Flatiron Cafe

Happy New Years Unilocalers —
Came here on NYE2015 with a later reservation. They were a little backed up so we had to wait a short period for our table. The staff was kind and friendly but seemed a bit on edge, likely from how busy they were! I still think the service was great although not on par with similarly priced establishments in town.
We began our meal with a course of roasted Brussel sprouts, little did I realize how spicy they would be, luckily I love spice so it was great but I can only imagine the punishment some with lesser taste buds would be feeling.
To help quell the spice we ordered yogurt kale salads, on the menu this sounded wonderful but the dressing was bland that it ended up tasting like crunchy plain yogurt. Lots of missed potential here.
For the main course we went for the sea bass and the chorizo stuffed pork chop. Both meats were delicious and well prepared. Both cam with a unique side that was delicious but then both came with the same sautéed veggies, these were out of place and bland.
They had a long dessert list to choose from and we split delicious pastry, probably my favorite thing after the pork chop. With 2 drinks each the bill came to $ 160 before tip…
It was a beautiful night and enjoyed ourselves but there just needs to be some fine tuning done.

Cons
They FRIED my gnocci :(
They wrapped mashed potatoes in an egg roll and deep fried it :(
no Rose wines on their list
Pros
Great service
Cute restaurant/​cute location
Paying 35/​plate is too much for fried food. I’d say this food is worth about $ 15/​plate.

Every year since 1997, my husband and I have tried a new restaurant on our anniversary weekend (January 3). This year (2016), we decided to try Flatiron Café. I called to make a reservation two weeks in advance, which I thought was adequate in Omaha, only to be told they’d be closed for an entire week following New Year’s Eve. I guess I’m giving this restaurant one star right now because I’m disappointed that I was denied the opportunity to even give them a chance. I doubt we’ll ever try Flatiron if they always close after nye, since that is the only weekend of the year we go out for a fancy dinner.

Dining room impressed me very much, beautiful yet not pretentious. Charming waitress didn’t bother us but was very attentive. Calamary and shiitake starters were a great beginning. Romain salad was quite good, pork chop was just awesome — it melted in my mouth. It came along with various vegetables and some fancy topping. Portion was really generous for fine dining restaurant.

Great service all around. Great manager, hosts, waiters and waitresses. You have to try the steak, it’s one of the best steaks I’ve ever had

good food, great service, but can’t support because the owner is a weird a-​hole.

I had dinner at this restaurant based on Unilocal Reviews. I’m am taking the time to write about my experience because it was absolutely Devine! From the moment I walked in and was greeted and escorted to my table, to the moment I departed with my well packaged bag of leftovers, the service, ambience and flavors so were first rate. I began with the calamari, which is lightly breaded and combined with avocado, lime juice, tomato and onion bits, which never became soggy. It was a treat to my palate. By far the best calamari I’ve had to date. My rib eye steak was preceded by a field green salad, which I wasn’t expecting after having ordered an appetizer. The rib eye was accompanied with an abundance of flavorful vegetables, asparagus, Roasted potatoes, and spinach. The well seasoned, perfectly cooked medium rare steak was enormous, too! And although I’d already decided to take portions of my appetizer and meal, I had to end the meal with a chocolate mousse which was served in a chocolate bowl-​shaped shell, encircled with fresh whipped cream and three kinds of berries! The Petit Syrah was a rich full bodied wine that complimented each course of the meal. Hats off to the host, the server and the chef! This was definitely one of the very best and relaxing dining experiences I’ve had. Just the right balance of light jazzy music played in the background. I hope I come back to Omaha, albeit another business trip or one of leisure.

My husband and I went here for our 3^rd anniversary, we got the surf n turf and it was phenomenal. The service is fantastic! Our server helped guide us through the menu and treated us to dessert. The steak was cooked to perfection, and had a lot of flavor. The lobster was wonderful as well! It is on the expensive side but great for celebrations.

I’m giving it 5 stars because the service and food are incredible. The beef tenderloin here is one of the best I’ve ever had.
My only complaint is I wish the menu had a tiny bit more diversity. Too many mushroom and shellfish based appetizers.

This review is long overdue. Visited the Flat Iron with three friends for a holiday dinner the week before Christmas. We all agreed, one of the most delightful dinners we have all had in a long time. Ordered a round of martinis before dinner. Bottles of wine and enough food to feed an army. Our server was excellent. The pace of the food and drink service was perfect. He made some really nice suggestions on appetizers for the group to share and wine to complement the dinner. One of my friends ordered the steak and lobster. It really stole the show. Not a cheap evening. $ 600 excluding tip but for a special evening with some of the best food and service in Omaha it is well worth it.

I’ve dined here several times before the opera or other occasions. Always a stellar meal with excellent service. The price fits the upscale cuisine. Never have I left disappointed by any aspect of the dining experience. Trust their advice on wines.

Great service!
Great parking!
Fantastic food!
Great ambiance!
Full bar!
One of the best steak and lobster I have ever had. Medium rear was cooked to perfection.
Will try again if I’m back in town!

Fantastic ambience, fantastic service and fantastic food! We were fussy about where we sat and Kathleen put tables together for us. Mushroom grattan was great. Tournedos (filet mignon) were plenty and cooked to perfection. Ordered medium and served medium. Bottle of Napa Cabernet, Heintz I think was the label, was a good pairing ($ 95), Swordfish special was cooked lightly as I asked them to cook it, medium.
For dessert it was chocolate mousse served in a chocolate cup and the best carrot cake I have had in 20 years. Light on the walnuts and heavy on golden raisins made the cake very moist and yummy. Total bill for dinner, with the $ 95 wine, was $ 223 before tip. Waiter was attentive and made SOLID recommendations, he was a teacher, and we didn’t even hardly look at a menu, and he told us which entrees were selling fast so we could get our order in!
We could see the Xmas lights out the window and even with stuff at the Orpheum we found a close place to park. It was fantastic. This gets my only 5 star in Omaha.

Amazing food and service. Waiter Colin was super had avbit of building history to share. Early dinner no rush so they gave us time no hurry to flip table but at the prices they don’t need to. Great but pricey wine. They start about $ 25 our choice was crazy but good. Had a shitake cassorole appetizer yummy. French onion soup best ever. Finished with amazing stuffedvpork chop. Didn’t know pork could be so good. Skipped desert to stuffed. Just over two hour that was good relaxing. Great special occasion place.

I really wanted to love this place… But it just didn’t do it for me. It’s a nice clean dining room, but nothing that really kicks up the ambiance to romance or sheik, modern, cool. Nope, it’s just… nice. Came here on a Friday night for Omaha restaurant week. The brown butter seared scallop was bland and tasteless. For my second course I had the salmon with edamame risotto. The risotto was definitely the highlight of the entire meal! The salmon was cooked perfectly and good enough but definitely nothing spectacular. Crème brûlée was… good. The service was terribly slow! Every time we needed something we had to snag our server ourselves. He was never proactively checking on us.
I’m glad we didn’t pay more than restaurant week prices. I’d say my experience and the food was just average. For fine dining at the regular prices, I have much higher expectations. Probably won’t return and certainly not for a special occasion, as several others are recommending!

I could spend a few days praising the food we had. The potato towers were wonderful, I did not really know what to expect with a name like that. But It took my taste buds to a new level. Loved the texture mixes. The whole meal was just wonderful. and for the first time in a long time I did not have to salt/​pepper anything. The chef had it perfect!
Kudo’s wish my bankroll allowed me to dine here a bit more often.

So you want to impress that new love interest, celebrate a special anniversary or woo a client whose business you just have to get? Then this is where you want to take them. Classic, white table cloths and table settings; refined, delicious menu with fresh, local food presented with panache; intimate, immaculate décor in a historic flatiron building with large windows; and service that perfectly balances making you feel special, pampered and attended to without being pretentious or obtrusive. This is a family owned business that puts their heart into every facet – and it shows.

Really wanted to try this place for Omaha Restaurant Week so my friends and I made a reservation. We were really excited to treat ourselves, but the manager called and sincerely apologized about having booking issues that day and offered reservations next week with a gift certificate. She was very nice about the situation, so we had no problems switching.
When we got there for our reservation, i was intrigued by the building’s architecture. Looking around the dining room, you can gather that it is a classy venue from the patrons there. We sat down, ordered a bottle of Rioja and started debating amongst ourselves about appetizer selection. Fortunately, our waitress was happy to resolve our issue by suggesting a sampler of appetizers. Perfect! We got the veal sweetbreads, artichoke pierogi, potato crusted scallops, and seared ahi. They were all really good but the scallop was definitely my favorite our of the 4. I had to restrain myself from licking the plate because we were in a classy restaurant.
For the entrée, I ordered the Veal rack shop with brussel sprouts. Flavors were spot on and the portion was pretty big as well. I could not finish my dish and none of us had room for dessert, even though we were very tempted to try them.
Overall, great service and amazing food (plus part of it was covered) so I am pretty pleased with this visit to the Flatiron. It is a bit more on the pricey side, but would recommend it for a special occasion that wont disappoint.

I like to take my time and write meaningful reviews for places (good or bad), however I feel like I don’t even want to waste my time doing that for Flatiron. For sure I’m going to pull out the money-​card because if you are going to charge a lot for food, it better be daaaa-​aaamn good, right?!
I think the atmosphere is a toddler step above Olive Garden with dim lights to give off an illusion of a pretension ambiance. Service was like old viscous molasses which usually doesn’t bother me, especially since this visit I was accompanied by a fun group of fellow food-​heads. So let’s get to the food…
NO ONE… let me repeat… NOOOO ONE in our group of seven enjoyed their meal. We started out with the appetizer platter which was a sad plate of what seemed to be leftovers from patrons who have already left. You know what I mean? Like the left over half eaten piece of broccoli covered with trace amounts of cheese next to a mushroom to add an aura of snottiness to the plate. We thought it would be a good idea to get this platter so that we could try different appetizers? But really I just ended up paying $ 16 for a piece of shrimp and spam-​like versions of various fungi.
So what do people usually get with their meal? Soup or salad right? Thank jebus I got the soup because the salads were SAD!!! I’m not a restaurant owner, but at a place like this, you can’t give people salads made with iceberg lettuce that could easily be confused with the salad kits you buy at Hy-​vee!!! I was the only person getting soup which was some butternut squash soup. Honestly, it was the ONLY thing I liked that night, but I felt bad sipping on it as my food companions suffered through their blasé salads!
Then the meals… I was feeling a little frisky and decided to get the paella dish. When I got the dish, I was confused… confused why there wasn’t paella on my plate?! I can understand how a place like this might have a fusion version of paella since FI isn’t a Spanish eatery, but it was an ambiguous mixture of flavorless shrimp, China Buffet quality mussels and a small hidden side of Spanish (???) rice the size of my palm. DIS A POINT MENT! (yeah with all four syllables)
I thought my meal sucked, but after hearing everyone else’s testimony around their bland steaks, boring as hell lobster and ho hum sides… I guess it was a lose-​lose situation.
So I’m the type of person who likes to eat their sorrows away so I decided to give the dessert a chance… how bad could dessert at a fancy smancy place be? I asked how the bread pudding was made because I didn’t want average bread pudding. I wanted bread pudding that would make me pudding in my pants and forget about the rest of my dinner. I was told it was the chef’s special and that I will definitely be pleased. Well… it was special alright, but not in a good way. Never have I had bread pudding that looked and tasted like a slice of wonder bread from the bread outlet store rolled into a ball with caramel fresh from the Hershey’s bottle it came from… It was honestly offensive and the last straw for me.
I don’t mind throwing down money on food, but this place makes me wonder why I had to pay over $ 100 to sit down try to justify bad food for three hours. Luckily I enjoyed the company and we all had a good laugh over the food and service, but never again.

If last night was my first ever visit to the Flatiron, I can honestly say I wouldn’t be back. (Unfortunately it was the first trip there for 5 out of the 7 at our table.)
Also, if last night was my first ever visit to the Flatiron, I’d be giving it a big heaping one-​star review… but dropping one of my former favorites off my «Top Omaha Restaurants» list AND writing a scathing one-​star review just wouldn’t do.
Still, a seething two-​star review is clearly on the horizon here.
As I think back to the nearly 3 hours we spent at the Flatiron yesterday evening, the underlying feelings I had were of disappointment and sadness. Worst of all, I felt like a fool for leading my Unilocal friends into dining disaster… like some twisted version of the walrus and the carpenter where the oysters get to write reviews in the end.
Luckily the company and conversation was great, but even that couldn’t make up for the slow pace of service (slower than you’d expect), the weird smells, duct tape employed weather-​stripping, and the quality of food (when someone has to ask for ketsup to go with duck fat fries, that’s not typically a good sign.)
Aah yes… the food. «The time has come, the Walrus said, To talk of many things…»
We were talked into the appetizer sampler. Which, yes, I’ve always ordered on previous visits. But this time was different… and it didn’t seem different in a ‘seasonal menu’ kind of way, but different in a ‘we substituted the crab meat for mushrooms’ way. There goes $ 14/​person for what amounted to one shrimp, a bite of sausage, one cream cheese wonton, a breaded portobello and a couple spoons of cheese/​mushrooms. Believe me that these are the descriptions as I recall them in terms of taste, and it was obviously a far cry from the menu.
Next up… meals.
Bill ordered the «grilled rib eye of beer, with lobster bearnaise, and duck fat fries». He was essentially in the same boat as Matt, but had the please of the one that tasted ‘chewy and gamey’. It was reminiscent of steaks and [bad] fries I’ve had at other one-​star reviewed restaurants in town (Bistro 121 I’m looking in your direction). And with the $ 34 price tag, something I would have been disappointed with if we’d paid half that.
I ordered the «grilled Berkshire bone in pork chop with an apple ginger glaze and apple fennel slaw & rosemary new potatoes.» Chop was decent, though not worth $ 30. Accompaniments were sad. Four or five droopy inconspicuous green beans, potatoes that were undercooked, and slaw without a melding of flavors.
We also both had the cesar salad — which I’ve raved about previously — but cover anything with blue cheese and I can’t complain too much. Still, the lettuce seemed a little inferior and the bacon wasn’t the thick peppery type I remembered. Probably not worth the $ 4 up-​charge.
The plating was not at all appealing (see pictures).
Yet we continued on and ordered dessert. I too opted for crème brûlée, and mine was also burnt on the top, though the texture of the sugar was good there’s nothing worse than a bite of burnt sugar in crème brûlée… except maybe not using real vanilla beans. For $ 7 I want to see some black flecks in the bottom of the dish.
And yes, the final tally. After tax and tip (20% added in by our server) we got our of there on the order of $ 160 for two. Others were more in the range of $ 100/​person. It even seems that since my last visit this summer that they’ve raised their prices… though that’s just conjecture.
In summation, I expected so much and felt slighted to see how drastically different this dinner was than in visits past. Yes all the blah blah above could come off as complaining, but this was 180 degrees different than I’ve come to expect from the Flatiron and I can honestly say I won’t be recommending or attending again anything soon. (Tear…)