Vmertz, Omaha

I lived in Omaha for 4 years back in the 90's, and this restaurant was widely considered the best in Omaha. I returned to Omaha this past winter and was excited to get a table for a group of 4. This particular group is varied in taste and sophistication. I would label my wife as the sophisticate, my good buddy and I are not sophisticated per se, but know good food, and his wife might be the pickiest eater I know. She only wants meat and potatoes and that is no lie. Needless to say, we're difficult to please. The staff was fantastic, the food unbelievable (for ALL of us) and the atmosphere is lights out. Some of these reviews are ridiculous. Were they expecting Perkins? Upscale dining is not about portion sizes, unless you're at a Prime steakhouse, and Omaha does have a few very good ones. But V. Mertz is not this, nor do they claim to be. They serve modern cuisine with beautiful presentation and great service. Top shelf dining is not about big portions and diner-style wait staffs. It's about serving tasty food in a low key environment without the old-style Swiss service that is outdated and stuffy - nobody wants that anymore. The food is about unique layers of flavor with farm-to-fork ingredients from local producers. The experience is all about you, the diner, not the location or who is sitting next to you. V. Mertz certainly embraces all of this, and frankly, I am incredibly surprised that V. Mertz can stay in business given most people's shallow understanding of fine dining. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good burger at the local bar as much as anyone, and I also enjoy the occasional 20 piece McNugget meal from the arches, but I also understand that an establishment such as V.Mertz is critical to those of us that appreciate the experience of fine dining. Even my very picky friend admitted that she would never have chosen this place herself, but was very impressed with the variety of flavors in the food. And we even talked about the small portions; we decided that if you get a drink or two, then have an appetizer, then a salad or soup, then main course, and finish with a dessert, do you really need a heaping pile of garlic mashed potatoes next to your chicken fried steak (no offense to C.F.S, I love them). We did not leave hungry, and let me tell you, we like to eat. So if you want excess food that requires boxed-up leftovers, go elsewhere. If you want to go out for an experience, you cannot go wrong here.

Incredible restaurant in the very unique "old passageway" of the Old Market in downtown Omaha. A large and quite wonderful wine list will complement a meal that could only be described as one of the best I've ever had. They use only organic and local ingredients and it is evident in your meal. The staff was informative, friendly and professional. A must when you are in Omaha.

You kidding me this place is a joke! Wasn't full from dinner, They couldn't make a drink at the bar right, and the food wasn't good I paid for duck and got fat. Only thing nice about it is the view.

The most over priced, least value award for a restaurant in the Omaha area should go to V. Mertz. This is the type of restaurant that at some point all of us have experienced at least once in our dining lives : portions are extremely small, prices are disproportionately high and it seems to be all about sheik presentation. The food however did taste good. A restaurant you might find in a wealthy community where it is all about throwing money around and looking good.  This one doesn’t fit Omaha's culture ...... but if your are out to impress that special someone and money is the way to do it..... take them to Borshiem's

I will preface this review by saying I travel all over the country taking customers and reps out to very good restaurants. After reading the reviews here, I took my local Omaha rep out to dinner with his wife. First, the location is great. It looks like the Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland. The actual restaurant is quaint but small. The tables are small and the chairs are hard wrought iron which is a little cheesy for a "fine dining" restaurant. The amuse bouche was good, Vichyssoise and strawberry jam. I ordered the sweet breads as did my rep, his wife ordered the "heirloom" tomatoes and mozzarella. The sweetbreads were excellent. The tomatoes, however, were a joke. Out came about five cut-in-half little pear tomatoes and some small balls of mozzarella. For $12! She, and I, were expecting the normal plate of several slices of big local tomatoes and big slices of buffalo mozzarella. It was all of about five forkfuls. For dinner we ordered the lamb, the duck and the halibut. 38 minutes after our first course plates were removed, our main course arrived. The place was half empty on this Wednesday night. The lamb was $59 and consisted of FOUR pieces of meat and two ribs. I have never seen so little lamb for so much. I have purchased lamb for this rep all over the country and he always oohs and ahhs when he really likes it. No oohs and no aahs from this lamb. My duck breast was ordered rare, it arrived medium and gray. I could tell it had been sitting around a while since the artistic smears of beet were dry and crusty. While the flavor was good, it was a small portion and over cooked. It was $36. Her halibut was about a 4-5 oz portion for $41. She said it was very good. We did not stay for dessert. Total bill with a $50 bottle of wine was $240.00 The service was slow, the food was over cooked and the portions small. If this is the best Omaha has to offer, I feel for the people of Omaha.

Located in the Old Market in a great walk down restaurant is V Mertz. Now, this place is AMAZING. Despite being one of the more expensive dining experiences of my life, it was VERY worth it. I spent about $120 for two people, but that is with appetizers, wine, entrees and desserts. I could cut the steak with my spoon, wow it was truly amazing. This may a place I can only take my wife on special occasions, but we won't forget the experience. The waiters there are the best in the city. They pay special attention to their guests because it is not a large location. If you have not been here, save up and head out for some amazing food!

My husband took me there the night he proposed to me and the food and everything was amazing! I couldn't really eat all the food becuase I was nervous in anticipation, but what I did eat was AMAZING!!! The atmosphere and service were equally amazing!

My husband and I went for our anniversary dinner and were impressed with the location and the service we received. However, the food was overpriced, and my wine had a metallic aftertaste. My husband simply said that although the meal was good, it was not something that would make him want to come back, and I felt the same way.

Beautiful atmosphere without a bad seat in the house. Wonderful menu with excellent preparation. Main issue is that they do not allow you to bring your own wine, so you are forced to buy from their overpriced (even for a restaurant) wine list or go without. Neither appeals to me.

In the old days, Omaha was known for steakhouses. They were fine for their genre, but, alas, steak is steak. At V Mertz, steak is an experience of flavors, chicken is a cacophony of cheeses, salads are stupendous with the organic produce supplied by Bloomsorganic in nearby Iowa. Wow. I'm ready to go back and I just arrived back home in Dallas where there are no shortage of stpendous places. nb