Drover

[Omaha Cowboy]

I know their last update stated “mid 2019” for a reopening..

I suspect it’ll be sometime this fall.. At least I hope that’s the case...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[Jack Ford]

They must be getting close. My wife runs the framing department at a large art gallery and had a rush job last week. She had to build a frame for a pair of sheepskin chaps for The Drover.

[nativeomahan]

A month since the last update. Is there anything new to report?

[Brad]

A month since the last update. Is there anything new to report?

Lots of people working on it yesterday 7/31, but didn't appear to be very close to opening.

[nativeomahan]

A month since the last update. Is there anything new to report?

Lots of people working on it yesterday 7/31, but didn't appear to be very close to opening.

What exactly is it that they need to do? The building suffered smoke damage in late 2018 from a kitchen fire. The integrity of the building was not compromised. In fact, anyone driving or walking by could not even denote that the building had been damaged. In 8 months the owners apparently have sat on their hands, all while the “good will” associated with the “Drover” name slowly ebbs into the history books. I am completely baffled by all of this. They might as well be flushing money down the toilet.

[nativeomahan]

Since I seem to be unable to edit my previous post, I will add here that the Drover has had a loyal customer following for decades (I am not one of those people). It seems stupefying that the owners refuse to keep that customer base updated at all as to any plans to reopen, progress reports, etc. There is no update on their web site (which still shows they remain in business and accepting dinner reservations!). No notices on their social media accounts, which would cost zero cents to provide. It’s like they were taken up into space by the rapture or something.

[debradomayer]

From my own experience, rebuilding from a fire happens at a snail's pace. Inspections for each step, separate for electrical and plumbing and framing and if they have to replace the HVAC yet another. Plus everything has to be up to current code, which costs lots of extra money and time. Then the trades are not readily available because of the flooding this spring. Everyone is backed up. Our fire was the first part of February and we're still living in a hotel with a possible finish date of mid Sept to Oct.

[nativeomahan]

Sorry to hear about your fire!

[Professor Woland]

Reopening with regular business hours on Tuesday, September 3.

[Omababe]

Reopening with regular business hours on Tuesday, September 3.

Great news!

[nativeomahan]

Has anyone tried it since it reopened? Curious if “the thrill is gone” or they are taking up where they left off in 2018.

[Louie]

Also, if the interior has changed at all.

[ChadJK]

Has anyone tried it since it reopened? Curious if “the thrill is gone” or they are taking up where they left off in 2018.

Also, if the interior has changed at all.

There's a couple of Yelp reviews since they reopened: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-drover-oma ... =date_desc

I was going to give them a couple of months to get back into the swing of things before I stopped back in. I did notice, while researching a completely different restaurant, that the last health inspections they got (which was before their fire) they only scored a "Fair." That is, IIRC, the lowest passing score you can get. So, maybe I'll wait for an updated inspection to occur first.

[Brad]

Has anyone tried it since it reopened? Curious if “the thrill is gone” or they are taking up where they left off in 2018.

Drove by during the lunch hour last Tuesday or Wednesday, parking lot was full and on street parking was full all the way back to that tall hotel.

Also, if the interior has changed at all.

Saw a story on KETV and it looked like they had some bright (almost too bright) shelf in the bar.

I was going to give them a couple of months to get back into the swing of things before I stopped back in. I did notice, while researching a completely different restaurant, that the last health inspections they got (which was before their fire) they only scored a "Fair." That is, IIRC, the lowest passing score you can get. So, maybe I'll wait for an updated inspection to occur first.

You can have a completely safe restaurant and get a "fair". I remember back in the day at a place I worked, we had built-in digital thermometers on the doors of all the refrigerators and freezers. But code said you needed an old school thermometer hanging in every refrigerated piece of equipment. We put cheap aftermarket thermometers in them, but they always got knocked off and then we would get "critical violation" on the health inspector report.

[Coyote]

Review: Reopened after fire, the Drover has same decor, quality, comfortable vibe

[GrandpaaSmucker]

I went to The Drover for lunch today and that turned out to be a mistake. Oh man! Heed my warning and stay out of the place. That easily was the worst steak I have had anywhere all year. Their so called famous whiskey cured steaks were seriously tough. Not just mine but the people I was with as well. That steak was a grocery store steak and a lower class grocery store steak at that. The steak tasted like they had bought it from Supersaver or Family Fare. Just as gnarly and tough a steak as they come. The french fries were pretty bad too. And for bread what a treat...you get a slice of toasted bread straight out of a store bought wonder bread loaf. They can not be serious The salad bar was fresh and tasted good but it was stocked with a minimum number of selections. No cottage cheese, no potato salad, no dill pickles. The steak was cooked ok but the quality of meat that poor cook was trying to work with was second rate and then some. Let the sucker beware.

[Omababe]

That steak was a grocery store steak and a lower class grocery store steak at that. The steak tasted like they had bought it from Supersaver or Family Fare. Just as gnarly and tough a steak as they come. The french fries were pretty bad too. And for bread what a treat...you get a slice of toasted bread straight out of a store bought wonder bread loaf. {deletia} Let the sucker beware.

Did you let the management know that you were dissatisfied?

[GrandpaaSmucker]

That steak was a grocery store steak and a lower class grocery store steak at that. The steak tasted like they had bought it from Supersaver or Family Fare. Just as gnarly and tough a steak as they come. The french fries were pretty bad too. And for bread what a treat...you get a slice of toasted bread straight out of a store bought wonder bread loaf. {deletia} Let the sucker beware.

Did you let the management know that you were dissatisfied?

It never crossed my mind. I could care less about trying to help them improve their business as well as I know they could care less what I think. If they cared what people thought they would not be serving slices of wonder bread. They could at least serve cheap lame Rotella's bread like 90% of the rest of local restaurant do. Best way to handle these matters is to just never ever go back there again. Eating at restaurants you never ate at before is a gamble that you are going to lose a fair amount of the time. Making a scene is uncool. Last thing we want to do is light a fuse that can unleash the inner demons inside us!

[nativeomahan]

Oh my gosh, what a misguided attitude to say “I could care less about trying to help them improve their business.”
If a meal is seriously not good I always tell the waiter, in a professional manner. If the problem is visually obvious I will show the waiter. If it is a texture/toughness issue then just describe it. And don’t eat the whole steak before complaining how tough it was! Most places will happily (1) make you another, or (2) cook you something else, or (3) refund your meal. Better restaurants will do both...replace the dinner and comp your entire meal, because unless you are dining alone you won’t have been afforded the opportunity to eat at the same time as your dining companions, which then becomes awkward for everyone at the table.
To sulk and complain about your meal on social media without at least giving the kitchen the opportunity to fix what is probably an honest mistake reflects poorly on the diner more than the kitchen, IMO.
While I have never been a fan of the Drover I always liked their bread. It was a hot loaf that appeared freshly baked. Has that changed?

[GrandpaaSmucker]

Oh my gosh, what a misguided attitude to say “I could care less about trying to help them improve their business.”
If a meal is seriously not good I always tell the waiter, in a professional manner. If the problem is visually obvious I will show the waiter. If it is a texture/toughness issue then just describe it. And don’t eat the whole steak before complaining how tough it was! Most places will happily (1) make you another, or (2) cook you something else, or (3) refund your meal. Better restaurants will do both...replace the dinner and comp your entire meal, because unless you are dining alone you won’t have been afforded the opportunity to eat at the same time as your dining companions, which then becomes awkward for everyone at the table.
To sulk and complain about your meal on social media without at least giving the kitchen the opportunity to fix what is probably an honest mistake reflects poorly on the diner more than the kitchen, IMO.
While I have never been a fan of the Drover I always liked their bread. It was a hot loaf that appeared freshly baked. Has that changed?

I tell everyone I eat out with that if they are going to complain and wine and jack the wait staff around then they they need to find someone else to eat out with. I make that point perfectly clear with everyone. If you are going to sit and make a scene and send your steak back then get away from me. I am religiously cool and making a scene is so not cool and so beneath me. Making a scene around me will NOT be tolerated! I have found that the people who like to complain are serial trouble makers. Going into restaurants and complaining and bossing people around becomes a bad habit for these people and they actually enjoy it. Not at my table you don't! We are going to be nice and polite and if we don't like it we will not go back there ever again. Its as simple as that.

I don't do social media. It is unacceptable and totally uncool for a grown man to have a Facebook page. The dingies can have Facebook pages but if you are a grown man playing on da Facebook that makes you a geek. I have never posted a review in my life on Facebook or Yelp or anyplace else. The only reason I tried The Drover was because people in this forum recommended it and I thought I should give them the heads up that they might want to steer clear of this place.

The bread was not served in a loaf. It was literally a slice of bread from a grocery store loaf of bread. Could of been Wonderbread or plain label grocery bread. It was a slice of toasted bread on your plate along with the steak and fries. No I did not eat the bread! It is not the cooks fault that the owner choose to serve the cheapest bread known to man. It was not the cooks fault that the owner was so cheap they were serving steak like you would get out of a cut rate grocery store. The greatest cook in the world can not make a crummy grocery store steak into a good steak.

In short the place caught fire in December of last year and they milked the insurance as long as they could and now they have reopened and are going to milk the public and probably go out of business in a year and until then they are going to milk the public making as much money as they can service cheap quality food. This is what I am afraid we might be looking at here.

[Uffda]

I went to The Drover for lunch today and that turned out to be a mistake. Oh man! Heed my warning and stay out of the place. That easily was the worst steak I have had anywhere all year. Their so called famous whiskey cured steaks were seriously tough. Not just mine but the people I was with as well. That steak was a grocery store steak and a lower class grocery store steak at that. The steak tasted like they had bought it from Supersaver or Family Fare. Just as gnarly and tough a steak as they come. The french fries were pretty bad too. And for bread what a treat...you get a slice of toasted bread straight out of a store bought wonder bread loaf. They can not be serious The salad bar was fresh and tasted good but it was stocked with a minimum number of selections. No cottage cheese, no potato salad, no dill pickles. The steak was cooked ok but the quality of meat that poor cook was trying to work with was second rate and then some. Let the sucker beware.

I have never posted a review in my life on Facebook or Yelp or anyplace else.

Thank you for your review.

[bigredmed1]

We quit going there years ago when the cost of the meal was way out of line with the quality of the meal. It is an expensive place.

[ChadJK]

Drover is one of those Omaha restaurants you feel pressured to like, praise, and recommend to others.

[ScrattyB]

I have never posted a review in my life on Facebook or Yelp or anyplace else. The only reason I tried The Drover was because people in this forum recommended it and I thought I should give them the heads up that they might want to steer clear of this place.

Yes, thank you.

[Brad]

Went to the Drover last night. Been going there for 25 years now. The Ribeye I had last night was the best steak I have ever had at the Drover. Seasoned perfectly, cooked perfectly and the cut of meat was really nice.

Their special was a 38oz Tomahawk Ribeye for $99.95. We sat near the kitchen last night at could see them cooking one. It was huge!

[skinzfan23]

Went to the Drover last night. Been going there for 25 years now. The Ribeye I had last night was the best steak I have ever had at the Drover.

It was only the best ever because it was your birthday

I need to get there sometime, I have never been.

[OmahaRedWing]

Went to the Drover for the first time Monday night. Everyone told me to order the Whiskey Filet. That was the plan until I saw they had a Whiskey Ribeye which was fantastic. It was for work so I didn't have to pay which made everything taste even better.

Was surprised how busy it was for a Monday night. That place is a gold mine because it doesn't look like they done any serious updates in years and it now has the cool retro vibe.

[NEDodger]

Went to the Drover last night. Been going there for 25 years now. The Ribeye I had last night was the best steak I have ever had at the Drover.

It was only the best ever because it was your birthday

I need to get there sometime, I have never been.

It’s phenomenal. I usually bounce that somewhere in my top three steaks in the metro.