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Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, Lounges, American (New) [Edit]
Neighborhood: West UniversityJoin us Sunday from 5 to 9 for a special 3 course menu featuring Bourbon-Molasses Baby Back Ribs and Mom's Chocolate Cake for only $19.
Mon. 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Tue-Thu. 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
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Ah, Benjy's. Dear, sweet Benjy's.
My co-worker and I went to Benjy's on a whim last night since I was in the area. She had never been, and I had only been to their brunch, so I'm glad I finally made it here for a meal.
We started with the beef arepas, which were a perfect portion for us two chicks. It came out with three arepas and the server was kind enough to part the third so we wouldn't be fighting over who gets the last arepa. The shredded beef was so nice and tender and it went perfectly with the sweet corn cake.
For our entrees, I had a seared ahi tuna on baby bok choy and sweet rice, and my companion had the crunchy chicken. My tuna was fantastic, nice and fresh. However, one thing I will say is that there was nothing new or innovative about this dish, which you can find in almost any high-end restaurant. That's fine, because seared ahi tuna has almost become the hamburger of gourmet restaurants -- you've gotta please the crowd with at least one staple. Regardless, it was still fantastic. My co-worker said her crunchy chicken was delicious.
We topped off the dinner with a tres leches dessert, split in two. Once again, fantastic. Nice and soppy, just how a tres leches should be, and topped with a nice dollop of merengue on top. Mmm.
I definitely want to go back for happy hour. The upstairs bar certainly seemed to be hoppin' with all sorts of pretty people.
The drinks were a bit pricey. I paid $9 for some sort of girly martini. I should've just gone with the wine, which ranged from $7 to $12 for a glass.
How have I not written a review on Benjy's yet???
Well, without further adieu! Here it is! I have become quite the frequenter of this fine establishment in the last few months thanks to multiple happy hours and a date here and there. I previously visited here the first time for brunch and was pleased, but not overtly impressed with the options. The meal was good, the mimosa was tasty and the waitress was decent.
On my subsequent visits I have enjoyed my stay in the upstairs lounge. The happy hour specials are great during this "short on funds" time of the year, and the eye candy definitely makes the trip worthwhile. I have tried just about all of the food items and would recommend them to anyone. The specialty drinks during happy hour are also super smooth and flavorful.
This location is great for a romantic date spot because the upstairs lighting is perfect for getting cozy in the booths or on the sofas. The upstairs patio is definitely lacking in size but in a good location to watch people coming in. The parking leaves a lot to be desired but with a popular spot like this, you can't expect to always find an open spot. The service is not always up to par, but in most instances my server has been pretty attentive.
So if you haven't tried Benjy's give it a go...but do remember what they have at this location, they do not necessarily serve at the other on Washington. Different chefs, different menus.
As this was my first time at Benjy's, I did not know what to expect from this Yelp Happy Hour.
First off, the place was not hard to find at all. Parking was kinda tough. The lot was jam packed when I got there. I lucked out in that someone was leaving as I made my 2nd go-round in the lot.
As I walked in, I went directly to the upstairs area where our fellow yelpers were gathering. The area is not huge but the outside patio area helps to provide additional seating.
I did not have dinner tonight at Benjy's, thus, I cannot comment on the quality of the food. However, I must comment on this one drink I did have, the Citrus Blossom. mmm mmmm mmmm.. D-li-cious. :-) $5 Happy drinks... can't beat that.
Can't wait for my next visit. It's a must.
HAPPY hour!!! this is for the arepas and KILLER margharita pizza! ... these run 5 dollars each and are so yummy! they have select drinks to choose from like blood orange margarita and elderflower martini thingy.. i normally get whatever wine on the happy hour (changes).. the arepas are little corncakes stuffed with tender marinated beef ..topped with sweet pico de gallo stuf and a voodoo cream sauce.. my husband likes the crispy calamari..they serve u tons and so u can have a great variety all at 5 dollars a piece!!!YUM!
Went to Benjy's for Sunday Brunch and although the wait was 45 minutes, my family and I had a great experience. First of all, there is plenty of parking but not much of it was available (probably because they were so busy). Somehow, we found a parking spot within minutes of looking. When we went in the hostess informed us of the wait and let us know we could wait upstairs by the bar. We went upstairs and were surprised to find a very comfortable bar with couches and tables... very lounge like. While upstairs we also noticed there is outdoor seating, great for the cooler months.
We sat on one of the very low but comfortable couches ordered some mimosas and asked the bar tender for some bread. We got a basket of muffins and little breads within minutes. My first mimosa was peach and was very good. 20 minutes later the hostess came upstairs to let us know our table was ready.
Our waiter Patrick was very nice and accommodating. He seemed to really know his menu, including ingredients! We were very happy with his service. Our food arrived promptly as did our drinks . My second mimosa was a regular one, which was also very good. Our glasses of water never reached the bottom, the wait staff was very on top of that.
I ordered the Texas Omelet and thought it was very good. I seriously couldn't eat all that food and ended up taking more than half home. It was a group of six and we all ordered something different and everyone seemed satisfied with their food. My mom did mention her vegetables were a little oily. She doesn't like butter and it seems they were prepared with butter. My sister ordered the local crab but when Patrick tried to put the order in we were informed there was none. She ended up ordering a chicken dish, which she liked a lot.
Overall, I thought the restaurant staff was very accommodating and definitely friendly. I really liked the food and will definitely be going back there for Brunch. I thought prices were very reasonable at about $14-22 per dish. Mimosas were only $3.50 or $9.50 (i think) for a pitcher. This is one of my new favorite brunch places in Houston.
I discovered Yelp back in late 2007. I had never heard of Yelp. I started using Yelp because I had just moved from Southwest Houston to North Houston and I had no clue what was out here other than the Woodlands mall and the new location of the company I work for. Ella and FM 1960? I had only heard of these places on the news usually because somebody was robbed, shot, or died from a gunshot wound because they were robbed. And now I lived out here. Where's a good sushi place? Where's a coffee shop (other than Starbuck's)? Where's Target? Where's Michael's? Where can I get banh mi? Boba tea? Where?
Was Yelp helpful for this side of town? NOPE! Because all of the few Yelpers that existed in Houston only reviewed places either inside the loop or about a mile or 2 outside the loop. Damnit!!! Useless. A few more months passed and I was getting a bit tiffed because there were still no reviews for the North side of town. So I finally wrote a review.
And now today... I'm meeting other Yelpers for lunch bunches, Sunday brunches, and UYE's. I have yet been to an official Yelp event. Oh well. :( Someday. But at least I get to see them at other events. I met Gretchen, Shazia, Linh, and Eva L. for brunch here at Benjy's. I have yet to write a review of the places I've been for UYE's simply because it was the first time I had ever been to it. Or is it because others have already reviewed it and I need time to think about what I can possibly say that someone else hasn't already said?
So my first impression of Benjy's? Wow... it's crowded. It was Sunday and also Father's Day. Good thing Gretchen and I decided to go early. The hostess looked like she was about to burst when we told her that we needed a table for 5. But since we were about an hour early, we were just going to sit at the bar and drink a cappuccino while we waited for our food or waited for a table for 5. Whichever came first. Surprisingly, after ordering the cappuccino, our table was ready. We were seated in the Lounge area upstairs. Nice. I liked that area the best. It wasn't as noisy.
I ordered French toast. Tasty. It was crunchy because it had nuts. Interesting. I never had French toast with nuts. Pine nuts? Any who it worked. It came out pretty fast too. Cappuccino and French toast came out to $20. Ouch. But they included gratuity in the total, which in my opinion is the dumbest thing a restaurant can do because those who are in or who have been in the restaurant industry will tip more than your average Joe. Sometimes even at 20% or 25%. Knocked off a star for that alone.
Service was good...enough. The waitresses were nice but very pretentious and they made me nervous. That's not a good thing either. I do understand that when restaurants are busy, they want people in and out. However, the larger the party, the longer they stay, the more they buy... hence, the more money they make so you need to pick on the smaller tables. Not the larger ones.
I'll definitely come back here to try other things on the menu. I'll even come back with people from out of town who have never been here before. I think that's a bigger compliment to Benjy's than a 1-5 star rating system.
I LOVE THE WHITE PIZZA! I've been here multiple times and always had good food and good service. Went once on my birthday and staff was friendly and accommodating. I even bought the music CD they were playing over at (Cactus Mambo Ibiza). It's a good place to start off or end an evening in Rice Village or on a weekend afternoon.
Next door to the Kelvin Arms is a plus and I highly recommend both places.
I was able to join Shazia's Brunch Bunch UYE today and it was pretty good all around. First, it was Father's Day, so when I walked up to Benjy's at about 1230PM, the entry way was crowded with people practically blocking the door. Every single table downstairs was full, and Benjy himself looked a little flustered as he attempted to keep track of it all.
I figured my party would be in the lounge area/patio, so I squeezed by the Donner party and headed upstairs. Once there, ah, relief! My favorite New Order song was playing! Familar, friendly Yelpers!
I was starving, but service was rather inattentive as they thought we had more people coming. Consequently, I had to place my order to go, because like Tina R., I had to go into work today. Once the orders were placed though, the food arrived quite promptly. Shazia's poached eggs looked perfect, accompanied by toasted challah bread. Her fruit salad was a beautiful medley of grapefruit, granny smith apple, and banana slices, along with other fruit, I can't remember--were there kiwi slices too? Eva L. ordered the smoked shrimp quiche, which looked delicious, and Gretchen P. got the mozzarella, tomato, and basil omelet. I decided to imbibe in a white peach mimosa and ordered the tempura shrimp frittata, hoping it would come with the goat cheese grits, but alas, I had to order the grits al a carte.
I didn't get to dig into my food until about 4PM, but when I did, oh my goodness. It was delicious! My shrimp tempura had a generous amount of shrimp topping a bed of greens on top of an unfolded omelet, with remoulade sauce. This was good, but it was the grits that did me in. I snuck a bite or three, earlier on, and oh did it make my eyes roll back in my head in sheer gustatory joy. These were the most superfantastick grits I'd ever tasted in my life. I guess I like nothing better than cheese, macaroni and cheese, and cheese grits. Maybe I should modify my Yelp last meal. This was the gritzshnizzle.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone today and hope I'll be able to join more Brunch Bunch UYEs in the near future.
We went to benjy's for Houston Restaurant Week. We'd been there before a few times. But our friends never had and benjy's was one of like, 4 restaurants that offered veggie fare on their set HRW menus.
We ordered drinks and my citrus blossom (vodka, elderberry liqueur, some citrus stuff) was aaaaa-maaaaa-zing. Light, delicate, fresh, summery, I could have had 5. The aftermath would have been disastrous but it would have been delicious.
For dinner our salad options were arugula salad or a local tomato salad with some kind of special cheese. And when my "local tomato" salad arrived, 3 slices of tomato on a bed of arugula, I was all, WHAT? Because I don't even like arugula. But I was a big girl and ate it and the cheese made it worth it.
My dinner was the scallops (I do eat fish) and apparently the veggie risotto was delicious, though I didn't try it. Mine was good, my husband ordered the salmon and it was only okay. (I felt it was a tad undercooked.)
For dessert I ordered the "Dulce de leches," a tres leches topped with candied something. It was good. But UH MUH GAWD that chocolate cake was--I'm pausing with my fingers hovering over the keys because I got nothin'. It was better than any chocolate cake I've ever had. It was better than my homemade brownies. It was almost better than my drink.
Go. Eat chocolate cake.
I came here after work on a friday night with a couple of friends.
We ordered mojitos for drinks, not that great.
Got the lamb chops and scallops for dinner.
The scallops were over cooked and kinda chewy and at first there was only 3 of them for 20+ bucks???
Half way through the meal the waitress brought out 2 extra ones said that they looked small so here you go...2 extra over cooked scallops does not make up for the meal...
The reason this place is still on my happier half were the pork chops. There were 2 HUGE pork chops cooked perfectly with a touch of sweetness.
The dessert was amazing also.
Bread pudding with caramel sauce and a scoop of vanilla.
Everything brought to our table was delicious! The crunchy chicken is still my favorite. I love the mixture of vegetables that come with it. The au gratin potatoes, sweet carrots and asparagus complement the chicken perfectly. I also had the Caesar salad with wasabi cilantro vinaigrette and it was so refreshing
I also sampled the salmon and it too was yummy. The homemade watermelon and cantaloupe popsicles are a tasty and unique treat. Now I'm not a chocolate lover but I had one bite and I have to say their chocolate cake is mmmm good!
Our server was attentive and friendly and our food was timed well. I knocked off 1 star was because I thought the tables were very close together and I kept getting bumped by the servers. The other reason is their cocktail glasses are tiny. The other Benjy's on Washington has full sized cocktail glasses, which we like!
The atmosphere here is a bit different as well. I would say the Washington location has a younger crowd. Nevertheless we can always count on a great meal and service at Benjy's.
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They took one of my favorite brunch items off the menu: Tempura shrimp with goat cheese grits on a bed of greens, with a couple of eggs over easy. They have all of the ingredients to make it and the waiter offered to have them whip one together for me. Apparently they get the request often. Why would the chef take something so wonderful off of my options list?
I also found out on my last visit that the side of grits is actually the goat cheese grits. Do yourself the favor and get them. Years ago, I read an article in The Smithsonian Magazine on grits in the U.S. From state to state, people add different things to their grits. Molasses, bacon, or garlic cheese to name a few; it's a regional thing. I don't see how any other version could outshine the goat cheese version at Benjy's.
If you are looking for the perfect place to have brunch on a Saturday or Sunday, go to Benjy's.… Read more »
love this place, i can never go wrong with any of the selection on their menu. I like the original at the village, it's were I go. The lounge upstairs is great. Been going to this place for 6 years now.
margarita pizza is my favorite although other comes in a close as well.
great staff, great atmosphere, great food, great company...
What's the sign of a great restaurant? In my humble opinion, it's consistent and repeat customers. I just visited Benjy's at 7:30 pm on a Tuesday night. It was full when we arrived and tables turned over twice while we were there. We grabbed seats at the downstairs bar, which aren't my favorite because you are basically sitting in the service area near the kitchen. But, jaunting in for a quick, light bite, I was thrilled we found seats.
My friend and I started with blood orange margaritas...Cinco de ME...YO! They were amazing...a little bitter...perfect salt on the rim, yummy tequila. I will be back for more of those! We decided to split the Pistachio crusted goat cheese cakes as an appetizer. It arrived and they were a perfect appetizer. Three goat cheese cakes that were perfectly crusty on the outside and warm and creamy on the inside. They were placed on crostini and paired with a carrot and raisin salad. YUMMY!
For a main dish I got the chopped Asian salad. It had chopped chicken, lettuces, and cabbages. It had a light ginger soy dressing, with a peanut based, spicy dressing on the side. It was delicious and the right size.
I had a glass of chardonnay with dinner and was impressed with the wine by the glass list.
All in all, for $35, including tip, I was very impressed and will be back soon.
Awesome for happy hour in the Lounge area. It is the place to be. The girlfriend and I came at 4:45 and we were like, "Wow, it is kinda empty here" besides a party of girls who were celebrating a birthday or something and a few other couples.
At 5:00 PM the place was packed. There was nowhere to sit for the newcomers and they just stood around, having a good time, having a few drinks, bumping into each other as they tried to maneuver around the lounge.
We ate a bunch of appetizers: grilled calamari (got tricked into it being grilled and not fried), beef arepas, and smoked salmon tacos with truffle-something, iced teas all around. Everything was good and we can't wait to go back. The mojitos looked nice and refreshing and I will definitely get one the next go around.
As good as it gets. Busy as hell as it is very popular as well. I've only been here for my friend's… Read more »
Having only been to Benjy's for the lounge before, I decided to try brunch. I called 20 minutes before arriving and was able to get a table -- amazing considering that it was father's day! Of course, my excitement for the short wait time was countered by the two small children at the table next to us... I guess it was father's day and DINKs shouldn't be the only ones allowed to enjoy a nice breakfast, but there's also something to be said for teaching your kids to behave.
I digress. There were three in our party. Drinks were the Mango-passion fruit juice, hot tea, and coffee. The bread was tasty - mini muffins and apple butter. We ordered the tomato, basil, and mozzarella omelet; prosciutto & marscapone monte cristo; and lump crab with potato hash and truffled eggs. The results were mixed. My lump crab was delectable. The creamy sauce was a bit heavy but, tasty nonetheless. However, the monte cristo was less impressive. It came with balsamic strawberries that were... bad. They tasted bitter instead of sweet. Maybe I'm used to adding sugar as well as balsamic when i make them at home, but i didn't like the flavor.
Overall, breakfast was kind of meh. I enjoy Benjy's and I'm sure I'll be back again, but more likely for drinks than breakfast.
Big fan. BIG fan of Benjy's. I took a colleague here for dinner last night with high praise for the restaurant. He was exceptionally pleased with his hangar steak, which arrived perfectly medium. I went for two specials: the fisherman's stew, which was bold, rich, sweet yet spicy, and chock full of mussels, squid, and whitefish. Delish!
My special fish was a black grouper with pearled cous cous and a pea ragout. Truly outstanding.
Jen took excellent care of us, and when I return, I will ask for her t
Surprised I haven't reviewed this place yet. We've been there for dinner several times and have always enjoyed ourselves. The service is always fast and attentive and the cocktails are usually pretty delicious. I'm taking away a star because the menu is really hit or miss. The hits are pretty great but the misses can ruin an evening. Make sure you try the "Crunchy Chicken" and stay away from their "Surf and Turf".
I went there this past weekend for brunch (which prompted this review) and it was a great experience as expected but also hit or miss. The husband ordered the monte cristo and it was pretty disappointing. Lovely runny yolks but the bread was not toasted well and seemed a bit stale. The flavors were boring and was not as creative or inventive as Benjy's usually is. On the other hand, i ordered the Herbed Potato Hash with Lump Crab Meat, Tomatoes, and Basil. It was delicious! I doused it with Tabasco to give it a kick and it was good to the last bite. They are really generous with the lump crab meat and the fresh tomatoes and basil complemented the dish really well. The potato hash was nice, but did not stand out. But I was glad it did not overwhelm the dish.
We went right at 11 so we did not have to wait at all.
Oh, and I've been there for happy hour a few times as well. Nice that they have discounted drinks and food. The appetizers are pretty good, but stay away from the tofu appetizer. It was terrible.
First let me say, I love breakfast. I love brunch. I love everything that reminds me it's the weekend, and I can eat a full meal sitting down and enjoying the start to my day. With this, on Saturday night, the bf/not-bf and I decided to make reservations for brunch on Sunday morning at 12:30pm.
Come Sunday, it was THUNDERSTORMING...and although we very slightly hesitated on driving in that crazy rain, we decided not to let the crappy weather ruin our plans. And boy were we glad!!!!!!
It was our first time at Benjy's and thank God we made a reservation. The place was buzzing when we got there, but we were seated fairly fast (5-10min wait). The brunch menu on their website is NOT updated, so don't be surprised if some of the items do not appear on the menu.
LOVE:
-Mango mimosa. We were originally looking forward to the white peach (they said they weren't serving it that day), but this was a great alternative!
-The bread/muffin/bage basket w/ apple sauce spread. I could've just eaten that ALL DAY long. It was that yummy.
-Herbed potato hash. Holy crappola...I closed my eyes each time I took a bite out of this dish. It had crab pieces, truffled eggs, in some white sauce that just rocked my socks off! And it was HUGE. Could not finish the dish! Thank God I had the Garbage Disposal Man (GDM) with me.
-Shrimp Fritata. My GDM kept asking, "how did they do that?!?" And by that he's referring to the crispyness/freshness of the shrimp over his scrambled/fritata'd eggs. Seriously folks, that's some serious breakfast item there. It brought tears to my GDM's eyes.
SERIOUSLY FOLKS, if you have any other breakfast/brunch places that you are secretly hiding and NOT yelping about, I'll pay you for the info!!!! Places like this are my reason for living (ok ok, so I help some sick people too)! =)
I'm naming my next dog Benjy !
DELICIOUS! (I'm liking this whole one adjective to describe a review thingy that I'm using.)
Dining in the main room was a great experience. We went on a weekday and I was surprised by how packed the place was. There was a romantic ambiance to the place, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It's definitely a trendy spot, but unlike some of the other trendy spots, the food is good-- really good.
Thumbs up for the: beef arepas and osso bucco. Each plate was a generous serving. The beef arepas was a pulled, marinated beef on a cornbread. It had wonderful hispanic flavors but with an American twist. The pork osso bucco was so tender and succulent. I enjoyed every single bite of it and had more than half to bring home.
I highly recommend this place. :)
I have been to Benjy's pre-Yelp days for dinner and drinks, but I have not been back for a while. We finally decided to go for brunch on the whim yesterday, and surprisingly got in pretty quick around 1ish. We sat upstairs, and the atmosphere was nice because the deck was open and it was a surprisingly nice day in Houston sans the wind, but who's complaining really...This review is for their brunch.
The runner dropped off the bread basket, and I was immediately hooked. The cornbread was delicious, and I was really surprised to find a bagel in there as well. I think the rest were little biscuits shaped like muffins? Not sure, but all were tasty with a dip of the apple sauce spread. I was disappointed that they didn't have any white peach mimosas, so I settled for the usual orange.
I ordered the herbed potato hash and husband ordered the monte cristo. Both were flavor explosions in my mouth. Husband was kind of disappointed in one of the poached eggs on half of his sandwich because the yolk was cooked all the way through, and he thought about asking to switch it out but at my urging decided not to (I just hate doing that unless it tastes awful..or your steak is cooked through and through). But the proscuitto made up for the egg as well as the bread that sandwiched it. The potato hash was amazing. And unlike the previous reviewer, I had no problem downing the whole thing while sipping on my mimosa. The potato hash itself was alllriiiight, but the plentiful lump crab meat and truffled eggs probably made me draw a crowd as I scarfed it down.
Service was okay. I was kind of disappointed, because our server came back 2 minutes before we left to refill my iced tea, and she seemed more attentive to other tables than to us. But whatev. I liked the food. Definitely go back soon and try other dishes.
Very cool, chic vibe. Trendy & Unique. Moody beats. Eclectic food. All around awesome.
To start, I was served a sort of tasty cracker & some yummy, warm Hawaiian Bread - fabulous!
I then ordered the Sweet Potato Risotto with Pumpkin Seeds and Brussel Sprouts. It was such an unusually delicious combination!
Since I'd heard about "Mom's Chocolate Cake," I ordered that to try, but it was HUGE! And not only was one piece humongous, but so was piece #2, for the two pieces were served as one serving! Massive. I didn't finish even half of one piece, but the part that I ate, did taste home-made.
All around yummy-ness, with a cool vibe. It's restaurants like this that make me like Houston.
This is by far one of my favorite places to go in Houston! Whether for happy hour, dinner, lunch or brunch! The service is wonderful...the atmosphere is great! I like this location better than the one on Washington...it's just more quaint!
I love this lounge!
I've been here a couple of times for dinner, and the kitchen is very competent, with a good choice of food, and a bit of adventurousness in the menu. If anything, the portions are a little too large. Also, the arepas are not technically arepas.
The lounge here is fantastic. I wish that my apartment was like this place. The happy hour specials are decent, and the special drinks are inventive and delicious. The patio over the Kelvin Arms is great, and would be even better if the real estate developer building the condos next door didn't lose their funding to build my future home. Bastards!
If I could live here, I would.
Yet another trendy HH spot in Houston, but THE best in the Rice Village area. Their lounge upstairs is covered in retro-inspired designs and is inviting. As for eats, their calamari is perfectly flash fried and Osso Bucco is tender and generous in portion. The bacon braised white beans and sautéed spinach that accompanies this fine dish is tasty and compliments the osso bucco perfectly.
It's a great place to meet up with friends for drinks or even a romantic dinner date in the main dining area. Reservations are recommended for main area dinning. They just opened up one on Washington and it's twice the size of the one in Rice Village. Their upstairs lounge is well designed but HH is not yet available. btw, Sunday brunch is a must here too!
The main dining room at Benjy's is fantastic: I've been there for girls' night out, New Years Eve, you name it...but the real hidden gem here is upstairs. The lounge is the best HH destination in H Town.
If you're looking to grab a bite to eat and down a glass of wine, look no further than Benjy's lounge. During Happy Hour, 6 bucks will get you a scrumptious, filling appetizer. Try the beef arepas - they're the best thing on the menu. If there's space, the tiny outdoor patio balcony can be a nice refuge if the lounge gets too loud/crowded.
Benjy's, great food, good service, beautiful atmosphere, and flavorful drinks mixed right. These are the qualities of great restaurant. Enjoy.
So my boyfriend & I decided to have brunch here on valentines day. So Im just now getting the chance to Yelp about it. Well anywho, we made reservations and arrived. As soon as we walk in, this crazy lady runs up to the hostess and says "Will you make them shut up their crying baby over there, its driving me insane". OK! So theres a crying baby in a crowded restaurant, my advice is to EAT AT HOME LADY! So I was a little turned off by the rude lady. We were seated quickly, and we end up in a odd shaped booth. The seating wasnt the best in the place. Its like they tried to squeeze as many tables as they could in there! Im not a big fan of squeezing thru mazes of tables & chairs in restaurants. So we sit, and the places is extremely loud, its like we were so close to other tables, we could hear everyone's convo, including the crying baby! We order a few drinks and our food comes out. I order the French toast with the chicken sausage & eggs. Major disappointment. The eggs reminded me of Denny's (YUCK). Not a fan of those creepy bright yellow fake eggs, is what I call them. Then the french toast of burnt and kind of dry, even after I drowned it with syrup. Then on the the weird chicken sausage. Like a big ball of gross on my plate.
However, I did like the yum bread basket they put out before our meal came. They had these cute heart shaped biscuits and cornbread muffins, that was the only thing I liked.
But Ive never been anywhere that I didnt like the carbs!
This place seems a bit overrated, and the prices were not to bad, but I expected way more from the food and the vibe of the place. I wasnt feeling it at all.
P.S. I visited the location near 59 & Kirby. Maybe the other on Washington is a lot different. Not sure. Doubt if I'll go back again.
I liked Benjy's, but not as much as I thought I would.
The pros were the tasty pitcher of white peach mimosas and the bread basket (although I have to admit I wasn't totally blown away by the actual contents of the basket -- it was a nice touch but I nothing really stood at as significantly more delicious than average).
The cons were a slightly sterile interior and an underwhelming brunch entree. It could be that the dining room is just designed more for evening dining than daytime dining, since it sounds like they are at least as popular if not more popular for happy hour/dinner than they are for brunch (although there was definitely a wait when we were there). I got the prosciutto & mascarpone stuffed french toast with poached eggs. One egg was perfectly poached with a runny yolk, while the other was way overcooked, and the prosciutto & mascarpone combination was a little tasteless and gray. Not sure quite what the problem was, but it was just a very "meh" dish in terms of execution. Maybe I just chose wrongly, because my husband really enjoyed his french toast.
I will probably head back at some point and give it another try (maybe for dinner, since that has received some good reviews?), but since the whole experience was a bit underwhelming I haven't hurried back.
I would have given Benjy's 4 stars but the dumb tramp hostess made us wait 45 minutes over our reservation time before seating us. We arrived at 7pm, the reservation was for 7:30 pm. Our full party arrived at 7:30pm but we were not seated until well after 8:00pm when tables were open. Also, our table was by the door so the chilly draft was undesirable.
The cocktails worked well, I had a couple of scotch and ginger ales, some friends enjoyed wine and another had several belini martinis that she loved. Normally, I'm not a fan of corn bread at all, but the bread served along with the spread was delicious. For appetizers, our table split calamari and crab cakes. The calamari was pretty standard, hard to mess up I imagine. The crab cakes were served on a bed of spinach and was enjoyed by all.
My fiance ordered the CRUNCHY CHICKEN (pecan and pistachio crusted, melted onion -marbled potato gratin, and a sweet corn reduction) and was pleased with a large portion. The chicken itself was lightly breaded and the potato gratin was cooked well. I tried the dish and enjoyed it as much as she did.
I ordered the WOOD OVEN ROASTED CANADIAN SALMON (basil roasted tomatoes, lemon scented green beans, truffle oil crostini, and a shrimp beurre blanc). I normally don't LOVE salmon but I heard everything was good here so I decided to try something I wouldn't typically order. The sauce was light but had plenty of flavor, the fish was seasoned well.. I liked the dish but next time I'll try the hangar steak.
The lounge upstairs is a nice addition, it seems like a fun spot to grab cocktails before going out. I have heard so many great reviews on Benjy's and I'm glad I finally came, I will frequent this place more in the future.
Benjy's gets all five stars for the following reasons:
-Kick-ass bread basket with bagels, muffins, and scones
-Shrimp Tempura Omelet
-HUGE Portions
-Amazing Cocktail Menu
-Best Brunch in Houston ... by far!!!!!!!!!
Benjy's makes my move from San Francisco to Houston ALMOST worth it.
I had sampled four dishes + appetizer + 2 desserts.
The BEST:
A 2-Way Tie! Pecan/pistachio crusted chicken and the Salmon
Mom's chocolate cake (dessert - chocolate decandence, and I'm picky about this too)
Very GOOD:
The roasted pumpkin seed risotto
Goat cheese cake (appetizer)
Banana cream (dessert - loved the walnut ice cream)
Decent:
Hangar steak
Great drinks. Had a long island, mojito, and a margarita and they were all quite fantastic. The food is also not bad, which is hard for me to admit since I am a generally tough pleaser.
I came here once for dinner and once for late night. The dinner arrived very quickly and the service was good. Parking was a complete nightmare and I ended up parking quite far to find a spot. Late night, I found the atmosphere nice but it was crowded and had very little seating.
Excellent food and bar-lounge area. I go back here again and again.
I love the food here. Burger. Salad. Brunch. Whatever. I've never been here for happy hour, but I heard it's good. The outdoor seating area and upstairs bar is also neat!
My partner and i came here for brunch last sunday and it was great. They have been in business for the last 14-15 years so they know what they are doing. We came here promptly at opening and the place filled to capacity over the course of minutes. Dishes here are great and the size of the dishes here were very hearty. I still do not understand why people in Texas think every restaurant serves small portions - i have a feeling that Cheesecake factory has set a poor standard for portion sizes in the restaurant industry. The food here is great quality. I never seen such fresh asparagus. The owner and the staff here are hands on. Plus the white peach mimosas. Woo Hoo!
THE BUENO: Bejny's is great. I have been on several occasions but only for dinner and/or drinks. The lounge upstairs is primo and has all of the usual suspects in terms of drink selection.
The real treat at this Houston gem is the food. My favorite is the Osso Buco. The pizza is also very tasty and more than enough for one.
The wine list is decent enough for a place of this caliber.
Benjy's does take reservations and the staff is extremely helpful and nice.
At the end of the day, this makes for a great date place as well as a place for a bunch of friends to catch up over dinner and some grape juice. Salud!
THE NOT SO BUENO: If you're hungry and normally lean on tortilla chips at a Tex-Mex restaurant to bridge the gap, I might suggest ordering an appetizer and I am personally not a fan of the cracker/chip deal they put on your table.
The parking situation is a bit of a mess around here. I'd suggest looking for parking on the streets (be careful of no parking signs) unless you enjoy the game of coming back to your car and counting the new door dings.
I've only been here for weekend brunches. This place is delicious. The food is inventive and interesting.
The place is hopping. The staff is super helpful if maybe a tad too busy. Reservations seem like a must, even if your SO's family who you're visiting knows at least one of the higher ups here. Otherwise you might have to go upstairs and drink mimosas until a table opens up. Delicious delicious mimosas.
They have salads at brunch time too. One man's brunch time is another man's lunch time.
Oh, and parking is a bit of a pain.
I'd never been to Benjy's and when told we would be going here with 6 others for a business lunch I was excited since I'd heard really good things.
Located in Rice Village next to the Kelvin Arms there is plenty of parking, though the spots are wide enough only for a mini driver to feel comfortable leaving their cars without threats of door dings. Went in and we were seated at a large round table right next to the kitchen. The restuarant was not full, matter of fact it was mostly empty when we arrived, but still, next to the kitchen.
The menu offers a wide selection of selections ... salads, a burger ($11, yeah their proud of it), quite a few fish selections, shrimp tacos ... I went for the chinese noodle salad with ginger beef. Ice tea refills were quick and plentiful. Bread basket ... meh ... a lentil based flatbread with a sauce i never could identify. This could stand room for improvement. Entree's arrived ... my salad was very good although by the end it was a bit much on the ginger/soy dressing side ... maybe offer it on the side or maybe i should have just ordered it on the side.
Everyone else was raving about their food. Including the soup of the day which was a shrimp corn chowder.
Problems became clear however when dessert was asked for .... our server went from just having no personality to being outright rude ... by the time desserts were served (all on one plate WTF?) it was slammed down and when forks were asked for forks?!! was the response ... we had to plead for coffee refills and cream ... asking for that might have been asking for a kidney for all the trouble it seemed.
I would have easily given this a 4 star ranking put the service really paled the day ....
Very nice food.
Always stylish.
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