Beloved Japanese-style chain Benihana returns to Seattle after 10-year hiatus

After a roughly 10-year hiatus, the beloved Japanese-style restaurant chain, Benihana, is returning to Seattle’s South Lake Union.

The new restaurant will be situated inside Lake Union Piers, filling a nearly 9,000-square-foot space located at 901 Fairview Avenue N., according to The Puget Sound Business Journal.

Initially, plans called for STK Steakhouse to fill the void, a different concept from One Group Hospitality, which owns Benihana. The Denver-based group then revised its plan in 2024 and moved forward with its Hawaiian restaurant, Kona Grill, but plans changed once more with the addition of Benihana.

Benihana returns to Seattle following lengthy absence

Benihana’s return to the Seattle area has been long-awaited since its departure in 2016, after decades of operating at 1200 Fifth Avenue in downtown Seattle.

In 2016, the restaurant was rebranded to Hamanasu, but it was later permanently closed in 2019. One Group eventually acquired the Benihana chain in 2024, which now has nearly 80 locations across the U.S., with other restaurants in the Caribbean and Central and South America.

There is currently no estimated opening date for Benihana’s South Lake Union restaurant, though the company has posted signage reading “coming soon” on its main entryway doors.

Benihana will be the latest retail tenant to join Lake Union Piers, which currently features Daniel’s Broiler steakhouse and The Cove wine bar.

The owner of the site, Vulcan Real Estate, recently redeveloped the property to reflect a destination dining and retail hotspot, now offering 60,000 square feet of retail space, according to The Puget Sound Business Journal. The company renovated four of the property’s 1980s-era buildings, improved pedestrian access, and revised its parking lot design.

“When we rebranded to Lake Union Piers, our goal was to revitalize this awesome waterfront location with vibrant restaurants and water-related retail and office tenants,” said Geralyn Vannoy, Vulcan’s director of commercial marketing and leasing, according to The Puget Sound Business Journal.

Benihana opened its first restaurant in 1964 in New York City, founded by Hiroaki “Rocky” Aoki. Rocky drew inspiration for the restaurant from his parents’ small Tokyo coffee shop named Benihana.

Rocky adopted various aspects of the business and started America’s first Japanese teppanyaki restaurant, featuring authentic Japanese farmhouse interiors and food prepared on steel teppanyaki grills directly in front of customers.

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