Customers know they can depend on “small but mighty” Benjamin’s on 10th
Matt Casey’s alarm goes off every weekday morning at 3:15.
Shortly after, he ventures through pre-dawn Wilmington and enters a small diner nestled on the ground floor of a downtown building that contains apartments and small businesses. With a few narrow booths and bar stools — all in cherry red vinyl — the place is faintly reminiscent of mini-skirts and The Twist.
The whole package is unpretentious, modest – an atmosphere Benjamin’s on 10th has managed to maintain for four decades, despite changing ownership.
Casey, the managing partner for the past 10 years, says it has always been one breakfast-lunch stop or another, and will continue to be as long as he’s in business. Prior to Benjamin’s, the establishment was called Tony’s Grill, and before that, in the ‘60s, The Little Drum.
“Friendly and consistent, we’re like old shoes here,” says Casey. “You can come here during Christmastime and it looks exactly the same.”
One of his first goals each day is to bake a few dozen cupcakes for the expected flow of customers, and most important, to be prepared for the moment the door opens at approximately 6:30 a.m. If he’s not ready, which is rare, he’s a little peeved, although it’s hard to imagine someone so jovial – big laugh, big smile – as anything but chipper.
The morning prep is one of Casey’s favorite things about Benjamin’s, which he has run with his brother Tucker since they purchased it in 2004.
The brothers got into the restaurant business in 2001, when they opened Casey’s River House in Elkton, Md. (They have since sold it). Matt Casey had the culinary know-how after graduating from Johnson and Wales University in Florida in 1995, and Tucker wanted to exercise his business skills.
Tucker, now a division manager for Wilmington Downtown Visions, describes Matt as the fuel for the fire at Benjamin’s, while he himself stays on the back burner (“Yeah,” agrees Matt. “He comes in to eat pretty much, and that’s the most of it.”). Tucker’s reasoning is simple: “Ben’s is too small for the both of us.”
The place seats 20 but feeds dozens more on-the-go, impressive for such a tiny eatery. Says Matt: “People always assume there’s more to the space than you see, like a storeroom or a prep area, but what you see is what we are.”
This has earned Ben’s the description “small but mighty” from Matt’s wife, Chris Palmer-Casey.
Matt calls his sidekick behind the counter, Daisy Harrison, “a character.” Harrison, who, despite being on her feet all day, has an interesting choice of footwear: six-inch heels. She’s been at Ben’s for as long as Matt, and he says that without her he’d have to hire at least four new employees.
“If I lost her, the place wouldn’t be the same. People come just to see her.”
The menu, however, is the main attraction. One of the top three customer favorites are $2 cupcakes, typically vanilla buttercream or chocolate, with the occasional red velvet thrown in. The other two top picks – the mainstay chicken cheesesteaks and beach fries – also keep people coming back.
The beach fries are served only on Wednesdays (“Why not every day? Then it’s not special,” says Matt), and the 50 pounds of potatoes he slices up on those mornings are often gone within 45 minutes of the lunchtime rush.
The menu also includes typical fare like burgers, sandwiches, bagels, and eggs in various styles.
“It [Ben’s] has a very specific purpose: get off the bus or park your car and get your breakfast,” says Matt. “We’re consistent. Your omelet today is going to be exactly the same tomorrow.”
The diner’s driving force of routine is perhaps something the clientele have subconsciously picked up on, because most customers return for breakfast or lunch, or both, day after day. “We’re part of their routine, part of people’s day. Our customer’s a daily customer,” says Matt.
Some people have been coming for 10 years; others have even been regulars since Ben’s was owned by the previous owner, Benjamin Veasey (the Benjamin). When it changed hands to the Caseys, those customers kept coming.
Some of the most loyal patrons have a favorite menu item named in their honor: Jim’s Wrap, Big Johnny, The Chrissy. But Matt estimates that up to 90 percent of his customers order the exact same meal every day, so it’s impossible to include them all on the menu.
“We see such a wide, vast array of people,” he says. “I’ll feed the head attorney of any number of law firms, then I’ll also serve the guy who’s looking for a job anywhere, for anything. Almost like a bus station.
“I like knowing they’re going to come back tomorrow because they had a good meal, and that at the end of the day, we did a good job. And if we weren’t here, people would wonder where we are. That’s a good feeling.”
Benjamin’s is open Monday-Friday until 2:30 p.m. It is located at 204 W. 10th St., Wilmington.