Gather in Omaha for Food & Drink — Restaurant in Omaha

I really wanted to like this place. I've read so many great reviews from happy customers. We went with high expectations in the hopes of a memorable meal. Instead I spent $200 on a bad dream I wish I could forget. The front hosts were extremely pleasant and made a great representation which led us to believe we were in for an amazing dinner. The waitress was nice but ended up being extremely inattentive. We asked her for a minute to check out the menu and she didn't come back to check on us for about 15 minutes.

We ordered a charcuterie board appetizer to start. My daughter ordered the pork buns and a salad, My wife had the Wagyu steak, and I had the fish and pasta. less than 2 minutes after she walked away with our orders, the server came back with the charcuterie board and the pork buns, they must have had them pre-staged because the charcuterie board was stale. It can hardly be described as a charcuterie board, more like a condiment tray. Literally 3 slices of what the server described as "smoked sausage of some sort", a couple pieces of cheese, and I kid you not, mustard, coleslaw, cranberry marmalade, capers, hummus, fig jam, and some slices of almond and a couple slices of burnt ciabatta. so basically $20 dollars for three slices of salami and some condiments... It would have been much better if it tasted like it was fresh, and not like it had been sitting out for hours. At the same time they brought out my daughters pork buns, and an extra order of pork buns that we didn't order but paid for. Luckily they brought out the mistake or I wouldn't have had anything to eat. The pork buns were the only thing decent we were served, the bun was perfect and the pork belly was well cooked. about 15 minutes later we received our entrees, my Truffle Pasta with Grilled white fish, and my wife's wagyu steak. My fish was inedible. The fish itself actually had incredible flavor and would have been amazing if it hadn't been so over cooked as to be dry and tough to eat. The pasta was not good. The sauce itself had incredible truffle/mushroom flavor, however the "hand-made/house-made" pasta was awful. It was far past stale before it was cooked and came out rubbery and inedible. Imagine eating a slimy wet pencil eraser, that's the texture pasta we paid nearly $40 for. My wife's dinner was the most disappointing. The kitchen ruined what should have been a delicious cut of wagyu beef. It came out not as a steak as described, but as playing-card sized slices of over cooked, leathery, dry, bad tasting ... stuff.... One or two of the playing-card slices had some pink in it, but it was a far cry from the medium rare that my wife aske for. The duration of our meal, about an hour and 15 minutes, the waitress didn't visit our table once to check on us. Finally we flagged her down and asked her for the check. She said sure and didn't even ask how any of the food was. She came back with the check and some boxes wondering if we wanted them. We politely told her that we wouldn't need them because the food was not good and not edible. She apologized, dropped off the check and quickly left without saying anything else, no offer to assist, or bring the manager, or anything. It makes me wonder if it's not a common thing for their customers to leave the restaurant with plates full of uneaten food left on the table and complaints to the waitress. At that point we paid cash for the meal, leaving enough to cover and included an undeserved 15% tip in the paperback book that served as the guest check folder. We left in utter shock at how bad this experience was. It was literally the most we've ever spent on a meal, and quite possibly the worst meal we've ever had. Top it all off, we never received the salad my daughter ordered... Unreal... = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Update - Nothing but empty promises from the restaurant. No attempt to fix the issue, they just wanted to save face and look concerned, when in fact they already have my money so why should they care. Definitely won't go back. Dine...

Returned recently. Updated review with previous ones underneath

Za'atar roasted carrots 5 stars It's an elegant dish with everything combining harmoniously. Happens to be vegan. The price is a little high though for this dish.

Third time trying the truffle pasta and I still have the same thing to say about it.

Service was excellent from start to finish. I believe the manager did come to the table to deliver something, though they did not announce they were. It was very casual.

I had a very good experience speaking with the manager. They do try to go above and beyond to make sure you are happy with your visit. I would definitely try speaking with them if you are unhappy about anything. I believe his name was Brandon (there might be more than one manager, I'm not sure)

Brussel sprouts 4.25 stars Very nice with good flavor, but too salty for my taste. I gave it me than a 4 because the flavors were very good, it isn't just your standard Brussels sprout.

The elk Bolognese 4.5 stars I had this time was improved. The statement before still stands, if you don't want gamey, this might be for you, but I personally like to have that extra flavor. The noodles are cooked al dente and sauce its in is very good. Better than the first time I had it. So we upgraded from 4 to 4.5 stars

Blueberry cheesecake 4 stars Not the prettiest but it's a decent cheesecake.

Service from our server started off strong, but became weaker throughout the night. She was very present and great at keeping us hydrated in the beginning, but not so much later as she was also bartending. I would say professional but not very friendly. She did explain the concept a little, so that was an improvement from our first visit.

Previous review:

Beautiful space with decent food, friendly staff, though not very talkative. Pricing was higher here than average.

I was expecting more interaction with a new restaurant in explaining the concept to us. We had nothing explained to us. My friend had issues trying to flag down the server.

Sakura Tartare 4.5 stars The egg is battered, fried and served on top. Making this dish a bit different. The cumin flavor came out nicely.

Bao 4.5 stars The texture of the bao was slightly off but it was still very soft and springy. The pork belly was very good in this. That deserves a 5 whereas the bao was a 4.

Truffle pasta 4.25 stars We were hoping for abundant truffle flavor, but Did not really taste the truffle. It was a decent mushroom pasta, but for the price, this is a skip. The rating is for the food but if we were including the price it goes to a 3.5, that would drop it down due to not meeting expectations.

Broccolini 4.5 stars Charred nicely

Fried rice 3 stars The crispy bits were good, but the majority of it wasn't and it was quite wet for a fried rice. If you take away from the fact it's supposed to be fried rice and judge the dish on it's own, the rice was a bit bland. Even when mixed with the flavorful vegetables it still came across a bit bland.

This was my initial visit and they are quite new so they might still be working out some kinks. Normally for new restaurants I'd do a 5 if there was even one outstanding dish that I felt I needed to go back for, but I'm still looking.

It is located in the old market so expect that kind of parking. Metered and of course with a few lots...

Our first trip to Gather couldn’t have gone better. The host, Steve was super accommodating in seating us. I appreciated the table farther away from the majority of the business as it was quieter and more intimate.

Our waitress, Cathleen was extremely helpful and super friendly, even giving our oldest daughter individualized attention without being annoying like a lot of servers are when we are trying to enjoy a night out as a family.

The brussel sprouts were fantastic. I don’t know if I’ll ever eat them without cranberries again; who would have known. They added such a pop of brightness to the dish.

My wife had the pad Thai and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had the Wagyu flat iron with Chimichurri, and where so many restaurants fail, they succeeded in having a well-balanced sauce that wasn’t overly acidic and provided a welcomed heat to the dish. Loved the elote corn which was kept warm the entire meal having been served in its own skillet.

We also ordered the Mac and cheese which was very good, and even the chicken strips we ordered for our daughter was a shelf above any other restaurant.

My daughter loved the donut holes and the birthday cake they prepared, although simple, was surprisingly delicious. They even do the simple things well! By far, the best dessert was the Strawberry-Basil sorbet; such a fresh and delightful way to end the meal.

One of the things that stuck out to me most was the attention we got from the manager, Tony. Most of the time you see managers walking around, it feels like they are just “doing their job,” but this guy was bringing food out to customers, checking in with tables, assisting in any way he could, and genuinely looked liked he loved being there. He checked on a few questions we had about the food and he also gave special attention to our daughter which definitely elevated her experience.

The service, food, atmosphere and getting to see their Hydroponic garden make this a must visit! Will...