Ben Benson's Steak House (CLOSED)

Worth the visit

My wife and I went to this restaurant a few days ago with another couple. Both of us ordered prime rib at $52 apiece. We both stated that we wanted rare which the waiter defined as cool pink interior. When the beef arrived it was mostly grey with a small area of greyish pink. It was well on its way to being well done. It was practically tasteless. Surely a steakhouse should be capable of producing rare beef. Overcooking the beef and then serving it is outrageous. We will not go back to this restaurant.

I took my parents here for what I hoped to be a wonderful Christmas dinner (based on the restaurants reputation). We were terribly disappointed. The service was awful from the moment we walked in (both the host & waiters were cold & slow to respond). The wedge salads had tough bacon and the entrees were not cooked to order. With so many great steak houses in NYC, I would skip this one!

Everything I had from the "Special" Tomato Salad to the Mash potatoes and $53 prime rib steak tasted like all the ingredients were bought from the corner supermarket. This is not a $100 dollar meal. The salad was flavored like an amateur some bites overpowering to the point of inducing coughing. The mash considered itself worthy of its ridiculous price by virtue of having horseradish mixed in. It did nothing than cover the base bland flavor with another layer of dull virtually non-existent flavor. There are only a handful of steak houses in the city which actually leave your stomach feeling like it was worth the $100 steak dinner price (appetizer, steak, side, desert). Ben Benson's is not one of those places. When asked about the dry, unflavorful and tough meat of the prime rib in a polite inquisitive way, that is whether the meat is aged and whether it is in fact USDA prime, the server was almost in disbelief as to how I can even ask such questions. Having dined at literally every established steak house in NYC, I know aged meat and USDA Prime quality. This was not it. Like several of these so called old school "steak houses" Ben Benson's seems to believe itself to be beyond reproach. But the same as the others it's appearances and show rather than good ingredients and genuine care and attention to cuisine. After answering the questions about the meat the server did sense I wasn't a happy camper but felt content to simply walk away instead of asking whether I was satisfied, something that is a no brainer for a server at any legitimate steakhouse. This was the second chance I gave to them after being dissatisfied once before.

Eaten here many times, stay at the Hilton and close... average food but the service can be good. Used to have dinner meetings upstairs in private room and service can be real good there but making the arrangments are difficult to make... serious attitude and quit booking large parties there because of it.. must be a relative - least hope so... Mr. Benson use to eat there and we always ate across from the table he used... nice gentleman. I would reccomend but not endorse.

Never, ever eat at Ben Benson's. First, the food, for the price, was absolutely a first class ripoff. The steaks were mediocre and came out relatively cold, including the sides. The poorest however was the service. The waiter gave us menus, disappeared for 15 minutes, came back to our table, picked up the menus and walked away without taking our order!! We literally had to scream across the dining room to get him to come back to take our order. Then, a little while after we placed our order, a different waiter at the table next to ours informed that party of that night's "specials" - our waiter never informed us that there were any specials. After our food was served, our waiter disapearred until we were finished - we had to scream to get his attention to bring us a bill, since by that time having dessert was not even a consideration. This establishment has no respect for what fine dining is supposed to mean. I'm considering filing a claim in small claims court to get my money back.

Was there Feb 9th for lunch.Had the Restaurant Week Menu.My Prime Rib and my wifes Filet were cooked to our order.The dessert, bread pudding, was very good.Service was also very good.We were not rushed,Had plenty of time to get to our show.Waiter was easy going and made sure we were happy with food.Value was more then there and we will return with friends.