J. Gilbert's Wood-Fired Steaks & Seafood Omaha — Restaurant in Omaha

This review was written and is based on a pre-Covid visit.

First impression: Good-looking place, looks like a modern steakhouse without looking trendy, and classy without being stuffy.

Got a couple cocktails. While waiting, I checked the sauce bottle - didn't seemed regularly cleaned, with a crusty lip beneath the cap. At the price this restaurant asks for, I'm expecting attention to detail, in and outside the food.

I tried my friend's Smokey Old-Fashioned, and it was exceptional - one of the best cocktails I've ever had. I got myself a Manhattan. It was quite nice as well

To start, we got the Beef Carpaccio. The carpaccio was so overloaded with parmesan that the potentially delicate flavor of the paper thin slice of beef tucked underneath was completely overpowered by the reggiano. At the very center, underneath the clump of arugula, sat a disk of crunchy parmesan. I remarked to my dining companions that the disk was reminiscent of those dark, unspoken times when you microwave a plate of shredded cheese and it congeals into an altogether not-unpleasant discus of dairy. They quickly came to the same conclusion as me: How can one taste the quality of beef when it’s completely submerged?

Ordered the blue cheese potato chips, which were disappointing to say the least. What they created in volume, they lacked entirely in flavor. The chips were covered with what appeared and tasted like a not-wholly complete bechamel sauce, with tiny pecks of blue cheese. I was expecting a much more robust blue cheese flavor, and when it did exist it tasted like a generic pre-crumbled blue cheese you can find at the supermarket. And at the price point of $12.50 for potatoes and cheese, the expectation of quality was not met. It remained mostly uneaten, having deemed an utter waste of calories.

The bread came next. The breads had a not unpleasant woody smell, in the same way a hardware store can have a comforting scent. The crust was decent, and center-most interior was a nice chewy sourdough. The regular butter tasted like a rich ice cream without sugar, and the pastrami butter wasn’t bad either. Both severely needed salt.

I initially tried to order the top sirloin, but it was unavailable. I guess it was too much to expect a steakhouse to have steak as an option.

I got the “Prime Sirloin + Shrimp Brochettes,” with seasonal vegetables which I felt was misleading in more than one way. I thought such a name would mean that the dish was a steak, with shrimp skewers on the side. Instead, the dish consisted of three skewers, with two pieces of steak per skewer. The lack of clarity was wholly disgruntling. When I order "seasonal vegetables" in the twilight of autumn, I don't expect generic white button mushrooms with a geriatric texture, and mealy tomatoes. Yet that's what I got. Onions were also undercooked, and the green peppers were okay. Shrimp was actually pretty tasty. The sirloin was tender and well-seasoned but lacked an inherent beef flavor in addition to the substance of a meaty chunk. Feels like I paid $35 for a bunch of really cheap items with a very inconsistent execution.

The rice and quinoa were wholly unremarkable. Basmati rice was so wet and overcooked. Worst of all was a permeating sourness that permeated every crevice of every morsel in the dish. The ancho-chile lime butter was poorly executed. The sickly looking chimichurri was completely flavorless.

Friend got the Aussie lamb rack. I thought the lamb was pretty good, no complaints there. Wild mushroom risotto was not wild, with the risotto suffering from being overcooked. The rosemary demi-glace was non-existent. The burnt ends in the mac and cheese had a great smokiness but entirely lacked in a nice crust.

Lobster tail was undoubtedly not fresh and was extraordinarily fishy. The chef’s blend of wild mushrooms looked very domesticated, consisting entirely of button, portobello and oyster mushrooms.

This place is designed for per-diem or expensive account-carrying egos that need a massage. All in all, insultingly bad. Cannot...

I realize in this day and age, giving a restaurant you don't hate 4 stars is an act of violence. I would never give a mom & pop restaurant a 4 stars for decent food. But J. Gilberts is a chain, and a pricey one at that, and I feel they can absorb the 4 stars without people losing their livelihood. So, let's begin.

I don't really care much about the setting of where I'm eating unless it's ugly and/or cold, and J. Gilberts was inviting and warm, so there's that! I did notice that the booth we were at had tape over a tear in the cushioning, but maybe that's very recent and they haven't had time to fix it.

Service was decent, a little below what I'd expect from a restaurant at this price point but I don't go to steakhouses often. We ordered beer when we were seated and we thought there'd be a longer wait for food but I asked for wine when our steak came out, and there was about a 10 minute gap from steak being served to getting the wine. Not the the end of the world, but long enough to be annoying. But our server was nice and checked in on us once while eating so, sufficient.

The food is where I'm mixed. I'm not gonna lie, the fresh out of the oven sourdough they plopped down with pastrami butter was nearly our undoing. It was good good. But we'd each ordered very expensive steaks! Which did come shockingly fast, within 10 minutes of ordering.

Both came with two sides of our choosing. All the sides are basically butter/cream delivery devices except for one or two healthier items - which I went for, because I'm virtuous. Unfortunately, the broccolini seemed to be just steamed and a little undercooked, when they could've just quickly roasted the shit out of it and made it divine. Roast your brassicas, people, this isn't rocket science!

All the other sides were combo of potatoes/cauliflower and cream/butter. Of course they were tasty because butter is tasty. Nothing to complain about but also nothing to write home about.

This is all picky, unpleasant noise on my part and if the steak was cut properly this would have been a 5 star review, but the 6oz center cut filet that I paid $44 for was tough and had a huge gristly bit with silverskin in it.

Look, I'm a food snob but a steak wimp. I don't like gristle or chewing the fat. I like steak flavor, but I will trade the meaty flavor of rib-eye with all the chewing nightmare that entails for a tiny but perfectly tender little filet that costs a small fortune.

But sadly, well over a half of my tiny steak was tough to inedible. That's a kitchen problem that I don't blame on the server or anyone but the person who cut that steak. I could walk into an Outback Steakhouse or a Texas Roadhouse and I guarantee their filet would be tender and significantly cheaper. J. Gilberts is obviously seeing themselves as a huge step above those places, so you gotta get your act together.

On the plus side, both our steaks were seared and cooked perfectly. If 40% of my filet hadn't been tough inedible connective tissue this would've been a 5 star review even with the minor complaints above. And no, I didn't tell my server because she couldn't magically make the filet tender and I didn't want a whole new piece of meat at that point.

Anyway, there's a lot to recommend but also not quite reaching the price point in terms of basic butchery and service could be a little more attentive (the restaurant was mostly empty and there were at least 3 servers.) It's worth a go, but especially on a company card. But I'm not quite sure it's worth being called the best...

Returned recently. Did the prix fixe dinner again. The price was $51 and $61, up from my previous review. This time my choice was the 14 oz Kansas steak I upgraded to the lobster Mac and Cheese for an extra 6. It was very bland. We told the server and she removed it from our bill with no issues. The mashed potatoes remains a winner. My friends ordered other items. The lobster tails were good as well, but my favorite was the rack of lamb. I also tried their blackened chicken penne pasta. That was good, but not outstanding. I had the soup again, my friends ordered the salads. The portions are huge. That goes for the desserts as well.

previous review_______ First time going.

Disappointing non alcoholic selection. I asked if they could do something but was told they don't do mocktails by the server.

Fresh bread service. Served warm Two butters. Both whipped for easy spread. One was plain the other was smoked pastrami flavored with no meat. The flavored butter was fabulous.

We came to try the prix fixe menu. Both opted for the steaks 6 oz at 48 dollars. I upgraded mine too the 58 dollar so that I could have seafood adding the scallops. Comes with choice of soup or salad, a number of different entrees (ours came with 2 sides which we could choose even though there is a suggested pairing, with paying a 3.50 surcharge for the wild mushrooms and truffle oil) and a choice of dessert (from a list)

Soup crab bisque tasted great. Large chunks of crab in the center. Served at the perfect serving temperature (restaurant style, I prefer mine hotter, but good for people who don't want to burn themselves.) My friend had the salad and exclaimed it was so good it didn't need the dressing. I did not try it though.

Steak was phenomenal. 5 stars Scalloped potatoes was the best side we tried 5 stars

Asparagus was perfectly cooked with a nice smoky flavor. The ends were not trimmed high enough as it was very tough.

Skip the mushrooms with the surcharge unless you just really want mushrooms. They weren't that special, but were fine. I didn't really notice the truffle oil.

I wouldn't do the scallops again. For $10 and the pieces you got it wasn't a bad value, but it just didn't add enough to my meal. It was plain and didn't stand out at all. I would like to try the crab cakes next time to see if that may be better.

I would recommend this meal. I love prix fixe dining and their steaks were stand outs.

Photo taking isn't great on the second floor when seated in the hallway with pot lights. It didn't feel very intimate, but we were also two girls out in the town so maybe they thought we wanted to be seen. The hallway over looks the bar/lounge.

We chose 2 desserts...

Chocolate cake is very rich, sweet and decadent Our favorite was the raspberry ice cream served on the side of the cake. It was velvety smooth

The berries with creme anglaise was ok. The berries are fresh, but also quite tart as they weren't that ripe. For me it wasn't the best ending for a meal. The creme anglaise wasn't enough to cover all the berries to sweeten them. In this case I might have preferred mascerated berries for a more balanced taste, but if you want something tart then this might be too your liking.

The server was very friendly but not engaging enough that I felt comfortable saying what I did not prefer. He didn't probe or question when there were items left on the plate. Service was professional with a...