What goes into a first-class dining experience in Brandon?

Just ask Ben Hernandez, founder/owner of Benny’s Restaurant & Catering Services, and longtime restaurateur in the city, who spent a few minutes recently with Brandon Tourism to discuss the ins and outs of quality service, providing a sense of uniqueness and of course, the Benny’s menu. Enjoy.

You have a motto that you stick to when it comes to the overarching term ‘customer service’ don’t you? It’s pretty clear when you walk into Benny’s, it’s the welcoming atmosphere that keeps people coming back…

It’s really to ensure guests leave with a feeling that we care about them, making sure we have high quality food ingredients combined with professional service. That’s what makes it all possible.

Just how important are first impressions when someone walks through the doors at Benny’s?

We want people to feel safe and comfortable when visiting us. The restaurant is always clean and our staff are very friendly. This is what makes a good impression on people; you get what you see.

How do you create/provide a Brandon feel for customers to give them something different/unique?

The restaurant was renovated prior to us taking it over and we’ve since done a lot of improvements. We like to offer our guests unique menus for special occasions – items that are not available on the regular menu. We also pride ourselves when asked to do private dinners at guests’ homes because it shows our guests what we’re capable of by creating unique meals cooked in front of them at their home.

Take us through the menu because you’re paying homage to former establishments in the city, such as Green Olive, which closed down several years ago and was replaced by your restaurant and Remington’s, an eatery you played a significant role with as managing partner and shareholder for several years before it shut down operations, correct?

We have items and recipes from both places which makes it unique to us. The Green Olive lasagna is made with a recipe given to me by the previous owner, while from the Remington’s menu we have lobster wontons, chicken Montebello and our famous carbonara.

Benny’s Restaurant is located at 612 Rosser Avenue in Brandon.