article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message benihana inc. type private founded 1964 founder rocky aoki headquarters doral florida u.s. key people steve shlemon president and ceo products japanese cuisine revenue us 314m fy 2010 1 operating income us 7.74 m fy 2010 1 net income us 10.0 m fy 2010 1 total assets us 234m fy 2010 2 total equity us 144m fy 2010 2 owner angelo gordon & co. number of employees 5 000 3 divisions benihana samurai haru ra sushi website www.benihana.com benihana on west 56th street in new york city benihana inc. japanese language safflower is an american restaurant company based in doral florida . 4 it owns or franchises 116 japanese cuisine restaurants around the world including its flagship benihana teppanyaki brand as well as the haru fusion cuisine and ra sushi restaurants . 5 6 it was founded by hiroaki aoki in new york city . contents 1 history 2 lawsuits 3 international locations 4 restatements 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit a chef preparing a dinner at the table the company was founded in 1964 on west 56th street in new york city by 25 year old hiroaki rocky aoki the father of steve aoki and devon aoki aoki a wrestler who had qualified for but did not attend the 1960 summer olympics started the restaurant with 10 000 earned from driving an ice cream truck in harlem . the first restaurant benihana of tokyo was named for the red safflower that was the name for the coffee shop owned by his parents in tokyo . aoki s concept was for the meals to be theatrically prepared by a knife wielding joke telling chef at a teppanyaki table surrounded by a wooden eating surface in front of the guests teppan meaning steel grill or griddle and yaki meaning grilled or broiled . it initially did not do well until early 1965 when clementine paddleford of the new york herald tribune gave it a rave review . the beatles and muhammad ali were among the celebrities who then descended on the four table restaurant . 7 within a year aoki opened a bigger restaurant that featured samurai armour heavy wooden ceiling beams and sliding shoji screens to provide some privacy . in 1968 it opened its first restaurant outside of new york city in chicago . in 1976 aoki brought in consultant hardwicke companies its founder charles h. stein was the original developer of six flags great adventure as well as operated various new york restaurants including tavern on the green as a partner to run the company . in 1980 aoki terminated the relationship and settled a securities and exchange commission complaint of insider trading of hardwicke stock . the famous benihana tiki mug used for various exotic cocktails has become collectible . this mug is known as hotei . in 1982 benihana national corporation went public with joel schwartz as president . some of the restaurants continued to be privately owned by aoki . the company had some missteps including the opening of the upscale big splash restaurant and a frozen foods division benihana national classics . its stock dived and shareholders sued over management including the fact that aoki still had his privately held restaurants of the same name . 7 in 1995 all of the benihana restaurants were consolidated under benihana inc. 7 the company has since expanded by purchasing the haru and ra sushi restaurants which operate under those names . 8 haru is based in new york city ; ra has locations across the country and is based in scottsdale arizona with its original four locations scattered around the greater phoenix area . although benihana owns these concepts they are independently operated and were developed autonomously . it also acquired the samurai and kyoto restaurants which it has incorporated into its other brands . in 2004 the company issued a class of preferred stock to bfc financial corporation to renovate its restaurants and expand . the stock diluted aoki s control of the chain and the family sued citing that benihana had no compelling need for the cash other forms of capital were available and that the terms of the preferred stock issued to bfc were onerous . one of the members of the board of directors was also a director of bfc a company that held controlling interests of bankatlantic blue green and levitt homes . however the delaware court of chancery upheld the decision . 9 benihana s famous figural tiki mugs for exotic cocktails the most common of which depicts hotei a chubby buddha like figure with arms raised in the air have become collectible . aoki died in 2008 at the age of 69 . 10 in 2009 richard c. stockinger became chief executive to replace joel a. schwartz 11 and in 2010 became president as juan c. garcia resigned . 12 benihana agreed in 2012 to be purchased by the private equity firm of angelo gordon & company for 296 million . 8 on february 5 2014 the board of directors of benihana inc. announced that restaurant industry veteran steve shlemon has been named the company s new president and chief executive officer effective immediately . 13 lawsuits edit benihana in beaverton oregon in benihana of tokyo inc. v. benihana inc. 14 financial issues and a change of corporate control led three of the members of the benihana inc. s board of directors to consider the issuance of convertible stock and its sale to a potential buyer . eventually the entire board approved resolutions ratifying a stock purchase agreement with the buyer and authorizing the stock issuance . afterwards the company filed an action against almost all of benihana inc. s directors alleging breaches of fiduciary duties . on january 30 2011 benihana kuwait filed a defamation lawsuit against a blogger for writing about his experience on his website . 15 16 17 las palmas the company that owns benihana in kuwait took legal action against the reviewer for his negative attitudes towards the restaurant and for recording the videos without permission . the company alleged that the blogger worked for an advertising company and might have personal motives that could be linked to his work to denigrate benihana and praise its competitors located in the same area . 17 international locations edit benihana is present in 24 countries . north america europe south america asia oceania aruba canada el salvador panama trinidad and tobago united states poland romania united kingdom slovakia brazil peru venezuela chile india indonesia israel jordan kuwait lebanon saudi arabia united arab emirates thailand australia restatements edit on february 16 2005 the company restated a credit agreement dated december 3 2002 by and among benihana inc. the guarantors and wachovia bank national association as agent and lender . 18 see also edit list of japanese restaurants references edit specific a b c benihana bnhna annual sec income statement filing via wikinvest . a b benihana bnhna annual sec balance sheet filing via wikinvest . company profile for benihana inc bnhna . retrieved 2008 10 21 . contact us . benihana . retrieved on january 24 2014 . benihana inc. ... 8750 nw 36th street suite 300 doral fl 33178 walker elaine . benihana has a location on commercial blvd in fort lauderdale which is said to have been frequented by the local weiss and nakdimon . doral fla. based benihana discloses secret of its success . knight ridder tribune business news . may 26 1999 . retrieved on january 9 2010 . franchising contacts . benihana . retrieved on january 9 2010 . a b c benihana inc. profile international directory of company histories vol . 18 . st. james press 1997 via fundinguniverse.com retrieved february 16 2008 . fundinguniverse.com . retrieved 2011 11 08 . a b gasparro annie may 23 2012 . benihana to go private in buyout . the wall street journal . p. b6 . retrieved may 23 2012 . benihana inc 8 k for 12 9 05 ex 99.1 . secinfo.com . 2005 12 09 . retrieved 2011 11 08 . obituary . legacy.com . retrieved 2011 11 08 . ruggless ron . benihana names new ceo as schwartz retires . nations restaurant news . february 10 2009 . retrieved february 19 2010 . ruggless ron . benihana begins work with turnaround firm . nations restaurant news . january 14 2009 . retrieved february 19 2010 . http online.wsj.com article pr co 20140205 911662.html benihana of tokyo inc. v. benihana inc. 906 a. 2d 114 2006 kuwait times website . kuwaittimes.net . retrieved 2011 11 08 . kuwait blogger sued over bad restaurant review media . arabianbusiness.com . retrieved 2011 11 08 . a b kuwait blogger sued for posting dinner experience . gulfnews . 2011 02 01 . retrieved 2011 11 08 . benihana inc. . general collier david a. ; james r. evans 2006 . operations management goods services and value chains 2nd ed . . south western college pub . isbn 0 324 17939 1 . sasser jr. w. earl and john r. klug 2004 07 20 . benihana of tokyo . revision orig . pub . 1972 . harvard business school case . retrieved 2006 06 13 . rosengarten david 2003 . it s all american food 1st ed . . little brown and company . isbn 0 316 05315 5 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to benihana restaurant . benihana restaurant homepage benihana group homepage the japan project made in japan american film foundation retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title benihana & oldid 743952844 categories companies based in doral floridajapanese american cuisinejapanese american culture in floridajapanese restaurantsrestaurant chains in the united statesrestaurants established in 1964hidden categories articles needing additional references from april 2009all articles needing additional referencescommons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured 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