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J Benjamin's
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
8 reviews for J Benjamin's
8 reviews in English
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Review from Mike O.
Mt Pleasant, IA
2/4/2012
Simons (formerly J Benjamin's)
Des Moines Iowa
How can a person not love Simons? Upon arrival there was a 20 minute wait for a table that is usually but not always a good thing, take the Olive Garden for example. We were greeted at the door by the owner who took our drink order and went and got them. This is where the review gets difficult to explain. Simon (the owner, chef, bartender, host, busboy, waiter) is the most impressive part of the Simon's dining experience. The guy is everywhere, one minute he is in the kitchen, then at the bar, next you will see him at the door but most of the time he is visiting with his customers. At one point in the evening he literally pulled up a chair and sat at our table. We asked him about one of the employees he had he told us that this kid started hanging out around the place after school since about the age of 9 and when the kid turned 14 he wanted to give the kid a chance and he gave him a job bussing tables and filling water glasses. This goes back to my original statement, how can you not love Simons?
As you may be aware I grade on certain criteria two of which are atmosphere and service the scores for Simons were difficult to give. The place was dark and somewhat loud our waitress was average at best but because of Simon I had to give each a 4.5.
The wait for our food was longer than one would like, however it's hard to explain but there is doesn't matter. Now finally for the food As in most Italian places they start you out with some bread and Simons parents have a bakery and they supply the bread for their son's restaurant. I had the beef stroganoff; it was very good the beef was very tender which is hard to find in similar dishes. I had hoped for a bigger serving but left full so go figure. Teresa had the baked pasta with pepperoni again very good and a nice portion. Jared had the Chicken Florentine a nice twist on chicken. But probably the highlight of the evening was Stacy's mac and cheese, one of the best I've had. To top off the evening Simons dad makes chocolate and carrot cakes for the place and they are complementary while supplies last. We had the carrot and it was also good. As you can tell Simons is in fact about Simon and as we were leaving he must have been busy because he literally ran outside to catch us and tell us thanks for coming and goodbye. I've said it before and I'll say it again "how can you not love Simons?"
Price range: (everyday, a night out, a special occasion only) a night out
Overall rankings all based 1 to 5
Atmosphere: 4.5
Service: 4.5
Food: 3.5
Value: 3
Overall 4
Simons
5800 Franklin Ave., Des Moines, IA, 50322 -
Review from William S.
Des Moines, IA
11/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
An absolutely wonderful restaurant! Don't let the "rough" exterior deter you. J. Benjamin's has a rough exterior, but the interior is warm and welcoming and the food is delicious! We decided to try J. Benjamin's because we were in the mood for pizza and our friends have always raved about the pizza here. The pizza was wonderful! I must admit, however, that our appetizer left something to be desired, but the pizza more than made up for that shortcoming.
We ordered the Pepper Cheese Bread for our appetizer. This is toasted french bread topped with assorted peppers (red, green, jalapeño and banana peppers) and a sprinkle, literally, of cheese. I was not impressed. But, the mariana sauce that accompanied the Pepper Cheese Bread was chunky and delicious! Now, on to the pizza!
First, I should note that J. Benjamin's prepares their pizza's exclusively with thin crust. I had a small Chicken Santa Fe which comes with white sauce, chicken, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and green chiles. WOW! It was SO good. Honestly, the pizza seemed to get better with each bite. I certainly recommend it. My girlfriend had the Veggie, which was also very tasty.
J. Benjamin's always has a wonderful wine list. OH! Draft beers are $3.50. You can't beat that - Blue Moon, Boulevard Wheat, New Castle, and others, all $3.50. Not bad!
We had a wonderful meal at J. Benjamin's and certainly recommend it to anyone looking for a wonderful dinner in a warm and cozy restaurant with friendly staff! -
Review from Erin F.
Urbandale, IA
1/26/2012
The pizza here was AMAZING! That's where my compliments end. We showed up at 5:00 to beat the dinner rush but still had slow and unfriendly service. The other reviews call this place "cozy" which is code for dark, small, and dirty. I had a $7 salad that only included iceburg lettuce, cucumbers and cheese. Really?!? I'm glad we can say that we checked it off our list of local spots to try, but we won't be going back.
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Review from Ricky T.
Des Moines, IA
7/16/2009
I have eat here a couple of times and am a fan of the very low key cozy atmosphere. oh and the food is good too. :-) No really the food is really why you would go. Mix of American/Italian fair to tease your taste buds.
One interesting thing is the first time we ever went there we got sat close to the door and it was winter time and this younger looking guy in his parka comes in and just starts talking to us asking us about our food. come to find out later he was actually the owner. :-) -
Review from Angela T.
Urbandale, IA
1/31/2011
J Benjamin's is a rare gem in Des Moines. The food is outstanding and the staff is incredibly friendly. The restaurant is very small though, so call to make a reservation before you go. We called but we still waited an hour before we sat at our table. Plan on a long night of dining, as we were there for 3 hours, and we only had a party of 4. With that said, it's definitely worth the wait. The owner came over and chatted with us for awhile, which makes it a special experience. And we even got free dessert! It's definitely a dining experience, not just a dinner!
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Review from Kathie S.
Bloomington, IL
11/13/2011
J Benjamin's is a wonderful place to eat. Cozy and comfortable and EXCELLENT food. Service was great on our sat. evening visit. Great drinks and very tasty food. We've tried a couple Italian dishes which were outstanding, the white sauce is delicious. We started with the onion rings, perfect, sliced thin with a very tasty batter. We had the house ranch dressing as dipping sauce, very very good not only with the onion rings but on the salad too.
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Review from Mathew D.
Lee's Summit, MO
Rare find. Definitely cozy casual atmosphere. Excellent food .. The owner was so personable, it could easily have been the best dining experience I have ever had. We are from out of town but we will make this our dining spot when we pass through town. Free dessert!
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Review from Kris D.
West Des Moines, IA
1/22/2010
We wanted to like this restaurant, we really did. The first time we dined here we thought it was amazing--the pizza was great and the restaurant was packed with happy customers. The owner personally greats every guest and even treated us to free dessert! The second time we ordered traditional pasta dishes, and we were disappointed--the food was just okay and the service was sluggish and inattentive. We were again treated to a free dessert, so felt special and vowed to come again for the pizza we liked so much the last time. The third time we tried this restaurant. the service awful. It took way too long for anyone to take our drink order, and even longer to order our pizza. The pizza took about an hour and when it finally came, it was burned. Our waitress un-apologetically gave us the option of eating the burned pizza or waiting for a new one. We took the option of eating burned food over waiting another hour for our meal. We were once again treated to free dessert, but this schtick got old, especially after paying for such bad food and bad service.
