Petrow’s 59th and Center St. Omaha

Atmosphere: On a cold January night we visited Petrow’s Restaurant, one of Omaha’s well known and family-owned restaurants It was established over 50 years ago by the same family that now operates it. Patty and Jim had eaten at Petrow’s more than ten years ago, Rick and Sarah never. Petrow’s has had a very nice remodel in those ten years with a resultant clean look. The restaurant is filled with a choice of tables or booths and was busy for a cold Tuesday night.

The Service: Petrow’s has a full bar and with half-priced wine on Tuesday nights. That fit us just fine, as our whistles were wet. We tasted wine and beer from a limited but satisfying list. The servers were attentive and brought our food timely. We did have to ask for refills at times

Ice cream and milkshakes was a popular item with many of the diners. Sarah didn’t realize that they make homemade ice cream or we might have had to try some.

The Food: We started with an order of the large onion rings ($6) which were delicious! Jim dubbed these were as close to his fantasy onion rings that he has had in the past 50 years. They were good, fresh, battered, fried crisp and tasty. They were delivered hot and well-cooked. “Best so far” per Jim.

Jim had the Hot Beef sandwich ($8), with tender, melt-in-your-mouth roast beef and flavorful gravy. Jim felt that the sandwich would have been perfect if the mashed potatoes had been prepared reasonably fresh. They tasted either leftover and reheated, or his discriminating taste buds felt that they had sat in the steam table way too long.

Rick chose a his favorite of his: Pork Tenderloin sandwich ($8) with French Fries. He noted that the hand-battered and freshly breaded deep-fried tenderloin was “a little tough”, but a good attempt. The Fries were cooked to a golden crisp and well-seasoned. Tasted home cut.

Patty had a favorite of hers: The Patty Melt ($8.30) was declared “actually pretty good” with the same well-prepared side of fries.

Sarah tried the Tilapia dinner ($13). Sarah also ordered a cup of the 3-bean soup as part of her meal and thought it was really good, big chunks of chicken and tomatoes, with a creamy bean base. Delicious. Even the packaged crackers were super fresh and crisp. The Parmesan crusted tilapia was well done, and served with a side of rice. Sarah chose a baked potato as a side rather than eating the rice.

We wished: That the server would have been better trained to make suggestions and understand the food that was on the menu.

Summary: When a business has been around for as long as Petrow’s, we tend to forget that they have good, well-done meals at a fair price or they wouldn’t still be competing in the Omaha foodscape. If you haven’t been to Petrow’s for a while, it is time to give them a look.

Petrow’s has several specialties that we didn’t try, including liver and onions dinner ($10) and numerous beef, steak, and chicken options. They offer sandwiches as meals as well as several pasta offerings. Petrow’s has a full dessert menu (We should have tried the carrot cake!) and a special weekend offering of Prime Rib.