Office Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Hooper

After a few people recommended it, we made the drive from Fremont. The inside is very interesting...lots of chotskies and interesting wall signage. We arrived on a Sunday around 6p and it was not busy. The staff was rude, right off the bat. I don't want to assume our poor treatment was due to our lack of resemblance or that we looked like "city folk", because I'm a small town guy, albeit, possibly overdressed in my "fancy" jacket.

I am easy to please, especially when it comes to food....and service for that matter. I have never sent food back and did not at this place. I ordered the 8 oz filet because steak is what you eat in Nebraska, right? I wish I had taken a picture, but in no way was it a filet. It was delicious, probably because it was smothered in garlic butter. I ordered the add-on shrimp skewer (probably a bad idea in a landlocked state), but it didn't matter because it didn't show.

What bothered me the most was not that the waitress failed to deliver what I ordered or that the staff ignored us for several minutes when we arrived, despite the lack of patronage. It was when she scoffed at my wife because she wasn't ready to order and treated her and my sister like they didn't "belong 'round here". Anyway, if you're not from Hooper, avoid this place. They don't take kindly to strangers, no matter how friendly you are, no matter how polite, which we all were, especially after we felt the disdain immediately upon entering.

For the record, I tipped...

In our search for places to eat, we came across reviews for the Office Bar & Grill. We were feeling adventurous, so we got in the car and went to Hooper!

I had the 12 oz ribeye (made classic) with baked potato, while the wife had the two-piece broasted chicken.

I am particular about how I like my steak, that is, medium well. On one hand I can count the number of places that have gotten it right in the last five years. Office Bar & Grill got it right. The steak was was most flavorful, with my knife cutting through it easily. The baked potato was cooked to perfection and had a good flavor. Wife doesn't like sour cream, so I got a bonus!

Wife liked the broasted chicken, with the baked potato being nommy. Near the end of the meal, she hit a low point. The potato had a rotten spot in it. While I am but an amateur cook, even I know how to clean potatoes for cooking, including removing the bad spots. That marred an otherwise excellent meal.

Stacie, our waitress, was abrupt at first, but seemed to become more friendly as our visit continued. Since this was our first visit, we had questions about some dishes. Upon asking about if the crab meat was canned for the crab cakes, she just stared at us as if what little answer she gave was acceptable. The wife spent considerable time in Maryland, so she abhors canned crab meat.

Overall, the food was great, with the service needing some improvement. Not sure if we will be back, but that steak was...

Tonight was the first night I’ve been to the Office to dine since before Covid hit, and was less than impressed by my dining experience. The food- hands down was amazing. Our tables’ drinks were left unfilled, and we had to ask other waitstaff to take care of us, he kept trying to usher us out the door, when we hadn’t even finished our food, and then proceeded to stare me down for a good solid 10 minutes when he prematurely brought the check to the table- all while tapping his fingers on the counter. It was disrespectful, unprofessional, and unprecedented. When we finally did finish our drinks and food, he rushed over to the table and stood there telling me to put my tip in the tablet and hovered over me, waiting to see how much I put in. I asked him to politely not stand above me as I’m finishing my transaction, and he Literally huffed at me and stomped away and came back two minutes later and asked if I was done leaving him his tip yet.

Not sure what is wrong with today’s younger generations, but someone needs to teach this young man customer service etiquette.

I’ll be rethinking a visit back to this establishment in the future due to how unpleasantly the experience this...