We were a group of three having a mid-afternoon meal that was either a late lunch or an early supper. We chose Bentley's, which is centrally located on the main street (Ontario Street), which is pretty busy in the summer, and we sat on the...patio, where you can experience the attractive downtown of Stratford and also do a lot of people-watching. Gluten-free alternatives were well identified. We found the food okay though not distinguished. The Thai noodles were a bit pasty in texture. The jambalaya, although it had chicken, shrimp, and sausage, and was fully satisfactory, was more like a modestly spicy but dryish stew served on rice than the real deal (even accounting for the fact that there's more than one way to make jambalaya). The portions were fairly sizeable, and the value for money was good. (We had eaten the evening before at Mercer's across the street, where the same amount of money bought us very modest portions.) Bentley's has a few well selected beers on tap, and a range of cocktails including some Bentley's inventions.
My main reason for writing this review is to recognize our server, whose name, as we gathered from the bill, was Adrianna. I see a 2017 review on Tripadvisor that also speaks highly of an Adrianna, so I gather she has been around for a while. She seemed to be in charge of all the tables on the entire patio, which was pretty busy, and she was incredibly efficient without giving the impression of being rushed or overwhelmed at all. Just as we arrived, a good table became available, and she claimed and cleaned it for us immediately, answered our questions about the menu helpfully, took our orders quickly and accurately (without needing to write anything down), brought our meals quickly (remembering who had ordered what), and finally, when asked, brought the bill quickly and then the credit card machine. From what I could see, she was equally efficient with all the other tables. She was friendly without being at all artificial or obsequious, and when one of our number decided to tell her a story, she seemed engaged and interested, although she must have had a number of tasks on her mind. She stands out in my experience as a really skilled and gifted server.More