Carbondale, PA. Nov, 2024. Disappointed to report that, after serving the community for 60:years, Nikki's at the Ben-Mar is permanently closed, as of Nov. 8, 2024. We drove by it today (Nov 26), and it appeared closed. This was confirmed on their website and on Facebook, as well as multiple family members. read more

We were not happy with either of our 2 entrées and appetizers. Even the the bread basket was under par with 2 pieces of stale white bread. I've been curious about this place for quite some time and now we know. We won't be back. The waitress and bartender were dolls!! read more

Great food and service! Try it once you'll keep coming back!! Signature drinks cool casual atmosphere!! read more

We eat here time to time. Friendly staff. Love the old school nostalgic vibe. I like this place is quiet and comfortable. Food is always excellent. Definitely recommend if your near Carbondale. read more

Had a terrible mother's day meal there. Eggplant parm was overcooked and terribly hard. Seafood bisque was also off putting-just didn't taste right. Had an upset stomach by the time I returned home. read more

Italian restaurant so naturally ordered Italian food and sauce was very good! Service was also excellent although we were there on a non-weekend. Decor out of the 80's (insert your favorite Italian movie or tv show here!) but we loved it!!! read more

We've lived in Carbondale for almost 8 years now and Nikki's at the Ben Mar as one of our favorite restaurants! We even have my husband's 70th birthday party there. The food is delicious and the staff is always right there to help you. My favorite dish is Chicken a la Nikki. We've taken family and friends there and they all agree that Nikki's has delicious food. I hope this bumps them up to at least four stars! read more

Had dinner here the other night with my lady friend. We both had the same thing so I don't have a ton to report, as we both had the Chicken Caprese dinner. This dish is awesome and may be my favorite item on the menu. I have always been pleased with my food here, along with the service. That is why highly recommend it. The ambience is that of what you would want out of an Italian restaurant. Prices are reasonable, and service is friendly. read more

My wife and I met a friend there for dinner. It was our first time after being recommended by the Friend. The prices were very reasonable for the styling portion of the meals and they had gluten-free pasta for my wife. No issues at all. Good service good food but you do have to appreciate the "Vintage Decor". We are already planning our next trip. It is about a 40 minute drive for us but worth it. read more

Stopped for a late lunch and had a delicious salad. Great service and very friendly. The atmosphere was old school but in a great way.

Ok I'm going to be blatantly honest here. My husband and I just moved to the area from New York. Fellow New Yorkers heed my warning if you're visiting this area. This place is a sick joke of a restaurant. I ordered the Special Penne Alfredo, which claims to have prosciutto, spinach, mushrooms in an Alfredo sauce. First of all the chef who works here should be ashamed of himself. That Alfredo sauce was tasteless, disgusting and instantly made my stomach hurt. Secondly, whoever called that prosciutto has clearly NEVER had it before. It looked and tasted like store bought ham fried in a pan. Absolutely disgusting. The whole dish was tasteless and absolutely a disappointment. My husband got the bacon Swiss burger and also explained how it was dry, tasteless and the bun was a joke. Speaking of "bread," the bread we were given looked like it was taken out of a store bought loaf. New York restaurant owners are turning in their graves at the sight of this "homemade bread." DO NOT GO HERE. read more

This place is OK. Typical overpriced Italian food. We went there earlier night our waiter spent all of his time talking to someone else who works there. Instead of waiting on us. It was ridiculous. Another waitress had to take over for him. The food is mediocre certainly not good but it is in Carbondale Pennsylvania read more

I had moved out of town but always loved to come back and visit this place I usually get the fried cod in dill batter but they had taken it off the menu so we ordered the cod in beer batter much to our disappointment it was frozen fish. Canned vegetables and not so crisp fries. I'm going to miss the old Ben Mar. The service was good though read more

I have eaten there 4 times since the take over. The food was great, service is on point, priced right.. Great for lunch, and even better for dinner. read more

Food has gone downhill. The portion size has gotten smaller too. I got the turkey dinner and chicken parm dinner and neither was as big as I remember. And the bread used to be home made, but it seems like it's been replaced by store bought. It's always stale and tough. Don't think I'll be back. read more

Ok, I have eaten here three times. The first time we went on a Sunday afternoon, and the service was very good, and their garlic sauce for the wings was phenomenal! Truly impressive. The waitress told me that they sold the sauce; I wished I had botten some. The house creamy garlic was amazing. I was dipping the amazing homemade bread in it! Wow, very good! The dining room was dated and the place was dated, but salad dressing and apps were tremendous. The fried calamari was exceptional, especially when dipped in the garlic butter sauc from the wings! Entrees were good, but obviously not remarkable, since I don't even remember what they were. I don't know why, but it took us two months to eat there again, and it was take-out. The wings were dry with hardly any of the sumptuous garlic sauce and my steak sandwich had great flavor, but way too much bun for the amount of meat. and the burger, well, let's just say it was OK. We went again recently, about 3 weeks after the take-out. To be honest, we only went back because of an $11 Birthday coupon mailed to us, and hey, bad nights happen and take-out isn't easy. Let me say, I will never darken the door of this establishment again. For one, there was a birthday party with a lot of kids, at 8:00 on a weeknight. There was one waitress for the fairly decent sized dining room, apparently the other waitress only serviced the tables in the bar, all 3 of them. Most of the time I saw that waitress just standing around. Our order was TAKEN after about 15 minutes of waiting. I swear I was getting up to leave when she came to take it! Anyway, to the food... Garlic wings, here I come. Well, never again. Just greasy with no garlic. Fried Calamari, oh how I have missed you... And apparently anyone who eats there will, too! This time it was pre-breaded and packaged and just the little O's. They looked like BK onion rings. We had asked for the garlic sauce instead of the marinara it comes with. Well, it was nice of them to agree to the substitution. It just would have been nicer had the garlic butter sauce had actually had even a hint of garlic. Yep... Not good! So, for entrees I ordered one of their specialties, Chicken Marsala. Ok, I truly like Chicken Marsala in almost every place I have ever eaten it. I have always thought it almost un-screw-up-able. Well, Ben-Mar taught me at least one thing. You CAN screw it up! The wine sauce was sugary sweet. Too sweet, and it had another flavor that took me awhile to figure out... Maple. Maple Syrup. They had either used maple syrup, of the strips of bacon on top had been maple-cured, but with the sweetness I am pretty certain it was syrup. Not good. My companion ordered the chicken in garlic sauce (are you seeing a trend) over penne. First off, penne shouldn't dissolve on your plate when you stir your food unless the Chef decided to make it Holy and cook the , well you know... One would think if you ordered Chicken in garlic/ butter sauce that it would have, you know, um... garlic? Yeah, I would. So, what they really should have called the dish is boiled chicken in butter over past mush. It's a shame to see what was a very close restaurant seem to fall apart in less than 4 months. Between the odd decor, the prices, lack of proper service, and the tremendously bad food we have had 2 out of 3 times, I could never honestly recommend anyone waste their money there. We walked out, and I turned to my companion, and said, "We should have gone to McDonalds, it would have been cheaper and the food much better." There it is folks, I think that McDonald's is better than the Ben-Mar if that tells you anything! I really wish it wasn't so... there are very few choices for dinner dining near Carbondale... read more

Had the early bird special yesterday, portions were good, food was great. Bread was definitely homemade. Fried mozzarella was fresh not frozen. read more

First of all the place needs a cosmetic update-badly. Big menu. Definitely a local restaurant people knew waitress and hostess. Had a Honey crisp sangria. Very tasty. Husband had a Tutti-Frutti sangria very strong a lot of liquor. Had the pork chops very good, moist, meaty and tasty. Baked potato was warm. Husband had a Tuesday special all you can eat pasta. Meat sauce. Had two helpings. Second dish smaller than first. The sauce wasn't made by an Italian restaurant. The bread basket had three slices of bread which is supposed to be homemade but it was a little hard, maybe one or two days old. Peanut Butter pie, I would not recommend. At best the food was nothing to rave about. Would definitely drive by if up this way again. read more

This is my favorite place ! The food is delicious ,the waiters are very good and I love the homemade desserts !!! I would highly recommend!

My family recently gave me a surprise birthday party at Ben Mar Restaurant. There were 18 of us and the service was over the top. The orders were taken correctly and food was served hot and delicious. We were all able to enjoy our meals at the same time and didn't have to wait for the other half of the room to be served, which is usually what happens with large parties. The 2 waitresses were exceptional as was the food and drinks. I would definitely recommend it for a party or just a night out. Diane........Forest City, PA read more

This a great restaurant for the money. They have a lower priced menu that can not be beat. They feature Italian food, but have many great choices. The food is very good. The service does a nice job. Don't miss this one. read more

Great food. Great service. Great prices for the portions you get. Our families favorite spot for all celebrations. New menu is fantastic.

My wife was looking for a place for pre-marathon carbs and I suggested this as it's been many years since I dined at Little Nikki's and have never been inside the Ben Mar. It was a good call as the service was outstanding, food came out promptly and was delicious, atmosphere was relaxing and comfortable and pricing was very reasonable. There are a lot of tables that are nicely spaced apart in this older but well maintained restaurant. Seating is available in the bar area, adjacent dining room and there's an additional large dining area in the rear so customers are seated promptly and waited on by the large wait staff. We both opted for one of their four soups instead of a salad. She ordered chicken parmigiana and I ordered beef braciola, both with pasta. The portions were perfect, sauce was outstanding and we both enjoyed our dinners. She had rice pudding for dessert (it came with her meal) while I finished my Negroni! The bar was very well stocked and the drink menu lists many after dinner drinks to choose from. A really pleasant experience with friendly service from all of the staff - we were done in under one hour. Overall a very good value. We will return! read more

Just ordered take-out, Chicken parm with a side of Angel hair Alfredo. I will say the waitress was very nice and prompt, however, there was more breading than chicken and the chicken was TOUGH. The kicker to it all, at the bottom of my Angel Hair, was half-eaten piece of bread!!! I hope i'm done throwing up now. Live and learn i guess read more

Second time I order since the buy over, nice folks, brought me my food quick. it was delicious too. Chicken parm with mashed potatoes and garlic bread, hit the spot xD. omnomnom. Good Stuff. read more

Ate here for the first time last week. Was presently surprised when we entered. We had a coupon from NEPA (something) and the conditions and restrictions were very confusing, but they were quickly resolved by the owner. Our waiter was at our table quickly. Drinks were served and our order was taken. Salad and bread was served and the salad was adequate, the bread, not so much. It was home made, but it was several slices of white bread. Not what I would expect in an Italian restaurant. The main course arrived and it was very good. I had chicken parm, one of my all time favorites, my wife had chicken Marsala, which she loved. The only thing my wife said is she should have had the Marsala sauce on the pasta side dish instead of red sauce. The other couple had veal, one Marsala and had franchise. They said the veal was excellent and loved their meal. They also agreed, should have asked for the Marsala sauce on the side pasta dish. All in all a very pleasant experience, good food, good service. Will definitely return and enjoy another fine meal. read more

I took my Mother-in-law, wife and family there for Mothers Day. Our waitress was Melissa. She was awesome! Melissa was very friendly (as well as the rest of the staff) and prompt, first at taking our drink order and then telling us about the special menu for Mothers Day. The menu had about sixteen items on it, but had something for everyone. We received our drinks and gave Melissa our food order, which she served to us in a very reasonable amount of time considering that the restaurant was extremely busy. The chefs even went so far as to accommodate my son Bobby, who only eats meatballs, which we really appreciated. I ordered the chicken masala because of a poor review I read on this site earlier in the day. I couldn't disagree more, I thought it was delicious. The rest of my family also thought the food was very well prepared and very tasty. I do agree that the restaurant needs a little updating. However, as long as the food remains as good as it was on this day, I will definitely be returning. Great Job!!! read more