Ben's BBQ and Brew

Came here for lunch and tried the tri tip sandwich which was very tender and moist.

No condiments were needed for this meaty dish. I didn't care much for the bbq sauce but as they say good bbq needs no sauce.

The service was great and I can't wait to try more dishes very soon!

I'm from the area but don't live here anymore. It's crazy what's passing through this shopping center. Hoping that Ben's BBQ is here to stay, it certainly deserves to.

It's far better than Dicky's which was here before. It's better than JQ bbq on Saratoga Ave, and imo, better than Winchester BBQ. The interior is clean and large in volume. The interior dining is more or less closed due to Covid-19. There are two tables on the patio which are open and covered. They also have a nice beer selection.

The food here is really on point, easily 9 out of 10. My brisket burnt ends were a 10/10. It seriously tasted like I was piling Wagyu beef into my mouth on a budget. So tender and flavorful without overpowering smokey flavor. Highly, highly, highly recommend. In fact I was there yesterday and I think I'll pick it up for lunch today since I'm still in town.

My dad had pork ribs. He's a picky 75 year old dude who LOVES bbq so when he likes ribs its validating. I didn't try any of his (thanks covid) but they appeared large, meaty, and fell off the bone - he was impressed.

The bbq sauce here is decent. It's not rich and smokey. A bit thinner in consistency and not loaded with flavor. This is a no issue because the quality of the meat speaks for itself, it doesn't need to be drenched in sauce to cover its short comings, *cough* Phil's BBQ in SD where I live. They have regular and spicy. 8/10 on the sauce.

All in all a really great establishment. I assume the single employee who was working was the owner. Very nice guy. Give this place a try for takeout or dine in on the patio, it deserves to make it through covid and success beyond covid.

So good! One of the few BBQ places we go to. Friendly service and with live music on some days.

Ordered takeout on a weekend needing quick food for the family. Expect to wait about 20-30 minutes.

Pros: love the atmosphere and the location. Large parking lot, albeit busy. The place is tucked in between Super Duper, Yogurtland, and Happy Lemon. There's also Karaoke and the clientele they serve to is just too cute. Recommend checking this place out for the atmosphere alone. :-) Service was also great - they gave us bbq sauces and utensils which was appreciated.

Cons: the food. We got a family meal which comes with your choice of 4 meats, 4 side dishes and 4 garlic breads. We decided to choose one of everything (chicken, pulled pork, sausage and brisket). Of the four, maybe sausage was the best? Essentially, none of it was amazing. Sides we got were fries, beans, Mac n cheese and potato salad. Not sure which was the best here either. Not the fries, beans or Mac n cheese (I've never had them shredded Iike that before) - the potato salad is probably the best of those. Garlic bread is ok. We'll buttered but it just didn't have the strong garlic flavor I like.

Another pro is that the food came out hot! By the time we got home, it was ok warm but that's expected.

Also got the large strawberry shake. I like that it's organic but it's not anything to rave about. Perhaps too light? Or not sweet enough / not enough flavor? Not sure what we could do to make it better.

Check in on Yelp to get a free fountain drink! I quickly found that my first and second choices were out (it was just water or carbonated water) so I got the iced tea.

3.5 stars overall, but I didn't love any of the items, and they are on the pricier side for the portions so rounding down. However, their staff is really friendly and nice, and I was very tempted to round up because of that. I called in my order on a Sunday around 5pm, and my order was ready in 15 minutes. I tried:

-Brisket Burnt Ends (Served w/Coleslaw, Garlic Bread, 8oz/$22.99, https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=8ztABLfJvIkcS_sAmo0Zag&userid=76vIFZcC7owykCBjMfGVXg): Good, but not amazing. I liked the peppery bark, but some pieces were dry/tough. It didn't have that tender texture that I've previously had with really good burnt ends. This dish was also super pricey for the amount of brisket. The coleslaw was ok, but on the bland side.
-Combination Plate w/Brisket & Baby Back Ribs (Served w/Potato Salad, Garlic Bread, https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=oln8gVBxXBQJfuA3jUvX7Q&userid=76vIFZcC7owykCBjMfGVXg): Solid, but not amazing. I only got one piece of brisket with this combo. Their brisket was good, but the fat didn't fully render. The ribs were very tender, but didn't have much flavor. Their potato salad was also bland.
-Cornbread ($2.50, https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=HjZEEKiKSxIueMe47i2uKQ&userid=76vIFZcC7owykCBjMfGVXg): Ok, but a little on the dry side and needed more corn flavor- skip!

The BBQ came with three different homemade sauces: Ben's Original, Traditional, Ben's Habanero. The traditional was my favorite, which was thicker and sweeter (like Sweet Baby Ray's). The Ben's Original was on the tart side, which was the same with the Habanero, but there wasn't enough spice.

As mentioned initially, their staff seemed really friendly and nice. Based on this experience, I would probably come back for their brisket, and to try their mac n cheese. Parking was easy in this plaza although it was busy (due to Happy Lemon I think), but there were plenty of spots still available.

The service and staff are very nice...but the BBQ is among the most expensive and WORST I have ever...EVER had. Mac n cheese is Kraft status. I felt cheated out of my money.

If the owners or management read this, please bring in a consultant or something because you have no idea what you're doing. Do not ask your customers how you can make it better. The brisket, had no flavor...overcooked and dry. Same with pulled pork and burnt ends. The sauce tasted like you bought it at Safeway.

The staff is kind. I do not usually even leave reviews but I have to warn people. $50 for two plates of some of the worst BBQ I have ever had. PLEASE bring in a professional to teach you how to BBQ because your staff is great and I think if you actually learned how to make BBQ this could be a great restaurant.

Popped into Ben's yesterday before I went grocery shopping. Always a good idea to not shop when you're starving right? That's when you fill your cart with carbs and sweets and those deliciously bad for you items.

They open at 11:00am and it was 11:45am when I walked through the doors. There was a man seated in the dining room who greeted me with a warm hello. I'm guessing he was the owner. I couldn't help but notice that I was the only customer an hour after opening. Odd for a Saturday right?

The restaurant layout is basically the same as it's predecessor Dicky's. Plenty of seating, large boards above the counter displaying the menu choices. The young lady who took my order was very sweet. I ordered the Tri-Tip Sandwich with House bbq sauce and a side green salad. After placing my order I went to fill my cup and find a seat. This is where things started to go down hill.

Remember, they've only been open 45 minutes and so far I'm the only customer.

My shoes were sticking to the floor as as I walked. Gross! The trash can had old crusted BBQ Sauce smeared on it. Gross!
The table by the window that I chose to sit at was sticky and had debris stuck to it. Gross! The window I sat in front of was filthy. Gross! And again, the owner was just relaxing in the dining room when I walked in.

My food came out quickly and I have to admit it looked pretty good. Okay, I'll ignore the Gross environment and savor my sandwich. Not! The tomato was literally ice cold. The sliced tri-tip wasn't even warm and the texture of the meat felt weird. So disappointing. The positives were the house bbq sauce was actually good and the roll the meat was on was soft and delicious.

Ben's BBQ failed on to many levels for me to come back.

Cleanliness - 0
Food - 1
Friendliness - 5
Price - 1

I should have walked out when I realized that this Bbq place didn't smell at all like BBQ. How is that even possible? On another note, the new burger place next door was Packed!

I order the ribs and Mac and cheese. Both the ribs and Mac and cheese were disgusting. The texture of the ribs was rough and tough. The meat did not fall off the bone. I had to put some effort in chewing it from the bone. The heat was non existing for. It's the Mac and cheese and ribs. The Mac and cheese was plain and boring like hospital food. The ribs felt like it was sitting on the counter for hours. The flavor for both the ribs and Mac and cheese were non existing. The only good thing about the ribs was the sauce. The sauce obviously had flavor but everything else was bad. I could have put some hot sauce but honestly why pay so much for something that McDonald's could offer better. The decor and the inside was decent and the customer service was good. This lad reminds me of famous Dave's...

If you are looking to be disappointed and pay so much money with very little value taste/flavor or are about to die from starvation go ahead and spend your hard earned money here. Super duper burger next door or happy lemon would be a better alternative.

I'm a bit of a BBQ snob and I was hoping this would be my go-to place, sadly it wasn't meant to be.

I had the pork ribs which had a good taste and flavor. Pretty meaty. Good smokey flavor. My favorite thing on the menu.

Side of smoked sausage. It was ok, I like how the spicy-ness creeps up on you afterwards. The price was ridiculous though... $12? Granted I was given 6oz of it. But I had wanted 1 link of it, if 6 oz=1 link I would never order it. $12 is outrageous for that.

Mac N Cheese: bland, not really cheesy. I saw cheese, but I didn't really taste cheese... y'know?

Brisket: One of my favorites of any bbq dish and I was pretty dissappointed. It was dry AF. Yeah I could cut it with a fork but it was dry. I've had top notch quality brisket in Texas before and I know what great brisket should be and this wasn't it. Brisket should melt in your mouth. If you had dental problems you should be able to easily eat great brisket. Not trying to say it's horrible but this definitely wasn't the best or my cup of tea.

Garlic bread: Complimentary. Actually surprised that it stayed crunchy when I had the food to-go. It was pretty good.

BBQ Sauce: Honestly, wasn't very good. I opted to have all three flavors and wasn't a fan of a single one. Two of them tasted the exact same(maybe the cashier gave me two the same?) It was peppery and too much vinegar(yikes!) I'm all more pepper and other spices but good god. It was like somebody took a McDonalds bbq sauce dumped black pepper in it and two table spoons of white vinegar in it. The sweeter sauce wasn't very good.

The restaurant itself is ok, I liked how they had sports pictures up and a wall dedicated to movies that was pretty cool. I can see that they have regulars who enjoy it so this place isn't a dump. The cook(owner?) seems really nice. It's a solid place, but it's just not my BBQ joint. My search in San Jose/south Bay for a BBQ joint continues....

First time here and was excited to try a new place but very unimpressed. Got the Tri tip sandwich and the meat was dry and sauce wasn't good at all. Not sure how this place has a 4 star rating. Best thing about this place was leaving. Won't be coming back.