The Bench — Restaurant in Stowe

The food here was very good, but the service was far worse than mediocre. It was dismissive and discriminatory. Five of us dined together, and two of us ordered pizzas. We saw that the pizzas were ready, and sitting under the warmers. A few minutes passed, and we asked whether those pizzas were ours and if they could be served. Our server said “No, they aren’t.” We waited patiently as time passed, and now they had been sitting under the warmers for about 15 minutes. We asked again if they were our pizzas. She then said, “Ok, yes, they are yours, but we can’t serve them first. It messes all of us up if we don’t serve all the entrees together.” We were surprised and stayed silent. It was at that point that another member of our group noticed that our server was spending far more time visiting and chatting with guests at other tables than ours. All five of us are Asian, and everyone else that she was serving was Caucasian. Many times throughout the dinner, we noticed that she would make eye contact with us and turn her eyes away quickly and abruptly. The pizzas finally came together with the other entrees, and of course they were lukewarm. Our server continued to dismiss and ignore us as much as she could, while chatting with the Caucasian guests seated all around us. We tipped her and left, not because we received adequate service, but because we saw that we would not get anywhere with her. I would suggest that if you are Asian or a member any other minority ethnic group to avoid this restaurant. And don’t order the pizzas unless all of you are...

We have been wanting to try the Bench since the Fall . By the on line reviews it sounded amazing! Finally got there today excited to try some good food as we were both very hungry. Walked in to the restaurant at 4 pm to a half full seating area that was warm and inviting. However, we were seated in a very cold porch like room all by ourselves when there was visibly room for the the two of us at many two people table options in the warm main room for dining. Instead of asking if we could move we stayed in the cold room. I ordered the salmon tacos and my husband ordered the Buffalo Mac and cheese. I have never received tacos with such a minute amount of ingredients on them! Usually tacos are loaded up. Not these. If there was a tablespoon of coleslaw on the one inch by 3 inch sliver of salmon on them that would be a lot . There was also two slices of jalapeño peppers and a small sprinkle of cilantro on a smear of avacado crème fraiche . I had to tear off a lot of the tortilla just so I could taste the toppings with the salmon. So disappointing . My husband said his Buffalo Mac and cheese was good but not hot more like luke warm. It came in a small cast iron skillet and he said it did not fill him up. We love trying new restaurants and I rarely ever write a review . But was very disappointed . If I were a Chef , I would look at the plate I just fixed and would ask myself if I would like to receive the plate I was about to serve to a guest. This plate would have been a big NO! Wish I would have taken a photo to add to...

My husband and I were in Stowe for 3 nights, and based on our experience of the first night, we ate dinner there the next 2 nights. The wait is long, but we thought it was worth the wait. We had The Bench salad with salmon, ribs, duck, pork tenderloin, meatloaf, sweet potato curry soup, macaroni and cheese, pumpkin cheesecake, triple banana cake, apple crisp, and S'More, so over the 3 nights we had a broad sampling of their food. Portions are large; we could have easily split entrees. All was very good, but our "exceptionals" were the ribs, duck, sweet potato curry soup and macaroni and cheese. The waitstaff was very busy, but very friendly (as was Christopher the manager). My only "less than great" was that the salmon was overcooked to my liking (I like mine cooked medium rare). Christine, our waitress was a pleasure to interact with. We witnessed Christopher helping his staff, telling them that they were doing a good job, and telling them he appreciated them - all signs of a good manager. Hats off to the kitchen staff!

Overall, this restaurant experience is a good example of hardworking, conscientious folks taking pride in what they are doing, and what they...