The casino around it may have changed names and ownership over the years—from the International to the Las Vegas Hilton to Westgate—but Benihana has stayed exactly where it belongs for the last 50 years. In Vegas terms, that’s practically immortality.
Benihana’s staying power comes from a universal, indisputable truth: Dinner is better when it’s also a show. The moment guests sit at a hibachi table, they’re part of a shared experience powered by wildly skilled chefs who turn knife work, shrimp tosses and onion volcanoes into performance art. Communal seating breaks down barriers, turning strangers into temporary friends united by sizzling grills and flying zucchini. And the food tastes as good as the preparation looks, which is saying something given the physical skills involved.
The restaurant’s past guest list name-checks pop culture luminaries (Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant, Lady Gaga and Mike Tyson, to name a few), but the appeal has never been exclusivity. There's no VIP section here. Everyone gets the same seat, the same show, the same flaming theatrics.
Benihana showed Japanese teppanyaki could succeed in Las Vegas, paving the way for countless imitators who never quite captured the magic. Half a century later, it remains one of the city’s most entertaining dining rooms, reminding us that even with a surfeit of Cirque acrobats zipping across the Strip, flying shrimp still takes the cake.
Westgate Las Vegas. westgateresorts.com
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