Stopped in for drinks and crab cakes. My wife had a Zin that made her very happy for $9 a glass. I had the Moscow  Mule at $8.50, served in a copper mug. Crab cakes were decent but nothing to get into a tizzie about. Outdoor seating was nice, except that the only view was across the strip mall (which can't be helped in most of Lincoln, let's be honest). Clientele was mostly suburban.
Review Source:Back for more!! For appetizers, we shared the Caprese Salad, and the Ahi Tuna with a cucumber cilantro relish. Â Dinner was the best halibut ever over risotto with green beans. My friend enjoyed a fillet with duck ravioli and roasted beets. Â We split the Better than Sex cake for desert! Oh my goodness!!! It is always a dining experience, not just a meal! Â YUM!!!
Review Source:We tried this place after it first opened and haven't been able to go back. We ordered crab cakes for our appetizer and after waiting 20 minutes they finally came out. Not only were they cold in the middle but I also found a plastic bag in one of them. Our meals were not very good either. Haven't been able to go back since to give them another try.
Review Source:Great place! We only went in for the wine. The bartender was great at giving us ideas, opinions and what she recommended. She would always check on us and even had conversations with her. The chef came out because we were looking at eating some cheese. He gave us a free sampler plate, done up all neat. We picked our cheese and holy crap fancy cheese platter! Although the platter cost $17, it had all sorts of stuff on it and my wife loved it! I'll pay that price for my wife to have a good night out. We also met the owner and her boyfriend. Great group of people here. The food was passing us by from the kitchen, and if had not just ate, we would have tried this place for dinner. Very good looking food. I recommend this place for a romantic dinner or just sit at the bar for some wine, beer or drinks.
Review Source:I must say I am not a wine snob but rather a beer brat. My beautiful wife bought an online coupon or as Ron (Tator Salad) White would say a cupun and so we decided to have a date night and try this place out. We had reservations and we walked in and were seated and I will say the atmosphere is nice and quaint. We were greeted by our server who's name is Liz and I will say if you ever go ask for her and you will not be sorry. She greeted us with an Ipad to show their huge wine list and all about the wines and the food pairing as well. We told her about our wine knowledge and she made a few choices for us and we were very happy with them.
We first ordered their Carmela cakes and it came at the same time as their wonderful warm fresh bread hit the table and I wish we would have stopped there but no such luck. We ordered dinner and we were so amazed and the freshness and quality of of our meals were well worth our journey out there. I can say that the Italian Rib eye steak is absolutely the best steak I have ever eaten in my life and I have eaten at some of the finer steak houses in the Midwest.
Liz thank you for the wonderful time and all of your help with the wine and the great service. Good luck with school and girl we will be back for some more of that again..
Big Love
Much like the previous review, how does one separate food from service?
We had a large (14) party for lunch. I called the day before to see if they could accommodate. They assured me that it would be no problem. Good Enough.
We arrived and were shown separate tables for our group. We took it upon ourselves to move two tables together to better accommodate our group. Â We sat for a good five minutes before our waiter came with water for all but three three in our party. After another five minutes he brought the remaining three waters. Â Our orders were taken. Salads were brought 2 at a time after about a ten minute wait as if there weren't enough dishes to accommodate more. Â Entrees then began to arrive 2 at a time. First the chicken sandwiches then the burgers followed by the special and the pizzas and finally the pasta arrived. There was about a five to seven minute wait between groupings. Â Needless to say those who received their food in the first group were finished long before the people who were served in the final group.
I ventured to the restroom to evaluate the crowd and found 6 other people dining and at least that many wait staff. Â
The checks and change were as slow to arrive as the food. The food was decent (although I had to ask for Bacon on my Cobb salad). Â Start to finish we were there from 11:40 a.m. to 1:20 p.m..
My friend and I were looking for something different a while ago (around 6 months) and decided to make the trek out to Carmela's. Â I haven't had much desire to make that trek again. Â
When we arrived it was really busy, but we were seated within about 10 minutes (major plus). Â We sat down and asked our server about their wine offerings and he had absolutely no clue. Â He admitted he doesn't like wine and had no idea about any of the wines they served at Carmela's. Â He did so in a humorous way which helped, but this was still disappointing. Â For a place that bills itself as a wine bar, you'd expect the servers to know quite a bit about the bottles they serve whether they are fans of wine or not. Â And additionally, should they be hiring people who are not fans of wine or seem so incredibly disinterested in it? Â We went ahead and chose a bottle and ordered a meat and cheese board to start out with. Â
We ordered the rest of our food when he brought the wine, and received our cheese board sometime later. Â It was decent and had very, very generous portions of mediocre cheese and meat. Â It seems to me that they should cut back on the portions a bit and go for higher quality cheeses and meats. Â For a place that has such a high price tag, I was expecting much higher quality. Â Â
The next part of the meal I really don't remember all that well. Â It was that forgettable. Â I ordered a pizza and my friend ordered a pasta dish I believe and we both shared a bit of each other's dishes. Â The general consensus was...meh. Â We should have just gone to Bread and Cup, Marz or even Dish to spend our $80+ dollars.
Enjoyed birthday dinner with friends and family last night. Had never been, but what a nice cozy restaurant! The food and service were top notch. Our waitress was prompt, informative, and kept our glasses filled. She was there when we needed her, and invisible when we didn't. I had the Tuscan ribeye, which was done perfectly, and accompanied by excellent homemade mashed potatoes and perfectly cooked string beans almondine. My brother, who is a trained chef, had the duck. Â He was dubious that it would meet his expectations, but he was entirely satisfied. My wife had the filet mignon -- perfect, and I loved the truffle butter (we share). Great wine selection. Â Stags Leap cab was $58 but worth every penny. Much more reasonably priced wines are available. All six members of my party were delighted with the experience. Carmela's is a new favorite of mine, probably one of the top three restaurants in Lincoln.
Review Source:Good restaurants are in short supply in Lincoln. Â I had been hearing great things about Carmelas from people whose opinion I respect on such matters. Â For whatever reason it has taken me many months to get in to check it out for myself.
How do you separate the food from the service? Â It's hard when dining out is often about the whole experience, not just the flavors that cross your buds.
We stopped in without reservations so we had to wait about 30 minutes. Â No big deal. Â We were finally seated at a 2 top, our conversation drowned-out by the boisterous graduation party nearby.
We sat at least 5 minutes without anyone stopping by. Â That gave us plenty of time to decide on Crab Cakes and the Al Capone (meat and cheese plate) which we planned to share. Â Finally our waiter came without apology.
Someone else delivered our food and began to walk away when we asked for silverware. Â That helped. Â Small plates and drink refills would have helped also, but we got none of that. Â Fortunately, I was able to use the small cutting board on which the bread came as a plate for my meal.
The food was terrific. Â The crab cakes were the best I've had since time spent on the East coast. Â For this reason alone I will be trying Carmelas once more.
We asked an unsuspecting busboy to find our waiter and our check. Â It was like pulling teeth to pay and get out of there.
So, downright rotten service. Â Very good food. Â Perhaps they just had an off night. Â We'll see next time.
Just had another good experience at Carmela's.
This was my second visit. Â I had the Poblano Salmon with mashed potatoes and green beans. Â It also came with two shrimp. Â Everything on my plate was delicious, and I will have a hard time ordering something else on my next visit. Â The bread that our server brought was good and came with pesto butter (I love everything pesto). Â My date had the halibut, which he said was "okay".
Again, our server was very polite and professional. Â He mentioned that they're now open for lunch. Â I really like the way they have this place divided up - it feels cozier and eliminates noise.
Well done, Carmela's! Â I'll be back soon.
With the new happy hour menu, Carmela's is now a reasonably priced option for everyone. All of the happy hour items are fantastic (Try the duck drummets and the poppyseed club salad) , and HH discounts on wine and beer is nice as well. But don't skip over the entrees. The chef is young, creative and outstanding. The Oscar's Favorite, stuffed shrimp and Borsin Filet is top notch.
Review Source:
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
