Benvenuto's

In a word: The fare at this mini-chain Italian eatery will please some diners and leave others disappointed. (Brought to you by the Council for Nugatory Observations and Obfuscatory Vocabulary.)

The specs: #0031
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, Lectori Salutem, ; Benvenuto's web site.

John ate the penne classico with a cherry Pepsi.
JM and Nichole ate the garlic shrimp pizza with a lemonade and a cherry Pepsi, respectively.
John gave Benvenuto's an A; JM gave Benvenuto's a B+; Nichole gave Benvenuto's a C+ (see our grading rubric).

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Good thing we're not into grading by consensus, or we'd have been stuck. Our party of three had very different perceptions of the food at Benvenuto's, but we all agreed that the service was great and the setting, a faux Italian walled garden complete with laundry drying on the line, was clever.

John's penne classico, a pasta dish with chicken, shrimp and prosciutto in Alfredo sauce with a Parmesan crust, was excellent. JM liked the garlic shrimp pizza just fine and found the lemonade was good.

Nichole was the pickiest eater. She swears she didn't see salads on the menu, and found the garlic shrimp pizza bland. It didn't reheat very well, the crust having gotten thoroughly soggy less than a day later.

Maybe it was coming down from the delish fare at Bellini, which would really be unfair; Benvenuto's is worth a try.

Comments

[Arfann]

I stopped in to Benvenutos while on my way to a flight from Dane County Airport. Sevice was good, food fairly good. I left a cash tip as is my custom rather than adding it on the MC bill. After I returned home and turned in my expense report I scanned my MC bill to find they arbitrarily had added $5.00 to my $14.53 lunch tab.

[Katie]

Benvenutos does have salads..Asian Chicken, Greek, Shrimp Ceaser, Chicken Ceaser, Cobb, etc etc.

I agree, the pizza doesn't heat up too well..all the more reason to eat it all while it's hot.

[catwoman]

I completely agree with this assessment. We went there recently because we had a gift certificate. My husband thoroughly enjoyed his pasta carbonara (and, from the little he let me taste of it, I do admit, it was pretty tasty), but my chicken cacciatore was just OK. The cheddar/beer dip we ordered as an appetizer tasted of neither cheddar nor beer, and the caesar salads were OK, but not as good as the ones I make at home. The food isn't necessarily *bad*, but anyone with moderate cooking skills can probably top this fare and will leave disappointed. The service was top notch, though.

[Gary]

Great Pizza and great service. Cody checked in with us several times during our meal. A very pleasant experience.

[M]

My whole family loves this place, especially since the menu really has something for everyone. The penne classico is the only thing I ever order because it's always perfect. Honestly, I've had it too many times to count, and there's never been a fail. It also reheats just wonderfully. I'm heartened to see that someone else likes it! This is one of our few go-to places for family celebrations, including my daughter's recent graduation from UW-Madison.