The food here was very good, but the service was far worse than mediocre. It was dismissive and discriminatory. Five of us dined together, and two of us ordered pizzas. We saw that the pizzas were ready, and sitting under the warmers. A few minutes passed, and we asked whether those pizzas were ours and if they could be served. Our server said “No, they aren’t.” We waited patiently as time passed, and now they had been sitting under the warmers for about 15 minutes. We asked again if they were our pizzas. She then said, “Ok, yes, they are yours, but we can’t serve them first. It messes all of us up if we don’t serve all the entrees together.” We were surprised and stayed silent. It was at that point that another member of our group noticed that our server was spending far more time visiting and chatting with guests at other tables than ours. All five of us are Asian, and everyone else that she was serving was Caucasian. Many times throughout the dinner, we noticed that she would make eye contact with us and turn her eyes away quickly and abruptly. The pizzas finally came together with the other entrees, and of course they were lukewarm. Our server continued to dismiss and ignore us as much as she could, while chatting with the Caucasian guests seated all around us. We tipped her and left, not because we received adequate service, but because we saw that we would not get anywhere with her. I would suggest that if you are Asian or a member any other minority ethnic group to avoid this restaurant. And don’t order the pizzas unless all of you are getting one.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
john lowry
This is a gem. Great service, the food is prepared with great attention to detail and pride and the prices are very reasonable. My wife and I ate here twice during our visit to Stowe having; a delicious wood fried pizza, juicy burgers cooked perfectly with excellent ingredients and wonderful fresh fries, ribs that were terrific on mash potatoes that could serve as their own meal, so good! Tough to go wrong in this wonderful place, a prime example that all the little details separate a chef from a good cook. Well done!
Recommended dishes: The Bench Burger
Jennifer Courtney
Everything was great. We had the Cuban pizza, duck fat fries, Caesar salad, and Mac and cheese. Great service as well even amongst our kids.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Heidi
Mussel appetizer 10Scallops 10Burgers 10Service 1010/10 will go back! ??
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Bench Burger, Poutine, Duck Fat Fries
Jake Malek
Best food I've had in a while. #1 chicken tenders of my life. Hot honey pepperoni pizza was also fire. Waitress Lynn >>> top
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Brian Bagdan
Highly recommended this cozy, upscale pub for a great meal after a hard day on the slopes. Excellent wood fired oven puts out some amazing food like the salmon pesto with roasted vegetables. Get there early, the place is very busy. We sat at the bar, by the oven. Very friendly service.Parking: Get there early.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alisha Bagley
Great people, order online is great and the hosts are wonderful. The food is great as
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amy Lee
10/10 for a post ski beer and food. They have Hill Farmstead on tap!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Emilio Kachler
I personally didn't think the sandwich I got had much flavor. It wasn't bad, it was just missing something. Their french fries were really good though. Service was average but the place was very busy so maybe that had something to do with it. I didn't like that they automatically put a 20% tip for 6+ parties. We didn't receive amazing service that would warrant that level of tip
Our favor place in Stowe and we’ve eaten at most of the dining establishments.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Asa Martin
I won't call The Bench a hidden gem, as it's often very busy, but I think value-wise it's one of the best restaurants in Stowe. They had 6 (six!) different Hill Farmstead beers on tap!! The pizza is great, you can get wood fired nachos or mussels, the burgers are great - and they come with fries, something other unnamed places in Stowe charge extra for! And the kid's menu is excellent. The only downside is the wait when it's busy. But, go early and you won't be disappointed.Kid-friendliness: The kids menu at The Bench is hands down the best value in all of Stowe! The pasta bowl is huge and delicious, as is the burger, chicken tenders, served with lots of fries.
Had dinner at The Bench on Sunday January 27th. Mediocre at best. The waitstaff was friendly and attentive.Dry rub wings appetizer was very good! Unfortunately, my wife ordered the Chicken Pot Pie, which in reality was nothing like Pot Pie. What came was a blob of mashed potatoes with tiny pieces of chicken topped with a biscuit. My wife tasted it but did not eat it. The server graciously took it off our bill after informing us that the menu said the pie was "deconstructed". The menu clearly does not say that. I had a lamb French dip sandwich that was nothing special. The other two members of our party ordered burgers. They were great.Overall, I would not return to The Bench as Stowe has many other great restaurant options such as "Doc Ponds" or "Idletyme Brewery". Or if you don't mind driving to nearby Waterbury, "Prohibition Pig" provides much more bang for the buck with great food and warm atmosphere.
Delicious!! Excellent service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ravioli
The food here was very good, but the service was far worse than mediocre. It was dismissive and discriminatory. Five of us dined together, and two of us ordered pizzas. We saw that the pizzas were ready, and sitting under the warmers. A few minutes passed, and we asked whether those pizzas were ours and if they could be served. Our server said “No, they aren’t.” We waited patiently as time passed, and now they had been sitting under the warmers for about 15 minutes. We asked again if they were our pizzas. She then said, “Ok, yes, they are yours, but we can’t serve them first. It messes all of us up if we don’t serve all the entrees together.” We were surprised and stayed silent. It was at that point that another member of our group noticed that our server was spending far more time visiting and chatting with guests at other tables than ours. All five of us are Asian, and everyone else that she was serving was Caucasian. Many times throughout the dinner, we noticed that she would make eye contact with us and turn her eyes away quickly and abruptly. The pizzas finally came together with the other entrees, and of course they were lukewarm. Our server continued to dismiss and ignore us as much as she could, while chatting with the Caucasian guests seated all around us. We tipped her and left, not because we received adequate service, but because we saw that we would not get anywhere with her. I would suggest that if you are Asian or a member any other minority ethnic group to avoid this restaurant. And don’t order the pizzas unless all of you are getting one.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
This is a gem. Great service, the food is prepared with great attention to detail and pride and the prices are very reasonable. My wife and I ate here twice during our visit to Stowe having; a delicious wood fried pizza, juicy burgers cooked perfectly with excellent ingredients and wonderful fresh fries, ribs that were terrific on mash potatoes that could serve as their own meal, so good! Tough to go wrong in this wonderful place, a prime example that all the little details separate a chef from a good cook. Well done!
Recommended dishes: The Bench Burger
Everything was great. We had the Cuban pizza, duck fat fries, Caesar salad, and Mac and cheese. Great service as well even amongst our kids.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mussel appetizer 10Scallops 10Burgers 10Service 1010/10 will go back! ??
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Bench Burger, Poutine, Duck Fat Fries
Best food I've had in a while. #1 chicken tenders of my life. Hot honey pepperoni pizza was also fire. Waitress Lynn >>> top
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Highly recommended this cozy, upscale pub for a great meal after a hard day on the slopes. Excellent wood fired oven puts out some amazing food like the salmon pesto with roasted vegetables. Get there early, the place is very busy. We sat at the bar, by the oven. Very friendly service.Parking: Get there early.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great people, order online is great and the hosts are wonderful. The food is great as
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
10/10 for a post ski beer and food. They have Hill Farmstead on tap!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I personally didn't think the sandwich I got had much flavor. It wasn't bad, it was just missing something. Their french fries were really good though. Service was average but the place was very busy so maybe that had something to do with it. I didn't like that they automatically put a 20% tip for 6+ parties. We didn't receive amazing service that would warrant that level of tip
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Duck Fat Fries
Restaurantji Recommends
Our favor place in Stowe and we’ve eaten at most of the dining establishments.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I won't call The Bench a hidden gem, as it's often very busy, but I think value-wise it's one of the best restaurants in Stowe. They had 6 (six!) different Hill Farmstead beers on tap!! The pizza is great, you can get wood fired nachos or mussels, the burgers are great - and they come with fries, something other unnamed places in Stowe charge extra for! And the kid's menu is excellent. The only downside is the wait when it's busy. But, go early and you won't be disappointed.Kid-friendliness: The kids menu at The Bench is hands down the best value in all of Stowe! The pasta bowl is huge and delicious, as is the burger, chicken tenders, served with lots of fries.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Bench Burger, Wood Fired Nachos, Mushroom Pizza, Chicken Tenders
Had dinner at The Bench on Sunday January 27th. Mediocre at best. The waitstaff was friendly and attentive.Dry rub wings appetizer was very good! Unfortunately, my wife ordered the Chicken Pot Pie, which in reality was nothing like Pot Pie. What came was a blob of mashed potatoes with tiny pieces of chicken topped with a biscuit. My wife tasted it but did not eat it. The server graciously took it off our bill after informing us that the menu said the pie was "deconstructed". The menu clearly does not say that. I had a lamb French dip sandwich that was nothing special. The other two members of our party ordered burgers. They were great.Overall, I would not return to The Bench as Stowe has many other great restaurant options such as "Doc Ponds" or "Idletyme Brewery". Or if you don't mind driving to nearby Waterbury, "Prohibition Pig" provides much more bang for the buck with great food and warm atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Bench Burger, Wings
This place rocks and Ava is a superstar .
Great service. Beautiful area. Good
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5