Looking for Benihana vegetarian options? You have more than you’d expect at a place built around grilling meat over an open teppan. The Spicy Tofu Steak is a full vegan entree, the hibachi vegetables come as their own course, and the chef can cook fried rice meat-free right in front of you. Benihana doesn’t print a separate vegetarian menu, so you order off the regular one and ask for a few swaps. This guide covers what to order, what to skip, and the single ingredient that trips up most plant-based diners. We’re the people who ask what about the vegetarians at every chain, and Benihana pays off a little planning.
A Quick Look at Benihana
Benihana opened in 1964, when Hiroaki “Rocky” Aoki put $10,000 he’d saved driving an ice cream truck into a four-table teppanyaki room on West 56th Street in Manhattan. His father had run a Tokyo coffee shop called Benihana, and Rocky took the name. A 1965 rave in the New York Herald Tribune turned the place into a celebrity magnet, and early regulars included The Beatles and Muhammad Ali. Benihana introduced theatrical tableside teppanyaki to America, the knife tricks and the onion volcano you still see today.
The chain is now owned by The ONE Group Hospitality, which bought it in early 2024 for about $365 million. Benihana runs roughly 68 teppanyaki restaurants across the United States, with headquarters in Aventura, Florida. It sits around 103rd by U.S. system-wide sales on the 2025 Technomic Top 500, which makes it one of the largest sit-down Japanese chains in the country.
Benihana Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Here are the Benihana vegetarian options worth ordering, with the swaps that make them work. The table flags what’s vegetarian, what’s vegan, and where to ask a question before the chef starts cooking. Benihana cooks most grill items in a garlic butter blend, so anything off the teppan needs a “no butter” request to count as vegan.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Spicy Tofu Steak (grilled tofu, vegan sauce) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* (ask for no garlic butter) |
| Hibachi Vegetables (zucchini, onions, mushrooms, bean sprouts) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (garlic butter unless you ask) |
| Vegetable Fried Rice | ✅ Yes* | ⚠️ Check (default has egg + butter, ask for neither) |
| Edamame (regular or spicy) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Benihana Salad (ginger dressing) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Seaweed Salad | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Steamed White or Brown Rice | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Vegetable Roll / Cucumber Roll / Avocado Cucumber Roll | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Yakisoba Noodles (vegetable) | ⚠️ Check (sauce + shared grill) | ⚠️ Check |
| Vegetable Tempura | ⚠️ Check (batter may contain egg) | ❌ No (egg in batter) |
| Onion Soup | ⚠️ Check (broth varies, milk at some locations) | ❌ No |
| Miso Soup | ❌ No (fish dashi) | ❌ No (fish dashi) |
Hibachi Vegetables and the Tofu Steak
The Spicy Tofu Steak is the entree to order. It’s grilled tofu with scallions and cilantro in a spicy house sauce that’s already vegan, and it comes as a full teppanyaki course rather than a side. Ask for it without garlic butter and it stays plant-based start to finish.
Hibachi vegetables are the other constant. Every teppanyaki meal includes a course of zucchini, onions, mushrooms, and bean sprouts cooked on the grill. They’re vegetarian as served, but the chef uses garlic butter by default, so request “no butter” if you want them vegan. You can also order an extra plate of them to round out a smaller order. Between the tofu and a double portion of vegetables, you can build a real meal here, not just a plate of sides.
Rice, Noodles, and the Fried Rice Swap
Benihana’s fried rice is the classic order, and you can make it vegetarian with one sentence. The standard version is cooked with egg, bits of chicken, and garlic butter, so ask for it with vegetables only, no egg and no butter, and the chef builds it fresh at the table. That gets you a vegan fried rice that most menus don’t advertise.
If you’d rather keep it simple, plain steamed white or brown rice is always vegan. Yakisoba noodles can work as a vegetable dish, but the sauce and the shared grill surface are worth a quick question, so confirm there’s no meat-based stock before you commit.
Salads, Starters, and Sushi
The Benihana Salad with house ginger dressing is vegetarian and vegan, and so are the wasabi dressing and the balsamic vinegar and oil if you want a change. Seaweed salad and edamame, regular or spicy, are both safe, vegan-friendly appetizers. They’re the easy wins while the chef gets the grill going.
From the sushi side, the Vegetable Roll, Cucumber Roll, and Avocado Cucumber Roll are vegan as served. The vegetable roll mixes greens, avocado, cucumber, red cabbage, and yamagobo (pickled burdock root), so it’s the most filling of the three. Skip both soups. The miso uses a fish-based dashi and the onion soup’s broth varies by location, with milk now listed at some.
Drinks and Dessert at Benihana
Every teppanyaki meal comes with a cup of hot Japanese green tea, which is vegan as served. For something cold, the Benihana Lemonades pour in flavors like strawberry, mango, and passion fruit, and the Japanese Ramune sodas are a fun add-on. Dessert is the thinner part of the menu for plant-based diners. The Banana Tempura is the closest fit, but the tempura batter can contain egg, so check the ingredients with your server before you order. Plenty of vegans skip dessert here and grab something on the way home.
What’s Vegan at Benihana?
Plenty is vegan at Benihana once you know the two requests: no garlic butter, and no egg in the fried rice. With those, your vegan options are the Spicy Tofu Steak, hibachi vegetables, vegetable fried rice, edamame, seaweed salad, the Benihana salad with ginger or wasabi dressing, plain white or brown rice, and the cucumber, vegetable, and avocado cucumber rolls.
For dipping, the ginger, mustard, hot, and spicy teriyaki sauces are vegan, which covers most of the table. These vegan options travel across the menu, from appetizers to the main grill. Keep clear of the miso soup and the onion soup, and tell your server up front so the chef plates only the vegan sauces. That’s a complete plant-based meal at a teppanyaki grill, which is more than most steak-forward chains can say.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
The one ingredient to know is garlic butter. Benihana cooks vegetables, fried rice, noodles, and teppan entrees in a garlic butter blend, and it’s the only dairy in most grilled dishes, so “no butter” makes those items dairy-free. The teppan grill is shared, and the same surface cooks chicken, steak, shrimp, and scallops, so if cross-contact matters to you, ask the chef to clean a section or cook your food first.
A few more caveats. Miso soup is made with fish dashi and isn’t vegetarian. The onion soup’s broth changes by location and now contains milk at some, so treat it as a skip. Standard fried rice has egg unless you ask otherwise, and tempura batter can contain egg too. Soy, sesame, and wheat show up across the sauces, edamame, and noodles, so flag any allergy to both the server and the chef before the grill heats up.
Tips for Vegetarians at Benihana
- Say “no garlic butter” first. It’s the one dairy ingredient on nearly everything off the grill.
- Order the Spicy Tofu Steak as your entree. It’s the only protein course built for you, and the sauce is already vegan.
- Ask for fried rice with vegetables only, no egg and no chicken. The chef makes it fresh at the table.
- Skip both soups. The miso uses fish stock, and the onion soup’s broth varies and now has milk at some locations.
- Tell the chef before the grill heats up, not after. A teppan section cooks meat and seafood right next to your food.
- Lean on the rolls, edamame, and a salad to round out the meal. The vegetable and cucumber rolls are vegan as served.
- Go with a group. Teppanyaki is paced for a shared table, so the night is better with people around it.
Conclusion
Benihana is a better night out for vegetarians than its steak-and-seafood reputation suggests. Order the Spicy Tofu Steak, get the fried rice made with vegetables and no egg, say no to the garlic butter, and you’ve got a full teppanyaki meal with a show. For the bigger picture, see our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants and browse every chain in our restaurant guides.
Eating Asian out this week? Check what’s vegetarian at P.F. Chang’s, Panda Express, and Teriyaki Madness before you go.
