The Omaha Critic

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Ok, I have to admit it: I sometimes succumb to being a creature of convenience.  This has at times gotten me into some serious trouble.  This week is one of those times.

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I have had steaks all this city.  I have had some good ones, and some I wouldn’t even feed to my dogs.  Tonight was a very good night for both my wife and I, but also my dogs.  Tonight we went to “The Drover”.   This year, I decided that I would take my red meat addiction and try to move past it.  So to break that addiction, I have decided that I will only eat it on Sundays.  So I spent the better part of the afternoon, driving around Omaha, trying to find a Steakhouse that I was really in the mood for.  I went from West Omaha, and headed downtown.  I cruised the Old Market and my wife and I looked around saying “Meh..” at just about everything we saw.  So we headed back out west.  On our way, we passed 60th street and then I remembered that The Drover was just up the street and that we had always had good service and food there.  So I pulled off the interstate and followed 72nd street just past Center.

We were some of the first people into The Drover as they open at 5PM on Sunday.  We were immediately seated and water and bread quickly brought to our table.  My wife and I perused the menu and ate bread, finally settling the bone in ribeye with the whiskey marinade.  The Drover is famous for their whiskey steaks.  Well.. there is a reason and I will get to that in a few.  To continue, with my dinner I ordered the soup and my wife ordered the salad bar.  The waitress was off and running and my wife went to the salad bar.  By the time my wife returned, I had a nice steaming bowl of vegetable beef with barley soup.  It was very tasty.  The flavor was robust but didn’t overpower.  It was comfort food at some of it’s best.  Ok.. Veggie beef and barley is like one of my favorite soups and The Drover did it justice.  After we had finished, the dishes were whisked away and we sat talking about the weeks events.  Soon we had two plates placed in front of us with ribeyes begging to be eaten.  I like my steak in between rare and medium rare.  I like it red in the middle but hot.  Not dark pink, but red.  There is an art to it.  The Drover captured it perfectly.  My ribeye was cooked to the moment of perfection.  It was flavorful and tender.  The cut was well marbled, but not too fatty.  The grill marks lent more flavor to the fabulous whiskey marinade.  Yes, this is where I get into the whiskey marinade.  I’ve had the bottled flavors of TGI-Fridays and other “whiskey” flavored steaks, but The Drover’s whiskey marinade us a unique flavor that sets it above.  We finished eating, and I took the bones home for the dogs.  Well, ok, I gnawed on them first, then I handed them over.  So everyone was made happy, thanks to The Drover.

 Overall impression:  You walk into the darkly lit Drover; you lose yourself in the aroma of the food, and the ambiance of an Omaha Steakhouse Gem.  The food is great and the service is rock solid.

Pluses: Good service, fantastic food, awesome soup, atmosphere.

Minuses: The temperature of The Drover was cold and the bathrooms weren’t obviously marked.  Their prices are a little high, but worth it.

~The Omaha Critic