Charleston's Restaurant — Restaurant in Nebraska

Personally, I liked Charleston's at its previous location about 138th and Dodge, just North of Boys Town. We went there often for casual and formal dining.

We tried the new location on 145th recently and were disappointed. Oh, the food and service were good, but it's hard to get in and out of the parking lot and actually to the restaurant. It's difficult to leave to find a light to cross 144th. The parking lot is very confusing leaving us to have to circle around and back several times to actually get to the restaurant and then to find an exit back to 144th.

We were also disappointed inside the restaurant. While the old location was always busy, it never seemed cramped. The new location looks similar inside, but feels cramped like it was reduced by 1,000 sq ft or so. That's just a guess. Even when we were seated in a booth, the booth seemed smaller and everything felt cramped all around.

The bar wasn't open, which was no problem for us. New location licensing issues in Omaha is likely the problem. The bar at the new location is in the back, I guess. I actually couldn't see it. While we don't use the bar, it was fun to see the bar upon entering at the old location. It gave it a fun atmosphere.

New developments always seem to have the most cramped and confusing roads and parking, almost as if they were an after thought. This business development still has a ways to go before completion, so it wasn't terribly crowded on the roads/parking lot, but I can't imagine the chaos once everything is in place. Plus, the restaurant's actual parking lot is not ideal.

The main parking in front is on a slant making it hard for some to get in and out of their cars, plus the slots are narrow as always these days. There is some parking around the side and across a median, but I wouldn't want to walk across the street there when it's busy or in the crowded lot. When went before sundown, so I don't know about the lighting at night, but I suspect it will be rather dim like at the old location.

I miss the old place and we probably won't go back to Charleston's again. That's sad because it was one place we felt was a bit upscale for a nice dinner out without being too pricey. The new location isn't that much further away, but the entrances, roads, parking lot, and interior cramped feeling is why it got 1 star for atmosphere.

Both architects and city planners have to stop crowding everything in a small place and then sticking in crowded and confusing roads and parking like at the mall at 180th and Dodge. I cringe every time we go there, which isn't often, thank goodness.

Omaha is starting to look like Denver with every spare space stuffed with something that doesn't fit, doesn't work well, and that looks terrible....

WITHOUT QUESTION, ONE OF THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN OMAHA!

Over the holidays, my family went to Charleston's in Omaha (144th & Dodge) because it's my grandson's (and the rest of the family's) favorite restaurant, and it didn't take long to find out why. The service was phenomenal--from a truly excellent waitress named Abby who was delightful, to quick delivery and warm smiles from a host of other servers attending to our every need, be it refilling water without being asked to speedy turnaround on drink and food requests.

And the food--honestly, some of the best I've ever had, not only in Omaha, but anywhere. It started with a scrumptious salad that included chopped egg, bacon, and a unique creamy garlic dressing you seldom find anywhere, to a light and airy croissant that accompanied it, so soft and hot that it literally melted in my mouth. My grandson ordered two kid orders of ribs because they are hands-down "the best" he's ever had, and my husband's baked chicken was to die for, as was my chicken piccata, definitely a cut above any other I've ever had.

So, when I ordered a second glass of wine halfway through my meal while nursing the last of my first glass--I just assumed it would be speedy too. After all, my husband--who ordered a cocktail at the same time as I ordered my 2nd wine--received his drink in record time. So, I put my utensils down because I preferred to wait for the 2nd glass of wine in order to finish my meal. Only it didn't come. So I flagged the waitress to remind her about the wine, and she nodded and sped off. Once again, I assumed she would bring it soon.

After waiting 12-15 minutes, I finally asked my husband to purchase me a wine from the bar, which he did, right as Abby delivered the late glass of wine. By this time, not only was my food cold, but I no longer had an appetite, marring what otherwise had been a truly wonderful dining experience.

But what happened next proved to me without a doubt just what a high-class restaurant The Charleston truly is. Abby could see I was upset, so she took it upon herself to bring the manager--a gracious woman named Maggie--to the table, who promptly offered to comp my meal. I told her that was unnecessary. Maggie promptly apologized for the drink delay, not only explaining the bar was so backlogged that Maggie herself was delivering drinks, but insisting on comping both my meal and my wine for the inconvenience.

Seldom have I seen such exceptional customer service anywhere--where the customer is king--and for that, The Charleston Restaurant--and it's truly amazing personnel as evidenced by both Abby and Maggie--will forever have my allegiance and highest of praise. I sincerely cannot...

Dined here 9-9-2018 for am early dinner around 4:30 PM and the place was nearly empty. Was seated promptly and Ethan our server took our drink and appetizer order. My drink arrived but my girlfriend's did not. After about 10 minutes our server came by to take our dinner order I which I stated that my girlfriend still hadn't received her cocktail and that we were in no hurry and wanted to enjoy our cocktails and appetizer. He went and retrieved her cocktail and again asked if he could take our dinner order (remember this place is not busy yet). I said we are still waiting for our appetizer which was Ceviche but broke down and game him our order which was a Vegetarian Burger for my partner and 14oz Prime Rib for myself. Again, I stated, please do not rush our order as we wanted to relax and enjoy our dining experience here. Soon after someone brought us Queso and Chips as our appetizer and I pointed out that it was not ours. Later our appetizer of Ceviche arrived with chips. Ceviche was basically Pico de Galo with a few shrimp cut up in it. Although it was not what I expected, it was very good. As we were starting our appetizer another server tried to deliver my dinner salad in which I stated we just started our appetizer! He stated "no problem, we will just put it in the refrigerator ". After we finished our app my chilled salad arrived which was very generously portioned which I shared with my date, it was also very good. Our dinner plates arrived and we both enjoyed our meals but our server never came by to see if we needed additional cocktails or if we needed anything else. My Prime Rib was cut very generously and was cooked to perfection and my partner said her Veggie Burger was delicious, so my compliments to the chef! Afterwards Ethan returned to our table and asked if we wanted dessert, i replied that i had heard all their desserts were made from scratch in house and he confirmed. We order the Carrot Cake to share. It arrived warm like it just got out of the oven which confirmed my question of being made in house. Only thing wrong is that it was so warm that the Cream Cheese Icing was melting and sliding off the cake. We ate about half of it and boxed the remaining to take home. Overall, we enjoyed the food at Charleston's but our young server I believe needs additional training. I am a seasoned chef with 40 years experience and we dine at many high end restaurants here and abroad the nation. Will we come here again? We will definitely give it...