preview

Essay on Benihana

Better Essays

Benihana ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- 1. ------------------------------------------------- What is the Benihana concept? Benihana restaurants are traditional Japanese hibachi steakhouses, which feature the Japanese cooking method known as teppanyaki. There are key attributes that separate Benihana from other restaurants. One is true Japanese authenticity. Every item that is used in construction of a restaurant is 100% authentic and imported from Japan. In addition, each restaurant is built by Japanese carpenters. All chefs at Benihana are native Japanese with three year formal apprenticeship. The …show more content…

Besides being profitable, we can measure Benihana’s success by customer satisfaction. According to exhibit 4, over 46% of customers come to Benihana for good food, with 13% for atmosphere and food preparation. Over 77% of customers rate food as being excellent and 71% rate service to be excellent. There are certain areas of operational improvement that can make Benihana even more successful. As atmosphere / ambiance are only a small portion of why people come to eat at Benihana, I don’t think that Americans really appreciate that every item at the restaurant is imported from Japan. Benihana should use locally available materials and carpenters. By doing so, Benihana can dramatically reduce its cost to of setup and will allow for faster expansion. The cost factor is one of the major concerns for Benihana’s growth. Each new unit costs $300,000. In order to reduce the startup cost, Benihana must find revisit its operating model and re-evaluate what is the most important to the customers. Looking back at exhibit 4, majority of respondents valued quality and taste of the food, service and preparation of food. These are the qualities that truly separate Benihana from other restaurants. Changing Benihana’s staffing model, including training, and the use of materials and labor from Japan, will most certainly minimize new unit cost. ------------------------------------------------- 3. Prepare an

Get Access