The Bench

This place was «Ok». We were seated close to the door and it was very cold. The food took forever to get to us, and the menu wasn’t very diverse. The last straw was when we were waiting for dessert. We waited 30 minutes just to get one. Definitely will not be coming back.

My review is for their Weekend Breakfast
I stayed at the Gaithersburg Marriott hotel recently and decided to check out their breakfast. I knew The Bench was located in the hotel and it was great to know that their breakfast was available as early as 7am to as late as noon (this was on a weekend). You have two options to choose from — either do their buffet for $ 18.95 or order from their menu. I decided to check out their choices first and based on what I saw, I chose the buffet.
One of the friendly servers showed me to my seat and asked if I wanted something to drink — I ordered orange juice not knowing if it was part of the buffet (I found out later that it was as I was not charged extra for it).
From what I remember, the buffet choices included pancakes, eggs benedict, sausages, pastries, croissants, muffins, scrambled eggs, bigger sausages, bacon, potatoes (cut in quarters), french toast, waffles, cereal, yogurt, juice and fruit (melon, cantaloupe, strawberry, pineapple, banana, orange and apple). There was other stuff I am sure, but I am writing this from memory, plus I made 2.5 trips in selecting what I wanted.
I liked that whenever I was finished with a plate (at my table), the staff did not pick up my plate unless I was there (I guess it was their way to make sure you were finished with your plate). I shall do the buffet again, but just eat more stuff — try to get my money’s worth… at least. Plus, the staff was friendly and very helpful.

my coworkers and i had drinks here after a long hard day. we chose to sit outside at night and it was really nice, but it was hard to get some service. they had a decent amount of drink options. my coworker ordered one of the starters (i can’t remember which) but didn’t like it– she said it was a little bland. plenty of outside seating and you get a nice view with the water nearby.

So the food is alright and the server was GREAT. But the service/​kitchen is SLOW. We have been here for about 2 hrs now. We asked for our desert with our check about 15 mins ago (after we were done for 20
Mins already) and we are still waiting. the food took so long to come out that my bf actually ran across the street to ran an errand and we were still waiting even after he returned. Its clean and a nice ambiance. Food is decent (nothing to be blown away with but decent). Would have been a great experience if we werent here for so long. And we are still sitting outside so its getting very cold at this point. I hope they hire more ppl. There seems to be a bottleneck even without a crowd. Guess they are not efficient?

Really enjoyed the food! Kale chips were delicious and loved that the head chef came out and explained how to prepare them at home! Chicken was also beautifully cooked and wine and service was attentive and friendly for a Saturday night before Christmas. Our only complaint is that the restaurant is so open, you feel like your dining in the hotel reception area especially because there was a big Christmas party and half the restaurant was roped off for private use. However, we are looking forward to visiting in the summer as it looks like the terrace looks great!

My family has been coming to The Bench on special occasions for the past few years. Long story short my grandparents have mobility issues, and we have been coning here because of the convenience and reputation of Marriott hotels.
Unfortunately our experiences have gotten progressively worse with each subsequent visit.
It feels like we are approaching an event horizon each time we dine here, as time seems to stop. It’s like pulling teeth getting service here. The accuracy of food orders has been poor, dish-​to-​dish consistency is spotty at best.
Our worst experience to date was on Thanksgiving this year. Many people in our party ordered from the three-​course prix fixe menu. Some wanted other options. Knowing how hit-​or-​miss the food and service can be, I went with the safest route and ordered a turkey club sandwich, anticipating that their attempt at a thanksgiving dinner would be mediocre at best.
It took forever to get drinks, to start off. Next, some salads came out with appetizers and they sent one entrée out with this course. The diner was perplexed as to why his meal was coming out along with salad and appetizer… The server said she would «hold on to it, if you’d like.» This wasn’t even foreshadowing but acknowledgement of what was to come later. There seemed to be a basic confusion of when plates should be coming out as it seemed like they were ready to bring the entire order out all at once…
So half an hour passed, and the soups had been served in the meantime. The entrées began to come out. The panini sandwich that we saw with the salads returned, dried out, pathetic and at room temperature (on a searing hot plate that was handed to the diner). They did take it back and remake it.
Many diners reported cold turkey on their plates. The salt and pepper shakers were piss-​poor and barely worked. Food was delivered at irregular times so some got to eat while others waited, no one wanting to wait for their food to chill until the next plates randomly showed up. Our complaints to the manager were not met with regret or sincere apologies. We were given excuses about a short staffed kitchen but no one in our party felt assured that things would improve. We got the impression that all they could say was «we’re sorry, this is the best we can do.»
At this point the meal was dragging on for several hours, which was problematic as we had a handicapped accessible cab coming to pick up our grandmother.
They rushed dessert out and eventually we discussed the matters with the head manager, who offered a substantial discount. It was the least they could do, and that’s all they did.
While it was a struggle for the kitchen to produce our orders, the food was OK. Not great, not terrible but not worth the menu price. My club sandwich was good, but it’s pretty pathetic when that’s all you can expect from a restaurant at a Marriott. From seating to check closing, our meal took almost four hours. The only reason I bumped this review up to two stars was because the food was decent and we were given a discount.
I highly doubt we will ever return.

06/​09/​2014
The first time I came here:
It was quiet. The service, food, and beverage were good.
06/​23/​2014
The second time I came here:
It was slightly busier than the last time I came here. The service was slower than usual. The alcoholic beverage was stronger than last time. I loved the taste of Woo Woo though. The food was not as good as the last time. I ordered Mini Sliders and the meat was not medium but well done. It wasn’t juicy like the first time I had it. My friend ordered sea salt chips with onion dip which was delicious but slightly overpriced.
08/​19/​2014
The third time I came here: I ordered soup-​sandwich combo. The tomato soup had a spicy and the grilled cheese sandwich was made with sour dough bread and cabra la
macha cheese and stuffed with fire roasted red peppers and fresh basil, which gave it an interesting flavor. I wouldn’t recommend this item on the menu.

During my stay at the Gaithersburg Marriott I visited The Bench twice.
On my first visit, I had to hunt for a server. At 8pm on a Saturday, there was a party of 10 inside and two tables of 2 outside. The kitchen was out of the appetizer and entrée I tried to order. I was served by the bartender. She forgot to bring me parts of my order and never refilled my drink. My turkey club was pretty good but the french fries were from frozen and had no seasoning. My soup had raw vegetables. Not al dente, raw. The bartender was very friendly and very nice but, the service was terrible.
Sunday morning I went down for the complimentary breakfast for Marriott members. I spent a few minutes trying to get a server and finally gave up. I helped myself to the buffet. The food was standard steam-​table breakfast fare except for the pancakes which were hard and crunchy. (yarg) The only way to get drinks was through the servers. No server ever approached me. I tried to signal them a few times, gave up, ate my breakfast and walked out.
I recommend walking outside the Marriott to one of the many restaurants along the lake. The Bench isn’t worth it.

A great addition to the Marriott! I cannot say anything about the food as I only enjoyed night caps here. I like the bar area and restaurant, but I love the outdoor patio seating especially on a warm night!
A few of the booths had there own tv so we had an awesome spot to watch the World Cup highlights! The patio also has TV’s which was nice as we were able to catch the end of the college World Series (some of my co workers love to watch it?).
The service was very good and with a smile. The drinks were excellent too! It’s always a plus to have a nice hotel bar!

My wife and i made a last minute call to go there for dinner after seeing ok reviews on open table. I’m not sure where they came from since our experience seemed really sub-​par. From the start they didn’t have our reservation listed even though i had my open table reservation confirmation. We had to choose from 2 different seat, one of which didn’t accommodate a high chair for our daughter at all. having to sit at a 2 top table with a high chair on the side made the space very tight and it didn’t work well at all. That’s just the start and here are another list of items that didn’t go well either.
1. Food Service was really slow.
2. Server was unexperienced and needed more training.
3. Table wasn’t cleared before serving the next round.
4. Chips that were served were stale.
5. Asked for fresh chips and never got them.
6. Had to grab a straw from the bar myself since service was slow and inexperienced.
Ugh it was just a rough night and we didn’t have a good time at all. I would skip this restaurant if i were you.

Woke up on a Sunday morning really wanting something along the lines of IHOP where I could get a decent waffle and some eggs with cheese, but then noticed I’d had an advertisement for The Bench and decided to try there instead for their breakfast buffet.
The atmosphere was very nice, kind of like a cross between being in a restaurant and a hotel lobby. There were probably about 8 to 10 TVs on the wall which made me think the place would be really nice to go to during major sports events. Ironically, I went the morning of the Super Bowl.
I arrived at about 11 AM and there were a few families speckled throughout, which was good for me because it allowed me to sit in a quiet section by myself.
As soon as I walked in, the restaurant manger, Janice, greeted me warmly and showed me the food on the buffet: eggs, hash browns, bacon, yogurt, pastries, oatmeal, fruit, sausage, French toast, and other standards you’d expect at a hotel buffet. When she told me that the cost was $ 18.99, I was about to change my mind and head over to Target to grab some stuff to make my own eggs and waffles, but then Janice informed me that the cost included a waffle and an omelet, so I stayed. Then Janice walked me arm-​in-​arm to my table to get me settled in, and that blew my mind.
The food was good, but it’s really the ambiance and the level of customer service offered that makes me rate it as 5 stars. Without me asking, they provided fresh strawberries and whipped cream for my waffle, which is exactly what I wanted. I’ll try to upload a picture if I can, yes, I’m one of those people who will take pictures of their food just for this sort of thing.
As I prepared to leave, the waitress offered me a coffee to go, which saved me $ 5 from having to go to Starbucks, and is the first time I’ve EVER been offered that service. I said goodbye to Janice, commended her and the staff on doing a great job, and promised I’d be back for happy hour soon. Can’t wait for the weather to warm up so that I can do lunch or dinner and sit in the outdoor seating area. Should be a blast.

The view from the patio is probably one of the best in the Washingtonian Center. The food was pretty good, but portioned pretty small like any other in-​hotel restaurant. The reason it was not a higher rating because the food was decent, but not memorable, and that the waitress took way too long to come back in between things. After finishing our meal, we waited maybe another 45 mins outside before she came to collect the plates and so we could order dessert. But I only expect that because of the fact that it is a hotel restaurant and not an actual restaurant. But again, the view/​décor/​atmosphere is amazing. Great place to have drinks and hang out with friends whether your visiting or live in the area.