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benjy's

MY REVIEW: Fantastic happy hour - great food, presentation, prices. Tight space, but worth it. Weekends included.

NAME: Owlman70
SUBMITTED: 4/15/2013   LAST VISIT WAS: 4/13/13
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: This restaurant continues to exceed expectations. Great food and service. Tonight a friend and I anchored two seats at the tiny bar downstairs. (Thanks to the VERY nice guy who moved over so we could sit together and THEN he changed chairs with another lady at the bar because her chair was less than stable. What a guy!)

Anyway, our "bartendress", Hannah, was Miss Hospitality with a capital "H"! Her service attitude was top notch - she was attentive, friendly, hospitable, and very service oriented. I started with a glass of the Yealand's Sauvignon Blanc. I ordered the salmon happy hour appetizer which was just what I wanted. However, when i asked for bread they really did not have any, but I said don't worry as my friend gave me a slice of her pizza appetizer. Well, Hannah, bless her soul, was bound and determined to get me some bread to my liking. She spoke to Chef Daniel, and lo and behold, magically appeared a plate od hot pizza bread triangles. PERFECT! HOME RUN Hannah and Chef Daniel!!

It is little touches like this by restaurants that make me come back again and again. Thanks again for a delightful bar experience Hannah and Chef Daniel.

NAME: LLITL025
SUBMITTED: 2/16/2012   LAST VISIT WAS: 2/2012
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: This restaurant is great! (We tend to forget about it being so close in the Village, but now we have added it to our top 10 favorites in Houston!)

When we arrived (with no reservation) around 8 p.m., they told us it would be a 30 minutes wait. The restaurant was very busy (every table occupied), so we went into the bar upstairs to have a cocktail. The bar area was hopping, particularly since it was way to hot to sit outside on their balcony.

I had the (wonderful) Blood Orange Margarita, perfect for a very hot day in Houston, and my husband had a Sidecar (fair, but the P*alm Restaurant makes the absolute best). We ordered the goat cheese appetizer, which never arrived, so they said they would bring it to our table as it was now time to go eat dinner.

We were greeted by our waitress promptly and left alone to study the menu. (What a menu! I had a hard time narrowing it down to three choices for my dinner!) Still, no goat cheese appetizer. Suddenly, an appetizer appeared before us and without thinking (as we were hungry), I dished it out onto our plates when we realized - oops - not the goat cheese appetizer we had ordered. A waitress/expeditor type person came over and we explained the situation, but told her this appetizer (the potstickers) was fine and we would take it since we had alreay dished it out. She apologized profusely and said she would wrap up our goat cheese appetizer for us to take home (no charge).

My husband ordered the organic chicken with the side order of macaroni and I had the tuna tacos. The tacos were very good and the chicken dish was magnificent! My husband had to take a business call on his cell phone outside while I waited for the dishes. When the food arrived, I asked our server to go out and "grab the man in the fish shirt" and tell him dinner is here. Well, lo and behold, he did!!!! That was the ultimate service.

Thank you, Benjy's, we promise never to forget you again. Our thanks to all the wait staff who were part of the team that night, particularly the ones who waited on us!

NAME: LLITL025
SUBMITTED: 8/11/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/2011
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: What a gem! Veggie friendly. Pricey but good and the portions are pretty good sized, which really surprised me. Bar staff was awesome. Gave me a sample of a basil flavored vodka, which was really good. Parking is a not so good. It's always packed and several times I have tried to visit and got tired of looking for parking and went somewhere else. That's Rice Village for you.

NAME: linzie
SUBMITTED: 7/14/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: 7/2011
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: As always, excellent food and service. We sat outside this trip for lunch. I had the Almost Cobb Salad, my partner had seared salmon on salad. Both were excellent. The Almost Cobb Salad is a traditional Cobb salad with lettuce, lump avocado, grated cheddar, and crisp bacon. However, this one has fresh seafood added: grilled shrimp, crab, and fish. It was really delicious. My partner said her salmon was excellent also.

While we waited for the food to be delivered, the manager came over and apologized for its taking so long. We had been visiting and hadn't noticed anything out of order. We told him no problem. When we completed the great lunch and were preparing to leave, I tried to give the waiter my credit card. He said no, the manager had comped the meal because the delivery time was too slow. Amazing. What a show of class! Will definitely be back.

NAME: Rice Military Gourmand
SUBMITTED: 5/8/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: 5/06/2011
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: I'm a big fan of the West U location, so was looking forward to trying out this location. It definitely meets expectations! My friend and I went there late on a Tuesday evening for dinner after a walk at the park, so there was little to no crowd. It was very nice and relaxed. The waitress was very helpful and attentive at just the right amount. I had the short rib pizza, which was not okay but sounded more mouthwatering than it actually was. My friend had the pecan-crusted chicken, which was scrumptious and VERY plentiful. MUST HAVE side dish: fried brussel sprouts. Skip the mac and cheese, and have the sprouts instead. They are to die for! I could have eaten those all by themselves all night long, they are that good. I keep fantasizing about them, and really look forward to returning to have them again.

NAME: lizlemon
SUBMITTED: 4/20/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: April 2011
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: my first experience was great so i decided to bring my friends on the second time i came back to eat here. It was a total fail because the service was HORRIBLE! She barely even much served us. Just took our orders and thats IT! Somebody else ran our food and nobody else checked up on us. I usually never complain about restaurants because i work in the restaurant industry but this ruined my brunch at Benjys. I'm never coming back. I can understand if the restaurant was busy but it wasn't really busy. I saw her check on the other tables but not us. I have a feeling it was because we look kids so she thought we would tip her horribly so why bother to take care of us. but we're not. and we're all servers so of course we would know how to tip.

NAME: service101
SUBMITTED: 12/8/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: December/2010
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: My first visit for lunch during Houston Restaurant week. This is a definite keeper! While a bit crowded and noisy the food was very good and the portions big. French toast appetizer could be a main course. It was crusted, with nuts I think, very delicate flavor. Smoky shrimp grits and eggs is just plain yummy. Had 2 big grilled shrimp and 6 smaller ones. Dessert are big enough to be shared. The chocolate cake icing was a bit sugary, but it didn't stop me from eating it all!

NAME: vwpt
SUBMITTED: 8/15/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/10
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Went for Houston Restaurant week and brunch few times before. Brunch mimosas are always great. The Houston restaurant week dinner was good. My husband raved a lot on those tuna tartar tacos and dessert. I was very surprised that the portion for the Houston Restaurant week prices nothing was really cut back...big portion.

NAME: lovetoeat
SUBMITTED: 8/8/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 08/10
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: So my girls and I were in West U/Rice Village to check out an Indian restaurant...but didn't know most restaurants close between 2 & 5 in that area...SURPRISE!! So we ended up here. We looked like idiots reading the sign that said enter at the side door and then fearing we were going to get mugged as we walked up the delivery corridor. So we hit the lounge/bar area by mistake but they guided us to the restaurant area. Nice ambiance (less is definately more). The calamari and the crab cakes were delicious and the leek salad atop the crab cakes added great dimension! I ordered the Chicken Shawarma (the curry cucumber yogurt was overwhelming and way too many pickles.) The waiter suggested this over the Mushroom Ricotta Crepes. The Lazy Shrimp Tamales were delicious..but the accompanying Jicama Salad was lacking. The Udon Noodles Soup was good...but they only offered cilantro upon your request and the beef (though tender) seemed a bit pre-processed.

We would definitely come back for happy hour in the lounge..and will surely come to the eatery again...but will probably choose opposite of what our waiter suggest next time.

Great service.

NAME: Cozy Cuisine
SUBMITTED: 8/4/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 08-04-2010
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Great location, plenty of parking, very attentive staff, interesting menu, reasonable prices. Killer chocolate cake!

NAME: David
SUBMITTED: 7/8/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 7/2010
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: I've been many times since the Washington Avenue location openned and each time I'm more impressed with Benjy's. Menu is interesting and diverse and what's really jumped out at me recently is how decent a value it is. Entrees are typically large enough to share or box up for home. I'm a bg eater and recently had their pecan crusted chicken breast and there was way too much for me to power through.

Great location, easy parking, interesting menu, great quality food, attentive staff. Check it out!

NAME: Dave
SUBMITTED: 6/13/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 06/2010
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: Overall: We liked it. The menu is interesting, the ambiance is nice, but it could be noise, and it can be busy, so it is better to have reservations. THe environment is very varied - young couples, families with kids.

Strong points: The appetizers.

Weak points: busy (even thoguh this is a good sign), so you can wait for long to get a table.

NAME: CM
SUBMITTED: 5/10/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 04/2010
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: AMAZING FOOD and service!! The Sunday Special (3 courses for an unbelievable $19) is not to be missed. Best fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and spinach we've ever had. And the HOMEMADE chocolate cake was amazing. We will be going back next Sunday to see what's next.

NAME: Joanna
SUBMITTED: 3/28/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 03/10
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: sat at the bar. Raul the bartender kept us in good spirits and drinking good spirits. Had most of the happy hour apps and drinks. Good stuff! The kobe beef balls in shiner fondue are great and the spinach nudies may be the best app ever, but not on HH menu. Pizza is good (thin and crispy) and calamari is plentiful.

Myers rum mojitos or blood orange margarita for 5 bucks! Hell Yes!!! 2.50 Bombshell blonde ale from southern star up in Conroe.

You must get the bloody marry there. They soak carrots, snow peas, and green beans, in kimchi, ponzu, rice wine, and I'm sure other stuff in a vat and add srachi sauce to keep it spicy. Damn it is good!

NAME: Cheers
SUBMITTED: 3/8/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 03/07/10
FREQUENCY: Visited once

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