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The wildly popular restaurant chain, Benihana, is slated to open their first Columbus restaurant in the Columbus area at Polaris Fashion Place. It can be argued the Benihana kicked off the Japanese restaurant craze we’re seeing now. I do not know when they are scheduled to open their doors, but the building is up and looks fairly close to being done.
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News
Benihana coming soon to Polaris Fashion Place
By: Neil Jaye
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Benihana has been around since like the 70s. Is there some sort of Japanese restaurant craze now? I live under a rock.
This is my FAVORITE japanses place! I always went to the ones in Pittsburgh when I lived back home. . . I can’t wait :P
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Dave & Buster’s plans to open its second central Ohio location in late spring at Polaris Fashion Place’s new lifestyle-center addition, which is quickly filling up after making its debut this year.
The latest business to make its debut was the Pub Polaris, a restaurant and bar that opened Friday. The Pub is part of the Tavern Restaurant Group of Cincinnati and offers pub-style food in addition to a host of European beers, ales and spirits.
Benihana, the Japanese steakhouse, is expected to open by late February, Krumpelman said. Cantina Laredo, a Chicago chain that bills itself as a gourmet Mexican concept, plans to open in the spring.
Other stores headed for the lifestyle center next year include clothier Forever 21 and Sweet & Sassy, a children’s salon.
READ MORE
This actually isn’t the first time that Benihana has been in Columbus. I seem to recall reviewing a map of Benihana locations in Ohio a few years ago and seeing one in Columbus (Hilliard Area). I think it was somewhere off Fishinger Road. I looked it up again last year on the same map and, this time, in person, but it had vanished without a trace.
At any rate, I am looking forward to the new location at Polaris. I had dinner at the Cleveland location with a friend, and the experience still rates as one of my all time greatest. The food/menu and service were excellent, and the night we were there, they had live music provided by a harpist.
Dinner for two runs around $50. Take your date there after a good movie for a truly memorable night.
I think you’d get some arguments if you mentioned Benihana and Japanese food in the same breath at any other Japanese restaurant. Geez, folks, get a life! Go out and try a REAL Japanese restaurant.
Paul
i think it is quite possible to know the difference between “real” Japanese food and Benihana and enjoy both. it’s been some time since I’ve been to a Benihana, but I recall a good experience that was great with a group of people. more of a night out than a foodie experience, and many will be fine with that. while other people will feel better eating their kimpira and belittling others. considering the location of Polaris and the new Hilton convention space, i think it is a winning idea for Polaris’ new format.
what’s the difference between Benihana and any other Japanese Steak houses around town? I’ve never been to a Benihana.
Honestly, not much of one, other than that they’ve been in operation for quite some time so the menu & their particular variations on the technique have had a lot more time for testing & improvement.
They really defined the “Japanese Steakhouse” format, and almost all of them are just variations on a theme. Personally, my favorite in town is Fujiyama (though I wish they had sushi – and the building is getting a little run down these days), but pretty much any of them are good as far as I’m concerned.
If a Japanese craze is happening in town, I wish someone would open a Japanese fabric shop!
I would like to go to a japanese steak house sometime. They sound fun.
probably not a whole lot in terms of concept – people sit around teppanyaki table, chef flips food around, people eat grilled meat and seafood. Rocky Aoki made it a fashionable NYC concept in the 60s and the Beatles and others ate there, so by the late 70s the restaurant was quite the rage, he was rich and was one of the drivers in the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash aka ‘Cannonball Run’ in the 70s.
fans of the office will also recall the christmas episode from season 3.
There’s a heck of a lot of ‘em around now!
Used to be just “Japanese Steak House” in the Short North, then Fujiyama opened when I was a kid, and now we’ve still got those, plus (at least) 2 House of Japans (Houses of Japan?), 2 Ichibans, Kobe, Genji, and Benihana.
And those are just the ones I know about…
I like the one off of tuttle. But I always feel a little ill about an hour after dinner when I eat at any of these places. Maybe form all the oil they use….. or more likely the amount of food consumed.
pepto to the rescue
i can’t wait to try it when it opens, but not for the usual reasons. we studied Benihana as a case in buz school because they ran the restuarant like a manufacturing operation. they have a set routine to move people through to maximize throughput and value per customer. we had some pretty hilarious discussions about it in class. i’ve never been to one (although i have been to other japanese steakhouses), so i have to go at least once to live through the case i studied years ago.
I would like to go to a japanese steak house sometime. They sound fun.
check out Fujiyama off Cleveland Ave it’s good stuff.
Avoid the Japanese steak house downtown.
I would like to go to a japanese steak house sometime. They sound fun.
check out Fujiyama off Cleveland Ave it’s good stuff.
Avoid the Japanese steak house downtown.
Fujiyama is far and away my least favorite hibachi restaurant. The place just seems a little dirty and it hasn’t aged very well, plus it’s in the Cleveland/161 restaurant death zone. I’m sure it was nice in the 70s or 80s when the sprawl in that area was fresh.
the sprawl in that area was never fresh, I assure you.
Less decrepit?
“The company was founded in 1964 on West 56th Street in New York City by 25-year-old Hiroaki Rocky Aoki.”
So much for it being Japanese.
But I can enjoy it also. I just don’t want to give it credit for being something its not.
Paul
So much for it being Japanese.
Paul
??? According to his bio, the guy was born in Japan to Japanese parents, attended school in Japan through university, and was even a member of the Japanese Olympic wrestling team. How does that make him or his restaurant not Japanese?
Because, starting up a non-Japanese restaurant where everyone gets the same dish isn’t Japanese. I had sashimi at Otani tonight. And believe me, they had more than four choices on the menu.
Paul