mantra

stopped by after work for dinner, slam dunk!! flatbread was awesome and the spicy shredded pork soup they had tonight was spicy and delicious!! the staff is always great and it's just aniceplace to be. the only thing is that the bartender had a weird shaped head. i'll be back for sure!!

nice place. went with a friend on a wet and windy tuesday recently. verynicedecor. part sports bar (tv's everywhere...sound off though) part bistro feel.

great waitress. very friendly and prompt.

crabcake appetizers were good...not great.
chicken picatta was very good, just not a picatta. the sauce was too heavy for a traditional picatta.

very pleasant evening. i'd definitely go back.

this place has anicevibe. i was impressed by the attentative service despite it being a busy friday evening. highly recommend the lamb burger as well as bacon and tomato flatbread.

bohemian rhapsody. benson keeps reinventing itself. what is now omaha's hottest bohemian neighborhood for food and music has sprouted anicelittle 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 substantive dinner fare 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 small dinner salad 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 to dinner to be distracted by huge tv sets. they go out to dinner to 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

good food, varied menu,niceatmosphere. my wife and i just had dinner at mantra, located at 6913 maple street. the online menu reflects their take-out/lunch menu so i was pleasantly surprised by the dinner menu the waiter gave us when we came in-includes flat iron steak and a horseradish crusted salmon. they have anicegas-burner heated patio out front, but we weren't bundled up enough for that. instead we had dinner inside 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.

great addition to benson!. i recently met some friends at mantra for a sunday brunch. we took advantage of theniceweather and started out seated on the patio sipping on mimosas. the patio isnicewith sturdy tables and chairs - not the cheap patio furniture. the patio wraps around 2 sides of the restaurant. after a couple of mimosas we decided to eat our brunch inside. the restaurant is modern in it's decor, and makes you feel comfortable at the same time. i ordered the blt and was blown away. it wasn't your standard blt...it was made with peppered bacon, feta cheese and a drizzle of balsamic on a grilled focaccia bun. i was really unsure if i would like it but i love blt's so thought i'd order it. not your average blt but omg did the flavors blend together brilliantly! loved it...can't wait to have another. we all ordered a slice of french toast for our dessert...i do the same at taxi's, the owner's other restaurant...and for the others at my table it was a hit. i knew it would be!! i have to say my slice of french toast was not as crunchy as taxi's which was a little dissapointing but hopefully we just hit a not "perfect" day for french toast, but again, still enjoyed! everyone in my party loved their food. visit mantra and you won't be dissapointed! look forward to my next visit!

a new favorite. two of us had dinner on a monday (it's great to have aniceplace open on monday). meatloaf dinner with 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."

a great new place to eat. when i read that malcolm thompson was opening a new place, i knew my wife and i had to go. we have eaten at every restaurant mac has ever worked at as a chef, or chef/owner for over 35 years and have never been disappointed. in fact, i can think of no one who makes better food more consistently. from the neon goose to the yo yo grille to the amazing taxi's, malcolm has specialized in gourmet comfort food at fair prices. nothing new here--mantra sticks to the same delectable plan. we had shrimp dijon, a blt, and chicken enchilladas, plus two of the best sangria's we've ever had. the shrimp dijon was perfection, and the blt featured tasty, thick peppered bacon and feta cheese--and the bread it was on was perfect. i had to steal some of amy's chicken enchilladas, and the cheese on these alone was worth double the price we were paying for the entree. prices were moderate, actually low, considering the quality of the food. service was also excellent. at every restaurant mac has run, he hires smart people who work hard and know how to talk to customers in order to make dining out the pleasant experience it should be. the location, just west of the benson area on 69th and maple, makes mantra a perfect place to hit on the way into see a band or to drink at krug or the sydney or burke's pub. it was too hot to eat outside but there is a dining area outside that will be a fine place to hang out once it isn't 100 most of the time. mantra plans to stay open late with a bar snack menu so it will also be aniceplace to stop for a nightcap. also, the bar and art/decor inside both look sharp. there is just nothing not to like. go there and be happy.