The Trap Room

Was with a large group of people before a wedding reception at the Slowdown. Drinks were good and the atmosphere was fun, but the bartender was unfriendly and acted as if we were putting her out by ordering drinks. One group of people said that they had better get to the reception and under her breath, the bartender said, ‘Yes you should’. Unfortunately, we heard her. If we had a more friendly bartender, this would have been a great place to go!

This place is a joke. Apparently, unless you’re friends with one of the bartenders… good luck getting a drink. No, it’s not because they were busy. There were three other customers at the bar, a table of eight and we were a group of four at the bar – there were two bartenders.
At one point, I was lucky enough to make eye contact with one of the bartenders. I made a hand gesture, similar to raising my hand, to let her know I wanted to ask something. She snarled back with – «you’re drink is over there.» I just wanted to get the water I had ordered my wife, who wasn’t drinking that night.
We decided to leave after our drinks sat empty for 15min.
Unfortunately, the atmosphere and character of the bar is pretty cool for a place in a recently constructed strip center. If I wasn’t treated as an inconvenience, this is the type of place I would go during the CWS to avoid the long drink lines, packed atmosphere, etc.
I don’t think these people realize you can’t just please your small group of friends and make a business of it. They’ll probably make some good money while it falls in their lap during the CWS. I’d be surprised if they make it another 12mos for the CWS to save their a. again. Who knows, maybe they’re on percentage rent and they can doggy paddle along. I won’t be back to see if my crystal ball is correct.

I love this place! The drinks are awesome and the atmosphere is great — almost like your grandpa’s basement or something. It’s in a great location and I love the peanuts as a little snack.

I travel a lot. Not to dis Omaha, but I definitely did not expect this place here. Hands down the best bar I’ve ever visited. Great music, good drinks, cool vibe. If you are ever in Omaha, make a point to visit the Trap Room. You won’t regret it.

Fun décor, fantastic margaritas on tap and enjoyable music! The outdoor patio is perfect for grabbing happy hour with friends. The free parking is perfect for the group. It helps that there is a pinball machine, so fun and favorable décor towards the hipsters.

When it comes to grabbing a few drinks, I rarely leave benson, but i will do just that for this place. I love everything about it. It feels like you’re hanging out at your grandparents house, if that makes any sense… the décor is so cool, retro yet familiar, the vibe is so comfy, the drink menu is great. There’s always a dude playing rad music that I’ve never heard before on vinyl, and the bathrooms and interior are super clean, to boot. I will have to go back in the summertime to get a piece of that patio.

The drinks are great, but the hipsters are a bummer. I’ve been here a handful of times, and my experience has always depended on which bartender is working. Last night, a female bartender wearing a beanie effectively alienated an entire table of patrons with an adolescent brand of petulance that is unbecoming a 30-​something adult human. When I ordered a bloody Mary for my wife after three other patrons had ordered the same drink, the bartender loudly complained that she could have made all of the drinks in a batch if she had known everyone was getting the same thing. There was plenty of eye-​rolling and passive-​aggressive tone. Classic high school. I wanted to ask her if the people waiting at the bar should poll each other about what they’re drinking to make her job easier. But then I remembered that I’m not her father. Also, I didn’t really want to have to talk to her more than is required by a financial transaction. So, I deducted a dollar from her tip every time I saw a bored, sullen glance.
Jesus, hipsters. Would it kill you people to smile? You have access to more cultural advantages than my generation ever did. In the 90s we would have thanked the gods for such downtown amenities. Instead, today’s post-​college 20 and 30-​somethings walk around the Slowdown like someone just shit on their birthday cake.
You can, I suppose, get away with such an attitude if you’re competent. And, indeed, the drinks were great. But, like I said, the tip was tiny.

One of Omaha’s best bars. The bartenders are typically skilled and comfortable both with their signature drinks and with classic cocktails. The bar has two televisions, but they are generally turned to classic movies or genre films, rather than sporting events. There isn’t much by way of bar food, but the chips and salsa are tasty.
The décor is superlative, cozy and decorated with vintage home entertainment room flourishes, including a wall-​sized photographic mural of an outdoors scene. Additionally, with its proximity to Film Streams, Saddle Creek Records, and Slowdown, this is the bar where you are liable to see local celebrities and visiting artists.

This is a cool little bar with great music playing and one pinball machine to make your own music! They got peanuts to eat and comfy places to sit!
They have this huge old vintage Hi-​Fi set up that as the story goes once belonged to Karen Carpenter. «Don’t you remember you told me, you loved me baby, baby baby baby baby oh baby»
It was rad and I naturally had to take a few snaps of that!
The beer they had on tap was amazing and I chatted with the bartender a bit about the fresh lemon juice he was juicing for drinks!
Thats a lot of lemons! One thing to know though this place is not a lemon at all! It rules!
+ it had free wi-​fi
+ right next to Slowdown, perfect place to hang pre or post show
+ good prices on drinks!

I’m not quite sure why anyone would spend their money here. It’s extremely annoying when both bartenders are drunk taking shots with their regulars. They have one TV in this bar and they had it on a channel with an elder man preaching religion. Hundreds of bars in Omaha and this is not the one to go to

Bartender was pretentious. Asked her about drinks and she said look at the menu even though there was nobody there. Drinks just ok, and the margarita on tap was at least cold.

After work gathering at this cozy establishment which, based on reviews, I expected to resemble my grandma’s forgotten basement. Don’t ask me where I got that expectation from… apparently something I conjured in my mind.
Nonetheless, super cozy with a limited, but decent beer selection, and a full complement of cocktail options for folks who enjoy more spirited concoctions.
Friendly, prompt service. Great atmosphere. Love that they have a patio (although didn’t get to enjoy it since it was winter). A great place to pop in for a beverage or two.

The Trap Room encompasses the funky spirit of the strip it resides in the north downtown. Along with blue line coffee, urban outfitters, film streams, and the slow down it’s one of my beloved areas of Omaha. The inside décor I would describe as retro and modern, perhaps even hipster?
It’s a bar with no real food other than chips and salsa from Jacobo’s– but the atmosphere and the vibe is extra chill and fun. I love their little outdoor patio seating for nicer weather. they also drink specials typically every day for happy hour most of them being a really great deal.
Definitely a place to catch up with friends or relax after a day of work. Highly recommended.
Edit -*02/​02/​16
Dogs allowed both inside and on the patio!!! Five stars from me, I never like to leave my baby behind at home while I have all the fun. Thank you for being dog friendly, Trap Room!

**Location is incorrect on Unilocal**It’s, located next-​door to Slowdown. We arrived late (around 12:45am), sat at a table, and waited at least 10 min before we finally walked up to the bar ourselves to get a drink; There were only 3 other people in the place. We had to walk back to the bar to request another drink as well so service was very poor. I liked the hipster atmosphere of the bar, however. It would be very popular in Salt Lake City.

Perfect size. I’ve heard the best music here, either from people’s record collection or the bartenders phone.
Good specials every day. We had a before movie dinner of $ 4 Jameson & ginger beers and Jacobo’s chips and salsa and free peanuts (and you know how good that salsa is!).
Post movie discussion included some husker fans watching the game (those tux-​wearing kind of fans that slipped over from a Saturday night wedding at the Slowdown), other movie goers and a few quiet Saturday night folk. Great, cheap wine recommendation from bartender Matt and heated movie debate (more animated poems from local filmmakers I say!)

I don’t care for this place. I’ve tried twice. The first time, my cousin and I walked in, felt… out of place… and decided not to even sit down.
The second time, I was alone. They had a chalkboard sign outside saying something to the effect of, «Spin a record, get a free drink!» but when I got inside and inquired about it, the response was, «Enh, it either happens it it doesn’t.»
Well… ooookay.
I sat down anyway and decided to order a drink (2 stars for cheap drinks). I simply never felt comfortable here. It was like I was an outsider in somebody’s basement where everyone else knew each other. I had to keep reminding myself that I was in a public bar and not trespassing, if that makes sense. I felt very out of place.
Anyway. It’s indeed decked out like the 70s and I get how that’s kinda cool. And I also get how a certain clientele could and do absolutely love… their… new little bar.

So this is the tip I left: «$ 5 bloody marys on Sundays till 4 p.m.» And let me tell you their bloodys are top notch. Each one took nearly five minutes to make as we patiently sat snacking on peanuts and Jacobo’s chips and salsa, just relaxing our lazy Sunday afternoon away into the evening. And the taste of the bloodys? Well, only a hint of spice, just how I like ‘em, garnished with a pickle, celery stick and two fat little green olives. And that’s just a taste of their menu, which features many craft cocktails, beer, fine wine, liquor flights and even margaritas on tap.
So the drinks are good. What about the rest?
As others have mentioned, the Trap Room is decked out like the basement bar your grandparent’s had put in their house in the ‘70s. Except it’s not damp and moldy, but rather clean, cozy and full of a rustic charm that blends mountain man with Mexican siestas. I was amazed by the burnt orange shag-​like carpeting. (Like I have a room in my house decked out in wood paneling that would pair perfectly with it.) Anyway, the L-​shaped bar has plenty of seats. Across the small room is a section of booths and tables plus a corner for listening to vinyl or tapes on Karen Carpenter’s old stereo setup (seriously those where her giant Tannoy speakers).
Add in a Twilight Zone pinball machine and a fantastic patio, and you have an all-​around great bar/​lounge that’s a unique concept for Omaha, a concept that’s pulled off to perfection.

My favorite bar in town. Drinks are always great. They don’t do happy hour but they do two daily specials instead. They’re usually pretty good deals. The beer special is usually a craft beer for $ 4 or $ 3.50. The bloody Mary’s are great. The cocktail menu is always changing. Lots of beer on tap and in bottles.

One of my favorite new bars. They have created a retro room (feels like every basement I was in during the 70’s growing up in Northern Minnesota) without have to schlep old beers signs all over the place. Good staff, the music chosen by the staff when I have been there was never obnoxious and always interesting, and they have good drink specials even on the weekends. This is a North Downtown and Downtown gem. It’s hip but you do not feel out of place or like you need to be up on the craft culture to be here. They took a small space (in a very new urban building) and made it feel unique. They did it with a simple concept that they executed with care. A lot of bars that are in kind of generic spaces like strip malls and such could really learn a lot from The Trap Room.

We admittedly didn’t intend to go here — but a private event on the roof at The Blatt made us re-​think our patio-​sitting plans … and the lights strung above The Trap Room’s patio beckoned.
I can’t comment much on the interior because we pretty much got our drinks and headed outside — but from the short time I spent inside, it seemed like they did a great job of capturing the essence of a 60s lounge (or at least how my 29-​year-​old self imagines a 60s lounge to be).
The patio isn’t large by any means — but it had a good 8 – 10 small tables, which is about as much seating as you’ll find inside. They’re crammed together pretty well in the tight quarters, but not so much that you’ll feel like you’re sitting on top of strangers.
The highlight of The Trap Room for me? The margaritas on tap, served in the exact same style of glass that my grandma has had for years. Talk about nostalgia!
All in all, a pretty chill new place if you’re looking for something in North Downtown that’s a little more low key than Slowdown.
And I should note — they do serve Jacobo’s chips and salsa. Get them. Pretty sure that’s a no-​brainer.