Ben’s

Love this mom n pop place! Right around the corner from my work and man am I thankful. Can’t go wrong here, recommend the beef dishes, not heavy and oily, love Ben’s

Customer service is excellent! However the kung poa chicken didn’t taste that great (in my opinion). Prices aren’t that bad either, I’d try it again.
This place is CASH ONLY! Their Unilocal page neglected to provide that info

Ben’s is a staple for me in Oakland. Cheap, delicious and filling — a three word combo that we see less of month over month.
For a single chef there’s a wide variety to choose from. The Wednesday chicken special is a favorite. Do yourself a favor; swing by and grab some comfort Chinese.

The garlic fried chicken was amazing. It came with sauce, broccoli and rice, and each table has a container of black bean jalapeño chili. The broccoli was fresh, the sauce was tasty, and most importantly, the fried chicken was tender and moist and had just the right amount of light crunchy batter. Also, the serving was huge! It’s a testament to its tastiness that I wound up eating the entire thing in a single meal.
A small restaurant, but I’m super eager to try out some of their other dishes.

It’s a good place for a decent lunch. Chili is one of the reasons I come here.

I adore Ben’s. The owner’s are so friendly and the food is delicious. They serve hearty portions at very reasonable price. The food is very fresh and the vegetables are always prepared so that they’re deliciously crunchy, not soggy. I order the chicken curry quite often and I’m never disappointed. I love this little neighborhood spot! Note, Ben’s is only open for lunch and is a cash-​only establishment.

I have had Ben’s twice now and have loved the consistency. With most Chinese restaurants, salt seems to be the main ingredient, however Ben’s makes the food stand out. I have ordered both time the chicken in black ben sauce, and am always satisfied.
Thanks

The gist: Fresh, delicious chinese. I got the shrimp chow mein for lunch. It was 8 bucks, fresh, totally tasty. The best part is the tasty chili salsa stuff they give you. I’d totally buy that stuff. Don’t take cards, but they’ve got outdoor seats and are super close to Jack London for a nice waterfront spot to eat some take-​out in peace.

Be prepared to wait, even if you call ahead. But I think the kind of confusion and mayhem of this place gives it its personality, so I really don’t mind the wait. :) I’ve only ever eaten their shrimp fried rice and vegetable fried rice, and I pretty much just get one of these two dishes each time i go. Don’t want to mess with a good thing. I’ve heard their Wednesday Fried Chicken lunch special is the bomb.
Don’t forget to tip!

I have called two times today and the lady that answers the phone ask me if I speak Chinese. How can you be in business and not speak English on the phone. I am going by there and see if they speak english in the store.

Five plus stars for Ben’s. Super wonderful woman who knows exactly what I like when I order on the phone and always accommodating. Garlic chicken Wednesdays are my favorite. Love the black bean hot sauce too.
Keep in mind that this is a small operation and they can get very busy. These folks work their butt off to keep everyone happy.
I LOVE BENS!!!

Good. Good price. Nice portion. Good meaty pieces of chicken. May need to be saltier but I can live with that.

Unilocal doesn’t often steer me wrong but this place kinda sucks. It’s cheap, yes. But I have a couple dishes that I use to try out new places, things that should be fairly easy to get right. Things that rarely don’t taste at least decent. For Chinese, I do sweet and sour pork. I usually order it once and if it’s ok, I’ll go with other stuff on the menu next time. If u can’t do this right it’s hard for me to want to try other stuff. Their sweet and sour pork is cut up tough, fried pork chops in sauce. Arguably too much sauce but that’s not really the issue. It just didn’t taste good. On top of that, they messed up my order and I was alone. So I won’t be back. Oh well… I guess one extra star because it is really cheap and pretty good size.

I’ve been walking by this place for years on my way to/​fr work and it wasn’t until I saw a couple co workers in there that I decided to check it out. OMG, what a treat!
Last Thursday I tried the Curry Chicken Fried Rice not on the menu. It was a huge portion for $ 7. It lasted both Thursday and Friday lunch. I called in my order and it was ready upon arrival. Mind you it was 1130am when they first open. I headed everyone’s advise to go/​call early.
Today (Wednesday) I got the Garlic Fried Chicken Special for $ 5.75. WOW you get as much food as a loco moco platter in Hawaii for that price. Mrs Ben was chopping and I thought she had two orders of chicken there but then she dropped half of chicken in my box. Fresh veggies included with the rice. Such a great spot. I called in early and got there at 1130am… there was already 10 people in line waiting! Now I have enough food for lunch tomorrow and Friday.
I need to try the mongolian beef next week. It’s definitely a hole in the wall Chinese spot but wow you get so much food for your money and Ben and his wife are absolutely wonderful. Thank you for a new lunch option in the area!

It’s a hole in the wall and literally a mom and pop shop with four tables. but the food is fresh and cheap and there’s a constant stream of phone orders and people walking in. Go early.

Love this place! We order an off-​menu Curry Chicken Fried Rice nearly every time! The Shrimp with Scrambled Egg over Rice is fantastic; the sugar peas that are sauteed with the shrimp come out super crunchy and when you top everything off with their fresh pepper/​black bean salsa you can’t go wrong.
Mrs. Fung is a sweetheart and is appreciative when you call in your order in advance and eat there; she’ll have your order waiting for you at a reserved table by the time you arrive (~12−15 min). We usually end up walking out with some sort of fruit or vegetable that she has given us as a sign of her appreciation for us calling in the order.
I highly recommend this place, but again, be sure to call your order in advance or you should expect to wait.

Cheapest lunch spot in jack London square! It’s a mom and pop shop, with just a husband/​wife team managing the place. The husband cooks while the mrs does everything else.
–nothing fancy
–takes phone orders
–cash only
–wait for food can be very long during lunch
–big portions… aka bang for your buck!
–fresh veggies and lots of it

Tasty Chinese food in an unexpected place in Jack London Square. With only a husband and wife team working, the service is slow. But that is because they are swamped with people placing orders and take away orders. He cooks and she does all the rest, orders, food prep, cashier, and customer service.
I had the seafood chow mien. The seafood was imitation crab meat, fish balls, and shrimps. More the first two than the shrimp. When the dish came out, it was a lot of food. Good thing I asked for it be served in a take away box. I only ate ¾ of the meal and had to take the rest home.
Everyone raves about the Wednesday fried chicken, that I do want to try. But I would probably expect a long wait for that one, as everyone orders that.

Famous for the Wednesday Special Fried Chicken. No, not the kind Sergio Garcia is serving at his house (Get’em Tiger!) but Garlic Fried Chicken over rice. Discovered this place walking around, Unilocaling the area, Ben’s is a Chinese to-​go type eatery that basically caters to those working in the Waterfront Warehouse & Produce District. Obviously for the fact that they close at 2pm.
The menu has all the normal beloved American Chinese food that we love. Heavy gravy, savory, large portioned lunches for the working folks for a reasonable price averaging around $ 6 to $ 8. But I only tried two items:
Wednesday Special Garlic Fried Chicken: I thought this was a good sized portion, visually it’s good looking, but I found it to be a little too over battered. And just a little too bland and plain for my tastes. Didn’t make me think to myself, that I couldn’t wait till next Wednesday to have some more.
Mongolian Beef over rice: this was a nice amount of beef with heavy gravy. Really good dish. Heavy on onions but it seems like all restaurants do heavy onions in Mongolian beef these days. I’d order this over the chicken for sure.
The couple who owns Ben’s are friendly and because I called it in prior it was ready when we got there. A nice neighborhood spot for a quick lunch.

Ben’s gets review No. 250. I was thinking, I should write about something really special, because 250 is like some crazy auspicious number and it should be my take on something I find really amazing that knocked my socks off then I got hungry and thought of Ben’s and love washed over me.
Ben’s actually is that special.
Ben’s looks like the kind of place I’d head to straight after my weekly at the methadone clinic.
Appearances can be deceiving.
For some reason from time to time I forget Ben’s exists, all quietly tucked in the Produce Market without real signage hidden unless you’re looking for it. I get sucked into my other JL lunchtime favorites. Yesterday they were worn out and I was all «think, Pooh, think» and the dim bulb illuminated for a second and I remembered Ben’s.
Yesterday I had the chicken with black bean sauce and it took me an hour of causally nibbling at my desk to finish it. Oh mylanta (which I didn’t need) was it so good! In a sec I’m going back over for something porky. It makes me happy just thinking about it.
Michael says it best:
Ben the two of us need look no more
We both found what we were looking for
With a friend to call my own I’ll never be alone
And you my friend will see you’ve got a friend in me
(you’ve got a friend in me)
Ben you’re always running here and there
(here and there)
You feel you’re not wanted anywhere
(anywhere)
If you ever look behind and don’t like what you find
There’s something you should know you’ve got a place to go
(you’ve got a place to go)
I used to say «I and me»
Now it’s us now it’s we
(I used to say «I is me»)
(now it’s us now it’s we)
Ben most people would turn you away
(turn you away)
I don’t listen to a word they say
(a word they say)
They don’t see you as I do I wish they would try to
I’m sure they’d think again if they had a friend like Ben
Like Ben
Lunchtime!