Benji and Jake’s

One of my favorite places in an area where there’s not much else going on. The view on the lake is the best. Pizza is unique and delicious. Seasoned waffle fries are perfect. Drinks are reasonably priced. Only thing lacking is service at the upstairs bar.

T Rex pie was pretty awesome. Liked the idea of the wings on a platter from the oven, but not much taste. Nice staff and pretty sunset over the lake.

The best pizza in the area! Excellent atmosphere and reasonably priced compared to other restaurants Alin the area. You are crazy if you’re in the area and you don’t stop in here!

A 4 star place all day!!! Service is good and friendly. Wings were different but good. Pizza was good but not great. We were going to a concert at Bethel Woods and overall a fantastic place to stop. My wife and I greatly enjoyed our dinner sitting on the patio. My next concert here I would definitely come back here for dinner and drinks before a show.!!

I really thought this place would have more stars. Who doesn’t love delicious food, OUTSTANDING service and a beautiful view?
This pizza joint is great! Owned and operated by 2 local hipster bros that both greeted us and asked if we needed anything. I love that! We ordered 2 small pies and the waffle fries. The beer selection is definitely my favorite in the surrounding restaurants. We had the Drunken Chef (we added chicken) and the TRex pies. The T-​Rex was far superior in taste. The Drunken Chef, the chicken was foul. But seriously, the shredded chicken was not good. It left a weird after taste in our mouths. We promptly let our waitress know and she rectified it, immediately.
The pizza crust was thin and crispy, seasoned well and what I expect out of wood fired pizza. It’s not NYC pies, this is artisan pizza. So don’t expect big floppy slices. Expect a low-​key meal on the lake with a smile.

The pizza is good. They have some interesting combos for pies. I would love to see what they could do with a regular neopolitan pie. The drinks are good and they have some decent beers. Service sometimes can be slow and drink redills can be real slow. I have been there three times and will go back though. The atmosphere is nice slso. Nice lake view.

We have gone here many times over the years they have been open. Food here is not the cheapest but it’s worth it! They have great specialty artisan type pizza, thin crust wood fired brick oven pizza. The T Rex pie is awesome. If you get seasoned fries get an order for every 2 people so there is enough to go around. They also have great waterfront seats both on the deck and on a bar type patio. They also have other items on the menu besides pizza but the T Rex pie is so good that’s all we ever get here! The owners make the pizza and also serve tables sometimes, they are really cool brothers that do a great job, as well as their wait staff!

View outside is worth the three stars, food was alright. I would not recommend the soups. The pizza was okay, but you are paying for the view! Everyone was friendly.

How does this place not have better reviews!!!
This is a awesome place right on the water. At night they even have a bonfire in the beer garden. But this is just bonus stuff…
Let’s talk about the food. The pizza never let’s me down. It’s a whole wheat crust. So its not like typical pizza. I was a little confused the first time I got it. But don’t let that stop you. It’s incredibly tasty. My personal favorites are the T-​rex (loaded with all kinds of meat), the green dream (avocado on top) and shrimp scampi (this one explains itself lol). Its always fresh with lots of flavor. But that’s not the best part. The tofu squares with the spicy mayo dipping sauce is always on point. Whenever we go out to eat with friends at least one person will order it. Same can be said for the winds. Not typical buffalo wings. These aren’t fried and covered in sauce. They come out on a cast iron pan. They actually look like they came from a chicken! Again, always fresh! We have never left unhappy!
Now, let’s talk about the staff… Are servers have always been friendly, Knowledgeable about the menu, And just the right amount of attentiveness.
The owners themselves, Benji and Jake have to be two of the nicest people I’ve known in my life. How can anyone call them rude!!! They are two wonderful guys who own a great business.
The only down side is I wish it was opened all year round!

very tasty pizza! highly recommend the aubergine pizza (eggplant instead of tomatoe sauce). the margherita is very good too. the crust is delicious on ANY of the pizzas, and they are huge! service is super friendly and if you can snag a spot on the patio looking out on the lake… you won’t be disappointed.

Have tried this pizza at least 4 times. I can confidently say that it is always the same.
***NOTHING ON TOP of a salty crust.***
Ask them to add extra of anything and they charge you but e.g. will put a few thin slices of pepper on top of an entire pie.
Fortunately our little hamlet of Kauneonga Lake now has 2 other places to buy pizza — YEAH — both of them are FAR SUPERIOR to this.
If you want pizza — DON’T GO HERE!

Ok. I ABSOLUTELY had to write this review. I will tell you why people like this place. 1. hype. 2. view of the lake 3. cause of popularity effect, it is hip in this town to like this place for no objective reason. This place is popular because it was considered edgy in the early 2000s to base your pizza off of whole wheat flour. However, quality is also important to me, and that line of reasoning is not valid or warrant immunity from criticism, so now I shall criticize.
Now I will tell you why this place is atrocious, sub-​par, and an utter rip off.
1. The crust is dry, salty, and often burnt.
2. The toppings are extremely skimpy and often look dehydrated, definitely not fresh.
3. The prices are ridiculously exorbitant for the product they give you.
This is not pizza, this is salty expensive dry burnt cracker. I usually do not give such scathing reviews, but it is warranted for this place for I have given them several chances over the past several years.
You want good pizza, go spend your money and time elsewhere.

When you come up to the area to get away from the rest of the world, this place is a welcome vestige of quality. It is no wonder that as plenty of businesses have come and gone over the years, Benji and Jake’s remains.
Their food is easily the best that you can get for miles and their ambiance and social life is excellent during the summer months. Sitting outside on the water is a wonderful addition to a meal. The biergarten that they set up is equipped for a night of good drinks and s’mores around the fire pit.

Food and drinks were great until we went to enjoy drinks on the patio and asked the manager if he knew a friend of ours and he replied «No, I don’t like Jews».
As 3 Jewish patrons, we did not find it too amusing, especially with the current world affairs. We will no longer be going to Benji and Jakes.

We loved it! The view is spectacular. I am from Virginia and was in town staying at the Villa Roma Resort in Calicoon, NY and we decided to venture out and try Benji and Jake’s. We took tons of pictures outside and watching the sun set while we ate was amazing. The pizza was great, the salad we all started with, and shared, was fresh and full of lots of veggies. We will absolutely be coming back (with more people) next year when we go back to Villa Roma!
Note: I am a vegetarian so I was THRILLED to see so many pizza options without meat! Delish.

Okay, I hate to drop a star on this place, but we had some pretty terrible service last night and a looooong wait for food. Apparently there was some huge pizza order so we couldn’t order pizza.
On the other hand, we ordered regular entrees and they were fantastic (once we finally got to eat them. It took close to 40 minutes).
The roasted ½ Murray’s chicken came with mixed vegetables and roasted potatoes. The trout came with mixed vegetables and quinoa. Everything was extremely delicious and perfect sharing size for three people — we also had a mixed salad, which was a decent size as well. Despite our inattentive waitress and the huge wait on the food despite being told that entrees would be no problem, the food itself is awesome.

Has to be my favorite restaurant and business in general of all time. The people here are the most friendly you’ve ever met. I always feel at home when I walk in. The atmosphere is modern and fresh, while retaining its brick walls and lots of ironwork. The pizza is the best I’ve ever had… Period. Gelato on your way out, and you’re good to go. What could make this better? A beautiful view on the lake of course!

I have a special place in my heart for Benji and Jake’s…been coming here for years, since they first opened. Really authentic, delicious pizza that cannot be found elsewhere in the Catskills. I recommend the Death by Pizza– it’s like Italy and Mexico collided in pizza form. The beer battered jalapeño rings are a great appetizer if you can handle some heat.
I love the atmosphere and sitting outside facing the lake on a beautiful summer day or evening. They also have a beer garden with some interesting sculptures where you can hang out. Upstairs, they have a bar and a space so a band can play (get the sangria, ask for a little bit of ice). They also sell gelato in the front.

As a native New Yorker, I’m pretty picky about my pizza. In fact, I decided to give this restaurant a try because of the amazing view of the lake from the upper level seating area, and that did not disappoint – the lake is very pretty. I arrived with three other guests and at the conclusion of our meal, the general consensus was that the food was «decent», or even «pretty good».
One of my sisters tried the minestrone soup. It came in a small bowl with lots of whole basil leaves. She liked it – a lot.
Then we ordered a T-​rex pizza (without the ground beef) for the table. It took a long, long, LONG time, more time than I could ever reasonably justify making a thin-​crust pizza should take, but the view of the lake was beautiful so we waited patiently (or we tried). When the pizza was finally brought to the table, it was visually pleasing, though there was a lot of grease and when I took a slice, the bright orange liquid dripped in large quantities onto my plate. The taste was decent. I enjoyed the smokiness of the chicken and I really liked the use of cornmeal for the bottom of the crust. It was actually my favorite aspect of the pie, as it added a nice texture and ensured that the pizza was crispy and baked evenly. Nevertheless, I wish it wasn’t so greasy, because spending a minute or two per slice to drip off the grease is kind of unappealing.
Lastly, I have to make a comment regarding the cleanliness of the space. When we first arrived to Benji and Jake’s, we asked to be seated on the upper level because of the great view of the waterfront. It was perfect weather outside and the inside of the restaurant was incredibly warm. However I was disappointed to see that the tables in our area (and we could have picked any of them, we were the only ones up there) showed no signs of recent maintenance. and I mean within the past decade or so. We picked the cleanest table, which wasn’t wiped down and everything was covered in cobwebs and spiderwebs, along with several resident spiders who joined us for dinner. Just for that, I had to dock this place two stars, simply because it’s unacceptable to allow customers to eat their dinner if you don’t plan on maintaining the cleanliness of the seating area.

I happened to visit this location twice last week. Once for lunch and a second time after a concert at Woodstock at the Beer Garden.
Me and my friends came in for lunch around 2 or 3pm and were seated almost immediately. I suppose we got lucky that two tables inside had just cleared because this place was quite busy for it’s location way out in White Lake.
We sat down to an amazing view of the lake. It was gorgeous. Sparkling water all around. We noticed that they had boat docks for customers to come to the store via boat, genius! The menu’s had real charm. Made from wood with hinges and the symbol of a peel charred into them.
The menu was small but had some decent variety. We were not disappointed by the pizza’s we tried. They were excellent and tasty. I can’t remember which two we had but we were pretty damned satisfied. My friends were very happy with the beer selection as well.
I enjoyed the service, all the waiters and waitresses were smiling despite being in a rush to cover all the tables. Despite the place being busy it didn’t feel like we waited too long for our food considering how long it takes to make each pizza.
We had some Gelato too and one of us had the secret desert slice. Wow it looked delicious! The sorbet menu apparently changes hourly so watch out!
Later in the evening we came back to the Beer Garden they had outside. It was 2 am and the place was busy with a crackling fire, lakeside seating, benches and music. There was a full bar open upstairs.
I was a bit disappointing that you couldn’t order food at the Beer Garden, but then I saw someone bringing pizza to a table. I asked them if I could order from them instead of going upstairs and he told me to come inside he’d take my order. It was then my friend told me I had just met the owner.
I was really impressed. The owner of the business, I think it was Jake, is out making pizza and delivering it personally to patrons outside at the Beer Garden at 2am! Wow, that’s devotion and dedication to your customers.
The pizza, even at 2am was awesome. The service was great. I do hope he hires some help for those busy hours after woodstock concerts but otherwise I strongly recommend this place to everyone.