Ristorante da Benito
“I always get the same thing: four cheese ravioli for lunch or dinner and strawberries with sauvignon sauce for dessert.”
“Favorites include the veal ossobuco, the chicken ricoperto (best lemon chicken I've ever had), and, when they have it, the wagyu steak.”
“The shrimp and avocado appetizer is amazing and their NY strip medium rare competes with some of the best steak houses out there!”
Ristorante da Benito
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
3 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Great food, great service, nice menu. It is Italian food put together well and done right. Going here for lunch I had a fish that was on special and I was very pleased with it (as well as seeing all of the other dishes at the table) that I would definitely return for more.
Why do I love this place? Because it served me the most perfect, titillating filet mignon I have ever tried outside of NYC. Ristorante da Benito should just change their name to Buono since my experience from start to finish was nothing but that. Before I even write my review, I'm going to answer the inevitable question of whether I would come back again. The answer ladies and gentlemen is a resounding YES!
I made my first visit to this place during a corporate meeting. I don't really expect a lot from these meetings, food-wise, because of past experiences but boy was I about to be proven wrong. Sitting on the usual long tables talking about the usual business idiocy that makes me fall asleep, I couldn't wait to finish and go home. Thankfully the antipasti came out and my eyes lit up. Hold up this thing looks incredible. Mozzarella, roasted pepper, and roasted tomato drizzled with a perfectly tangy glaze woke up my palate, and myself for that matter, because of how fresh and delicious it was. I swear the mozzarella was so fresh you could almost hear the cow in the distance calling out to you mooo. The pepper and tomato had the same freshness present that truly made this an amazing start to the meal.
Okay so after a couple of minutes the main course finally came out. Getting a sense of how this place seems to take pride in their cooking I was curious how they would do with what I had ordered–perfectly medium filet mignon. Well let me tell you I can safely say I haven't had a filet mignon this good in New Jersey. That's a tall order for me to say but I stand by it. The filet is pan seared on a bed of potato gratin and blue cheese with a tarragon, Marsala, and red wine reduction. Yeah I know ridiculous right! That filet mignon came out so perfectly medium you would need to take out a cookbook to see the true definition of medium in order to appreciate it. The sauce was earthy and bold but never overpowered the beef. And the blue cheese flavored potato gratin was rich and fluffy with a hint of sweetness that balanced everything out. Man even now I still think of that dish.
As if a cherry on top of a cake, the dessert I ordered rounded out the meal on a sweet note. I ordered the trio of crème brule. Now I think I've made it obvious how much I have an affinity for crème brule so I wanted to see if da Benito would have one weakness. Well I guess there is such a thing as being too much of an overachiever because this restaurant served up a sugar-inducing coma with their traditional, coffee, and peanut butter flavored crème brule. With its crunchy top, soft and decadent body and a velvety consistency on my palate sums up pretty much everything that dessert was.
After stuffing myself silly, I left that meeting wanting, no needing, to come back to this restaurant. It's a great place for special occasions and based on my experience will certainly not fall short on the quality of their food.
Al Pacino ate here. Al f*ckin' Pacino and I'm giving it 3 stars. This place is definitely a spot Tony Soprano would have holed up in and got down on some fine homemade ravioli while trying to wine and dine some goombah. Benito's has been around for a while and is most definitely an old school locals spot. I unfortunately wasn't so impressed, mostly due to the price/value ratio.
The place is huge, definitely a great site for a holiday/engagement party/private event, etc.. They have rooms that are sectioned off for privacy and the remaining space has an open dining area concept. Another plus is that there are no hard seats here, almost like lil' couches, your bottom is nicely cushioned at this linen napkin upscale joint.
Our Caesar salad for 2 was Pathetic with a capital P. First of all, a caesar salad for two means you are making two people get the same salad; one would hope there would be a reason for this. So when a waiter saunters over with 2 plates with 2 measly servings of drenched lettuce, it will always be a huge fail. Why make 2 people get this? My FIL-to be enjoyed his crab cake very much, so I'd suggest you steer your appetizer eyes over in that direction.
Moving on to the entrees, my veal scallopine was the best cooked scallopine I've ever had. Super thin, perfectly breaded and sauteed; this dish was seriously tender. The problem was portion size. Now, now, now, I'm not one of those people that needs a doggy bag, but for $30, I definitely wasn't satiated. Johnny Mac got the swordfish special and it was a big thick cut, nicely prepared. The warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream was heavenly. Warm fudge literally oozed out upon the first bite. All the desserts are homemade and definitely worth the caloric intake. Coffee was complimented with free biscotti and Italian cookies, which is always a nice touch.
Chef Benito came out and gave us a grazie for coming in, I'm totally into it.
If I was a baller and lived in Union County area this would be on my list, however while I'm living in JC, I'll stick to my Hudson County gems.