Omaha Steaks

The Omaha Steaks Holiday Pack was well-​received as a gift for my parents, and they loved both the steaks and apple tartlets. However, I admit that my experience with this branch was less than satisfactory. I called the store during the work week to ensure that the products from the Holiday Pack Groupon would be at the store, and the employee who spoke with me on the phone was very short with me. He was not friendly and seemed irritated by my call. When I went to the store on Saturday, the employees were cordial, but lacked positivity and genuineness in their attitudes and conversation.
A seasoning sample was supposed to be included in my order, but they were out of them. Unfortunately, they did not supplement the sample with anything else. Additionally, there was a misunderstanding about my order, and the initial transaction had to be fixed (at the fault of one of the employees). During this ordeal, the two employees spoke to each other as if I wasn’t even in the store, and I found this to be very rude!
It’s too bad that the customer service here was awful because I would have loved to be a returning customer.

Really godd place & excellent service — lots o’meat & lots o’other stuff besides meat. Nice specials too.

My sister lives in Omaha. She’s a lapsed vegan. So it’s her idea of a big joke to buy me an Omaha Steaks gift card for my birthday, since I only eat meat maybe three times a year. Flash forward seven months later, and it’s still unused. Aw gee, hey, here comes July 4^th! Perfect for the cookout I’m telling my friends they’d better throw.
The Omaha Steaks retail outlet is about the size of a small convenience store without the Keno jockeys on welfare. Marble countertops, tall freezer cases. It doesn’t have that Grill 23 fine steakhouse look to it, but they sure as hell act like that’s the stuff they’re peddling.
The young woman employee has appointed herself my personal meat consultant. This seems to be her purpose in life. She approaches me respectfully, arms behind her back, asking «are you looking for a side dish?» in a super kiss-​ass manner. If the Ninety-​Nine needed sommeliers, this chick would be great.
I tell her I’m looking at the side dishes because it’s the goddam first freezer when you walk in the door. All the cases are labeled: sides, desserts, pork, fish, and the steaks get subdivided, plus the sale rack. If you want the steaks, the good stuff, you have to head to the back of the store. Just like the web site, they have specials all the time, so you have to look at their yellow flyers.
I have very little clue about the fine points of a NY Strip steak, and frankly I’m afraid to ask. The manager, Mr. Big Meat, freely opens boxes for customers to they can eyeball the goods. He mentors my beef bimbo on the finer points of her suggestions to a previous customer. I’d REALLY like to see the training manuals Omaha Steaks give these folks. This is hormone-​stoked dead cow, people, not a religion or a lifestyle change.
Nonetheless, some Volvo-​driving polo-​shirt wearer delicately holds a smaller box, clearly one of the finer t-​bones or trendy flatiron steaks (they’re cut square, 4 for $ 49.99!), with the careful evaluation of a guy buying an engagement ring.
So given that my gift card wouldn’t buy half of a porterhouse, I go for the mondo box of 16 4-​oz burgers, which according to the flyer, are on sale today for $ 20. However, they’re out, due to the holiday rush, so Mr. Big Meat tells my personal beef concierge that she can upgrade me to the 16 box of 5 oz burgers. Wow, I feel like I’m at National Rentacar!
Then he has to take it too far and go in for the hotdog upsell, cocking his head like he’s been thinking about what’s really best for me, acting like he’s offering me extended warranty undercarriage coating at Herb Chambers. Ix-​nay on the hot dogs, because any association I would make between this guy and wieners would be tragically Freudian.
As it was, I had already opted to get their new potato casserole on sale and a jar of Dirty Martini Cheese Ball dip because I really didn’t want to come back here to burn up the last $ 10 on my card. The potato casserole comes in two Lean Cuisine-​sized trays and while delicious for a quick din-​din, was hardly worth the regular $ 24 price. The Martini Dip, however, is quite delish.