The Drover Steakhouse 9-5-26

 We went as a family to The Drover for Mike's birthday.  It is a typical Nebraska steakhouse.  It is kind of dark in there and the decor seems straight out of the 1970s.  The menu is mostly limited to steaks, potatoes and a few vegetables.  There was a small salad bar.

We each had a cocktail or glass of wine before dinner.  We had some bacon wrapped shrimp and some onion rings for appetizers.  They were all fine. 

The Drover is supposedly famous for their whiskey marinate/sauce they cook their steaks with.  Mollie, Jon and Jacob all got steaks with it on them and they said they liked it.  It didn't taste like whiskey at all, it was just a nice steak sauce.

Jon and Mike were the only two to get salad bar instead of soup and they said it was very basic.  

The soups were OK, I had something called chicen poblano soup and it was like a cream of chicken soup with maybe a slight green chile spice.  Mollie and Jacob got lobster bisque and they said it was good.

Ian got sea bass.  He said it was good but there was nothing special about it.

I got fried shrimp.  They were butterflied and very large.  I think there were 6 of them.  I also got a baked potato.  It was good. 

Mike got his favorite, prime rib.  He got the biggest cut they had.  He brought over 1/2 of it home and will probably get 2 lunches from it!

They have no kids menu, so Fraz just had a grilled chicken breast and some french fries.  Rather boring but he was OK with it. 

This place is good without being oustanding.  But it is pricey.   Hamburgers are like $22.  With appetizers and drinks it came out go almost $100 per person.  

I would give this place 3.5/5.  

Dynamite Woodfire Grill 8-29-26

 I knew nothing about this place other than the reviews I read online.  It is in downtown Omaha in the Old Market area.  You have to find a parking lot.  It cost us about $12 to park for the evening.  

We had reservations at 6.  The restaurant is attached to The Farnum, a newly remodeled hotel.  Our waiter told us that the owners are 2 Creighton University alums (one was even some big basketball star).  The chef is from the Ritz Carlton in St. Louis.  So, we have probably eaten his food before!

The vibe of the restaurant was nice.  I liked their use of unique lighting.  The only thing I didn't like is that because everything is cooked on a "wood fire" the entire restaurant smelled like a campfire.  It was fine for awhile, but eventually, by the end of the night, it gave me a headache.  I would hate to work there, you would go home with your clothes smelling like campfire every night.

We started with cocktails and told the waiter (Armond) that we were here for a liesurely dinner.  He was good to not rush anything.  

We were given a small bread course of cornbread in the shape of corn on the cob.  It was cute and tastey.  I liked it more than Mike did.  He didn't think it tasted enough like cornmeal.  

We ordered and had opened a bottle of Cline cabernet.  It was good.  We enjoyed it and it didn't break the bank. 

I ordered the scallops for dinner.  They were served on a small bed of risotto.  They were delicious.  The unique thing about the dish was the little "salad" served with them.  It was asparagas that had been shaved with a peeler mixed with pepperoncini.  I LOVE pepperoncini and to have something that acidic next to something like risotto what a great play off of one another.  The asparagus was just meh. 

Mike had a filet and decided to have their fancy mac and cheese as a side.  He also was talked into a steak sauce.  He is usually not much of a steak sauce kind of guy.  This sauce had turmeric in it and was just enough different that he thought it was worth a try.  He used it sparingly and liked it.  He felt his steak was well prepared.  

This place is expensive and probably more of a special occasion type of place.  We enjoyed the food and the atmosphere.  I'd probably give it 4/5 stars. 

Javi's Cantina/El Milagro 8/28/26

 It was kind of crazy...we looked up how to get to El Milagro restaurant and when we arrived the sign on the building said Javi's Cantina. I knew we were in the correct place because we had actually been here once before with all our kids once, when we were visiting over the holidays.  Javi's Tacos is a well known restaurant chain in Omaha.  I think they own El Milagro and want to change their name to tie it all in with the Javi name of the family.  The menus and water glasses still had the El Milagro logo on them.

This place is different because it doesn't have the standard 100 things that a typical Mexican restaurant has.  No make your own plate decisions.

We liked their margaritas.  They taste homemade and not just out of a pre-mixed bottle.

I don't like their chips.  They are homemade and are too thick and a few were greasy.  Their chips come with salsa and refried beans (which is nice). 

I was going to have the camerones diavolo (spicy shrimp) which is what I ALWAYS get back at El Maguey in O'Fallon, MO.  But since I got that at the last Omaha Mexican restaurant that I went to and it wasn't great, I shyed away from that.

I ordered chicken enchiladas with mole sauce.  I think my enchiladas must have been ready immediately and they began making Mike's food, as it must have sat on the plate on a very hot surface.  My place was smoking hot and some of my food had literally cooked onto the plate!  They chicken inside the enchiladas was dry and the mole sauce was just a little too cloying to be great.  

On a side note, they had chicken enchiladas with mole, verde, and red enchilada sauces.  3 difference entrees.  Each entree was 3 enchiladas.  I asked if I could get one entree with one of each sauces.  No, that was not something they could do.  I don't understand how hard that could be.  I'm sure the chicken was totally made, I'm sure all 3 sauces were totally made, they would have to roll 3 enchiladas for any of the orders...just put a little of each sauce on one enchilada.  But they said no. 

Mike got birra tacos.  They had a Mexican au jus.  It was like regular au jus with Mexican seasoning.  He really liked them.  

There are a lot more Mexican restaurants to try.  If we come back to this one, I'll have to try something else. 

El Muchacho Alegre 8-11-26

My good friend Vicki Bohling was in town visiting and we decided to try a new Mexican restaurant.  We went to El Muchacho Alegre.  (The fast friend/guy??)

This was a very suburban Mexican restaurant attached to a strip mall in a residential area.  It was pretty big and it was busy.  I know Taco Tuesday is a thing, but this place was packed on a Tuesday night.  I took that as a good sign.  

Mike and Vicki started with drinks (marg and beer).  I had a bit of an upset tummy, so I had water.

Vicki and I both ordered el diablo camarones (spicy shrimp).  It is what I ALWAYS get at El Maguey in O'Fallon.  This version was different, not as spicy and I didn't love it.  

Mike got a couple beef enchiladas and a taco.  He said they were fine.  

This was an OK place.  Nothing great, nothing horrible except that they played background music that was the same maracas over and over and over.  My hearing is bad enough that I didn't really notice, but it was driving Vicki insane!!

Sorry, I forgot to take photos.  

Johnny's Cafe-Omaha

 We live in a new city, so the blog moved with us.

I was looking for "old classic" steakhouses and this one totally fit the bill.  It opened by the Omaha stockyards in 1922.  It is now in an older part of town and the builiding could definitely use some updates.  Some of the reviews mention the old "basementy" smell when you walk in.  I agree, the lobby needs a redo, but once you enter the actual dining area it smells like food.

The menu is classic steakhouse.  They had prime rib, which is Mike's favorite.  Because you aren't paying for ambiance, the prices are lower than a lot of steakhouses we've been in.  The dress code is business casual.  We saw a few people who were too casual, but mostly it was people who were 50+ and they wore collared shirts and slacks.  

We started with a drink.  Mike had a typical gin and tonic and I had a glass of wine.  Their wine list is up to date and not overly priced.  We've seen many of the same bottles of wine $10-20 more at other restaurants.  

                                            

We started with the French onion soup.  It was OK.  The broth didn't have much taste to it.

I ordered Johnny's fish and Mike had prime rib.  I had a side of hash browns.  Mike had baked potato.  My fish was breaded and fried very nicely, but the actual fish was very nondiscript and kind of mushy.  The outside was crispy but the inside was too soft.  The fish didn't hold together well.

Mike said his prime rib was good.  Not the best he's ever had, but it was good.

For dessert we split some warm apple cobbler with ice cream.  

Dishes came out quickly, so you don't really linger and spend the whole evening there.  I think we were in and out in under 90 minutes.  

Kind of old, decent prices, decent food.  

Charcoal House in Rock Hill area of St. Louis

 I'd give this place a 4/5 for old, classic steakhouses.

A guy from Mike's work recommended this place.  When I looked online the ratings were very up and down.

We actually really like them a lot.  It is old, classic steakhouse.

I don't know why, but I forgot to take any photos.

We started with cocktails and I could tell this place was old-fashioned enough that they'd know how to make a vodka collins...and they did.  You would not believe how many people don't know how to make it and don't look it up!  It is unbearable in this age of having a phone in your pocket that can look anything up!

They had this little bowl of toasts on the table that I really enjoyed with my drink.  

We each ordered salads.  My salad was good and the greek dressing I had was very vinegary...just the way I like a vinegrette.  

I ordered fried sole with steak fries.  Mike got a filet with 3 fried shrimp and a baked potato.  The food was good.  Mike's steak was prepared well.  

We did order a bottle of wine to go with dinner.  It was a Cabernet from California.  It was called Steele.  It was fine...not great.  

We had chocolate cake for dessert...it was either that, carrot cake, or cheesecake. 

The clientel was older, but as we sat there awhile, there were some people in their 30s and 40s who also dined here.  

The waitstaff was all in their 70s and 80s!  But they were all super nice. 

The only bummers were...the wine list was kind of small and the overall menu was small.  I don't need a HUGE menu, but I like when I have 4 or 5 choices of things I'd like.  I didn't feel that here. 

Michael's Bar and Grill on the edge of Maplewood 2-21-26

 I'd give this place a 3.5 out of 5.   The food is worth the trip.

I'd read about Michael's on several lists online as a place to go.  I'd also read about how they are often severely overcrowded, have no reservation or beeper system and the waiting people flood into and around the diners.  

So, last Saturday before we went to see "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Fox, we headed to Maplewood much earlier than normal for dinner.  We arrived at 4:50 and the place was packed and we had about a 10 minute wait!  I guess you need to arrive around 4:00 for no wait!  But, boy, am I glad we got there early.  The reviews online were correct.  The wait gets long and on a cold, windy night like last Saturday, the people try not to wait outside in line.  They crowd everywhere they can inside...to the detriment of the servers and diners.  

Mike was planning on getting prime rib, as that is always his favorite.  But when we sat down he didn't see one person eating that.  There weren't even any people eating steak, even though there were several steaks on the menu.  

So, we both started with their famous French onion soup.  It is really good.  It is a pretty big bown and it could practically be an entree.  I had read online that people say it takes an extra 15 minutes to wait for it to be done.  Our waitress didn't say that and I didn't notice any longer than normal wait.  

For dinner I just ordered their hot wings.  They were good.  I liked their hot sauce.  It was hot but flavorful.  The wings were kind of small and their were only 8 of them.  

Mike decided to go with their burger.  Instead of cheese it comes with a cheese spread.  I don't know if that is something Greek, since this place is actually a Greek restaurant.  I asked Mike if he liked it as much as traditional cheese and he said no.  The burger was big and thick and perfectly prepared.  Mike said it was a really good burger.  The fries were good (I ate 1/2 of them!).  

For dessert we split a piece of their tiramisu.  It was good, but the liquid their pour over to soften the lady fingers was strong and there was too much of it, so the bottom layer was just soggy and strong.  

This place had good food but it was cramped and loud.  

We left at about 6:00 and the waiting people were CRAZY.  They were all over in the restaurant and all over sitting at the outdoor patio furniture (in the freezing cold).  

I would say...if you can go sometime (like for lunch or a weekday) when this place isn't loud and crazy...I'd go for the food.