Stokes Grill & Bar

My friends and I were home for the holiday and decided to meet here for some lunch. This was my first time visiting Stokes. I usually check the menu before going considering I don’t eat meat but I just showed up and decided to figure things out upon arrival. My friends ordered the chicken enchiladas and I decided to go with the black bean soup. We also had chips with salsa and guac as an appetizer; very good. My soup wasn’t bad but it wasn’t really soup, more like just black beans. Fortunately, I love beans so I enjoyed my meal with the soft tortilla and the chips from our appetizer.

I’ve been turned off from this place before because of servers, but met some friends to go to berry and rye, they were finishing up and the food looked alright. I just may have to try it out, maybe.

Katie our server. Very good. Trout appetizer awesome. Pretty much everyone happy with selection. Great bar. Met with my family pre Thanksgiving meal. Kids too. Recommend.

We had a fabulous Sunday brunch experience at Stokes! Definitely a must if you are in the Old Market area on Sunday. They have a full up Bloody Mary bar that is so good, it’s almost intimidating! There are so many ingredients that it kinda makes you apprehensive to make your own… just remember, you can always add but you can’t take away! In addition, I tried the beermosa and it was delicious! As far as the meal goes, I had the bacon, tomato and avocado sandwish and it was very tasty! I would definitely recommend stopping by this place!

Sat at our table for 10 minutes before greeted… waited for drinks a very long time!!! HORRIBLE SERVICE!!!&

I love the location and our waiter was super sweet. The food was mediocre at best. I ordered the fiery shrimp. The shrimp was over cooked and was served with nothing other than shrimp and a bowl of butter. More of an appetizer.

We like coming down here to the Old Market location. I usually get the Tacos al Carbon and that’s where I went wrong this time. We ordered the chips and salsa — very delicious. Where things went a bit awry was when I ordered the smoked brisket tacos. They were a bit fatty and were overstuffed where you couldn’t pick them up. The kitchen could’ve put an additional soft taco shell on the plate and redistributed from the existing two and it would’ve been fine.
On top of that, our waiter disappeared for a long time (over 20 mins) to tend to a large group in the party room. We had to wave down another staff member to get water refills and our check. Our waiter did come by again to drop off the check and was apologetic. I hope this isn’t the way things are now at Stokes. It’s a cool place but wasn’t very impressed this time.

Completely stressed me out. Lost my credit card.

Tonight on Oct 1^st I have the privilege of having Rose Roman Garcia as my server she is very positive and quickly services me in taking my order she was very polite and she has very good manners if your coming to Stokes ask for Rose Roman Garcia !!!

I feel like Stokes is one of those places you don’t set out to go to, but that you just «end up at». On an early Sunday evening, we had a party of eight, and couldn’t get in to Blue or Plank, so we went across to Stoke’s and got seated right away.
As it was Happy Hour, they did have some good deals. I got 2 fairly large tacos for $ 5, and my wife and I split the chips and chorizo queso. The meat in the tacos was definitely not hot, but had good flavor. Otherwise the tacos were nothing to write home about. The chips and queso were pretty decent, as well.
The one thing I could not get over was the horrendous service. It took nearly an hour from the time we finished our food until the time we got our checks, and then another 10 – 15 minutes before he came back to take our checks. I was never asked if I wanted another drink. It was really not a great experience. There are so many other good options in the Old Market. Just skip Stokes, especially if it’s outside of Happy Hour.
UPDATE: After John reached out on Unilocal,I followed up with him with the below e-​mail and did hear back from him on 9/​29, stating that he addressed the situation and that he would love to see us back at Stokes. I appreciate John’s willingness to take the time to respond and address the situation.
Hi John,
I thought I would give you some details of our visit to Stokes on Sunday evening. We had a party of 8 and got there about 5:30pm. We were seated immediately in the back area. I’m blanking on the name of our server, but I can tell you that it was a male staff member. When he took our drink order, he took half of the table’s drink order, and then left without saying a word to the other half of the table, and returned about 10 minutes later with their wine and finally took our drink order. My wife and I ordered cocktails which were good. We both had Kentucky Mules. I had asked about the Barrel Aged Manhattan, and was told that it was not actually barrel aged, but that just the whiskey was barrel aged. Something to note is that all whiskey is barrel aged, making this no different from any other Manhattan.
In terms of the food, like I said in my review, the meat in the tacos had good flavor, but was definitely not hot. One person in our party actually sent her’s back. It was a cold, packaged taco shell, cheese, lettuce, and meat that was maybe lukewarm at best. However, for $ 5, the size of the two tacos was good. Also, like I said, the chips and chorizo queso was good too.
What was completely unacceptable was the amount of time it took to get our checks, then for him to come back and take our checks, then to run our checks and bring them back. With a storm coming in, we were wanting to get out of there before the storm hit, but he went MIA for quite a while, causing us to wait nearly an hour after finishing our food to get the check-​out process started. With so many other options in the Old Market area, I really can’t recommend Stokes after our experience there.
I hope this helps, and thanks for reaching out. If you have any questions about anything, please let me know.
Thanks,
Kevin

Great food, great service, and a delicious brunch menu worthy of the most exquisite palette.

Nothing special. I had the steak salad. The greens were good but I kept finding slimy dark spoiled pieces of spinach. I asked for the «spicy» Caesar and had to ask for a different dressing. The Caesar was not spicy but it was super fishy tasting. The steak I ordered well done so I expected a bit of a tougher meat. But this was so dry and tough I stopped eating it.
The waiter was nice and prompt. My co-​workers nachos were really tasty so maybe it was just the salad.

Sunday Brunch anyone? And by Brunch I mean a Bloody Mary Buffet. I inevitably end up at Stokes for Brunch on Sundays and always mean to take the time to make my own bloody mary at the buffet they offer buuut… Claire the Bartender has been working every Sunday I have been there seems to have found my sweet spot when it comes to the drink so I just have her whip one up for me.
I know several of my friends have had hit or miss experiences with the food while we have been there but I’ve always had good luck. The grilled trout, brisket and fish tacos and black bean soup are all excellent. However, the black bean soup is really what keeps me coming back. I get it about ¾ of the times I am there. Its perfect for a light meal and the warm tortillas are some of the best I have ever had. I use them to scoop up the soup normally but then I might be a heathen.
I’ve only been here a couple of times at night but my girlfriends always want to go here when we are feeling in the mood for margaritas. I’ve never been disappointed but also not blown away. Could also be for the cute waiter they have a crush on…
Oh I also love the people that are there. We always meet someone new, interesting and friendly. I keep trying to get up the nerve to talk to the exceptionally regal looking black woman with grey dreads thats there every Sunday I have been there. Her style just exudes fun and interesting vibes.

Great time Sunday for brunch! The bloody Mary bar was top notch! See my creation in the pic! Yes that is bacon in my drink! Had the hangover hash for breakfast. Basically anything you could ever want all in a scramble… eggs how you want them, chorizo, gravy, beans, potatoes and more yum!!! Rose was a very nice server! Great atmosphere, quality food, will be back!

Maybe we ordered the wrong thing because the other pictures and reviews look great. Average service, average cleanliness…
The food was cheap, overly buttered, drowned in mayonnaise based sauces, and not as advertised.
Worse than a chain restaraunt.

Seems like it could be a fun bar but it was pretty quiet on a Thursday night. Bartender was nice but a little aloof. Ordered the black bean and corn taquitos which were not that good. It barely had any filling and it was pretty much a deep fried tortilla. I ordered the salmon salad which came with corn and brown rice. It was decent but the salmon was chilled which was different. The house dressing was light and flavorful. My coworker ordered the rice and tilapia plate and seemed to enjoy it. Overall it was just an OK experience. $ 1.99 margaritas were sweet.

My mom and I had meant in Omaha for the weekend and decided to venture to the Old Market on our second night in town. We walked pass Stokes and decided that the atmosphere was exactly what we were looking for.
Our waitress was great; she offered some suggestions for drinks. I ordered the house margarita and my mom ordered a Bloody Mary; both were fantastic! We shared chips, guacamole and salsa for our appetizer (their house red salsa was AMAZING — just the right amount or heat and a fabulous smokey taste).
My mom ordered the steak tacos and I ordered the blackened salmon fish tacos. Before even biting into my tacos, I was impressed with the side of rice that we received with our meal. My tacos were fabulous — just the right amount of heat and a fabulous sauce, partnered with the cool crunch of cabbage. My mom also enjoyed her steak tacos.
I would highly recommended visiting Stokes and enjoying a meal!

Great food in a great location! Right in the heart of the Old Market, they boast an outside patio and great southwest atmosphere inside. It looks quite upscale, but I really don’t think it’s supposed to be the caliber of the super fancy places in town. Anyone can come here and enjoy it in my opinion.
Our waiter was great and recommended the taquitos to start out with, I normally don’t get taquitos for an appetizer, even at a Mexican restaurant, but these were super good. They could have been filled more, but it was probably the perfect amount considering we ordered full meals. They had a great crispy texture and weren’t like the normal corn taquitos you usually get in the frozen food aisle.
I ordered the «Cabo San Taco» and my mom ordered the mussels with the white wine sauce. My tacos were awesome. Tons of flavor and were covered in lots of cheese and peppers. It was extremely filling by the time I got to the end. My mom’s mussels were cooked perfectly (which is hard to find here in the midwest) and they gave her a ton of them. Overall we were very satisfied with the food and service and would like to come here again to try other items.

This is ok food.
I’ve eaten here 3 or 4 times and I actually can’t even tell u what’s good.
I can say it’s ok food.
I would go back.

Stokes is one of those places that you either like or you don’t The quality that they had when located on 114^th and Dodge has not been reached in the years that they have occupied the spot in the Old Market. does that matter? Not to visitors or people that have lost their tastebuds in a horrific accident. You know, the kind that makes you stare, but you feel bad for staring and keep looking anyways.
Mondays are the best nights due to a huge wine discount and frequent drinking club. I find it worth it to buy the membership because you are essentially paying a corkage fee and having the ability to bring in your favorites and not be upcharged.
The food could be more desirable, but not so much for an herbivore. the outdoor patio (really, nobody has an indoor patio) is a nice spot to sit and drink and people watch.