The Michaels At the Market

Fantastic staff with great service, very personable.
The food is always great and the margaritas just right. We will definitely be returning for another perfect meal.

I lunched at Michael’s today with coworkers and won’t be returning of my own volition. First I’d requested lime in my water, and another person at the table requested lemon. Neither request was fulfilled. Forgivable, but it went downhill quickly from there. The only good thing about the chips and «salsa» is that they were complimentary. The chips were crunchy cardboard, and I really think the «salsa» was nothing more than a can of diced tomatoes. Zero flavor. I ordered the taco/​enchilada plate with rice and beans. A squeeze bottle of some liquid (tomato juice diluted with water, I think) was inexplicably brought out with the food. The taco, while extremely bland, was the only edible thing on the plate. The rice and beans were dry and flavorless, and the sauce on the enchilada tasted like rancid ketchup.
With so many good restaurants in the downtown and Old Market areas, I’m astounded that someplace with such poor quality food can survive.

This is one of my favorite place to get tacos downtown! I love the bar and the service is always great! I’m surprised to see so many poor reviews. I have always had nothing but great service here!

Casual Mexican with a lot of character! A great place to catch a Meal in the Old Market. Lovely huge windows offer a view of the activity outside. A massive chandelier commands your attention as you walk in.
The food is good — the chips and salsa are fresh and tasty — — the server brought 3 sets of chips and salsa for our table of 7. I had a taco salad and it was delicious as well, and loaded with shredded chicken.
Service was prompt and friendly. This place should really be rated much higher on Unilocal than it is … It’s a fixture in the old market with many enduring fans.

I’ve worked in a restaurant so I’ve never written a review because I know how challenging it can be. This experience was too much. The bartender literally walked off the job after a phone conversation with the owner is my assumption.
Even after seeing this I still waited several minutes for a beer. I know… my own fault.
I then waited over 36 minutes for 2… Yes that is 2 tacos.
Service is awful and I would never… ever recommend this place to anyone.
Update post owners comment: nothing makes a customer want to come back after the owner insults them and their review.
Since you took the time to research my order and credit card (creepy and seems wrong on so many levels) you would also see that I tipped the server well in spite of the overall situation.
I didn’t realize that a bartender quitting mid shift affected the cooking staffs ability to prepare food… my bad.

Even on a busy dinner rush, our service was fantastic and our food came out quickly and prepared just right. Love to come again.

Stopped in for «girls night» yesterday with 3 friends and promptly ordered a pitcher of peach margaritas. This was disappointment #1. Hands down the weakest margaritas I’ve ever had (and when someone my size can refill her glass 3x and still walk straight, that confirms the lack of booze.)
We all proceeded to order meals and not one of us was impressed. One of us was so grossed out by the «steak» in her taco she refused to take another bite and sent the plate back. I honestly think that the chicken in one of my tacos was a leftover that had been re-​deep fried to warm it up. None of us ate the beans and rice either — bland, bland, bland.
The only thing positive about this visit was the chips and salsa and our waiter, who had us rolling laughing at one point. (Man, that was a witty comeback!)
I won’t be bothering with another visit needless to say.

Is this the best Mexican food in Omaha? Of course not, but that doesn’t mean you should write it off. I enjoy eating at Michaels when I visit the Old Market. I really like the casual atmosphere, and if you get a spot by a window, it’s fun to people watch.
For entrees, I recommend either the tamales or grilled chipotle chicken. Both sauces have a nice sweetness to them, and I really enjoy the beans mixed with a little Chipotle Tabasco. Give it a try!

If I am ever having a bad day, Michael’s is where I want to go. The fresh food is good and comforting. The margaritas are strong, but not too strong. The environment is homey and pleasant, and the staff is the best! Whether sitting in the dining room or at the bar, the staff is always kind and welcoming.

Absolutely the worst food I’ve eaten in a long while. There was not one fresh ingredient served to any of the four of us at the table. The enchilada sauce literally tasted like catsup. The service was mediocre at best. The dining area was dirty and I won’t even mention the bathroom… And to top it off, I needed to stay near a bathroom throughout the next day if you get my meaning… DONT EVEN TRY IT!
And in response to the comment by Brandon H, from the Mexican restaurant, I am neither a new employee, former employee, or competitor. As a matter fact I’m a pilot for an airline. Other reviews I’ve written for location such as Denver and Seattle in the last few months can be seen by going to my profile. Everything in this write up is absolutely true and should be taken into consideration before you ever stop in for dinner.

I had heard great things about this place prior to my first experience, so I was expecting great Mexican food. I was greatly disappointed all around. I would have rather made it myself. To be hoest, I don’t really have anything good to say about this restaurant.

Being from Austin I have a certain affection for Tex-​Mex thus I speak with experience in this food category. I must say if this place were in Austin I would never go back. The one redeeming quality they have is an excellent salsa. Other than it was not what I am used to having in the Tex-​Mex category.
The refried beans and the rice were as expected. It was the enchiladas that were more like tamales that did them in for me. My buddies at the table had soft tacos and the corn tortillas were falling apart more than normal. Average at best.
If nothing will scratch the itch but Mexican food and you are downtown then this place will suffice. But don’t expect a tongue slap the brains out of your head experience.

I’m not sure why this place is so low ranked. I find it to be affordable and great Mexican food. Their salsa is freshly made, they have a great taco menu, and their burritos are to die for especially the extra large Sunday Brunch burrito you can order 7 days a week. I recommend you go there, get a fish bowl sized margarita, some tacos and have a good time.
Adiós mi Amigos.

Stopped in for lunch with a co worker. was towards the end of lunch shift and place was about ¼ full.
Promptly greeted and seated. Service was very good. Right on time with everything.
The food was so so.
Salsa was great. had good spice to it. really enjoyed the flavor.
I had the taco and enchilada lunch special. The taco was not to bad. fried flour tortilla with average meat, lettuce, tomato, and cheese.
The enchilada was not that good at all. It tasted like it has some homemade Ketchup on it. was very sweet tasting. I did not enjoy the sugar aspect of it at all. The rice and beans were decent.
I did like the décor and ambiance of the restaurant. Nothing to write my mom about though.

As per a normal Californians review of Mexican elsewhere… better than normal!
Still not what we crave but very good service and food isn’t bad. In fact the regular house margaritas are perfect.
Not bad Omaha!

Good margaritas. Good service. Clean and reasonably priced. What more could you need?
When I’m going Mexican I’m not shooting for the stars. Usually one is just looking for a good drink and a little spice. The fajitas were plentiful (huge!) and of the 7 of us we all enjoyed our dishes– enchiladas, tacos, chips and guac, cheese, bean dip among many other things. No complaints.
We ate here regularly about 5 years ago when we lived in the Old Market. Food is still good, happy not much has changed!

Read some of the reviews about this place. Authentic! You guys are smoking crack. Taco Bell is more authentic! Had the grilled pepper steak, should be shoe leather with ketchup. Rice and beans where bland, the only thing good was the Tecate! Salsa was peppery served with Pringles like chip, and Pringles would have been better. Service was poor, waitress came by once, then it was different person every time.
Wife had something with chicken… I think? If i was only going to drink beer this would be an ok place but believe me there a thousand other places i would eat before this place. The only reason we went here is because we had Pinpoint.
Save yourself some money… go to Taco Bell!!!

For the record, i never give a 5 star rating, but this place comes really darn close. Especially if it is the linch hour and Suzie is your waitress. If you even want to illustrate to a new hire how to provide excellent service, Suzie is the one to watch. Literally she runs around to take of her customers. Literally RUNS! Its crazy, sometimes it looks like she is working the whole room. Not to take away from her supporting cast, but we have never had a bad meal here, especially over a time-​sensitive work lunch.
Give it a go, Suzie works so hard, she may burn the calories you are consuming for you.

I was encouraged by the manager to write another review after he graciously sent me a gift card to try the restaurant again and hope for better service. We tried the restaurant again and, I’m sorry dear manager, but it still was a let down. I appreciate you sending me a gift card. That was incredible! But I feel like in order for you to start getting better reviews, you’re going to need a better staff and some tastier food.
We went on a Friday night and the place was pretty busy. Our waitress was nice but the girl had a memory of a goldfish and we had to explain to her that my boyfriend and I didn’t want to share 1 water. We, in fact, wanted our own water. What?! I didn’t even know how to react in that situation. Maybe she was having a bad day. I got the taco salad and my boyfriend got a couple different tacos. He said his were okay. Bland but not horrible. My taco salad looked like they opened up a bag of Dole lettuce with the carrots and purple weird things in it and dumped that into the stale shell. It wasn’t good. Don & Millie’s taco salads are 10x better than that.
We gave it another shot. We won’t be back.

Wow… what to say… Yet another place with so many negative reviews that I leave satisfied and impressed. So after our earlier botched attempt at the Alpine Inn (45 minutes with no service) we headed down to the Old Market to try Michael’s again. Sorry, THE Michael’s. Kind of unnecessary naming… But anyways…
We arrived and it wasn’t too busy, everyone was still at the game during this time (it was very busy when we were leaving). We were seated immediately and had chips and salsa in several minutes. The salsa is actually pretty awesome. Normally I eat at places like El Dorado, Taqueria Tijuana and such. I really enjoyed the cilantro flavor and it was at the exact hotness level I enjoy. Chips were horribly salty but delicious. Salt went everywhere.
I ordered the tostada + burrito combo. My brother ordered the Morning After burrito and my parents got the chimichanga and tamales del sopa. When we got our food, boy were we surprised at the portion size. The morning after burrito is insane. Easily the biggest burrito I have ever seen in person. My tostada and burrito were very good as well. The beef and bean burrito was excellent, although mostly beans. It tasted like barbacoa style beef to me and had great flavor. Sauce was sweet and spicy at the same time, and the chicken on my tostada hs good flavor but was pretty dry. Another thing I was surprised at; the beans and rice had flavor! This is only the second place I’ve found in all of Omaha where the beans and rice tasted like anything.
It is a little expensive, but the portion size makes it worth it in my opinion. I think I will definitely be back sometime. Nice tex-​mex in the Old Market. It’s a great location with great food.