Benjies NY Deli — Restaurant in Santa Ana

Extremely poor. The wait staff service varied from rude to just not interested. The food was so under seasoned that clearly the back of the house needs remedial cooking lessons. We entered as a 4 top around 4pm on a sunday afternoon. The hostess, when she could be bothered to attend instead of greeting her employers guests, unprofessionally bellowed from 20 feet away to follow her so we could be seated. Upon entering the 90% empty dining room I asked if we could be seated in one of the larger booths and was promptly told "no they are reserved for large parties only!" When I looked at the hostess to confirm this ridiculous statement it was obvious she was not going to budge from her position or even bother to inquire if an exception could be made.

Once we were seated and she informed us that our server would be right with us the verbally shared sentiment around the table was "oh thank god she is not our server!' there was no real way to tell hostess from server unless its the amount of food residue on the common uniform. The hostess was by far the dirtier and was one of those people that work in the service industry that puts a whine into their voice when interacting with a customer.

Our server preformed her duty with a bare bones attempt at putting plates down and picking them up. No personality. No interest in the order. No recommendations. Her service was just as bland as the food turned out to be.

On order was one special, which the server didn't mention, and three brisket sandwiches. When I think of brisket i think of mouth watering flavorful juicy succulence. What we got was beef that had been sliced so thin it was see thru, so dry it was hard to get a bite down without having to sip at a beverage and so bland that the rye bread it was served on had far more flavor.

When our party was in the process of leaving I pointed out the malingering hostess that the dining room was still 90% empty and that no parties larger than ours had come in to take those larger booths. She then proceeded to argue with me as I walked away and wound up yelling across the dining room at me that it was the restaurants policy not hers. To which I replied "It needs to change!"

Decent food and decent service should not be to much to expect when dining out. If you want either of those don't eat here, and if you do eat there you may want to wait on using the facilities until you get someplace that doesn't allow the waste bins (all of them) to overflow onto the floor. One has to wonder at how well the kitchen and food storage is kept. The interior is dated and worn, the exterior would have been passable were it not for the garbage randomly scattered about the front walkway area and somehow the sticker in the entryway glass referencing marijuana use doesn't say family...

We were here a few months ago and had a terrible experience in the dining area. Lots of tables open but we stood and waited while the waitresses chatted about their weekend plans. It was mid afternoon after the lunch rush, it wasn’t busy ,maybe they were short waiters . So we patiently waited . When we were taken back she kinda pointed at a table said ‘here’ through the menus and walked off. The waitress knew everyone in there so she stood and talked with them as we sat and waited. By the time she came up for our drink order we were ready to order . Gave our order and waited more while everyone else kept ordering more food or asked for something and it came out right away. When our food came out it was put down and she walked away without saying anything. The latkes were burned to a crisp and not touched and she never bothered to ask if everything was ok. Also could not understand how my son ordered the same pastrami sandwich as some of the other older regulars but their sandwich came out with twice the meat his had… lol and no they didn’t order extra meat, we heard all the orders. So favorite regulars get treated better? Nah just must have been an off day. Still tipped her well and left. Went in today to order Togo and grab a glass of wine. Went into the bar was told to go order at counter. Counter lady told me to get food here and go to bar for wine? Oh ok can’t do it all on one tab? Fine By the time the rude waitress came in after waiting at an empty bar for almost 10 min, told her I’d like a white wine she didn’t say anything, poured it slammed it down and walked over to sit with a customer and talk about her trip. No thank you, nothing. Whatever? Management is just gonna respond ‘thanks for letting us know’ and do nothing. PS nearly 30$ for the tiny ass sandwich we got is ridiculous Sad we really used to love this place. I guess this is just the norm now a days. No smiles no small talk but don’t forget the...

10.08.24 This date is my fourth visit to Benjie's so I have a little bit of familiarity with what this local restaurant offers.

I'm not a local resident, otherwise I'd visit more often.

Plenty of parking. I noticed some glass shards on a section of the parking lot. That was a little concerning but not enough to make me change my mind.

Customer service has been great. I have noticed that servers pay good attention to the door, meaning they get you seated right away.

The flow of service from seating to ordering to serving to paying has been truly wonderful. That will make me keep coming back. Well... The food definitely keeps me coming back. Knowing that there is good service will make customers come back.

The time from serving the order to checking up on the order is pretty good.

The women's restroom is kept clean. I appreciated the fact that the stalls faces away from the door - well thought out plan I have to say. No matter how the management keeps the restrooms clean and how many servers are assigned to check and clean, there will always be those very few who have absolutely no clue on what they leave behind. Examples are tissues on the floor, not wiping the counter after use, etc. Thankfully, the restroom was spotless on both times I used it.

The atmosphere is sort of old rustic 'farmish' style, but it's good. Clean tables and clean chairs make for good visits.

I hope owners will plan to resurface the parking lot so it's looking better and visits to the restaurant will be more inviting.

Thank you to everyone at Benjie's who have made customer visits memorable and well worth...