Stokes: Grill & Bar

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Stokes

1122 Howard Street, Omaha, NE

Where we went:

Our next stop came about after spending the afternoon in the Omaha’s Old Market district. While deciding where to have dinner, our first choice having over an hour wait do to being overbooked for graduation parties, we settled about Stokes. Stokes has two locations in Omaha, the Old Market location we visited, and a location out west at 136th and California. Eric had been to Stoke’s before, but this was Kyle’s first visit. Kyle works downtown, so has been past Stokes many times, but didn’t realize it was a Tex/Mex restaurant. He had always thought it was a steakhouse, he was pleasantly surprised.

What we Eat:

For dinner Eric had the Roasted Butternut Squash and Potato Enchilada while Kyle chose Sharon’s Chicken Enchilada with Rice and Beans, this came highly recommended by the waitress. Eric paired his Enchilada with a large blackberry margarita, while Kyle stuck to a simple soda. Eric and Kyle finished the meal off by sharing a large bananas fargo (I forgot to get a picture of it!) for desert.

The Food:

We had quite an interesting conversation about the food at Stokes. First off, the food was good, there is no question about that, however Eric and Kyle differed in the overall enjoyment of it. Eric Eric’s enchilada had a particularly unique flavor, as neither of us had ever seen or tasted butternut squash enchilada before. However, Kyle’s chicken enchilada, although good, didn’t stand out to him as anything particularly special. It was far more cheese than chicken, which is normally great, but, in Kyle’s view, it was just okay.

We also disagreed on desert, but for a more fundamental reasons. This deep fried shell, with bananas, vanilla ice cream and chocolate frosting was good, however, Kyle struggles to eat banana flavored things that isn’t banana bread or, of course, a real banana. Eric, on the other hand, fell in love with the desert and plans to order it again.

The Atmosphere:

The atmosphere at Stokes is a unique. It is housed in an turn of the century warehouse building in the heart of Omaha’s historic Old Market district, so it naturally comes with an old world charm. They have managed to mix that in with a blend of Native American, Southwest and Mexican cultural styling. These included copper cut out ornaments on both the walls and booth dividers that reflected old world native, almost art deco images (I’m sure they have a name, I just don’t know what it is). The big windows and central bar gives it light, while still having a rather dark, almost romantic feel about it. If it hadn’t started raining we could have chosen to dine outside on their sidewalk patio.

The Service:

So far in our journey, this has been the first location to provide the full service restaurant experience. Our waitress was friendly and efficient, and even helped us select our food by giving her recommendations and answering questions about the menu. For example, Kyle had never heard of Poblano Sauce before. It turns out, Poblano Sauce is a green sauce, similar to sour cream, that can be made both spicy or mild. Kyle chose to get this on the side to task it, after a taste he chose not to include it on his meal, but Eric enjoyed it and added it to his dish.

In the End:

Stokes is a excellent location for some good Tex/Mex food Omaha. The dining experience is exceptional and the highlight of the visit. Eric raved about the food, while Kyle though it was good, but nothing special, so you will have to judge for yourself.