Bensi of Denville

I stopped in Sunday for a quick lunch. There were three other tables with 2 – 3 people at each. Should have been no problem to accommodate a party of two. No one was at the front. No greeting. We had to walk halfway through the dining room before flagging someone down in the kitchen to be seated. Once seated with Menus, the server came over immediately and wanted to know what our drink order was. How about you give us a moment to actually look at the menu. When she did come back to take our orders, a couple walked through the door looking to be seated. As there was, again, no one at the front (and two other servers chatting by the kitchen door) our server interrupted our ordering to attend to the couple at the door. They were shown a table, right next to ours. When she resumed taking our order, that table requested to go to a different table. Again the server abruptly stopped our ordering to take care of this new table. Beyond rude. We were finally able to place our food orders and were not impressed with the presentation, quality or taste. It all seemed bland and lukewarm… just like the service. Empty bread, appetizer plates were left on the table. When I asked a server to remove them, he took one and left the others. (??) I asked him, «What about the rest?» He replied, «Oh you want me to take those too?». Duh. It was like watching a bad vaudeville act of being served in a restaurant. And to top it all off… an hour later I seriously needed some Pepto. Don’t waste your time or your money. For this quality of food and service, you might as well just go to the Olive Garden and get the same thing. At least the prices will be better and you might not end up in the bathroom with stomach cramps.

Very good italian restaurant with a decent price, in the area. I’ve been there many times and always been satisfied with the food and the service.

I would have given @ least 4 stars because the food was great… However the wait staff was extremely inattentive.
Oddly enough the restaurant was staffed with a lot of employees but sadly they chose to have conversations with each other as opposed to doing their jobs.
Great food though… I had the potato crusted salmon with Dijon mustard… Yummy

I am not sure how this place stays in business. I’ve reluctantly had lunch at Bensi multiple times in the past year with co-​workers and always end up on the toilet within 30 minutes. Just today after not eating at Bensi’s for 8 months or so, I decided to tag along thinking Bensi Denville will get their act together… Sure enough, I ended up sick again… And it’s not just me. another coworker has gotten sick too. Never again. AVOID
Today’s meal was a salad along with Pan fried chicken and broccoli rabe.

Calamari was outstanding. Eggplant parm pizza was fair. Service was less than attentive.

I’m always relatively please with the food and I always end up back here after I find a Groupon but the food is overpriced and the service is terrible. It’s slow and they are borderline rude. I always feel like I’m bothering them and then I get annoyed at how much it costs.

Haven’t been there in a while and just visited recently… not a fan. It seems as if they’ve stopped trying and that’s sad. Portions are small, sauce is tasteless and service leaves a bit to be desired. C’mon Bensi… don’t give up.

Food quality was beyond poor. We did come in an hour before close when they place was near empty, but everything was bland, reheated and just looked like they weren’t into impressing no one. It wasn’t just one dish. We were 4 adults and tried a variety of dishes and an appetizer and nothing was close to enticing our pallets.

Each Bensi location is hit or miss, in my opinion, but this one ROCKS. They make some of the best pizza around.

Amazing food and service. My man got fillet mignon and I got stuffed shrimp with crab meat. Huge beautiful portions, veggies steamed to perfection and this potato thing that was awesome! Minestrone soup– delightful, calamari app was to die for. Price was so reasonable. We will definitely be back.

stopped in during Black Friday shopping. was able to get a quick bite at the bar. kim was awesome and the white pizza was really awesome. usually pizza from a place other than a pizzeria isn’t this good!

I’m not sure how this place stays in business. It’s Italian food in NJ, so there are a lot of better options available. I ate their margherita pizza, which tasted like card board. I also tried their chicken parmasean sandwich, and it was bland. The mozzarella cheese didn’t resemble what it should look like, there was no sauce, and it lacked the garlic and olive oil that was supposed to be on it.

We waited 5 minutes for eight people which is great on a Saturday night. Seating was a bit crowded. Mussels were a huge and sit in a tomato based sauce. 12 mussels per order. $ 10.95. I ordered the tortellini alfredo. The pasta was well done but there was too much sauce and little seasoning in it. $ 15.95. Also came with a small salad.

It’s a bensi. If you don’t know what that means I can explain further. Huuuge menu with lots of options. Very standard dishes so it is hard to not find something to eat. A few creative variations but otherwise nothing crazy. Great zazones and pizza options. Service is usually very quick and attentive. Food is usually consistent (although I’ve had a few «eh» meals). It’s essentially fast-​food Italian — a reliably okay meal. Prices are reasonable for the amount of food you get (almost always have leftovers).

A large menu with a good variety. The food is good but comes at a price. I don’t think its a value and feels like I’m paying a little bit more than I should for what I get. I had the scallops. They were good and perfectly cooked. The drink menu and dessert menu aren’t too shabby either.

We stopped in for dessert after a long drive into a hotel in the area. One of our party was a little hungry as well since dinner had been a bit ago for us. We told the waiter that we were just planning on having dessert and maybe an appetizer. This seemed to turn him off right away and our quality of service went down from there. The hungry one in our party ordered a personal pizza. He was brought a full size pizza. Rather than argue and since it looked good, we all dove in. The pizza was very good they get an A for that. We ordered desserts then and they were OK at best, our assumption was that they bought them all frozen from somewhere else. So they get an A for the pizza, a D– for the service, and a C– for the desserts.

First and last time here. OK starter salad that came with the meal. My friend needed honey mustard dressing for hers bc the house dressing (oil and vinegar, very cheap versions, no spices, just cloudy looking wet crap in a little plastic cup) was bland but I made do with some salt and the OK warm bread. I ordered the gnocchi with ricotta but with marinara sauce instead of meat sauce. Seems easy enough, right? If you’re an Italian place, you should have a decent plain tomato sauce, yeah? ENH. Fail. There was no ricotta. The sauce tasted like tomato a bit, and it wasn’t watery, but it had no real pizazz of flavor, or any zazz at all for that matter. The gnocchi were way overcooked and tasteless and mushy; al dente is not something they have ever heard of. My friend called the waiter over and he felt bad (ish) and she made me send it back, despite my pleas that it wasn’t going to get any better. *2 minutes later* he came back with either the same plate or a very similar plate of what had to be microwaved gnocchi ($ 15). When I said it was still bad, he told me gnocchi was not like other pasta, that it was a blend of potato and pasta – HAHAHAHAHA!!! OMG! a) he was not Italian, nor American originally – which is A-​OK but don’t try to school me in Italian food, bud! and b) my grandparents whom I grew up living with were off the boat. So, yeah, I may know a bit about Italian food. I’ve also visited there a few times, but whatever. I’m not some goddess of it effing all, but please, seriously? At least they comped my entrée in the end. I had a frozen Newman’s pizza when I got home. It was as billed. Frozen. There were only about a dozen people in the restaurant and the manager didn’t even come over to apologize. Deplorable place.

I am still up in the air about Bensi. They have some items on the menu that are relatively good. Their menu is extensive. For apps I would recommend the Buffalo Calamari or the Bacon wrapped scallops. I had them here and they both tasted fresh and had a lot of good flavor. For a meal I had the veal parm and tried some of the pizza my friend had. I can say the pizza lacked Jersey quality. It tasted almost CPK-​esque. Something not right about the dough. I guess for non metro area people it will be a step above frozen pizza but for a true NJ/​NY/​CT-​er, it will not compare to anything we have had.
The veal was good. Breaded well enough and not too much sauce/​cheese. Their bread which I assume is the same dough as the pizza actually wasn’t bad when it came to the sandwich.
Their prices are reasonable and their service was good.
It’s wide open seating which can get loud but they do serve alcohol which makes it all that much better.
ENJOY!

Met my 22 year old son here today for lunch. I thought when he sent a note suggesting Bensi, it was a Japanese sushi restaurant!
Absolutely loved everything about it: the décor, service staffing and training and GLUTEN-​FREE pizza for those of us with celiac disease… THANK YOU! Also wonderful: noise level, depth of menu and price points.
Where has this place been all of my life?
Great find. I guess it’s true that you learn new things every day … from your kids. Bravo!

This is regular haunt of ours. Admittedly, the location is within a few miles of our home, but the food would justify a much longer drive. We particularly like the penne with pink vodka and shrimp. We were (pleasantly) surprised at some of the wine bargains when purchased by the bottle — don’t overlook those.
Negatives — only one that comes readily to mind. Despite a fair number of visits over the years they’ve been open we have no sense of being part of a «family». The staff are efficient but not very friendly. You need good food at fair prices to keep me comng back, but friendliness on the part of staff will likely get me in more often.