“While it would be premature to suggest that a full economic recovery is imminent,” said Benihana chief executive Richard C. Stockinger, “we believe that overall guest counts are beginning to stabilize, and are more hopeful that trends could improve from these levels as we move into [the company’s April-beginning fiscal 2010].”

Stockinger’s optimism surfaced even after Benihana Inc., the operator or franchisor of 116 restaurants under three brands, posted a systemwide same-store sales decline of 10.4 percent for its March-ended fourth quarter."

And now we're into the third quarter of 2010, Dick!