Benjamin Steakhouse — Restaurant in Town of Greenburgh

My husband and I went on a double date at Benjamin's on Valentine's Day weekend. We went on Saturday night and were seated in the large outdoor tent. It was pretty crowded and while the tables on the perimeter were spaced out well the ones in the middle could've been spaced apart better. There were a few large openings in the tent to allow for foot traffic and air circulation. Despite the openings and the fact that it was a chilly night it was surprisingly warm! Being that it was such a busy night, the service initially got off to a bumpy start. It took a really long time to get our drinks and put in our orders, but things improved as the night went on. I ordered a drink called "Love Potion #2" which was a vodka concoction with passion fruit and lychee. It was surprisingly bitter, but I got used to it and wound up ordering 2 more! My husband and one of our friends ordered beer (there's a small selection available). For our appetizer we ordered the jumbo shrimp cocktail and the shrimp were gigantic (and delicious with a spritz of lemon and cocktail sauce)! We easily split them between 3 of us (one of our friends doesn't eat seafood). We also ordered the lobster mac and cheese, but I wasn't very impressed by it. The bits of lobster tasted good, but the mac and cheese was overcooked and tasted bitter. For the main course I ordered a sirloin, my husband ordered the rack of lamb and our friends ordered the filet mignon and ribeye. The sirloin and lamb were delicious and the filet was much larger than the typical filet at most restaurants, but the steaks were cooked at least a level higher than we had asked. For instance, I asked for my steak to be cooked medium-well and it was definitely well done. Our friend who asked for his steak to be cooked medium-rare received a steak that was medium to medium-well (seared on the outside with hardly any pink inside). Now I don't normally care for steak sauce, but the steak sauce at Benjamin's is so good that you'll want to put it on just about everything! The sides are large portions that are meant to be shared between two people. We got the mashed potatoes which were so good that I could've eaten all of it by myself and the asparagus which were huge, had a nice, light flavor and were steamed to perfection. I was shocked that despite having eaten so much food, I still had room for dessert and topped dinner off with the delectable creme brulee! Overall, we had a great time and would definitely go back, but I would consider ordering my steak slightly less cooked than I would normally ask in order to get...

It breaks my heart that I feel the place scored so low. I love going there and will continue going for a special treat. But I won’t try it again on a holiday. Unfortunately the next time we want to go out for an exceptional steak dinner we’re going to look around. My wife is a carnivore and wants to eat before the nighttime so I made a reservation for 4 pm. No problem they were happy to take the reservation but then the little annoying texting started along with phone follow ups. Honestly I don’t need 5 contacts to remind me I have a reservation and about the menu and about the cost.

So we get there and everyone was very pleasant. There were over a dozen staff hanging around, some others busy getting ready. No lack of staff as I’ve come to appreciate from the past. The problems started from the moment we were seated at 4:10. We were left unattended for 15 minutes before we got around to bringing our water and bread which we had to ask for. Then again left for another 15 minutes before we were able to get someone to come take our order. Now I can see this if they were busy but they weren’t. We were the only ones in the room and they had a dozen staff standing around chatting. At every step of the process I had to turn around and get someone’s attention to come to the table. Now to be sure once I got someone to the table all the staff were very pleasant. But we sure felt awkward and abandoned alone on a raft with no more bread and nothing else to eat. Oh by the way the olive oil never came. So having made our order finally we asked about the children’s menu and if they had chicken and fries. The waiter told us he would check right now and let us know. Another 5 minutes later I called someone over and inquired about the chicken and he assured us yes. By the time our meals arrived it must’ve been an hour and I could see that other tables had arrived and were being served. Now as for the meal. It was absolutely delicious, cooked with perfection. Completely up to our expectations for a top quality steak house. The mashed potatoes and spinach were a little on the loose side and a tad too salty for my taste but still very good.

I guess my point is this. I don’t mind spending over $400 for a good quality meal with an outstanding experience. But if you’re not ready to seat people at 4 PM just don’t or at very least let them know during those many follow up contacts that they are going to have to wait. It just takes away from the...

My experience at this restaurant is by far the worst experience I’ve ever had at any restaurant in my life. My boyfriend made reservations for 2/14 at 8:30. Upon our arrival, there was a long line of cars trying to get into the parking lot. It was actually a bit chaotic and we weren’t expecting this at all. We proceeded to go inside the tent where everyone else was entering and exiting. Once we were inside, we noticed a large crowd. We weren’t really sure what was going on, so my boyfriend went to the hostess to figure out what the situation was. The large crowd was everyone waiting in line to be seated despite having reservations. It was almost 9 when we were finally seated at a table. The hostess at the front told another hostess where to seat us. As we were walking I could tell she didn’t know where she was going, so we told her we’d sit at the empty table next to us.

We placed our order, which consisted of several appetizers, our entrees and various sides. Several minutes had passed since we placed our order and we noticed we hadn’t been brought any bread so, we asked for some. About 15 mins after we received our appetizers. The bacon and lobster bisque were good (soup barely had lobster though) and the oysters weren’t quality - wouldn’t recommend them. After finishing our appetizers, we waited for our entrees…and waited and waited. Other people who had sat down after us had their entrees brought out before us. I noticed one of the waiters looked extremely confused when delivering food at one point. It looked like he was supposed to bring it to a certain table but that table already had their food, so obviously someone messed up somewhere.

At this point it’s almost 10:30. My bf said if we don’t get our food by 10:30, we’re leaving. I was fine with that because I didn’t even want the rest of our order at that point anymore. 1.5hrs AFTER we placed our order, we finally got our food at exactly 10:28. The ribeye, asparagus, and home fries were all good. The lobster Mac and cheese was gritty and barely had lobster.

I understand wanting to capitalize off the holiday and get the most bang for your buck, but this was a horrible experience and we both agreed we would never come back. Also, it was cold where we sat because it was in a tent, so...