Restaurateur takes over father's former Benihana location Credit Bernard Spragg/WikimediaCommons / CC0 1.0 Fifty years ago, entrepreneur and restaurateur Hiroaki “Rocky” Aoki opened Benihana in Waikiki’s Hilton Hawaiian Village. It was one of the first in the chain that now spans 76 locations around the globe. In 2018, the Waikiki Benihana was rebranded as Rocky Japanese Steak Teppan Restaurant and is now under new management by Kevin Aoki, Rocky's son. Like his father, Aoki is a restaurateur and runs several Oahu restaurants — Doraku Sushi and Izakaya, Bluetree Cafe, 1938 Indochine ...