This is the place that started me on the Southwestern flavors obsession I currently have. Â The decor is unique, especially for Omaha, but if you are going somewhere because it looks cool, then fly to New York or Paris or Rome. Â I'm going to Stokes for the food.
The only appetizer I stick with is the chips and guacamole. Â Outside of South O, it's pretty good guac and the chips are plentiful. I also ALWAYS go with a cup of their roasted corn chowder. Â It is more like a chowder puree, but it has an incredible adobo and corn flavor to it, plus you dip hot flour tortillas in it (or use them as your spoon).
I typically stick with the tacos. Â I am a huge fan of the fish tacos and the brisket tacos. Â My wife and father LOVE their enchiladas...it's the only thing they ever get there. Â
I haven't tried the desserts or explored their drink menu, but I am told by my friends and family they are on par with other good restaurants.
We visited this location last night. Â Loved the 1/2 price bottles of wine, believe me, we had plenty. Â My husband enjoyed the trout dip, which we have ordered before. Â Unfortunately, I ordered the Queso Fundido. Let me just say, I like cinnamon, but not in my Queso .....yuck! Â It was very overpowering and sorry to say, Â I will never order it again. Â With that said, Â I will be back and order Sharon's Enchiladas, that I have ordered in the past and are very yummy..!!
Review Source:Stokes has always been a class act! Â We called on short notice for a reservation for 8 on a Saturday night, and they were able to accomodate us! Â The new location is very cozy, and nice. Â I've always been a fan of their terrific wine selection, Raspberry margaritas and Cabo Chicken Salad. Â My husband LOVES the steak and mushroom enchilada. Â It has a fun unique mole-like sauce with a touch of cinnamon that really sets it off! Â On our last visit, his dish had changed a bit. Â They are now using brisket instead of chunks of steak. Â We were not impressed, and asked that the waitress pass along our feedback to Chef John. Â Aside from that, eat at Stokes for a fun and classy southwestern experience!
Review Source:I've been eating at Stokes ever since the place has been in existence, so it's probably time I write a review.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new location. Â The decor is warm and comfortable, with an understated Southwestern theme, and the space is big enough and open enough to keep the noise level very comfortable so diners can converse without shouting at each other. Â When I first heard that they were moving into the failed Ted's Nebraska Grill/Baja Grill location, I was worried. Â In order to get into the parking lot, you have to drive through the parking lot of an office building, which feels wrong, for some reason. Â But once you get it figured out, you'll find it worth the effort. Â I've been there about a dozen times since they moved, at various times - lunch, dinner, cocktails . . . and it's been bustling every time. Â I was there one day at 2:30 in the afternoon on a weekday - not exactly prime meal time, and 75% of the tables were full. Â It looks like someone finally figured out how to make a go of it in this space. Â
It is difficult for me to go to Stokes and not order the steak and mushroom enchiladas. Â I dream of them at night. Â They're just spicy enough, just savory enough, and just enough food . . . okay, way MORE than enough . . . to be a very satisfying meal. Â I always order them thinking "I'll take half of this home because it is way too much for one person to eat at one meal", and I always end up eating the whole thing because they're just so good I can't help myself, and then I go home feeling as if I'd eaten a truck. Â But they're worth it.
Last night I deviated. Â I tried the pork shoulder with mole sauce, which is a new menu item since the move from Miracle Hills. Â The pork was juicy, tender and fell apart with my fork. Â And the mole sauce . . . If I could have ordered a bowl of mole sauce and a big spoon, I would have! Â
My friend ordered the grilled chicken, with garlic cream sauce. Â The chicken was cooked to perfection, and the cream sauce was garlicky, silky and just the right consistency. Â There was just enough sauce to flavor the meat without drowning it. Â Whenever I see meat swimming in sauce in a restaurant, I assume the chef doesn't know how to cook meat, he just knows how to make sauce. Â Not a problem here. Â It came with a side of grilled mixed vegetables which she said were wonderful.
It was half price wine night. Â My friend and I shared a bottle of Guilliams Cabernet, which is normally over my price point for a casual evening out, but at half price, it's a steal. It's a great wine. Â One of many great wines on the wine list. Â
One of my New Year's resolutions is to visit Stokes at least once a month, and to bring home half of my enchiladas.
I wasn't very impressed. The food was too expensive for what we were served. The shrimp scampi on ciabatta was only a quarter of the plate and only 4 pieces of shrimp. The Tacos Carbon was decent but not impressive. The Queso fundido was bland and boring and I am not sure why it would even come with tortilla shells.
Review Source:I would recommend that you go to the Stokes in the Old Market before you patronize this one. The menu is the same but the preparation & cleanliness is not.
First, after we were seated we waited forever for a server, the table had food & rice from the previous customers all over it and my beer was brought out warm.
I went with one of my old standbys - the Aztec Shrimp Salad. It was prepared the same way as the Old Market but with less attention to detail. The shrimp were over cooked and the "fixins" were offered in very small amounts.
Edible but served with alot less heart than the other location.
Sunday Brunch is one of our favorite times to eat at Stokes. Â We love the Sharon's chicken enchilladas, and their brunch special was a small plate of Sharon's and two eggs of your choice. Great combo. Â We had a table for six and we all ordered the special....it's that good. Â
Good food...good value....good service.
Call it whatever you want. Tex Mex. Twisted Mex. New Tex Mex. Southwest. I really don't care what you call it. The flavors are all here. I truly don't get why this place doesn't sport a 4-star average. Looking through the reviews, I think some folks have been a bit harsh. Here is a tip... if you don't like the meal, don't eat it! Tell your server and I will bet they give you a different item. That may happen more often here, as the flavors are bold.
Case in point... I had the Johnny's Big Plate.
First there was a chicken & cheese chile relleno. They do the Relleno in a corn batter instead of an egg batter. There is your twist. I liked the crispness of it.
Second, a steak & mushroom enchilada. This was covered with an incredible ancho chili enchilada sauce. Spectacular. Hints of cinnamon, earthy, spicy. I have a recipe for anyone who wants to try this at home. Hit me up. : ) Â
Finally, Sharon's Enchilada. A chicken enchilada covered with cheese and dressed with a guacamole sauce and one other delectable drizzle. Just mouth watering.
The rice and beans were also more tasty than the average joint.
Again... if you want flavor, it resides here.
Last night was my first time eating here. Â I really had no idea what to expect, but my friends whom I dined with assured me it was going to be good....and, as we had been working in the yard all day with no opportunity to change clothes beforehand, dress code was not a problem. Â We were seated immediately, and drink orders were placed soon after that. Â The menu is extensive with a Southwest slant featuring a good selection of appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, and entrees. Â The four of us shared the nachos with cowboy beans. Â Chips were multicolored corn, with melted cheese, beans, tomatoes, and two salsas on the side, chipotle and verde, both very good. Â I wasn't feeling like a big meal so I went with a soup and salad, ordering Koko's Harvest Salad and a bowl of tortilla soup. Â The Caesar-inspired romaine salad has several toppings including grilled chicken breast, two dressings-sweet pepper and jalapeno ranch, along with chopped red onion, bacon bits, croutons, guacamole, and monterey jack cheese. Â The dressing was already on the salad, and was a little heavy-handed for me. Â Fresh avocado in the midwest is a little hard to pull off, quite often being overly ripe and heavily oxidized, giving it a dark greenish-brown color. Â I would order without it next time. Â All in all, a tasty and filling salad. Â
Then there was the tortilla soup. Â It was like the lid of the salt shaker fell off in the kitchen. Â Three of us had ordered this soup, and all three of us had to send it back. Â The server was very apologetic, explaining that the soup was made from scratch...so I hope the soup chef will hopefully taste the soup before declaring it edible. Â Corn chowder was ordered up as a substitute, but I found it to be too thick and sweet, almost like batter for cornbread. Â Too bad. Â
I will not go out of my way to eat here, but I would suggest it to friends looking for a decent place to eat in the suburbs on a Sunday night.
Once upon a time, I would've given this place four stars. Â Used to love the tacos al carbon. Â Once flavorful and tender, now bland and tough. Â Usually: the place is inconsistent.
A number of other things I really liked have long since left the menu. Â Such is the way of all things, I suppose. Â Meanwhile, the food's not too bad, but if you want a mildly pretentious evening sipping wines and you're not expecting anything special in the way of food, this may be your place.
Now let me vent about something that's always stuck in my craw: Queso Fundido, a simple little phrase for a simple little dish that simply means "melted cheese." Â It's a bowl of melted cheese with maybe a little of this or that in it. Â Queso Fundido. Â Melted cheese. Â Everywhere I've ever eaten it, and I've eaten it many times. Â I like cheese, you see.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I unwittingly ordered the queso fundido at Stokes. Â It's a bowl of beans with a thin layer of cheese on it. Â Yes, I'm serious. Â It is, in other words, what is known throughout the entire rest of the country as a "bean dip." Â Nothing worse than a bowl of beans when you had your (rapidly clogging) heart set on a bowl of decadent melted cheese.
I made this point to the owners once a couple of years ago. Â Didn't even make a dent in their self-confident fantasy world where "queso fundido" means "bowl of warm beans with a veneer of cheese."
I'm going to go pound my head against a wall now.
This has been one of my favorite places to eat since I moved to Omaha ten years ago.
In fact, after I came back from a European trip for the first time, a major craving of mine was their Sharon's Famous Chicken Enchiladas.
Now, don't think high class Mexican, or even Tex-Mex. This place definitely has a Southwestern theme, but it's a little up-class. However, the great thing about it, other than the always consistently amazing food and drink/wine selection, is how friendly and casual the atmosphere. Â (The prices aren't pretentious, either.) The waitstaff treats you like a friend (without being creepy and sitting down next to you or something) and is prompt and courteous.
But the FOOD. Â Stokes serves up amazing varieties of tacos, steaks, and funky but tasty southwestern varieties of typical "American contemporary"-style food.
Yeah, it's more expensive than bar food. It's not a hole-in-the-wall bar. It's a fancy restaurant. Though, I hate to use the word "fancy." It's not that pretentious. But it is a "nice" restaurant, a place to take a date, a business contact, or just go yourself if you crazily crave the Sharon's Enchiladas, can't get enough of the enchiladas, must have the enchiladas, get them to-go for $10 and split it into two or three meals because you can't live without the enchiladas!.... But that's just if you're me....
I have been to Stokes so many times I've lost count. Overall this is a great place to eat with a fun atmosphere. They have lots of great dishes, my favorites are: Sharon's enchiladas, cabon tacos, fish tacos and taco salad. My only cons for Stokes are: every location seems to make the dishes a little differently and that the steak and mushroom enchiladas are not only spendy but also taste horrible (never again!).
Review Source:Most of this review is based on the fact that Sharon's Enchiladas are one of my two must-have meals when I come to Omaha (The other is the Steak Pizza at the Upstream). Â Most other dishes I have had there (Tacos Carbon, Cabo San Taco) are good not great. Â It is fancier than typical Tex-Mex so it is a solid option to take clients.
Review Source:I wanted a quick bit in old town Omaha before heading to the airport.
I was lucky enough to make it for happy hour and had the pulled port sandwich. Â Sandwich was average. Â The pork was less than "pulled" and had large chucks with lots of caramelized onions doused with sauce served on a stale french baguette.
On the plus side, everyone at the restaurant is very friendly and the sandwich is only $4.95 for happy hour.....check out the photo of the sandwich, which is more visually appealing than to the palette.
Bon Appetit...winning the hearts of food lovers one tummy at a time!
Visited Stokes for lunch on Wednesday. We had the New Mexico Club Wrap and Fish Tacos. Both were good, as were the strawberry lemonades. Chips and salsa are offered and charged for as was the second bowl of chips, so they were pretty good but I wasn't expecting to be charged as most Tex-Mex joints offer them gratis.
Decent atmosphere and good service. Nothing incredible but nothing terrible either.
Actually if there was a "two-and-a-half stars" that is what I would prefer to give Stokes. I hadn't been here in quite some time and I quickly remembered why. My meal - eh - it had its ups and downs.
Lets start with the downs. The black bean soup - it was blah and tasteless. Let's get some spice in there please. There was a flavor that I could not put my finger on, but other than a little smokiness, it tasted like it was straight from a can. The highlight was the soft fresh tortillas it was served with.
My salmon salad on the other hand - NICE! (YAY!) It was a fun mix of salmon, corn, a spicy zip of fresh pico de gallo, pumpkin seeds, a creamy dressing, and a few other things that I cannot recollect. I would love to tell you what they were, but all of Restaurant Incs websites are "under construction."
Overall - I may venture back to Stokes ... perhaps to sit outside some evening with a glass of wine and would definitely order the salmon again. It is disappointing though to menu wander and find Stokes so hit or miss.
I'm torn on this one folks.
I was here with a few others on Saturday night. Â We were told we would have a 40 minute wait. Not surprising since it was peak time. Â NO big deal. Â We went to the bar and had a few over priced drinks and made small talk with the locals. Â I had a very good gin and tonic. Â Anywho....we finially got called about an hour and ten minutes after we arrived. Â It was a crazy long wait. Â We got a booth and the server gal was great. Â The chips were soft and not crisp by any means. Â The guac was real good though. Â I ordered the hot chicken penne. Â It was delicious!!! Â The bowl never seemed to end either. Â I was comfortbally full. Â Others has the heat wrap or something like that. Â They said it was very good, but it came with this very hot but sweet habenero sauce that tasted incredable. Â It would be something that I would put on stir fry. Â The bill here wasn't too bad as we all split it evenly. Â The chef came out and talked with us and he was a real nice guy and helpful about our decisions on the meals. Â It they could have had better turn around to get us in there quicker that would have added a star and if the drinks were not so damn spendy that would get another one. Â The food was great but other parts were lacking.
Okay, I'm going to write the review for the Stokes that I knew and loved. Â Not the one that is there today.
There are/were a number of really good things on the menu such as Sharon's Enchiladas, Taco's Carbon, Mayan Fire Linguine and the Cabo San Taco. Â If you hit it on a good night these can still be good, though consistency is their big issue now - especially expanding downtown. Â I also find that they tend to put too much cinnamon and/or nutmeg into some of their dishes which tends to overpower some of the flavors.
Couple of lesser known items to try. Â Try the nachos with the Beans, Chorizo, Steak, Chicken and Pico de Gallo added on (it only comes with beans or chorizo). Â You have to order it special - and most times they forget at least one of the items which blows my mind. Â This is a great meal for two with a couple margarita's. Â In fact, most times the wait staff that brings it out talks about how good it looks and they need to try that sometime.
Fire Shrimp is also good appetizer to get. Â Good seasoning on the Shrimp - though not sure you need a tortilla with it.
3 years ago I found Stokes and it was a nice local restaurant that served really good food. Â Since then it has become really inconsistent and the dishes have morphed into sloppy renditions of some of my favorites. Â The staff has been less friendly and the atmosphere less inviting. Â - Stokes where have you gone!!??
Dear Stokes, I can ignore the fact that your parent company is named 'Restaurants, Inc.' and I love almost everything I've ever tried at... you. Â But why couldn't you have fish taco's that pleased my palate? Â I did not care for the cabbage, sauce, or fish itself. Â
Anyway, after that episode I went back to my standards nachos, enchiladas, tortilla soup, wrapped fire... which I have yet to stray from again. Â And I am happy for it.
I came here for lunch. Â I can't speak for anything except the Tortilla soup and Fish Tacos which where recommended by a local.
The tortilla soup was nothing like I expected.. I normally expect a creamy type soup but this was more like a broth..which made me hesitant at first, once I tasted it. Â I was sold!! sooo good and the "Fish Tacos" plate was up there with the best I've ever had. Â
Overall service was good.. and nice decorations. Â I wanted to go back for more, but didn't have time as I was only there for two days.
I went for the first time not knowing anything about this place, just had heard of it. Â They have a regular menu with tacos and enchiladas and the such. Â They also have a changing menu of steaks and more expensive fare. Â
We started with the mussels as an appetizer. Â Hmm... Awesome. Â The sauce was perfect.
I had the sampler platter for my main course which I thought was not that great... Â There was some sauce on my mushroom and steak enchilada that had a whole lot of nutmeg in it. Â Not tasty. Â The beans had the same thing. Â I ate around it and the relleno was kinda gross too. Â
For dessert we had Banana's Fargo? (Not banana's foster) Â Man this was really good. Â I'm not a huge fan of bananas but this was good.
All in all you can spend about $10-15 on the regular menu or around $30 on the daily menu.
Not Impressed!
I tried to go here for lunch a few weeks ago, but they screwed up our reservation.
I have to say I was very disappointed with this restaurant. Â I heard good things, but I don't think I will be going back any time soon even though this place is in my neighborhood. Â Our service was extremely slow - took a while to get drinks and then took a while to get our order in. Â When we finally did place our order, someone's soup was forgotten, dinner took forever one person's steak was undercooked, my plate was really hot because it was in the over (i.e. was ready way before everyone else's, so they had to hold it for a long time). Â it was also really drafty where we were sitting.
Even though the service was slow, the waiter was nice & the raspberry mojito was great.
This is a very nice place for a good-quality dinner. Â I came on a Tuesday night, and sat at the bar. Â Tuesday nights are currently 1/2 price nights on bottles of wine; I wasn't initially interested in a full bottle but the bartender said that they could package the bottle up for me to take out when I left. Â so I got a bottle of the Mud House (NZ) Sauvignon Blanc, feeling pretty extravagant since I was alone.
That was the hard decision. Â The easy one was made before I entered the restaurant, based on some online customer review. Â Two words: fish tacos. Â I LOVE fish tacos. Â Period.
The wine was a typical New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, with lots of fruit in it, though maybe more citrus than exotic fruits. Â It had a tart acidity too, that was good. Â The first taste seemed a little flinty, which I like, but that faded pretty quickly - maybe it was my expectation for a sauvignon blanc that colored my taste.
The food was awesome. Â I tried the black beans first - very round, earthy flavors, in part because of the queso blanco on top (NOT cheddar or some other meltable cheese). Â While they weren't spicy hot, they were flavorful and satisfying. Â The texture was nice too - the beans were broken down and smooth, but the skins still protected enough of the inside to show that these weren't just reconsituted from powder or something. Â The rice was also good - vibrantly red, with a similar hearty, not-too-hot flavor. Â Also, it was neither greasy nor dry, which apparently is tough to manage.
The fish tacos came on soft white corn tortillas, with sizable chunks of well-browned grilled tilapia crowning the veggies underneath. Â To be honest, I didn't even notice what veggies were underneath - but it wasn't iceberg lettuce! Â The tilapia had a good earthy flavor, though it might have been ever so slightly dry for my taste. Â What I did miss in the fish tacos was cilantro - I love lots and lots of cilantro to give the fish some zing without overpowering the delicate fish (especially tilapia). Â But as a package it worked well together, and was very satisfying.
The service was also excellent. Â Attentive without being overly solicitous or falsely chatty. Â Yeah, I got upsold to a bottle of wine from a glass, but hell, the thing was half price. Â Some of the other glasses were selling for $13 (and that's just whites). Â I also like the dcor - no boots and cow skulls here, just tasteful earth and red-toned hues on the walls, and more black on the floor and seat areas, with lots of track lighting so you could actually see without feeling like you're in an interrogation room. Â I'd go here on a date for sure (well, with my wife these days, but it looks like a great place for singles).
The one thing I guess I don't get is the combination of Southwest food with a great wine list, especially not reds. Â Maybe I skipped over the meats too quickly, but I personally would not think to order a good cabernet or zinfandel with Southwest style foods. Â Well, someone else can handle that combo. Â I'll just savor the satisfaction of those tacos and sip this here sauvignon blanc.
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