Chez Ben Diner

This diner was on one of my places to try whenever I came to visit my home state. We finally got to come and it was pretty quiet around the time we were there. By the time we left, it did start to fill up. It’s a nice little diner that also specializes in Canadian food. I decided to get the classic poutine and I really liked it. It’s simple and I liked the squeaky cheese for some reason. It felt good in my mouth when I was chewing it. Lol. My sister had the meat pie and that was pretty good as well. I would definitely come back again. The next time I am in Connecticut.

A classic diner with a bit of a twist. I’ll tell ya right now, it’s some of the best poutine gravy I’ve had. Everybody was nice and I sat at the counter. The Mounty omelette was delicious. Stuffed French toast was good, but you better like cream cheese. Excellent breakfast over all.

We stopped by here on our way to Boston from NJ. It is incredibly old school and takes u back in time. The staff is friendly and we sat down right away. We ordered breakfast and food arrived pretty quick. Everything tasted good, home fries in my eggs were very limited, the breakfast poutine was ok, could have had more eggs n sausage, felt like it was all potatoes. It was a good meal and costed us $50.

Delicious poutine! Best outside of Montreal! 🇨🇦 sorry no food photo bc it was so good i just ate it too fast!!!

I recently stopped by this diner for breakfast. I was so disappointed with the service. The waitress came and got a table immediately, she then came with menus. I asked for a hot tea with lemon. The water was not hot at all, I had to make my tea and drink it fast because we couldn't find our waitress to ask for the water to be actually hot. When we finally saw her again, I was like we're ready to order." I asked for medium hard eggs, she came back with runny eggs, the steak was hard as a rock unateable to say the least. I tried to find our waitress to ask for napkins because she never gave us any at all. I have never eaten without napkins, I just don't know how to do that. I waited to find her or to see if I could find someone but could not. finally, after about 15 minutes of looking around, I had to get up to go ask for help. She finally came out the back with a big attitude, and yes, you need something? I said yes napkins, and I wanted something to drink. I said wow you didn't even come back to check on us or see if we needed something else she tried to lie and said she did, I said mam don't do that, don't lie because you know you didn't, just admit you forgot about us but dont say you came back knowing you didnt thats worst. She got pissed because I called her out. she then came to our table mad as hell,so u need something to drink while putting a bunch of napkins on the table. I said, "Just get me the check. I'm all set. I dnt want anything else from here, not even orange juice." unbelievable, I'm sure the couple who owns this establishment are decent people, I see a sign up about the prices being up due to price of eggs and tariff and I would have loved to support around the way family spot but omg that lady serving is a damn nightmare. I don't know how in the world ppl can work in service and have no clue or she just didn't like my skin color. I hate to think our shitty service was due to us being POC but woww, unreal...

I went here on an anonymous suggestion. They said Cassie was a great server and the food was great. I went for breakfast and couldn't believe I never really noticed it before, obviously I'm in the minority because it was very busy for 9:30am on a week day. Canadian/American Menu options, I had the Canadian "Breakfast Poutine". 2 scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, beef gravy, on top of home fries. Not something I'd usually order, however, I made the correct choice. Not cheese like I was used to, the cheese is cut into chunks, I thought it was chicken or tofu at first and was happy to find out it was cheese, and quite pleasurable and tasty. New experience for me and very pleased I took this person's advice. Go for breakfast or lunch, i think you'll really enjoy it. Great service, Thank you Cassie.,

This has easily become one of our favorite go to breakfast spots. Nice variety, everything we've ordered has been great. My personal favorite is the stuffed French toast which is cream cheese and strawberry between 2 full slices of French toast. They also have corned beef hash and turkey sausage which is great pork alternatives.

Great Staff A Little over full all the time But You eat and go! Food is great

Had breakfast Western sandwich very good Hash browns were very good Service was good

Just had a unique breakfast sandwich here - a BLT with a fried egg. So delicious. Needs a lot of napkins ha ha. My dining partner enjoyed a full brkfast prepared very quickly as was mine. Weekends are very busy, but luckily the crew handles the crowds with much finesse. Their prices are fantastic. Readers, go there!! Hours 7 am to 2 pm 7 D/wk. I have had only good experiences over the past several years.

The diner is exactly what you expect from an old school style diner. Swivel stools, great conversation at the 1st come 1st serve bar and smiling staff. Portions are large. There are no gluten free options as a FYI. I got an egg white omelet with rye bread. Mine had peppers and Cajun sausage. My sausage was so good! It definitely carried the omelet because it was on the bland side. It came with probably the best home fries I've had in a while. Of course we tried the poutine. Unfortunately I was disappointed. The gravy, bland and for me, it didn't elevate the fries. I preferred the fries without the gravy. I would come back to sit at the bar and engage in conversation with the friendly consumers over a coffee and the home fries. There was a guy that even covered our meal. Such a good spot to warp back in time and unplug and meet people.

Saw the review about the cheeseburger omelette and decided I needed to come here..and then..stuffed French toast won out over an omelette (they have more "weird" options for omelette too). The French toast was !!! Husband went with a more traditional breakfast and was pleased as well. The orange juice was delicious. We hardly waited at all from ordering to delivery. Basic diner ambiance. We will need to come back though..the Hawaiian omelette is calling my name.

Awesome Cajun omelet and great, friendly service! I'll be back for more and highly recommend.

Best poutine ever! Nice cozy diner feel with delicious breakfast options. The service was great even though it was so busy!

Great food Excellent service Wonderful for kids Canadian twist in menu We go weekly and the grandkids favorite for breakfast

We've driven past this place for years. Always busy when we go by. Decided to try on a Saturday morning. At 8 am. Many tables already taken. Waitress was quick with seating and bringing us coffee. At 8am there was only 1 person doing waiting. But she was good! Food came out fast. It was very good. What ever seasoning they use in their home fries was great. They also have a nice fountain area for people who are just 1-2 per party. Place was very clean and nicely decorated. Will go again!

Had another great weekend poutine fix at Chez Ben Diner. Straying from the classic original poutine, my partner and I tried the Polska (basically the normal poutine + kielbasa) and the Chili Hot Dog Poutine (no gravy, just chili, cheese curds and hot dogs). We were seated and served pretty promptly given it was a busy Saturday morning. Poutine was just as good as on the first visit with fresh still-crispy fries and generous toppings.

Fantastic food and attentive service! Be sure to put your name on the waitlist to secure a spot. The menu is extensive, with a diverse range of options that cater to all taste preferences, from hearty comfort food to lighter, healthier choices. The bottomless coffee is a delightful perk, making it a perfect spot for a leisurely breakfast or brunch. Highly recommend for a satisfying and enjoyable dining experience!

The fam and I came here for breakfast before heading into Hartford. Specifically because I wanted the poutine. They have about 10 or 12 different styles, all of which looked good. The large was plenty large enough, gravy and cheese curd were excellent. My only complaint is my own fault, should've gone with regular poutine.

Have lived in town over 3 decades, driving by Chez Ben many many time & never stopping there. What a mistake! Wonderful breakfast, decent prices, extremely nice servers. Place was not at all what I expected. Clean, comfortable & larger than I thought it would be. I am definitely going back for breakfast ( and maybe lunch) - but no poutine for me ( their specialty).

This place use to be my old stomping ground way back in the day. They offer breakfast fare and poutine, and both are served up plentiful and tasty. I've tried poutine in many places and many styles. This is the closest anyone had ever gotten to true Canadian heart attack tastiness. The fries are bagged but they are crisp, gravys thick enough to coat the fry but liquid enough to not pool, and there's plenty of squeaky cheese curds melting slightly from the heat of the fries. This is the best place to get an authentic canadian poutine from. It's not healthy food, it's just bad enough to be great.

What a great little,place. Good home cooking, awesome service, and the portions are great. When I am back there, we will have to put it on the stopping list.

Haven't been here for nearly 30 years. It's certainly more spruced-up now than I remember back when. Had the poutine-scrambled egg breakfast; it was quite substantial & nicely different than the usual breakfast offerings--though a tad too salty. Definitely worth another visit.

Up early Saturday morning doing errands and needed breakfast. We have driven by this place so many times, we figured we would try it. Pulled in the parking lot and it looked like a mechanic's shop. We parked and went inside, there was 2 couples waiting to be seated and walked up to counter and signed in. We waited for about 10 minutes all the watching the staff work and the customers, all kinds of interesting people. We were told a table opened up and were told to go ahead be seated. Waitress brought menus (lots of breakfast options) and took our order. 2 walnut pancakes and a large breakfast poutine. The pancakes were larger than expected, a little thinner than homemade but they were awesome, the wife liked that the little containers of butter sat on the pancakes thus the butter softened and easy to spread, the syrup was in a bottle on the table and could be accessed if a little more syrup was needed. The poutine was a hit, it was huge, definitely a 2 meal or meal to be shared with fellow table members. Scrambled eggs, cut up sausage links covered with home fries like potatoes, cheese curd and brown gravy all it needed was a little salt and pepper and it was better than expected for someone that never had cheese curds. The price was not bad for breakfast, it was a meal and entertainment for earlier Saturday morning, we will come again to try out lunch.

Awesome breakfasts! Coconut French Toast is just to-die-for delicious. Their Hash is tasty and crunchy. Best coffee in the area. Waitresses work HARD and deliver great service. This is a MUST PLACE TO EAT.

Classic breakfast & lunch spot that is unique in that their specialty is a bunch of different kinds of poutine! I tried their steak poutine and although all of the ingredients were very basic (fries, gravy, cheese curds, & shaved steak), they came together to create a delicious entree The poutines come in either small or large sizes, but I was totally stuffed after eating my small serving. Unfortunately they only make the large size to go I also got a coffee and it was very solid as well Although my meal was very tasty it did take a little while for it to be prepared, which makes me a little wary about coming again since I was one of the only people in the restaurant when I came during an off-peak time. I am a little concerned about what they wait would be if I had come during a more busy time Pay up at the counter 8.5

Wait was way less than expected considering the line. Waitstaff was pleasant. The breakfast was amazing. Yes, I only had bacon and eggs- but it was the best I have had in a long time! Can't wait to go back!!!

Basic diner on the outside, incredible food and great service on the inside. I've only had breakfast here and it's always been perfect. The Coconut French Toast was amazing and the eggs and bacon are always perfectly cooked. The place is always quite busy on the weekends so I always go late morning. I'd eat here everyday if my cholesterol levels would permit it.

First time there. Ordered a take out club. sandwich. Food & service great. People friendly as well. Will definitely go back again.

This is one spot I try to visit each and every Sunday morning. The service is outstanding and the staff is always friendly and welcoming. The breakfast foods are always prepared as ordered and cover the gamut of US and Canadian favorites. You can't go wrong going here for breakfast.

Love the food service everything is so good, perfect potion, ambiance a down home feel.

I haven't seen many Canadian restaurants near me, and Chez Ben did not disappoint. I had the poutine there my first time and now I help but order it every time I go. People I've gone with had very positive experiences of the other food they make, but I am in love with their poutine. :)

Came here for the first time yesterday with my husband and kiddo for mother's day lunch (it's what I wanted). I had long heard about how great the poutine was and I am thrilled to report that everything I had heard is true. I could talk about the decor (nothing special), or the service (understandably slow on a packed Sunday mother's day morning) but I won't dwell because the poutine is the TRUTH. I got the Philly version, with lots of shaved steak, onions, and mushrooms, alongside the cheese curds and gravy. It was one of the best things I've eaten in Connecticut. Hands down. You do not need the large poutine...you might think that...my husband did...he made a mistake. The small is perfect size for one adult hungry person. He got the Quebequoise and was very satisfied. My daughter got mickey mouse pancakes that were delicious, but that doesn't matter. You need the poutine. Get the poutine. Love the poutine. Live the poutine.

Was visiting UConn with my son and decided to eat here based on other reviews. Classic diner feel with attentive but busy waitstaff. We each got an omelet and had to share the breakfast poutine- how can you not try a breakfast poutine? Everything was served hot and was really delicious. There was about a 20 minute wait for a table and the food did take a little longer to come out, but was to be expected for a Saturday morning. Definitely recommend and would go back if we were in the area again.

Truth or Dare? Let's go with both-We dare you to head over to Chez Ben and truth be told-the food is full of comfort, fun and most importantly flavor! So of course we had to order the Poutine: the fries were crispy, the gravy was rich and savory and the cheese curds had all the pull we needed!! Next up-breakfast favorites!! We order the Benhomme Ben-a sexy little snowman with bacon arms and sausage appendages (winky eye emoji). Adorable!! And tasty!!! Ben was quickly followed by scrambled eggs with kielbasa and fried eggs with corned beef hash and a side of over easy eggs. And any egg that comes to us with liquid gold-wins in our tummies! The French toast was cooked to perfection as well!! And they gave us all the world's syrup for it! The staff made sure our coffee cups were full and we felt that they gave us all the care and attention we needed. One of the guys from the kitchen had a hilarious shirt and he gave us a photo op!! (Heart emoji) We've gotten some other plate recommendations so we can't wait to try more!! #hiddenjenn (gem

I first fell in love with Poutine when visiting Montreal many years ago and have since been on the hunt for a good authentic poutine place. This diner is the one of the closest to authentic you can get in the states. The inside is what you'd expect from a diner- very lively. They offer all day breakfast which is a popular option on weekends. I went for the poutine though and was pleasantly surprised. The fries are the perfect balance of crispy and soft, the cheese curds melt in your mouth, and the gravy transported me back to Montreal. The staff are extremely nice and the portion sizes are great. They have numerous specialty poutines as well, but my personal favorite is the classic- you can never go wrong with classic! This place gets pretty busy on weekends so be prepared to wait but the wait is worth it.

Cute little place to have breakfast. Enjoyed our omelettes. The grilled blueberry muffin was delicious!

I love this place on the weekend, HOWEVER this is the second time I have come during the week (Wednesday& Friday) I sent my Omelette back because the egg was still runny (Yuk) then it came back burnt.... I definitely wouldn't come back during the week. The waitress who is normally sweet as pie was overwhelmed and short mannered. Maybe they should have more than 1 waitress during the week.

The food is good but I have a hard time getting past the lack of cleanliness, the place needs a deep clean, booths are filthy, I didn't want to touch the menu ...

Still one of our favorite breakfast spots! Can't get past the breakfast poutine it's so comforting and tasty.

Parking: Nice little lot for the size of the location Staff: Very friendly and outgoing to ensure you are taken care of. Decor: What you would expect from a diner Food: fantastic, highly suggest the coconut french toast, very light and fluffy. Overall: will 100% be going back there on the regular.

Not from the area, so found this gem directly from Yelp reviews. Breakfast poutine was delicious, service was excellent and atmosphere was cozy/inviting. If I lived closer I would definitely return.

Chez isn't hidden per se, but it's still a gem. This restaurant is across from Cheney, next to a tint business. Driving by, it's pushed back a little bit & in your peripheral, it looks like another industrial type business, in my opinion, so I never paid much attention. I finally tried them for takeout after years of unknowingly driving by them on a regular basis & seeing them in my search results for breakfast places in Manchester. I could never make it over there before they closed. Mostly because I like sleeping in on the weekends. My first time, I arrived around 10a on a weekend & it was packed, with people still arriving. Luckily I called ahead, so the wait in my car wasn't too long. Upon walking in, they provide sanitizer, a plus, & a row of chairs against the wall, leading to the hostess/takeout counter, if you need to sit while you wait. As I waited on line, to pick up my order I glanced around. The dining areas are to the left. Main one right in front & a smaller area towards the back/side of the building. The restaurant was buzzing with movement & people enjoying their meals. The kitchen is behind the counter & I could hear the cooks communicating the orders. The waitresses were scurrying around delivering food, checking on tables, & pouring drinks. I was so relieved to see they used Florida's Natural orange juice & not some questionable juice poured into a plastic pitcher. They have the good stuff. Now, since I'm writing this review days after this visit, I can't remember exactly everything I ordered so forgive me. However, I did get a classic breakfast rather than the poutine. What can I say, I'm a creature of habit in the morning. What I can say is that I do not remember any errors that were made & I prefer my eggs over medium. This place got it right, which apparently is difficult to do for most. The second time I had take out, I arrived around 12:30p on Sunday & it was less packed. This time I waited inside & sat on one of the four chairs. This wasn't pleasant because a group came in & they had no choice but to stand right in front of me. Their wait was about 5mins. I survived. My take out consisted of 2 french toast stuffed with cream cheese & strawberries, hash browns & bacon. When I opened the container, the french toast was 2 slices Texas bread on top of each other with filling in the middle. I don't know if this was right. I'm wondering if I was supposed to get a total of 4...Anyway, moving on, the strawberries were actually on the side in a separate container. Probably so the french toast doest get too saugy. They are also from a jar. I don't mind this, they were delicious, juicy & syrupy. The amount of cream cheese filling for me was perfect. The healthy chuncks of hash browns were done nicely as well. Some were crispy some weren't. I think anyone would be pleased. No salt or pepper, but easily remedied. The thin curly bacon was crispy but not browned. I inhaled it all. There aren't too many breakfast places in Manchester & even less that are homestyle. I'm happy I was finally able to give Chez a shot & I wasn't disappointed. I do wish they'd stay open just a little longer though. Hopefully, I can get back their & force myself to order the poutine.

Very good breakfast! I had the Philly Cheese steak omelet. It had a lot of thinly shaved steak, melted American cheese, mushrooms, and onions. Served on the side were home fries & whole wheat toast. The omelet could have used one more slice of cheese, but I like a lot of cheese. My husband had scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast. The decaf coffee was very good. Service was slow, because they were very busy, so I won't complain. This was our first time eating at this restaurant. We'll be back. Next time, I'll have to try the poutine!

Tried Chez Ben today for lunch. My wife and have been saying we need to try them for poutine for a while now and we were not disappointed. My rating is entirely based on the poutine. My wife is French Canadian and her family is mostly in Quebec so we are no strangers to authentic Québécois poutines. I can tell you this is as close as you can get to a Québécois poutine in the US. The cheese and gravy were very much on point. We will definitely be back again and my wife is looking forward to trying a few other items on the Canadian fare menu to see if they hit home from her childhood spending summers in Quebec. We both had sandwiches, grilled pastrami and onions on rye for me and grilled turkey and cheddar for her and they were both average, but again our main goal was a poutine and that was a home run!

6.12.22 What a great place. Our 1st time and we loved it because as soon as we walked in we were greeted and seated. Our coffee and breakfast came out fast and hot. The waitress did check back a couple times to see of we needed anything. We stuck to traditional food but they do have poutine on the menu etc. The stuffed French toast was yummy as were the other items.

This was our second visit, so I knew what to expect (and wasn't disappointed!). It was a busy Saturday morning, but we were seated quickly and received timely service from the staff. Our party had a couple of breakfast poutines - very good (with so many poutine options, there's something for everyone). We also had a breakfast sandwich with creton (our server helpfully explained that Quebecois breakfast meat). Our meals came out quickly; coffee was good, hot and always topped off.

It was the service that prompted me to write a good review today. Chez Ben was almost full and yet we recieved our breakfast hot off the grill faster than I expected. Very good coffee, pancakes and bacon. Eggs and potatoes were fine. The couple of baked goods we tried were excellent. The frosting on the cinnamon roll was perfect. Delicious blueberry muffin, maybe a few too many berries inside.

I may have mentioned in other reviews but when we're looking for something new to try while out on an adventure I always Google 'poutine near me' because even if we don't find poutine the suggestions are always great places. In this case, I found the poutine mother load! Chez Ben has a mix of Canadian (Quebec) and US foods, heavy on breakfast and diner themes but with a ton of poutine options. A whole page is dedicated to the very unique poutines you can purchase. They also have French Canadian items like meat pies. When we went, the diner was super busy. Once we got a booth, we ended up with a really nice waitress who appeared to be working the entire area and graciously put up with being yelled at by some jerks for who knows what reason. We heard and felt bad for her. Really rude people. Food did take quite awhile to come but again it was incredibly busy when we went around lunch on Saturday. We went with the breakfast poutine for me. I got a large and it was huge. Eggs, ham and home fries with curds and the proper brown gravy. So good! I couldn't finish even half of it. It also came with very delicious and buttered perfectly rye bread. My dining partner was thrilled to see liver and onions. He forgot about his poutine craving and went that way (although he had to finish my breakfast poutine so I think he got the best of both worlds). It looked good but liver and onions really isn't my thing so I didn't try it. One of the sides was beets which was pretty unique. Price-wise it was a steal. We ended up paying in cash because it was just so busy that we didn't want to wait and there was a line at the counter for people paying with cards. Not a bad location and plenty of parking even though full so I'd recommend stopping in if you're craving poutine!

Had to get the poutine! With philly cheese steak on top. I got a small which was huge! My husband got a tuna club. Next time, I'll have to try the meat pie.

Excellent breakfast. Pancakes were the fluffiest I've ever had. Eggs were delicious and the corned beef hash was perfect.

Great breakfast selection. They are always courteous when you go in. Depending on what time of the morning you get there, there might be a short wait, but nothing too long.

OK, the only reason I go to this restaurant is for the poutine. It is the one unique dish that no other restaurant in this area serves. I have been to Canada and tried poutine from different areas. Chez Ben has the best poutine I've had over any other restaurant.

We wish we knew about this place sooner. The food was delicious! I cannot recommend the fried Canadian cheese enough. While our food overall did take a some time to get to our table from the time we ordered, it was still warm & so tasty. What we loved most was how their staff was happy even given that they were short staffed. The waitress we had was actually called to see if she could cover, she was happy to do so but had to bring her daughter, the team had no issues with that & her daughter even helped her mom with bringing us our menus! It seemed like such a wonderful work family that truly supported each other.

The food was good but the poor girl had the entire place to herself to take care of. I think a waitress didn't show but having only one waitress have to do the entire diner was a bit much in my opinion. We had to wait awhile to sit awhile to eat and I get that with the circumstances I just hope they get help so it doesn't burn that waitress out

Had to wait 40 minutes to be seated. Then, 10 minutes to get the menu, 25 more to get the order in, and then 40 more minutes for the food of party of 3. The place is old and the menus super dirty, the waitress are rude and are very good at ignoring people and the line of customers waiting. Prices are good, but of course the food is nothing of great. Nothing great here, just like any other diner. **

Closed for vacation but they didn't update the hours on Yelp also on Google map. Ridiculous