Benbow Historic Inn
Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence
Each year, the Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence honor, encourage, and recognize the most exemplary historic hotels, hoteliers, and leadership practices. The Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence are presented to historic hotels and hoteliers demonstrating innovative leadership, stewardship, and contribution to furthering the recognition, preservation, and celebration of these preeminent historic hotels and their histories.
Safety precautions
- Surfaces sanitized between seatings
- Common areas deep cleaned daily
- Digital, disposable or sanitized menu provided
- Sanitizer or wipes provided for customers
- Contactless payment available
- Sealed or wrapped utensils used
- Limited number of seated diners
- Distancing maintained in common areas
- Extra space between tables
- Waitstaff wear masks
- Diners must wear masks unless eating or drinking
- Sick staff prohibited in the workplace
Missed the scones and tea.
Maybe suggestions of things to do...
Hiking trails , golfing etc.
Have the gas fireplace on in the sit-ting room in the morning and heater on on the front deck.
Food was delicious and fresh. We dined on the tented patio and were quite comfortable. Christmas decorations make this magical.
I went to the Benbow for Thanksgiving with friends. The food was delicious! Service top notch as usual. The Owner Mr. Porter stopped by our table twice to see that everything was perfect and it was.
This was the closest to spending Thanksgiving with family, states away, imaginable in this pandemic.
For $120 meal for 2 (l glass of wine)
Very overpriced!
Wouldn’t recommend or return.
Our 4th stay at the Benbow Inn! Always enjoy our stay!
A quiet and relaxing hotel and grounds with friendly service & outstanding chef! Terrace room 111 was large, comfortable and very clean. The food is outstanding and service is above par! We will definitely be back, next time in the summertime.
Stunning setting will whisk you back in time! My husband and I shared the Market fish and had the chef split it for us. It was a delicate Rock Cod with Mango Salsa sitting on a Coconut Curry sauce. The presentation was flawless and the flavors meshed magically. Take the time to book a dinner and you will have a memorable experience!
What an incredible stay. Great old Hotel but large comfortable rooms. Nice balconies food was incredible Staff really great. Worth the trip for sure.
As a Disabled Vietnam Veteran I was astonished that Benbow Inn did not have any type of recognition of Veterans Day.
The restaurant food for dinner. given the covid-19 restrictions, was like tv dinners. We spend $88 on food that was pre-made. The free breakfast burritos were much better than the dinner. I did notice that they do have an electric car charging station and the new elevators make it much easier for those of us with limited mobility to access the front desk and rooms. If you can bring food or don't mind going into Garberville for meals or to pick something up from Ray's I could fully recommend the Historic Benbow Inn.
The dinner at benbow inn was phenomenal. The atmosphere of the dining room was lovely and the waitstaff are great. Not to mention the amazing food!
Fine dining during Covid-19. The Filet was perfectly delicious on night one. The Pork Loin did not disappoint on the second evening. The Inn's ambiance is like taking a step back in time. The hostess was gracious and dressed the part . Our server was polite but hard to hear behind her mask. Our table unfortunately was right next to the outside access and there were many tables out there - under warming lamps. They were likely warmer than I was with the door opening and not closing every 2-3 minutes with another server/busser. We had planned to splurge for fine dining at the Inn on the first night and finding something in town on night 2. With such limited options, we elected to share 2 salads and an entree between 3 of us light eaters on the second night and did well. On night one there were leftovers. Breakfast burritos are being served instead of brunch - day 2 we asked for them without potatoes - they were much better. The wine list was great too and not overpriced. Our server really worked hard on night 2, splitting our meal for us, heading back to the kitchen for extra anchovies, substituting mashed potatoes for yams and fixing it when the yams arrived. All in all, it's expensive and a splurge for me - but this was fine dining and priced appropriately for the chef's skills. Very tasty.
We love the restaurant at The Benbow. Our most recent meal, celebrating a birthday was as good as it could be under the Covid circumstances. We dined outside in the tent and it was fine. The food was really terrific. The three of us all commented how the sides that accompanied the mains really complemented them in a way that was noteworthy. The service and deserts were terrific as well.
Sat outside in a tent with lots of noise and kids. Not the evening my wife and i were looking forward to. Only 4 items on the main course list no beef items. But had the fish it was good. Service was good.
Very fine simple meal considering the time of Coronavirus. Weekday with few people. Sitting inside the dining area was superior to being outside in a "tent". Our waitress was most gracious and knowledgeable. All in all a very nice evening at an excellent Inn.
Food was very over priced and not very flavorful. Disappointed as other reviews said it was so good. Would not recommend and will not be going back.
it was amazing! I will be back.The staff was on top of everything.
We sat outside on the deck which was lovely. There was at least 10 feet between tables. Our waiter was very nice but not too informative in regards to questions we had about items on the menu. All staff wore masks and gloves. The food was very good, but very overpriced. Overall it was an enjoyable (but expensive) evening out.
Freshest food I’ve had outside of home in a long time ! There is a garden on site and the chef visits the local farmers market weekly. I also had fresh albacore from Shelter Cove on Sunday nite, really nice.
A wonderful place to have dinner. We’ve been there twice and enjoyed both of our experiences. I must say that JODI was in credible in helping us more fully enjoy this great place.
Unfortunately my blackberry chicken dish was served with a hair in it. I didn’t say anything but the dish was excellent despite the small error. My wife’s vegetarian pasta dish was not good. The vegetables were under cooked, lacking flavor and was not worth the $36 charged for it.
We had a wonderful experience at this restaurant our first night at the hotel. The food was wonderful, as was the service. They’ve really made an effort to adjust during COVID. We enjoyed ourselves enough to go back a second time. The second time, we did not have such a great experience. What we ordered was not what came (and what came had pork in it which my husband doesn’t eat). They fixed it but there was no adjustment to our bill or anything. The vegetarian dish was bland. And a shrimp dish we ordered came with shrimp tails without the shrimp (did someone eat one before it was brought out? I don’t know). It also took a very long time at every stage of the service such that our dinner took 2 hours even though we didn’t get dessert (we intended to but it took so long we bagged it). I’m sure these are very nice people but I would not recommend this restaurant, especially because it’s extremely expensive for what it is.
Excellent food, live music, and a beautiful setting. It just doesn’t get much better than dinner at Benbow.
the food was expensive for what was offered. some items were better than others. the gazpacho tasted like tomato sauce; very disappointing. Nice location. Some tables were better socially distanced than others.
The soup was barely warm and the Caesar Salad dressing was tasteless. Originally brought 3 tiny pieces of bread but replenished when requested. Entrees were much better. Filet and Fish of the day. Ambience was great as we sat by the railing outside at dusk. Prices seemed like they were trying to recoup their renovation cost super fast.
Although I loved the hotel and would stay again, the food was not great. And the service so-so. I did see other servers who were more attentive, though. Our sever was nice, maybe just didn’t know how to juggle multiple tables. (We are in the industry ourselves and have much compassion for being busy and we still tipped well) For the price- the food and service did not match. Mostly the food. The terrace and hotel is gorgeous. Pretty atmosphere.
We had a dinner on their patio. Ordered two of their filet dinners. One was cooked well. The other one was absurdly overcooked. We also asked about a good wine to go with the meals and was recommended their house wine. It was fair at best.
We got a half-a$$ed sorry from the waiter on the ruined entree, nothing else. I expected a higher level of service from a nicer establishment.
Food was excellent, and we had the Caesar salad with fresh fish entre. Service was outstanding; we had Rebecca who was great! Lastly, we enjoyed the house Chardonnay, which was perfect with the blacken fish.
It was good, I went. Two days in arow and both times
Beautiful setting and good breakfast
The service was just okay. Our waitress was pleasant and attentive. It took awhile for anyone to notice that we were there and it was a bit confusing as to where we were to enter the restaurant.
The food was disappointing for the cost of entrees. But we appreciated the convenience and the beauty of the outdoor dining area. We also enjoyed the live music.
We had a lovely meal on the terrace. The food was very good. The wine list was impressive. We enjoyed sitting under the stars. It was my grandson's birthday and the staff did a singing and dessert thing for him and he was thrilled. we love going to Benbow!
Vegetable Pasta dish was disappointing as it was tasteless and watered down. Sauce was diluted due to vegetables were over cooked. B;ackberry chicken was very good.
Previous night dining was very good.
The restaurant was very busy so perhaps kitchen staff may have been overwhelmed.
We really appreciated being able to eat outdoors on their HUGE patio, plenty of space between tables, such a pleasant ambiance. We ate there both nights that we stayed at the hotel. Masks and social distancing, sanitizer all in place. On the Tuesday night, there were two musicians playing great guitar music! It felt so civilized! One couple got up to dance! The food was really delicious too. Definitely felt like a treat to go out and enjoy this beautiful restaurant and location. The rooms are a bit pricy but overall, we really enjoyed our 2 night stay there.
Beautiful patio and good service. Food was very average but expensive. Stay away from the chicken.
Everything was fantastic from beginning to end. We had lots of distance from other tables, the staff all wore protective gear.
The New Old Fashioned was a nice version of the cocktail, it wasn't too sweet.
The mushroom pasta and local berry crisp with oats (gluten free) was phenomenal.
Great experience with the food, beverage and staff.
Get there closer to 5pm and call ahead to reserve a table, it wasn't too busy at 5, but was filling up by 6pm.
Entry was not very good. I ordered the Veggie option. Kale salad was good, wine was good.
It was our 15th wedding anniversary and we had plans to be on Maui, but the pandemic... We found an amazing VRBO in the area, and were delighted to learn the Benbow Inn was open and serving brunch outside. It was our first meal in public since early March. The staff was professional and careful - keeping distance and wearing masks. We felt safe, welcomed and enjoyed a mimosa and top-notch bloody Mary before our meal. The pancakes and eggs Benedict were delicious! Look forward to coming back again. ❤️❤️❤️
Overcharged for menu items and had to ask for the menu to show them they charged us incorrectly. They did nothing to make it right. Basically stealing from us and all we received was an insincere sorry. The food was overpriced and mediocre.
Expensive food but small portions, including salad dressing. Dry boneless chicken breast. Looks chintzy. These issues can be easily addressed, even during these extremely challenging times. Bravo to the owners for rallying! Corkage fee is $25.00! That’s ok; we can enjoy the wide variety of Benbow’s wines. We will enjoy staying at the Inn in early Fall and hope my food criticisms are addressed. Thank you!
The food was mediocre. I would expect more from the Benbow Inn.
FAQs
Benbow Historic Inn is rated 4.3 stars by 109 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.