Beningo’s Restaurant

Love love love Beningos!!! My favorites are the eggplant parmesan, lasagna and sausage links– which are all homemade… Be sure to ask for garlic bread instead of sticks… both are good but prefer the garlic bread more…

This is still one for the restaurants in town. Its our go to place and tonight it was for my birthday… Busy so always must reservations and try the speicals on Saturday…

A great, classic neighborhood Italian spot. The food is hearty and saucy, and the style is old-​school. A great hidden gem.
The folks at Beningo’s recently took care of our large group (36) for a dinner party. The food was great and the staff was efficient and friendly.
I can’t say enough about how much everyone enjoyed this little taste of Italy in Bloomington.

The food is decent enough, but the service is very biased and one time all the crackers on the table were completely expired and stale. When I say the service is bias it does seem like the regulars get much more attention. When you make it obvious, that doesn’t reflect good on your business. Also you MUST get a reservation or you will be thrown down into the musty basement!

I read the reviews and visited here to have good Italian food… probably the only Italian restaurant with frozen bread. also my friend and I ordered veg lasagna and regular lasagna they were really bland… we took some time to figure out they both were frozen and were just warmed up and
served.thats why it was served in quick time as well… the only life saver was zing wings they were fresh and juicy… but overall very unimpressed and not at all worth the expensive prices .
Hope this helps.

Great! Eggplant parm and pizza were amazing!

The food is very good and the service is excellent. We were looking for a more upscale and intimate place and ended up in a family dinner with an Italian flare. The salad dressing was great and the pasta was done well. Just like in Italy you were able to get a small plate of pasta before your main dish arrived. But lack of table clothes and candle light causes me to down grade it a star. Maybe the basement is where we wanted to be?

We stumbled upon Beningo’s when moving our kids into ISU and what a find. After a long day of assembling and moving stuff we wanted a real non-​chain restaurant dinner and what a great find.
We walked in about 30 minutes before closing and one of the waitresses told us there are 2 lasagna’s left so if we want them to let her know. We took her recommendation and got lasagna and had ravioli’s and a pasta with meat sauce.
Everything was really good and came out with garlic bread.

No reservations… seated immediately during a weekend where college students were moving back. Nice intimate setting. Excellent service staff. Delicious food. House dressing on salad is delicious. Sauces we’re delicious. Food came out quickly. A great place to stop when other restaurants have long waits.

Great food and a classic for this neighborhood. I would come back to this place over and over again. The veal park was great, cold beers, great cocktails and down home hospitality. Love it!

We found this place on Unilocal after going to a concert at the BCPA. Lucky us! We loved the old time atmosphere — we felt completely comfortable as a large group and with four kids to boot.
The food was delicious — loved my eggplant Parmesan. The homemade marinara was great. My only complaint — and usually I do this — ask for the dressing on the side.
This place isn’t foodie dining, it’s dining for people who want to have a good meal.
Great service — our kids loved Dawn so much they asked to talk to the manager. The manager came down and was tickled by them. As it turns out Dawn has Worked there for 30 years.
We will definitely be back.

We planned our weekend around a visit to Beningo’s and arrived at 7:45 on Sunday eager to try their old-​fashioned Italian entrees we had read about. We were greeted by a blank stare from a woman at the cash register after looking back and forth for a hostess. We were finally abruptly told by another woman that they were closed. We saw staff in the kitchen in addition to the two of them. We were told they hadn’t had a table since 6 (although there were people in the dining room). Hmmm, not our problem. With communication (or lack thereof) like that, they won’t have to worry about our family and friends ever trying to dine there again.

The food is not authentic and the menu is long and outdated. If you are a vegetarian– they are very few options. The atmosphere is outdated. The food is just ok, it gets a lot of hype for being a local place but doesn’t live up to the hype.

The best Italian restaurant in the area. Good food with fair prices, combined with the ambiance and décor, make this a great date restaurant.

Love this neighborhood restaurant. We always eat there if going to BCPA. Real comfort food. Salad was much better last night. Waiter was annoying:). Always get a reservation. We got the last table at 6 pm. Eggplant Parmesan Is my fav!

This local favorite has great food! I loved the Sicilian Pizza and lasagna with half meat sauce half alfredo sauce!

In a city dominated by chain restaurants, Beningos has been able to hold its own as a family-​owned, Bloomington staple. It’s a bit out of the way (or, as much «out of the way» as anything could be in Bloomington), but that adds to its charm.
You will not leave here hungry! The sauce is fantastic – a unique flavor with a touch of sweetness, but not too sweet. The garlic bread is great. I usually get the eggplant parmesan. Great place to go with a family.

We had some family in town and ended up at Beningo’s for a birthday dinner. We sat downstairs, as we had a large party.
The downstairs feels like someone’s Grandma’s basement. It’s kinda dark with wood paneling. Décor aside, the service is super friendly and quick. The food is pretty good and the portions are large. No one left hungry and the prices were affordable. I had the lasagna with meat sauce and it was tasty. This is an old school type of place that you’d go to with your parents.

Beningo’s epitomizes the Bloomington/​Normal obsession with underwhelming food and dining experiences. I’ve been here twice and while the service is fine, basically everything else is pretty terrible about this place.
I really just don’t understand why people keep going here? It must have to do with the local history of this place as it has been around for a very long time.
The first time I went was extremely underwhelming and I can’t remember many of the details other than the fact that is was packed and I had to sit in the basement, which is strange and not restaurant like at all. It felt like I was in a small Midwestern church’s «fellowship hall.» The second time I went was with my wife’s family and we were again seated in the basement, which was again … awkward.
The waitstaff was friendly. I ordered manicotti, which I believe was the special for that day. It came with a salad and very strangely a small side of another pasta of my choosing. This is one of the strangest menu strategies I’ve ever been exposed too. I literally had to choose what pasta I wanted to compliment … my pasta. Anyway, I chose the fettuccine (for an additional 75¢) w/​their «house made» alfredo sauce. This was one of the worst things I’ve ever had from a restaurant. It wasn’t that it was disgusting, just incredibly bland. Not a hint of garlic or cheese at all, and forget about parsley … it just tasted like warm cream and butter. It didn’t even taste like it had any salt in it!
My salad was ok. They had a pretty decent house made dressing, which I chose after they were really confused when I asked for vinegar and oil. Also, they have packaged crackers on the table as if I am dressing my salad in 1988 with smashed saltines and those crackery breadsticks
I wouldn’t know what the manicotti tasted like because it was served in a bowl and actually covered in sauce … as in, I couldn’t even see the noodle! Swimming in sauce is one thing, this pasta was drowning. The sauce was ok, perhaps a bit overly salted.
The price was steep for the questionable menu and awkward ambiance, thankfully … I wasn’t paying that day! ;-) Either way, this isn’t the kind of place for me!
Also, I was expecting actual Italian food from what I had heard about this place, not a regurgitated, uninventive, less refined Olive Garden menu. Although, they do have veal … so there is that.

My absolute favorite italian restaurant in the world… the secret truely is in the sauce. The sauce is the best i have ever had. To backpack off of Julia’s comment, they do have garlic bread and it is awesome, you just have to request it!!! They always give large portions that comes with garlic bread and salad and it is at a reasonable price. I always get the lasagna or the chicken parm or the pasta primavera.
If you go get the french dressing, best I have ever had! I now live in STL and go to the hill all the time. I can’t find anything as good as this place. A must try hidden gem.
The décor is nothing great, has not been updated since the 70’s but Janet (the owner) will take good care of you!