Wheatfields: Eatery & Bakery

Tuesday, July 16 2018

Wheatfields Eatery & Bakery

1224 S. 103rd Street, Omaha, NE

Where we went:

Eric told Kyle to choose the restaurant tonight, but Kyle was just too indecisive on what kind of food he was hungry for. So we settled on Wheatfields, a restaurant and bakery that has a little bit of everything. Wheatfields has two locations in Omaha, one in the Old Market and a second in One Pacific Place at 103 and Pacific Street, just off Interstate 680 in Central Omaha. We chose to go to the One Pacific Place location as we didn’t feel like going downtown and paying for parking.

What we Eat:

Wheatfields has one of the largest menus of any restaurant we have ever eaten at. Although this is great, it makes deciding on what you actually want very difficult. After going back and forth between three different items, Kyle settled on the Omaha Philly with fries. Eric had a real struggle, he tends to order the exact same thing every visit, and wanted to try something new, but in the end, he decided to stick with his favorite, the Scotland Yard BLT.

Wheatfields had a special during our visit of a Mini-Cinnamon Roll Sampler, five different kinds of Cinnamon rolls to share. Of course we had to get this! Eric was so excited he forgot to tell the waiter that we wanted it for desert, so instead we got it as an appetizer!

The Food:

The Mini-Cinnamon Roll Sampler was amazing, it consisted of a Caramel, Cinnamon, Sticking Orange, Pecan and Mother Earth mini cinnamon roll. Both Eric and Kyle felt the Orange one was a little strange (though Eric liked the strangeness), Kyle LOVED the traditional Cinnamon, this is what he thinks of when he thinks Cinnamon roll, Eric's favorite was the… the umm . . . they were all good that he can’t choose!

When Eric pointed the BLT out to Kyle in the menu, Kyle saw a picture on the same page, but thought it was just a picture of bacon, nope! The BLT comes with so much bacon weaved together that he couldn't even tell by the picture that it was a sandwich. Not only is the generous helping of bacon served in a unique way, but the citrus ranch drizzle gives it a little extra kick beyond your normal BLT. This sandwich is surprisingly pricey, but is definitely worth it . . . Usually . . . Although Eric has had this sandwich on a few other occasions, this one was a bit of a let down. The bread was so overdone and burnt that it was crunchier than the bacon. In fact, at one point, after biting into the charred bread, Eric began coughing on the loose toast crumbs. The avocado garnish was surprisingly stingy with only two tiny, thin slices, and the aforementioned drizzle tasted disappointingly absent. The Scotland Yard BLT is normally the king of BLTs, but on this trip, it tasted more like something from a school cafeteria. The steak fries that accompanied the sandwich, however, were terrific. Nice and thick and very well seasoned!

While Eric’s entree was something of a disappointment, Kyle can’t say enough good things about the Omaha Philly. The fresh bread, the warm meat and so many flavors. He was initially planning to only eat half the sandwich, and take the other half to work the following day, but he couldn't control himself and devoured the entire thing, along with the fries.

The Atmosphere:

When you walked into the Wheatfields at One Pacific Place, you might easily thing you had walked into a massive bakery instead of a restaurant. Large display cases and countless shelves surround you all filled with the most delicious looking cakes, pies, bread and pastries you have ever seen. You need to walk through this deliciousness to get to the actual restaurant portion of the Wheatfields.

The Restaurant is nice, but doesn’t have anything special that draws your attention. However, on this evening we were asked if we wanted to sit in the enclosed patio, and we did. The enclosed patio has a much more cafe style flair to it, with brick floors and patio style dining tables. However, they were doing some painting, so half of the patio was cordoned off with painting supplies and ladders stacked around. There are also mirrored windows separating the patio from the main dining hall, so you can see out but you can’t see in. This felt a little awkward as we didn’t know who was watching us from the other side.

The Service:

Okay, we really don’t want to do bad reviews, but because we normally love Wheatfields, will definitely be eat here again, and encourage others to eat here, we feel that an honest discussion of our services is appropriate. For the first time, we had bad service.

There were only three or four other full tables in Wheatfields this night, but for some reason, our server kept forgetting about us. He didn’t come and refill our waters, Kyle was halfway done with his meal before he got his soda, Eric had to stop eating because he was so thirsty, and then, after we were given our check, it took forever for him to pick up our payment! At first we thought he was the only waiter there, but after looking around, there were two other ones there! Now, we were lucky that we didn’t have any other plans for the night, so this was mostly just an annoyance, but if we did need to be somewhere we would have finally just taken the check up to the hostess to pay.

In the End:

Wheatfields is one of the premier bakery restaurants in the Omaha area. Their pies and cakes and desserts are all legendary. The cinnamon roll sampler was definitely a highlight of this visit. Wheatfields also has an extensive breakfast section of their menu. In fact, it’s so large that it will deserve an post all on its own. While this restaurant is normally known for its quality, this visit just proved how much of a difference service can make in a guest’s impression of an eatery. And also a reminder that even the best places can have off days.