Benissimo Ristorante & Bar

The pizza tastes okay, but the customer service was the worst. I decided to order deliver from this place because they were open late enough, and looked a little more gourmet than other pizza places. I should have just asked the desk person at the hotel I was at, because this was the wrong place to choose. This place charges a $7 "delivery fee", which is a lot considering they are two miles from my location. No getting around that, so I wound up paying $30 for just a Pizza. Five minutes later, in the middle of watching the sunset on my anniversary, the manager/owner called and extremely crassly explained to me that a 1 dollar tip on top of the delivery fee was "simply not acceptable". I told him I thought $8 extra was plenty, but offered to tip a few more dollars. He then told me he needed to ensure my phone number was "reliable". What the hell is that about? He sounded intoxicated, or full of snubbery at best. What a jerk, never going to pay too much to be treated badly again.

Three of us dined here on a Wednesday night to take advantage of their four course Early Bird Special for $19.95. The ambiance is sophisticated, warm with a very friendly vibe. We got there around 5:30pm and it was just starting to get busy. We sat at the bar and enjoyed some drinks. Note that their "happy hour" runs until 6:30 and  in addition to some drink markdowns, (Hard to beat  $3.00 Morreti on tap!) they have a bar menu for HH.

We were seated promptly at 6pm, the time we reserved. The three choices for the main entree were: salmon, chicken and short ribs. We ordered one of each. We also ordered an antipasto which in hindsight was unnecessary. The bread that was delivered had just been baked and it was hot and yummy and of course, we ate too much of that. Everyone was very happy with their dish. You also get a choice of pasta along with the main course. For dessert we ordered a tiramisu and pistachio ice cream.
Everything was high quality, cooked well and the service was impeccable and professional.

The dinners at twenty bucks are a great value. If you don't order like we do, you can actually get out of here happy and stuffed for way less than many Italian restaurants in Marin. The drinks at the bar totaled about $40.00. Add the antipasto, two glasses of wine at dinner, with tip, we got out of there for $120.00.  Still, try that at the Buckeye and it would be way more. We've lived in Marin since 1989 and we can honestly say, "How is it we didn't eat here until now?"

Four stars for the food and an additional star for the early bird/happy hour prices.

Benissimo has great Italian food.  I love their Chicken Marsala and polenta. It is very flavorful.  The caprese was good too. I didn't try it (not eating wheat) but I hear the bread is wonderful, as was the pasta.  I also tried the veal saltimbocca, which had decent flavor, but the meat was *really* tough.  I would order the marsala again.  The cesare salad was good.

Now... the best part for those of you that can actually eat wheat & sugar.... They have an early bird special which is a 4 course meal for $20!  Salad, Pasta, Dinner & Dessert.