With the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder's meeting coming up, I figured I should finally write a review about Warren Buffet's favorite steakhouse: Gorat's.
Gorat's Steakhouse bills themselves as serving the finest steaks in the world. In Omaha, where the city's motto was once "Rare. Well done.", that's a common claim. But Gorat's is one of the few old school steakhouses left and one the the richest men in the world counts it among his favorites, so maybe there's something to the claim. We decided to find out for ourselves and it was certainly an interesting dining experience to say the least.
The decor is a little drab, boring and cheap with the exception of the lounge, which is just plain loungey looking. Run down, off the strip, Vegas lounge looking. But who really cares. It's a steakhouse and an old one. It's part of the charm I guess. Along with the crass waitress who took our order, but not our gruff. She had attitude, but she was actually a lot of fun. And if the steaks are good, nothing else really matters. Because of that, I give them points for explicitly stating on their menu "Gorat's is not responsible for well done steaks." Amen.
A little rant here. Why is it that so many people from the Midwest insist that their steaks be gray in the middle? This is supposed to be the land of beef. Shouldn't they we know better? Is it because they prefer it that way or is that just what they were taught and grew up on? Did they only eat cheap cuts of meat that are tough and chewy when cooked rare, so they think all steaks need to be cooked for a long time to make them tender? I'd really like some feedback here.
Anyway, so our table pretty much ordered Prime Rib and Steaks. I mean why else would you come here? Warren Buffet's favorite thing to order is the T-bone steak (cooked rare, thank you very much) with a double order of hash browns and a (diet) cherry coke. I opted for the bone-in strip steak and my wife got the small prime rib. Each entree came with a small side salad, pasta or vegetable and choice of potato. Pretty standard for the American-Italian steakhouses here. The salads and pasta are pretty much a joke. Pretty standard for the American-Italian steakhouses here. The hashbrowns were pretty good. Nice and crispy and what really goes better with steak? My steak looked pretty nice (while I could see it - more on that in a bit), but didn't taste near as good as it looked. It might have something to do with the griddle they cook it on. Yes, Gorat's cook's their steaks on a griddle - at least according to Wikipedia. For some that may be a draw, for others, a huge turn off. I'm a bit in between leaning more towards the negative. I'd imagine it can be done right, but Gorat's just doesn't pull it off. It's a bit boiled or steamed tasting. A juicy steak that is flavorless. Luckily, the prime rib was much better. Really cooked to perfection with good flavor and tender the way prime rib was meant to be.
Then the lights went out. I'm not being poetic here. The lights went out. Right as we got our food, the entire place went pitch black save a lone emergency generator light. It seems tornado season isn't the best time to go eat in the older parts of town with exposed power lines. Unfortunately, that was probably the most memorable part of our meal. I can't say I have any desire to return. I'm glad I've been, and if you're a disciple of the Oracle of Omaha, you should probably pay homage to the spot at least once, but other than that, I'd have a hard time recommending the steaks here over the many other options in Omaha.
Rating: 74
Extraordinary (95-100 points)
Outstanding (90-94)
Very Good to Excellent (85-89)
Good (80-84)
Average (75-79)
Below average (70-74)
Avoid (50-70)
Gorat's Steak House
50th & Center
4917 Center St (Map)
Omaha, NE 68106
Phone: (402) 551-3733Hours of OperationLUNCH:
Monday - Friday: 11:00 am - 2:00 pm
Saturday - Sunday: CLOSED
DINNER:
Monday - Thursday: 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Friday - Saturday: 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Sunday: CLOSED
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Tags || GORAT'S | STEAKHOUSE | WARREN BUFFET | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY | OMAHA | STEAK | more... | NEBRASKA | RESTAURANTS | RESTAURANT REVIEW | FOOD | GFC |
Labels: NEBRASKA, OMAHA, RESTAURANT REVIEW, RESTAURANTS, REVIEW
with the amazing
Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8
lens). So this whole next week is going to be spent sharing the things I found there that aren't in Omaha, but should be. If you want to bookmark this page, I'll update this post with the links to the related articles, or you can just keep checking back.
