we
walked around the 3rd street promenade for twenty minutes, and then
came back to sit. At around the time we should have been seated, an
Asian couple wandered in and signed their name on the waiting list, and
then sat down to wait themselves.

Another ten minutes passed, and then a large party of girls, who had
been there before us, were led into the dining room. One male host
then motioned for the Asian couple to follow them. When I stood up to
inquire why we weren't being seated first, the male host shrugged, and
then another male host made held up a hand to me and jogged after the
diners, as if to stop them. No one came back.
I went to the front desk, and the female hostess apologized and told me
wed be seated next.

Ten minutes later, we were led to an empty table at the back of the
restaurant, near the bathrooms. We were the only three there, which
meant we had to wait for the table to fill up, or so I thought. When I
asked if that was the case, our waitress assured me that it wasn't, and
that if the table didn't fill up in ten minutes, the show would start
anyhow.

Twenty minutes later, the table was full. It was now 9 pm. The show
started forty minutes later, with us and the others seated at the table
growing more and more impatient as tables seated later than us were
served earlier. At 9:40, our harried chef showed up and began to cook,
but do little else. He flipped a shrimp tail into his hat and pocket
and made an onion candle, but that was it- there were none of the other
tricks I had seen at establishment like this one. He then proceeded to
burn the food of the couple seated to our left, who complained, gave
him back the plates, and walked out of the door.

As soon as our food was prepared, we asked for boxes and a check,
because it was past ten and we were taking the bus, which stopped
running close to that time. My sister J found the manager and told
him, while we were out in the dining room, about our long wait and
being passed over for a table earlier. He told her, verbatim "Well,
next time make a reservation."
She told him that the problem was that the couple that had been waiting
for ten minutes, instead of forty, hadn't made a reservation either.
He assured my sister that they had, and that there was nothing he could
do. So my sister walked with him to the front desk to ask the hosts.
The host, who had shrugged earlier, shrugged again. The female hostess
told the manager flat out that they hadn't made a reservation. The
manager said once again that there was nothing he could do.

I went then to the manager as my sister was asking him if there was a
higher up that we could talk to, and he said no, there was no one, just
tell him our problems. We explained to him, again, everything we had
gone through that night with his establishment, including the
overcooked food and the waiting for a table, and how it took us two
hours to be served. He began assuring us over again that the other
couple had made a reservation.

I demanded to speak to someone higher up than he, and then he started
apologizing and said he was sorry our evening was not satisfactory, and
that the meal was on the house, "although even the couple who left
paid." We knew for a fact they hadn't as we had witnessed their entire
visit.

There was nothing more he could do, we felt, and so I and my littlest
sister left the restaurant to wait outside while my sister J went to
the restroom. After she came out of the restroom, while the rest of us
were outside, the manager cornered my sister J and barred her way, not
letting her go and trying to make her pay. She gave him her credit
card after a few minutes. I went back inside to see what the hold-up
was, and then started to argue with the manager about trying to corner
my sister into paying what he had already said would be comp'ed. He
then pulled us both into the the back room, and told us he would take
$15 off, but that was all, we had to pay the rest, and stood in the
doorway to keep us from leaving.

It was too late for us to catch our bus by then, so I handed him back
the receipts for my sisters card and told him to put it on mine, since
it was all supposed to be a treat for her birthday anyhow. I signed my
copy after they "voided" hers( if they did it hasn't been returned to
her account yet), and I paid the chef and our waitress tips with cash,
and we left (escorted by the manager who then thanked us for coming.)

I don't know exactly why this establishment saw fit to treat us all
this way. Years of customer service have taught me that the customer
is always right, officially, and unofficially, you are at least
responsible for placating an upset customer and trying to help them so
that they dont feel so ****ed off once they leave the establishment.
They were sarcastic, evasive, and blatantly lied to us when we had
proof standing before them that we had been treated wrongly. It took
an hour of arguing to even get an apology. (Before that, it was just
advice; "Next time, make a reservation.")

There will be no next time for me and my family. I will tell everyone
I know about the awful service, the overcooked food, and what I felt to
be blatant discrimination of my sisters and I. I wanted you to know
about how customers are being treated in the 4th street branch in Santa
Monica.

And on their birthdays, no less.
--------
If I were Habi-Bees, I would call the management at
Benihana's of Santa Monica
Tel. (310/260-1423)

The family deserves a complimentary dinner, in my opinion.