Bensonhurst Pizza

my friends and I went there on Father’s Day to watch a soccer game (WWC, won). we were lucky, we got a table although we did not make reservation. The service was really good. Food was just okay, the deep dish pizza was a bit disappointing, but I really enjoy seeing them to do pizza making! Fun!

Great food, great service!
The pizza is really really nice. I’ve been here several times and will definitely come back. They have is the best thin crust, Italian pizza in the city, cooked in a wood fired oven and all the ingredients are top-​quality. «Fresco» is definitely worth a try!

Solid pizza and experience. For being so quiet I was surprised that our server was so lax. But the pizza and the meatball sandwich were solid. The pizza I picked was chicken Brie and cranberry sauce. How can that go wrong? A little spendy but welcome to Calgary. $ 50 lunch with no beverages.

I’m really, really torn on Bensonhurst. On one hand, I genuinely like most everything I have tried here, & continue to go back for this reason. On the other hand, the service issues have been quite substantial in at least half of my visits, to the point where you can no longer just blame bad luck or growing pains.
The pizza is usually quite good. Providing a choice of styles — currently NY, thin crust & deep dish — is a great idea! Haven’t tried the deep dish, but the other 2 types are well executed. The NY style has a decently flavourful sauce. I’ve also enjoyed the very yummy gnocchi mac & cheese, & my dining partners have raved about the meatball sub. There are numerous TVs so sporting events are usually playing. You can sit & have a drink at the short bar if you want, although the last time I was in they no longer carried Brooklyn IPA which was my go-​to beer at Bensonhurst.
Service varies from acceptable to atrocious, with only 1 instance of awesome (when I sat at the bar & received impeccable attention from a bartender who, sadly, no longer works there). The worst evening was a busy night when almost all of our table’s order was delivered to other guests who arrived after us, leaving our food to trickle out over half an hour, not including the initial half hour wait. Two people had meatball subs, but the first was long finished by the time the second sub arrived. The real problem was that no one would tell us what was happening. We had to complain before a manager came over & apologized that another server had screwed up. We were given a small discount & a $ 20 coupon for a future visit, but since our out-​of-​town guests were paying that night, they kinda got shafted — the coupon was no use to them.
Another time it took us half an hour to pay because a large table asked for their bills right before us, & our server left the payment terminal at their table for 5 minutes at a time while she disappeared into the back. If she had stayed to reset the terminal as soon as each person paid, she could have cashed their whole table out in 5 mins. Instead, it took half an hour, & she wasn’t spending that time taking other orders or delivering food. Everyone was quite frustrated.
This should be a 3 ½ star review, but I will leave it as 4 instead of 3 because I can get a great vegetarian pizza here, & that isn’t something I can say at a lot of places in Calgary. I wish they would bring back the Brooklyn IPA, though!
(I can’t remember if the washrooms are accessible, but there is a proper ramp in front & some tables are a regular height, with room to wheel up a chair)

Great pizza! Our server Landon was very friendly and quite a character (in a good way), nice beer selection, good Caesars, and food was ready in a timely manner. It’s a bit on the pricey side but portions are huge. Will be back!

Favourite pizza in town. Their Chicago style pizza are phenomenal. All the other New York and Forno pizzas are fantastic. Great beer selection, fantastic long islands, and by far the most incredible ice cream sandwich in the world.

Most amazing pizza EVER! I usually don’t like pizza — but I came here for my friend. What a great surprise! Best place ever — the Chicago deep dish has the best crust! This is the place

We always pass Bensonhurst along 17^th avenue and it has a unique, modern look. I have wanted to check it out for a while now. My g/​f read reviews prior to heading to the restaurant, and was hesitant to try it, but we thought «what the hell». First mistake. The environment is intact great. Lots of TV’s, paraphernalia all over the walls, fun facts on the menu — this is where the complimentary part of the review ends.
The server was kind, but slow. She would disappear for 10 – 15 minutes at a time always when we were either waiting to give our order, waiting to receive our drinks, or meals, etc. The servers and (maybe) manager were constantly involved with each other — talking more in groups then tending to the customers, which became increasingly frustrating.
My beer was flat, my g/​f ordered the raspberry ale which was good and the bruschetta was late to the table but delicious. We ordered the Chicago style pizza to share — now I wouldn’t consider myself a connoisseur of fine Chicago pizza, but I have been to the city a few times and always had a pie when I was there. I know enough to be confident the dough should be cooked and there shouldn’t be half an inch of grease sitting in the pan.
At this point we were about done with the experience. We asked for the check — our server apologized for being in the back «talking to herself» as she described it? Asked us to hopefully try Bensonhurst again as this isn’t what we should expect. I think thats why they call them first impressions — needless to say, we won’t be going back. I was most disappointed that the manager didn’t come out to speak with us to try to understand what happened and how he could make it right. That’s why you’re in the service industry correct? Anyways — thumbs down.

Pretty damn good pizza spot. really good daily specials and the best mac and cheese gnocchi I’ve ever had (still have dreams about it) good place for drinks after work. Was here for NYE 2014 and had a great time. love all the different varieties of pizza, can’t go wrong with any choice.

My sister, brother-​in-​law and I went to this place after wandering around the street on a Saturday looking for a not seriously packed spot to eat.
We settled on Bensonhurst.
At first blush, this New York meets Chicago via Italy pizza place with the German Beer Haus sounding name should be confusing, but it seems to work. The restaurant is well laid out with cool graffiti, Chicago warehouse windows, subway tile, an open kitchen and clay pizza oven. Bensonhurst seems to be able to make gritty welcoming.
As for food, the menu does an E for Effort job of organizing, and explaining, New York, Chicago and Neapolitan pizza styles. The pizzas we ordered had decent flavour, but the chefs need a bit of schooling on the difference between spinach and arugula and why it’s a good idea to not use canned black olives.
Bensonhurst gets points for originality and spunk but upping their food game, perhaps with better quality ingredients to help perfect each pizza style on offer, would take this concept restaurant with the cool atmosphere up a level.
Overall, as the only pizza joint offering Chicago and New York style in the city that isn’t fast food, I’d go again for lunch and do recommend you try it out too; a solid three.
T.

It’s safe to say I’ve found a new go-​to place in Bensonhurst Pizza. Our hostess sat us in a nice quiet place, knowing full well we wanted to have a quiet dinner. Our server, Landon was amazing, friendly, fun and quirky. He was quick to help us and offered us some really good suggestions, it being our first time.
They have 3 styles of pizza which is pretty unique as it’s a one-​stop-​shop for different types of pizzas. We had the New York style pizza and the thin crust (not too thin) was amazing. It was flavorful without being too greasy.
The Chicago deep dish pizza looked promising and we’ll go back to try that again.
—Update — 2015−03−31 — -
Since my first visit we’ve been back a few times. The first time I tried the Chicago-​style pizza I was quite impressed. The last time I went the crust was way overdone and too hard. I’m willing to give it another go but would have to mention to them not to overcook the Chicago-​style pizza crust.

Well I read a few great reviews on this place and I have walked past a few times and its been busy so I decided to give it a try. Bad call.
The restaurant itself is nice. It is actually really nice. I like that. But thats about where it ended.
I ordered the Hawaii 5 Ono. But the waitress told me it was really big and suggested something else.
When my food came it was a thin crust soggy mess of a pizza. It tasted fine but was not what I was craving. I was more disappointed to see that I was charged extra for adding meat and pineapple to this disgusting soggy thing they called pizza.
The server was less than friendly. Half way through eating a server came up and asked if I wanted my pizza packed up. I was unaware that drinking my beverage was a sign that I had finished eating.
Honestly, It wasn’t great food and the severs were not great. I’d skip it.

I am a huge Bensonhurst fan. While I’ve got several nearby «regular» places, such as Tubby Dog and Nellie’s, I can happily add this place to my list.
The pizza is fantastic here. They have several styles available, and the ingredients the restaurant uses are tasty and high-​quality. My favourite is a Chi Town Classic with double pepperoni: a deep-​dish pizza with tons of cheese and sauce that must be eaten with a fork and knife.
The drink selection is pretty decent too, although pricey unless you get a special. The fishbowl-​sized Long Island Iced Teas are well worth it though.
If you go, be prepared for a bit of a wait of it’s busy. It’s not a huge restaurant, but classic pizzas can take a while to make (Chicago-​style takes up to 45 minutes, you’ll get quoted).
We took a group of 15 there on a Friday night with a reservation of about 4 days notice, and the service was a bit slow — there was quite a wait for both drinks and pizzas. The quality of both the food and the service was a bit below the average for the restaurant. When the manager noticed our party was a smaller than reserved (some of our guests were running late), he also asked if he could take the extra space for other guests — take that for what you will.
Overall, Bensonhurst is a great restaurant with excellent food. I’d recommend hitting it for lunch or during the week for the best experience. Five stars, despite the less-​than-​stellar party experience.

Excellent food and service on a consistent basis. The beer and wine lists are great.
Try the Bensonhurst Classic pizza, it tastes even better the next day!

Hidden gem on 17^th ave.
They must have corrected the earlier issues, because the service has been fantastic every time we’ve come in, the food is awesome.
My fave pizza is the Meat lovers district, the gnocchi mac & cheese is excellent.
Can’t wait to come back and try more of the menu.

First visit to Bensonhurst Pizza was a double thumbs UP
Our group of 4 ordered 4 different pizzas to «test drive» this newcomer to 17^th Ave.
All 4 were terrific, but my Bensonhurst Classic… was OFF THE CHARTS… and this pie is enough for 3 – 4 people.
Noise level was high as you would expect and the service was friendly, helpful, and attentive. THANK YOU ASHLEY.
Bensonhurst is number 1 for pizza in Calgary.

I love the idea! Hate the place.
Nice location and ambiance. Here’s a clue to how this review is going to look like — while we were there, we watched two tables (one table of four, and one of two) come in, wait for 5 – 10 minutes, seat themselves, not get approached, then leave.
Even for us, it took 20 minutes for us to be acknowledged, and we were acknowledged by the owner/​manager maybe and he brought us a plate of spaghetti (though we obviously hadn’t ordered). We let him know that no one had approached us yet and he found another table to auction the food off to. He seemed genuinely nice.
Our server… where can I start with our server. She seemed like a nice girl, but my gosh, everything she did would be in a book of what not to do as a server. No apology for ignoring us for 20 minutes, drinks took even longer to come, we felt like we had to beg/​plead for refills. Food took more than an hour from ordering time (which I get, it’s a stone oven… but still). No interaction in between that time, and one of the pizzas came out another 20 minutes later because it was «burnt». And the pizzas we had were pretty burnt, so I’m afraid to know how burnt the 4^th pizza was for it to have been not sent out. I actually enjoyed my honey California pizza, but the rest of my dining guests described their pizzas as flavourless.
At one point, our servers boyfriend came in and she was sitting with him/​hugging him/​kissing him in front of all of her tables who were waiting for various things (refills, food, etc.). It was just bizarre overall how little she seemed to care. The tables around us were complaining loudly and visibly annoyed as well. The bussers seemed somewhat competent…
We asked for our stuff to be packed up and after fifteen minutes of watching the server chat with her boyfriend or stand around eating at the pizza bar or just wandering around, we decided to leave without it… at which point she brought us the leftovers. But seriously… the poor service and experience seemed out of the twilight zone almost… it almost seemed intentionally bad.
I guess we didn’t try a huge snapshot of the menu, but I really don’t think this place will last long if it keeps up with it’s oddly poor service.