Bennys — Restaurant in Portland

Looked great inside and atmosphere was okay. I work in the food/service industry for over 17yrs and i was kinda disappointed in in my first experience at Benny's. The young gentleman that sat me was great but not so much for the bartender/server. After he acknowledged me he did place my order and got my beverage as asked but I never heard from him again even when my food got brought out to me from a kitchen staff member. As I started my meal I realized that I wanted to have some parmesan added to the dish. I patiently waited to get check on as my meal was sitting in front of me. Which at this point a bartender/server would check on the patron (s) to make sure they either have what they need or if the meal is good . However that was not the case he continued to bypass me and actually check on the couple that was sitting next to me at the bar and never asked or to check on me . So after waiting I decided to just finished my meal which was good a little pricey for the size of the meal but like I mentioned earlier I work in the industry so I get it. Pushed away my plate to let the bartender know I was done and would be interested in cashing out but instead he help the couple next to me with their check and never asked me if I needed anything or all set for the check . I noticed the female that seem to be behind the bar stocking so I asked for the check which she did and even still he never caught on just seem to focus on gossiping with the kitchen staff. Hopefully this review reaches him and he can actually focus on his customers/guess. I did not leave a great tip which is disappointing because I love the industry and the people that work in it work THEIR ASS OFF and deserve to get tipped well for their service. I'll give it another...

Went here tonight with my wife as she had heard it was a great new spot. I had high hopes going in but unfortunately was underwhelmed with the whole experience. We sat at the bar as that was the only available seating. The Bartender was meh. Not much charisma! Just kinda hey what can I get for you kinda guy. Didn’t bother to ask if we had been there before or make any kind of suggestions. We got a bottle of their Sangiovese which I will say was a pretty decent bottle of wine but we did pay $54 bucks for it so I was hoping it would be. We got their chopped salad which I thought was just ok. The lettuce was kinda yellowish and the ingredients were lack luster. Also they served it piled high on a shallow bowl with a spoon and it was an absolute mess to get on our plates. Should have had tongs or something. We were spilling salad everywhere. We asked for suggestions about entrees as we had never been there before and he mentioned their clam linguini which I tried. My wife got the spaghetti and meatballs. Neither of these dishes were great. We found out that they don’t even make their own pasta. It’s either dried pasta or fresh frozen. I hate to give new places a bad review but going out to eat is expensive these days and we won’t be going back because there are way better Italian restaurants than this in the city. To put the icing on the cake they tacked on a $5 dollar kitchen appreciation fee which I had no idea they were going to do. So yeah basically the place kinda sucks aside from a decent atmosphere. But even that’s kinda ruined by...

I'd read on the website that Bennys was 'committed to being a neighborhood restaurant' and 'only a small # of tables' were set aside for reservations which, as I live in walking distance, I thought was cool and was excited to try out. Walked in at 5 yesterday and the young man at the hosting desk did not greet me, so I started the conversation and said I was interested in dinner for 2 but did not have a reservation. He said 'we're all full sorry.' I looked around and well over half the restaurant was empty so I was confused. I replied I thought they kept tables and the bar for walkins. He said yes but the waitlist filled up fast. As he did not volunteer any more information I said 'ok then how long is the wait?' (there was also nobody else waiting that I could see) and he said 'probably 2.5 hours or so.' Still did not offer to put me on the waitlist, so I left.

No idea how the food is, and if this is the local experience, I guess I'll never find out. Maybe I'll try again sometime and see if the front of house has improved. Two stars because the decor...