Ollie & Hobbes Craft Kitchen - Papillion — Restaurant in Papillion

Craft food in a hipster atmosphere. The clientelle is not hipster, its just the decor. I loved the environment. Very warm and inviting but spacious at the same time.

The menu changes all the time. I am leaving my original review but also updating it with what we had this time. Service was exceptionally good today. For that they would have received a 5 star... but the food was from quite average to very good. Reading my past review I noticed I had issues back then as well.

I ordered the chicken marsala which was unlike any I had before. It was crispy and not slathered in sauce, paired with a mushroom risotto and asparagus. I do prefer a saucy dish, but the chicken was fine. I was not a big fan of the mushroom sauce that came with the risotto. The asparagus was also fine. That being said, I would not re order this dish. I tried the gnocchi, but having had gnocchi at some other places recently, I did not prefer this one. It was chewier, so if you like chewier gnocchi then this might be for you. The pesto sauce it was in tasted fine. We were told the scallop special was very good, but I did not personally try it. The fries covered with Parmesan and truffle oil was very good. I would repeat this dish. I saw they have a happy hour menu and I would be excited to return to try the items on there. The fries are part of that menu. The desserts we had was creme brulee and a raspberry and mint cheesecake. The creme brulee was exactly what you would expect from a restaurant of class and caliber. The raspberry and mint cheesecake had a very interesting and unique flavor, but I found the texture was not to my preference.

Previous review Skip the calamari unless you like yours not that crispy. It was soft with barely a crisp (the breading). It seems as if its calamari that's been mashed together (on the inside) to form sticks (like fries), but I'm not altogether sure I liked how it was done. The texture just wasn't preferred. Onion rings on the other hand were perfectly fine. We had the salad (if you like wild greens its good, if you don't, then skip.) As well as the grilled cheese with tomato soup. The grilled cheese comes with a pesto and tomato, so its not really just cheese. If you're looking for a plain typical one, then this won't be for you. It's an elevated one. The focacia bread was a bit hard as they toasted it. Its meant for dipping, that's for sure. On that note, I paired the calamari with the soup. I didn't like the dip that the calarmi came in and preferred the more milder tone of the tomato soup. My experience wasn't the best, but I can see this restaurant has potential. The menu looks very interesting, and I'd like to give it more chances. As it stands our food this time was probably a 3, but the environment was like a 5. I think they can do better though, so that's why I've put it at a 4. I've heard good things from other people, so I'm thinking it might have been just what we ordered. Service from our main server was professional, polite, but not very welcoming. Still, it's not bad service, just more hands off service. The other server on duty felt more...

I tried this place once two years ago and it left me wanting. I dare say this time was worse. My mother and I ordered chicken fried chicken. The food came out and the chicken was overcooked and breading burnt. The chicken was tough to cut. It was stacked on top of a bland garlic mash with a side of glazed Peas and carrots all served on a small round plate together. They don't even have salt or pepper on the table so nothing you can do when the foods bland. The sweet glaze was puddled all over the dish and made everything sweet to the taste. It was gross. Sweet mash. Sweet soggy burnt chicken. I actually only ate 4 bites of chicken and gave up. When we informed the waitress she went to speak to her manager. She returned with the bill and said the manager took some off. She took 25% off the entire bill without ever coming to see us, see the dishes or anything. We still had our almost full plates sat on the table when the waitress came back with thr bill. No way the manager ever saw them. Even wirh the discount the bill was 40 dollars for two ice teas and a few bites of a terrible dish. We paid and left. They didn't offer to remake it or get us something else. I expect a manager to come to my table and witness the problem not just throw money at it like they dont care and give me the bill. I wouldn't have minded paying for a portion of my moms because she tried to eat hers but mine was a full plate minus 4 bites. Course you can't know that if you don't look.

It's very clear that no one is actually managing this store, and no one cares. They were not busy at 1 in the afternoon, and yet 5 tables around us were dirty almost the entire time we were there. Sat full of half eaten plates no suprise given how ours tasted. The servers were just casually strolling about with no energy or sense of urgency. The greeter was laying across the counter to check us in for a table and had no energy, which barely even greeted us. And then he went and cleaned our table to seat us but left the other messes there. They were over half empty with no clean tables. The waitress took forever to come over and greet us let alone ask for our drink order. The Food came quick. Salad was ok. Strange plate choice for a chicken you have to cut and a vegetable covered in liquid. Everything else was lacking energy, enthusiasm, professionalism, and general care and urgency.

If I were you I would fire your manager. I never saw her once during my visit and if she doesn't care enough to address problems or manage her staff then she's not a...

This will be one of those polarizing options that appeals to many folks but alienates others. My wife and I shared bites from two entrees: the fried chicken breast sandwich and the fish with brussells sprouts over risotto. Paired with soda (sorry!).

First, the good: the place is clean, service is great, yada yada, the ususal standards of eating out. Nothing really stands out--they check all the boxes. Disclaimer: they do implement one of those little portable point-of-sale devices where it asks you to press the big precalculated "tip" button (so... hey, no mental math, right?).

I will also say that the food presentation is a bit nicer than other places that seem to just want to fill the entire plate up with as much food as possible. I don't usually notice this, which is strange that I would actually notice, here. Perhaps just concidence, but O&H seems to frame the food a bit, and leaves room to move things around, which is awesome. I wouldn't say it's "artsy" but frankly I do grow tired of dining out at places that try to give you so much food that it's literally overflowing the plate. So if you're looking to trim the fat or reduce temptations (in a GOOD and appreciated way) O&H portion sizes are practically perfect.

Now the bad. Sort of. In my personal experience, the food here was rather bland. HOWEVER. To be fair, my palate is recently used to a lower class of food which is typically heavy in salt and sweet. I wouldn't say it's necessarily a fair comparison given the wide range of tasting palates out there, but that's just my personal experience, so I'm not inclined to take much off for this. You will apprecate this style of cooking if you prefer fare that tends to rely more on the quality/freshness of the ingredients and preparation skill INSTEAD OF masking mistakes with overly "salt and pepper with extra steps" seasonings. Keep it simple.

Will we return? If I'm being honest, probably not. We live about half an hour away, but I will say that if we are in the area again (which is seldom), we would certainly be happy to visit again, if O&H will not hold my unqualified taste buds against me. (ha!)

Ultimately, this is a good place to eat. Just set expectations accordingly, and bring a clean and well-trained palate. There is ALOT to appreciate here, and I fear that my visit was perhaps squandered on what could have been a truly exceptional experience of the raw power of what fresh ingredients and amazing...