mantra

great atmosphere and i really like the location, just outside busy benson. our group of four stopped in on a friday evening atdinnertime and were able to get a seat on the patio. we started with drinks, and although their drink menu was more limited than i expected, the bloody mary's and moscow mules were good and inexpensive. the food menu is also small, but the food was prepared very well and was good enough to make up for limited selection. all in all, we liked it! the menu is simple, yet the food is delicious. the atmosphere is also very nice, so we will be back!

our group made adinnerreservation at 8 on a saturday night. we arrived on time, the restaurant was packed and told the hostess we had arrived. we stood and waited for about ten minutes before asking if they had any idea when our table would be ready. the hostess was very rude and told us she has no idea when the people who were sitting there would leave. she then proceeded to talk loudly about how rude we were to the other customers sitting at the bar. two tables on the walk in list were seated. after twenty more minutes we approached another man working. he was equally rude, never apologized or asked if he could get us a drink while waiting. instead he told us the tables now have been here an hour and a half spending money, how could he predict when they would leave. that a reservation does not guarantee a table. horrible, unapologetic, rude service. we took our $400 bill and service elsewhere. based on how we were treated, i won't be returning!

bohemian rhapsody. benson keeps reinventing itself. what is now omaha's hottest bohemian neighborhood for food and music has sprouted a nice little bistro on the west end: mantra. open less than a year, this first cousin to west omaha's taxi's bistro has a fresh american vibe flowing through its veins.
the atmosphere is generally attractive* in a modern sort of way, with a bar on one side of the dining room, and an open kitchen off to the side. tables and banquettes offer comfortable seating.
the regular menu leans (heavily) toward lighter fare. salads, sandwiches and specialty tacos predominate. appetizers range from decent crab cakes to mussels done a variety of ways, to two arancinis and two flatbreads.
an ever changing sheet of more substantivedinnerfare is always offered. on the night of our visit it included baked salmon over basmati rice, chicken picatta, and bacon wrapped diver sea scallops. about half of the menu is either fish, seafood, or vegetarian.
we split an order of crab cakes as an appetizer. they were good, but nothing compared to what you will find back east. the smalldinnersalad was also tasty, if unremarkable.
what stood out were the main courses, including seafood enchiladas and seared ahi tuna tacos. the tacos were excellent, a highlight worth traveling out of your way to sample.
we were too full to even share a dessert, however the couple at the next table raved about the pistachio cake french toast. it is mantra's signature menu item.
the wine list offers considerable value, with many bottles in the $20-25 range. about a dozen wines are available by the glass.
service was super friendly, as our waitress answered all of our questions and offered several suggestions from both the appetizer as well as entree menus. she clearly had a full familiarity with the food coming out of the kitchen, an all too rare experience in this town.
now to my *. while the overall dining atmosphere is quite pleasurable, mantra's vibe threatens to be spoiled by no fewer than 7 big screen tvs lining the walls of both the bar as well as the dining room. the sound was off, but here is my gripe...and it is a major one at that: people don't go todinnerto be distracted by huge tv sets. they go out todinnerto get away from huge tv sets. puhleeze, chuck the boob tubes and instead hang a few more interesting paintings on those walls, like you have at taxi's. the change will serve to make mantra an a level neighborhood dining spot.
food: a-
menu sophistication: a-
service: a
atmosphere: b-
value: a

amazing!!!. we had such a greatdinnerat mantra last friday night. we had heard mixed reviews so decided to try it out ourselves and they have made a loyal customer out of us. everything from the wine, the veggie flatbread, the lamb burger, the grilled veggie foccacia sandwich, blue cheese and cabbage soup.....everything was spot on. our server was great as well. she was honest about items on the menu and suggestions. the only thing i noticed was if you have a party of 5 or more i would call ahead b/c quite a few large parties were coming in and they didn't have tables set up so they had to squeeze. but we will be back!

good food, varied menu, nice atmosphere. my wife and i just haddinnerat mantra, located at 6913 maple street. the online menu reflects their take-out/lunch menu so i was pleasantly surprised by thedinnermenu the waiter gave us when we came in-includes flat iron steak and a horseradish crusted salmon. they have a nice gas-burner heated patio out front, but we weren't bundled up enough for that. instead we haddinnerinside where they have a full bar and six big screen tvs available for watching. (this is not a sports bar, dont worry). we ordered vegetarian flat bread to start and grilled vegetable focaccia with house cut chips and a turkey burger with veg soup for entrees. the flat bread was like a plain cheese pizza with some green onions and pesto dabbed on it-good, but could have had a little more to it, more veg maybe? the veg soup was very good, the turkey burger served on a lovely pretzel bun with avocado and swiss cheese, tasted good also. my wife said the veggie focaccia was good. the chips ok, not special but she'd get them again. for dessert the waiter offered pistachio cake french toast and we caved immediately. it was very light, not a heavy dessert, served with ice cream and maple syrup drizzled over top.
menu prices run around eight bucks and up and take out is available. we will go back again, i want to try the lamb burger and we want to try the fried risotto cakes which they were out of when we were there.

came fordinnerand got the fish and chips, what food i got was good, but there sure wasn't very much of it. the rest of the orders in our party were pretty much the same. for the price i don't think it was worth it.

a new favorite. two of us haddinneron a monday (it's great to have a nice place open on monday). meatloafdinnerwith mashed potatoes and gravy was very good, and very reasonably priced. i had the special: fresh walleye served over a bed of perfectly cooked and seasoned rice. i'm glad i didn't ask the price; at $23.95 i might have passed on it - it was worth the price! we both had the vegetables, zucchini and yellow squash, also seasoned and cooked perfectly.

i also had a vodka gimlet (well, o.k., so i had two!). perfectly done!

our waiter was just o.k. - seemed a little unprepared, actually. everything else was just perfect! put mantra down as our new "favorite restaurant in omaha."

nice restaurant!. my wife and i recently had an earlydinnerat mantra. we were seated immediately after entering the restaurant and greeted soon thereafter by our very friendly server, sammi. my wife and i ordered our drinks and did not feel rushed by sammi as we took our time looking over the menu. we finally decided on the dijon shrimp starter to share, the seafood enchilada for my wife and i ordered the crabcake salad.

the dijon shrimp arrived quickly with 6 plump shrimp nestled in an escargot plated, each resting in a well of buttery, melted havarti cheese. the shrimp is served with sliced french bread which came in handy for soaking up the buttery goodness left in the escargot plate after eating the shrimp!

my wife's seafood enchilada platter looked very appetizing with two seafood-stuffed enchiladas with beans and rice on the side. my wife was very pleased with her choice.

i awaited my crabcake salad with some trepidation, though. i was soon put at ease as the large platter of mixed greens, artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes and french bread croutons arrived. the greens were well-dressed in a balsamic vinagrette and topped with two, well portioned, lump crabcakes. this salad was delicious!

a very nice, casual,dinnerfor two, with drinks, appetizer and entrees for around $50. it was the start of a good night!