Tavern 180 — Restaurant in Omaha

Just OK.

We were really excited to try this place, as we’d heard good things. After it’s all said & done, Tavern180 has mid-level food at high-level prices. Let’s recap the experience.

Earlier in the evening, our friends called to make reservations for four people. Tavern180 says: “We’re not taking reservations, but you can try to walk in & get a table.” Which is fine. We show up at 8 PM & Tavern180 is about 1/2 full. The first thing we noticed was a large booth right in front of us that was getting cleaned off. I ask the hostess: “Hey, can we get that booth?” Her response: “Uh, no. We save that booth for parties larger than four.” I say: “The same sized booth right behind it only has four people.” Hostess: “Oh, yeah, well those booths are reservation only...” I didn’t press any further, but I found it odd that the restaurant that we called a few hours earlier wouldn’t take reservations, now tells us they have a reservation policy for their two large booths. Good one. So we’re sat at a super uncomfortable high-top table, & over the next three hours, nobody took that special booth that we asked for. Stay classy, Tavern180.

The food ordering experience is from a dirty iPad covered in other peoples finger prints. It’s neat that you can click on all the menu items & see a picture of them. Their beer selection is minimal. The food menu is small. They give you a wine pairing recommendation for every food item on the iPad.

We ordered some bacon Brussels sprouts. They were very good, but it was interesting how fast they arrived at our table. I ordered the 6 OZ filet w/ a $5 upgraded blue cheese topping. The picture on the menu showed a big hunk of blue cheese w/ the steak. It came out w/ about a quarter sized piece of blue cheese. Other entrees ordered at the table were salmon & the pork chop. All the food was good, not exceptional.

We all had 1-2 drinks. The service was average. After we finished & the bill was paid, our waitress approaches us & puts her hand on the signed bill: “Do you mind if I take this from you because I’m going home now.” I mean, sure. A bit of a faux pas, but she could have set us up w/ a new server to have after dinner drinks, or fill our water. But that didn’t happen. We continued to sit at our table for the next 90 minutes w/ our friends unattended. Not one word from anyone in the restaurant until we got up to leave.

So if you want a mid-level, semi-fine dining experience, at fine dining prices. This is your place. We’re 1&Done. Good luck Tavern180. I hope your other locations can...

I have been here several other times but Saturday night was by far the worst experience I’ve had at any restaurant in a while and not sure if I will be back now. My mom and I went to get a nice steak dinner. There was a small wait for a table but “open seating” at the bar or so we thought. We had sat in a chair that had a menu and silverware thinking they were waiting for a table and looking at the menu while they wait. Come to find out the bartender had reserved those two spots for her friends that ended up bringing her cigarettes. She did accommodate us and add a chair to the bar for us to still sit at. After finally taking our drink order we never received menus and since we were pretty hungry we pulled the menu up on our phones especially to look at appetizers. After continuing to wait a while she chit chatted with her friends beside us we ended up ordering an appetizer and entrees at the same time for fear we would never get our entree order taken. The appetizer came out super fast (shrimp cocktail that was amazing) but after waiting for the bartender to still not acknowledge us, I went to the hostess stand to get us silverware and napkins. Our steak entrees also came out pretty quick but never cleared our appetizer plate or refilled my drink (water) or tried to sell my mom another alcoholic drink so by the time we were done I was ready for the bottle of water in the car. We have sat at the bar or booths before and typically aren’t the ones to complain but we were in and out of the restaurant in under 1 hour. It had become a go to spot for when my mom is in town or brunch at the bar with friends but now I am not sure I will even be going back...

With a name like Tavern 180, I expected something more, well, tavernlike. But this is an upscale place. Steaks are USDA Prime and priced accordingly, and sides are offered à la carte. As such, I found myself comparing it to Mahogany, the other Prime steakhouse I know of in West Omaha.

There's a lot of upside. Everything my wife and I have tried here has been very good, and some of it has been excellent. I particularly enjoyed the shellfish bisque, which comes with a crown of flaky bread baked right onto the bowl. The menu is presented on a tablet, which is a nice touch; you can get photos and detailed descriptions of everything on offer. And the menu is quite broad, as well. I can't take my wife to Mahogany because she doesn't eat steaks or seafood, and that's pretty much all they do. Tavern 180 offers all that plus a variety of sandwiches that she really enjoys.

The only thing that keeps this from being a five-star review is that I don't think the quality is quite up to the price point. Order a steak at Mahogany and you can rest assured that it will be cooked to perfection. I thought the ribeye I had here was a little overdone, and the other reviews I've read suggest that I'm not alone in this. I enjoyed the experience enough that I'm sure I'll be back at some point, but there are other places in Omaha that will offer more for the same price (and the farther east you go, the more...