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I so wanted to give this place four stars for good grub, but in all conscionability, I could not. skip to *FOOD* if you couldn't give a crap about atmosphere, if it's freezing cold outside, or if you just want dinner here.
*ISSUE*
I came here for lunch after the underground tour and the fan was BUZZING through the whole experience. They had this gigantic excruciatingly loud old school heavy duty fan blowing inside air outside. It was awful, I couldn't think, I felt like my thoughts were totally frazzled by that gosh-darned fan. I was so annoyed, I sulked. It was so bad, that my boyfriend's mom even commented on how she could tell the fan was bugging the crap out of me (turns out it bugged her too). Do NOT go here for lunch. Be nice to your nerves and inner calm. The place is probably fine for freezing cold days and dinners.
*FOOD*
The service was pretty good here, and the food was fresh and unique. They had a lot of different pizza ideas I hadn't even thought of. While I was waiting, I noticed everyone getting their really attractive food (I was also hungry). I split a pizza with the b-friend that had shrimp on it and some great cheese. What can I say it was scrumpcious. The b-friends parents appeared to really like their pizza too. It was thin-crustish and light, a great lunch. But that fan....ugh. We had to yell across the table just to chat. I will never go here again for lunch.
Man it took me forever to figure out the name of this restaurant to review it. I thought it would have the name "Luigi" some where in it. Good thing I took a business card and even then there are three separate restaurants listed on one card. Haha.
This was the only restaurant my loverman and I impulsively went to. We had about three hours to kill while waiting for the Underground Tour to begin so we went walking around. He said we should just split something and we went in. The waitress told us the specials and before I even got to look at the menu, he ordered one of their specials. Pssssh. He is lucky it came out really good.
We got the Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Flatbread that came with soup and salad. I ate the salad while he had the soup. If you are vegetarian/vegan, the soup looks like it doesn't have meat in it but it is cooked with pancetta. It came with four slices of the flatbread and we split that. It was really good. He thought it was okay and that it was the worst restaurant we went to during our entire trip but I really liked it.
The service was impeccable and everyone there was super friendly. Give this restaurant a try! The special came out to be 12 dollars. The few things I was able to see on the menu sounded really good but too bad I am back in San Francisco.
We parked across the street from this Italian restaurant originally going to dinner at a restaurant nearby. My bf noticed the out door seating (which we love) and we changed our mind to have Italian that night instead.
We sat in their outdoor deck to people watch. The waiter brings us 2 glasses and a wine bottle with water. I first wondered where the heck is my ice in this 90 degree weather. Secondly, I was thinking how weird is it to put water in a wine bottle? We put that aside and I ordered the pasta with smoked salmon. My bf ordered the special which was chicken tortellini with spiniach & garlic. My dish was what I expected. Sause was very minimal. Not super delicious, but nothing to complain about either. The tortellini was ok, however, the chicken seemed to be over cooked. The weird thing is our dishes came out like 5 mins after we ordered. We figured everything was precooked and microwaved. Prices were higher than expected, only b/c it's in Pioneer Square I'm sure.
Very good bruschetta. i also like the small, pleasantly cramped interior. Something about the "tired" interior works for me. I hope it doesn't get a makeover.
Good little Italian spot! Came here and ordered some very tasty garlic bread, salciccia pasta (with "homeade" sausage) and topped it with some cheesecake!
It was all very tasty and inexpensive. The seating area only consists of about 6-7 tables and it is very small inside. I would recommend coming in off hours or taking it to go.
Being from Northern California, I realize how spoiled we are with abundant restaurants from Latino and Asian heritage. Travelling to the Pacific Northwest, we figured, would be an homage to withdrawal from these foods. Despite our doubts, we wandered the streets in search of Thai or Mexican food to satiate our hunger. Now, imagine walking around a large city at 8.30pm, it still being plenty light out to read by, and restaurants are closing their doors as fast as you can walk to them. That turned out to be our biggest dilemma, eclipsing the admitted larger-than-I-expected-but-still-tiny Mexican and Thai food supply.
When I say that we settled for Cafe Bengodi, that really means for only minutes. It was after 9pm, and we felt lucky that anyplace was open to serve us food. At this restaurant, one very patient, very knowledgeable waiter was ostensibly running the show, busing and serving literally every table. No, the place isn't that big, but on a Monday night that doesn't mean you can't get close to the best seat in the house. We chose to eat outdoors, likely the only al fresco dining I have ever experienced on a picnic table that didn't involve flipping burgers and jumping right into a pool after. Another odd thing that set Cafe B apart was the fact that you select your silverware and napkins from a hodgepodge collection in a bucket in the center of the table.
Immediately, the waiter brought us menus and two glasses for water. The water was served from an emptied red wine bottle, which was different but decidedly Italian. The menu is only one page front and back but I could have picked dozens of items, they all looked good. My pasta, the simply titled 'BROCCOLI,' was served in an oil and pepper sauce that I am going to try to reproduce at home, it was so good. Our outdoor neighbors ordered a pizza that smelled and looked delicious as well.
Being near Pioneer square has its inherent advantages and disadvantages. It was within walking distance of Pike Place, the football and baseball stadiums, anywhere downtown really. Yes, Cafe Bengodi was blessed with lots of foot traffic, but with this distinction it also means that sitting outside means possibly being approached by one of the areas many homeless for a handout. While sitting inside eliminates this risk, it doesn't really spoil an evening unless they are persistent or continue to interrupt your meal.
Anyway, back to dinner. The portions were more than adequate and supposedly their pastas were handmade the day before or came from Pike Place Market, something crazy like that. After our server brought our food, he also delivered a plate of garlic bread that had been in the oven too long, he said, which was a nice surprise. Though we were too full, dessert looked like it would have been worthwhile to save room for.
The next time I'm in Seattle, I will definitely have to plan better. The 'best Mexican place in town,' dubbed by several locals, alas closes at 7pm. Again, Californians do not realize how lucky they are. Our food service stays operational until wee hours of night. But honestly, if you plan to stay open until 7pm, why not just 2 or 3 more hours and capitalize on dinner? At least now I know if nothing else, Cafe Bengodi won't let me down.
The food here is so hit and miss. The staff are generally not interested in helping the customer as in taking personal calls.
We went for lunch and it took close to an hour before it finally showed up. Of the 6 dishes only one was up to scratch the rest was just awful. Never going again.
As for the tired all decor - it doesnt rank as kitschy it just ranks.
I only live a few blocks away from this place, so I walk by it nearly every day. My instinct has always been to avoid it, since (a) as a general rule of thumb, every food establishment within a one-block radius of the underground tour is going to be schlocky, overpriced tourist chow; (b) I don't trust any "restaurant" that advertises with a sidewalk placard of the italian flag and cardboard renderings of a waiter that looks suspiciously like Chef Boy-Ar-Dee.
So when I read the (surprisingly positive) reviews of Cafe Bengodi on Yelp, I decided to test my perhaps overly prejudicial views.
And after actually eating at this place I realized every false impression I had was completely justified (score one for prejudice!). I should have trusted my instincts.
I mean, I can deal with schlocky, as far as atmosphere goes. As in, tiny, claustrophobic indoor seating (about half the size of your average Wendy's) or sitting on plastic picnic tables outside--with plastic buckets to hold the silverware. The longer I was there the more I realized this place would be awesome if I was still 8. Our server was really, really blazed (which, to be fair, I completely understand). I mean, it was hard to talk to him. He tried to "push" the dessert on us, but all he could manage to get out was "Do you guys wanna try some dessert? We've got this, like, chocolate stuff; It's pretty great" (I couldn't make this up).
So yeah, I can deal with all that, since it all really comes down to the food. Which was just a huge disappointment. I ordered the "Salmone" which allegedly came with cream sauce and white wine, but I couldn't detect any sign of either. It wasn't completely unpalatable; in fact, there was nothing really "wrong" with the food. It was just bland. Really bland, to the point where you just want to drown your food in salt or pepper or soy sauce or ANYTHING to induce a sign of flavor. It kinda felt like Ray Liotta's rant at the end of Goodfellas: "I ordered spaghetti and marinara, and all I got was egg noodles and ketchup."
I noticed a lot of people keep citing the "reasonable prices" this place has. Yeah, the food is "cheap," about $10-15 per person. But it is also "proportional" to the quality of the food. This isn't a bargain, folks. For $12 worth of groceries, I could make a better pasta dinner using Kraft alfredo sauce and hamburger helper. Really, all you're getting for your penny-pinching is a plate of flavorless empty-carbs. You might as well skip the trip and just consume a small box of flour (which would be about equally satisfying).
I really don't understand where all these positive reviews are coming from. WTF is wrong with you people?? This place is terrible! I can see a few reviews are from out-of-towners and that's (almost) excusable, but the lion's share of these reviews are from actual Seattlites! This is a restaurant town, people! I trusted you Seattle-savvy Yelpers and you let me down. You people make me sick. And you owe me a $12 dinner.
no i am not a native, but i know better than to eat around pioneer square. then again, i was had just met my family, fresh off the 'underground seattle' tour and everyone was hungry and didn't want to walk, and there was cafe bengodi.
i wasn't sure what to expect, the yelp reviews were mixed, but i truly was expecting the worst.
well it wasn't the worst, but it was exactly what you would expect from an italian restaurant in a tourist square. overpriced, undercooked. i had a pizza, the four seasons, with ham, salami, olive and artichoke heatrts, and the toppings were good, but the dough was really chewy and undercooked.
it wasn't absurdly pricey, the same individual pizza in a neighborhood joint in atlanta probably would have cost the same $12, but would have been quite a bit better.
a tiny anecdote -
my dad told the server he really liked the iced tea and asked what it was. "lipton. we pour it right out of a 12 oz bottle."
there ya go.
My co-worker ate here and raved about the polenta with mushrooms a few months ago, so it has been on the agenda to come back together.
An earlier attempt to eat here for a small group birthday lunch was thwarted when they didn't honor the reservation for 6 that I made the day earlier. They claimed that they don't take reservations when we arrived. Oh, I only called twice and was never told that when my reservations were taken! No problem, we took our business elsewhere.
Despite that problem, we gave Cafe Bengodi another try yesterday. Warning: I wouldn't eat here if you were in a hurry because service is disorganized despite their small size. Luckily we had extra time for lunch so we weren't pressed for time. We both knew that we were going to try the polenta with prosciutto, spinach, mushrooms, and a cream sauce. Sounds lovely, right? Not if you get a half a cup of soft butter on top of it, which my co-worker quickly pointed out.
Wish that I had read the other reviews before heading over here. Maybe the angry staff member in nari k.'s review spooked out the regular chef. Whatever the reason for the slip in food quality, a half a cup of butter plopped on top of an entree does NOT make everything better!
Never again will I set foot in this racist place!
My guest and I walked in for dinner. The manager waves us down frantically as soon as we walked in as if he was expecting us, exclaiming, "Come over here! Sit!" He made as sit at this cramped little table right next to the kitchen entrance and yells to one of the kitchen staff (who was Mexican), "Jose, your brothers here!" (We're Asian.) Upon realizing we have no relation to "Jose", the manager says to us, "This table is reserved. You can sit over there." And points us to a more spacious table.
We were waiting patiently for someone to bring us the menus. The manager who was waiting the tables that night walked by our tables 4 times to check on other tables and completely ignored us. Then upon the 5th time, he brings us a credit card receipt to sign! I look over at the table next to me who saw what just happened and we actually a mutually look of puzzlement. I wave to the manager and say, "Excuse me, sir, this isn't ours. We haven't even ordered yet." He grabs it from me and abruptly replies, "I know. Thanks." And takes it to the right table.
A couple comes in. He walks over to them, seats them and brings them the menu, water and tells them the special, etc. A party of four enters, and he does the same. Meanwhile, we are getting impatient still not having even received our menus yet.
I wave to the man as he walks by and politely say, "Excuse me, sir. We've been waiting here for awhile now and we haven't gotten the menus yet." He snaps at me rudely, "You need to learn to be patient, young man! Can't you see I'm doing many things at once? I'll get to you!"
I was completely shocked by his utterly rude response, and so were the neighboring tables who witnessed it. I stood up told him, "Excuse me, you're being very rude and I don't appreciate it one bit. I'm not going to stand for this." And my guest and made our exit. As he yelled, "You can leave! Goodbye!"
I don't know its if we looked young or if it had anything to do with the fact that we were the only minority aside from the kitchen staff, but never have I experienced such rude treatment of any sort, and I will not tolerate discrimination of any kind.
I do not condone bigotry, and I hope you won't either by staying away from this place! Can't say anything about the food since we never even make it to getting the menu, but I don't care how good the food is, I'm never coming here ever again!
Never again will I set foot in this racist place!
My guest and I walked in for dinner. The manager…
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We were walking around the neighborhood looking for a place to eat and this place looked intriguing. The place is tiny, and will seat 24 at best. The waiter was lively and seemed to carry on 5 different conversations at once.
Our food was great, my wife had the risotto with bacon, sausage and saffron. It was very creamy and they were very generous with the sausage and bacon.
I had the pasta with olive oil, garlic and peppers. I added sausage and chicken and enjoyed every bite. Like the risotto they were very generous with the meat.
We followed up the meal with some tiramisu which they import. Even though it was imported it was very good, probably in my top 5.
Overall this was a great experience. They don't try to be anything more than a little corner Italian restaurant.
So this place is clearly quirky. In a lot of cases, the first thing that I do upon entering a restaurant is to use the facilities. So I go in here, enter the john, and notice an interesting machine contained within. So you put in a quarter, pull a lever, and a squirt of perfume comes out. Great if you are on a date and suddenly notice that you smell bad. Happens to me all the time, let me tell you.
I ordered the pasta with smoked salmon. The pasta was actually somewhat bland, although altogether the meal was tasty enough.
We also had the antipasti (pretty good), and the garlic bread (recommended). Came to about $20 a person.
Overall, good location and decent prices. The service is fairly bare-bones, but overall, a fairly good meal.
Ever leave your coat someplace just to ensure your return? Well that didn't happen here, but it was close. Very Close.
The food was good, the service was great even though there was just one person, and the prices were a little high, but the total package is just a highlight of italianesque yumminess.
Go check it out... but do remember your coat.
Not so hot on this place. Our group got crammed in the corner where we froze next to the drafty door.
I had the Broccoli Prosciutto Pasta which was underdone all around. Pasta too al dente and Broccoli was close to raw.
On the upside, it seems like everyone else in our group enjoyed their meals. And the waitress was adorable... and helpful.
Go downstairs to their larger Denunzios Trattoria counterpart. I've always had a good time there. So considering the two places are one in the same, I may have just had an off night. Still, Denunzio's is worth the extra time and money in my opinion.
Just got back from a Memorial Day Weekend Seattle getaway. While waiting for the Underground Tour, we happened into this quaint little cafe for a quick lunch and it was a great walk-up choice.
I agree with another review that the decor of the place epitomizes the word "quirky". The dining room is tiny -- fits 24 ppl (yes I counted), but there's just something about the ambiance of this tiny eatery. From the mismatched dish ware to the "necessity room" (restroom), the place, felt very authentic -- as much as any Asian would know about authentic Italia.
The waiter was an older gentlemen and he was a hoot -- constantly keeping the room lively with his good-natured ribbing.
The food is decent -- we order the meat pizza, a spinach salad and the garlic bread. The pizza was decent (the olives were too salty) and the spinach salad was nothing special, however, the homemade garlic bread was simply wonderful.
We peeked over at the next table and their heaping plates of pasta looked and smelled delicious.
While I would say the food was just average, the ambience and overall experience made everything go down easy. An overall good lunch experience.
I just went to Cafe Bengodi for dinner. It was my second visit, and I instantly remembered why I liked it so much the first time: Great food, friendly service, CHEAP price!
The food here is classic American-Italian; very similar to what you might make at home. But they do it all very well, with terrific pasta, garlicky sauteed spinach, and awesome garlic bread. Give a listen to the specials, and if you want something that's not on the menu go ahead and ask for it.
It's especially nice to go in the summer and sit on their patio . . . pioneer square is lovely to watch at that time of year!
This place is pretty no-frills; there's not much "ambiance" and it's not at all fancy-pants. Just good, cheap food!
I love this place.
the bruschetta was to die for...we went on 4th of july and they were really understaffed from the looks of it..our waiter was probably the owner or something because he was yelling at pretty much everyone there...i was really turned off by that and was surprised but happy he didn't yell at me too when we didn't eat all of the olives off our bruschetta plate lol...he yelled at a customer and she left..he yelled at the cook and he yelled back and said "who's going to cook than? you?"
the lasagna was good, my spaghetti was decent...all in all a really awkward experience and i don't think i'll ever go there again because i was in fear with every bite that he might yell at me...oh yeah and he yelled at 3 different parties asking to sit outside...calm down you crazy man...
Al Fresco seating, a friendly waitstaff and scrumptious meals make Cafe Bengodi a pleasure to dine during Seattle's very few non-pluvious months. I don't think I've ever had a better risotto.
"Made right -OR- Made today"
The place was half-empty when we got there. After 50 minutes of waiting for our food, we asked that they make the order to go.
Apparently, to get your food in under an hour, you have to sacrifice a step or two in the process of its preparation. The step I was begrudged was the actual cooking of my pizza. It came out with wet, sticky dough instead of crust. Is that authentic and I'm just missing the point?
In a nutshell, the cramped atmosphere, undercooked food, and abysmally slow service won this place a spot on our company's do-not-go list.
I don't think you can really make an honest judgment about a place after eating there only once. I work right across Cafe Bengodi in Pioneer Square and I waited 7 months to eat there. I finally went there yesterday. I strolled in around 2pm, so I'm not sure how efficient service is around lunch hour, but I know I got my meal in less than 10 minutes.
I started with a side salad which I thought was a little pricy $3.50, but when it came out it was huge and delicious. It was a garden salad topped with mushrooms, olives, and diced tomatoes. The dressing was olive oil with a splash of anchovy sauce, and topped with freshly grated parmesean. Yum! For my entree I ordered the roasted chicken risotto with mushroom and basil, it was about $13.00. Presentation wise, the food could have looked better, but that had nothing to do with the taste. The risotto was cooked just right. Not too soggy, not too hard, just perfect. The chicken was moist and tender and the basil hit all the right places in my pallet.
I think the setting of that day may have been a deciding factor in my meal, thus taking away from objectivity at its best. It was a perfect crisp fall day where there were tints of sunshine and golden leaves everywhere. Being in that setting in Pioneer Square might be too distracting when you're trying to write a review.
So while the review for now is only 3 based on the bare minimum I will have to return to Cafe Bengodi with a more accurate analysis. Overall, a great place to eat for a casual date. It's a little spendy for lunch and even for dinner, but if you're lucky you'll get speedy service and a nice fall day to accompany the good, but not superb dishes.
i am biased because i used to work here...
but that was like 6 years ago, so i will try to be impartial. bengodi is the step-child of the grotto (now denunzio's), and has the charm of an under-serviced volvo... it's reliable, sturdy, but lacks the shine and comfort of the newer model.
i always found the food to be on par, though i was friends with the chef, so maybe that's not fair. it seems to me, though, that for lunch or a casual dinner, bengodi is a nice spot to have some decent food and eavesdrop on your neighbor-table's conversation. it is on the small side, but hey, that's italian-style intimacy if you ask me.
luigi (who owns both bengodi and denunzio's) is legit. he's an old salty italian guy who chainsmokes, drinks during the day, and loves the ladies. he likes good food, good wine, and insists on quality from his employees, and i think he's done a great job taking his passion and creating a couple of spaces in pioneer square that reflect that.
then again, i haven't been there in a couple of years, so it might suck now.
A Co-worker and I ate lunch here just because we've walked by the place a zillion times and both like 'divey' spots that serve good food. Frankly, I thought it was OK to Mediocre. The pasta wasn't fresh but it was cooked properly and the service was prompt. This was at lunch and they were at about 50% capacity. While I can't enthusiactically endorse Bengodi, I can't totally trash it either. I could see that the small dining room could easily overwhelm the staff if things got hopping. Fortunately for us, that wasn't the case on a crisp, Autumnal afternoon.
I love this place. The staff is friendly, the food is awesome. They don't give you gigantic proportions either, just right. The price is just right also. Averaging 10$ a plate. They only have one selection of beer, but its a great Italian one. My husbands favorite dish is the past with tarragon and oranges, though I don't particularly like it. The funghi pasta is great!
What a little treasure this place is. Hiding in plain site right at the northern edge of Pioneer Square, Cafe Bengodi is a tiny restaurant with, I believe only, six or seven tables available. The service is fast and the food is fantastic and subtle with freshly made pasta and fresh ingredients. It's become a bit of a tradition to make occasional trips to Elliott Bay Books followed by dinner here. Outstanding.
Oh the pizza at Cafe Bengodi is delicious. My friend got herself a simple pasta with pesto that was anything but simple. Like everyone else said this is one small place. We got lucky and were able to get a table. The service was great and the atmosphere was kind of romantic. I am sure we will be back plenty of more times. Hopefully the sun will be back soon so we can dine outside(wish full thinking).
I love the basement dining area here. It's so kitschy, you feel like you're in some 1930's speakeasy, and Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel are at the table next to you discussing how to take over the Chicago bootlegging circuit. Apart from the incredibly entertaining atmosphere (tacky, in the best possible way!) the food is pretty decent too. I suspect that the menu has been tamed for Americans, because some of the flavors were a little muted, but it was still plentiful and VERY reasonably priced. Not to mention a really tasty wine list - also very affordable! It's right on the edge of Pioneer Square, so it's an excellent "after First Thursday Artwalk" choice for dinner.
This was the food highlight of our trip to Seattle. We actually stumbled upon this place because nothing else in Pioneer Square was open on Sunday and we're glad we did. The manager was extremely friendly and offered to make our food any way we wanted (two of us were vegetarian). The garlic bread was excellent and tasted fresh while the pizza I had was quite good. My girlfriend had the polenta (primavera style, which is typically for the risotto), which she liked a lot. Our friends had risotto primavera, which was very good and a pasta (can't remember which), but was also good. The cheesecake with ganache dessert was also very enjoyable. I highly recommend this place. Also, I am not sure what happened to a previous poster, but we (4 Indians) did not have any issues with service or friendliness with the manager.
Pasta! Nothing gourmet. Safe place from all the other tourist traps. I liked the garlic bread though. They press fresh garlic on thick flush bread.
I went here for lunch yesterday after we decided to skip Thai due to the long arse queue. Good for us because Cafe Bengodi was soo soooo good! The ambiance of the place rivals any of the good mom & pop joints in Little Italy, NY or North Beach SF. The place is small and welcoming - 1 waiter on staff that day which added to the quaintness of the place. I really felt like I was at home in SF grabbin' lunch w/someone in my famiglia. Ahhh, what more could I ask for. The waiter was really cool, perfect service across the board. And the food was delightful. I had a plate of freshly cut penne pasta w/pancetta and broccoli and a perfect amount of shaved parmesan and olive oil. Heck, this was just as good as one of my mom's home cooked meals. The only thing that takes away from it gettin' a 5 star rating is that the place would fill up w/smoke from the kitchen from time to time... not overwhelming or burnt smell by any means and was quickly sucked out by a fan that would kick in. My recommendation would be to have the fan on all the time. Again, really just a nit as this place is amazing and I'll be back for more no doubt!
We had putanesca (pasta), primavera (risotto), and garlic bread. The putanesca is spicy with lots of strong flavors, just the way it should be. The risotta was pretty oily, and the garlic bread only so-so. A good spot to people watch and sit outside with ok food.
I have loved every entree that I've tried here -- they actually understand what the word "garlic" means (so yes, it's heavy enough that you can actually taste it so have a backup plan to get it off your breath or you'll offend people for the rest of the day:) The service has actually been fairly quick the times that I've been there. My one complaint is that it is a little pricey, esp. for lunch ($2.50 for a can of soda!), but it's sometimes worth the splurge b/c it's one of the better tasting Italian places in the area for entrees under $17.
NEW Early Dinner Menu - $10!
Neighborhood: Mt. Baker
Four for 48
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill
Neighborhood: Pioneer Square
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Pioneer Square
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Pioneer Square
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Pioneer Square
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Pioneer Square
Category: Restaurants
This is where I would take me for dinner in…
