Santoro, chef Jesus Rivera’s new higher-end Mexican spot, has been on my radar for at least a year.

Like so many Omahans, I was a big fan of his former restaurant, Rivera’s, which closed about two years ago. If my recent visits to Santoro, in a development at 8601 West Dodge Road, are any indication, lots of diners share both my curiosity about his new spot and a lingering desire for the old one, too.

Santoro is buzzier and less casual than Rivera’s. Diners will find both new dishes on the Santoro menu as well as a few old Rivera’s mainstays.

I liked much of what we tried during my two visits, but I think there’s some work to be done to elevate the dining experience and the dishes to match both the higher prices and the higher-end feel of the space.

First off: Santoro is packed, vibrant and does not accept reservations. It’s a scene, one that’s nice to see in central Omaha.

So you’re going to have to wait for it. Each time we visited, we waited, usually on the patio, as the waiting room was often full. Several parties waited outside the front door on the sidewalk. If you wait on a corner of the patio or by the bar, sipping a drink from the shortlist of batched margaritas helps time fly.

A group of friends we dined with tried a variety off the list of five margaritas. The crowd favorites are the verano mio, a tart, lime-forward drink with kicky blanco tequila; Frida’s, a mezcal margarita made with sweet prickly pear juice; and the La Chona, made with blanco tequila and a hot pink puree of dragon fruit.

When I talked to Rivera after my visits, he told me the batched margaritas are all that the restaurant is serving right now because the dining room is so busy. There are plans for a list of made-to-order cocktails and margaritas, which should debut soon.

Santoro’s dining room is in the former boiler room of the building, Rivera told me, which makes for a cool, industrial feel. An outdoor patio is sizable, and he said a local mural artist is working on decorating the white patio walls with artwork.

Rivera said he’s been working for two years on Santoro, which he named after a town near where he lived in Mexico. He said he wanted Santoro to be a mix of what he knew his customers in Omaha liked plus new things — like the steak aguachile — that he wanted to try. He plans to regularly start running specials to expand what the menu offers.

One issue we ran into is that the industrial nature of the space makes it loud, and several times, we had trouble hearing our friends in the din. The noise could be addressed with some acoustic paneling to offset a lot of hard surfaces.

The menu is sizable, with a long list of enchiladas, including — notably — the mole enchiladas, a longtime Rivera’s fan favorite.

On our first visit, I opted to try something new, the enchiladas suizas, which are corn tortillas filled with roasted chicken, diced onions and panela cheese, a fresh cow’s milk cheese common in Mexican cuisine. The dish gets topped with a savory, rich white mole sauce along with melted cheese, sour cream sauce and crumbled queso.

I’d never had a white mole before, but I learned later it’s typically from the Oaxaca region of Mexico and is often reserved for the holidays. It’s gentler in flavor than a traditional dark mole, but had a garlicky bent with a hint of green chile. I liked it a lot.

Prices are mid to higher-end at Santoro, with most entrees in the $25 to $32 range. The most expensive appetizers are $21. Rivera said prices have changed a lot since his former restaurant closed, and ingredients like avocado, plus higher-end meat choices, made it so he had to charge more than he used to.

He does still offer a complimentary house salsa, which boasts a pretty hue of orange that packs heat and is nice with the warmed tortilla chips.

Warm queso is also spicy, particularly the small bit of fresh pico de gallo at its center. Over my visits, the spice level was uneven: once incredibly spicy, once milder. I preferred the latter; its heat during the first visit overwhelmed me. In any event, consistency is key.

I really enjoyed the al pastor street tacos, which come on warm, small corn tortillas topped with fresh herbs, diced red onion and a side of house-made salsa verde. I ended up using the orange salsa that came with the chips instead of the green one, which was simply too four-alarm spicy for this two-alarm diner. The meat on the tacos was flavorful and tender, and I’d order the dish again.

Santoro carne asada comes with nicely marinated skirt steak, lots of fresh herbs and a variety of sauces and toppings to stuff into corn tortillas. The portion size felt generous.

Cilantro rice, creamy and herbaceous in flavor, is well worth adding as a shared side dish. But the street corn turned smiles at our table into frowns. The two cobs had a mushy finish instead of a crisp snap, and featured a powdery seasoning on the exterior instead of the fresh herbs and cotija cheese I expected.

Better is the chorizo fundido: Cheese, chorizo and spinach flambéed with tequila and topped with pico de gallo. Our table agreed they would have preferred crispy chips to the soft tortillas on the side for a bit of textural contrast.

The entrees we tried that night also connected.

My friends liked both the chile rellenos and the fajitas de la casa. The chile rellenos, in the classic style, are cheese-stuffed poblanos that get fried in an egg batter until fluffy, then topped with a homemade tomato sauce.

The fajitas de la casa another friend ordered were by the book: marinated steak, chicken, chorizo and shrimp plus onions and peppers served with guac, pico and corn or flour tortillas. They had plenty of spice, which I think came from the marinade mentioned on the menu. My friend’s only complaint was that the shrimp arrived a bit overcooked.

The most interesting of any dish we tried was probably the cazuela nortena, a sort of Mexican baked dish layered with corn tortillas, spreadable chorizo, sautéed shrimp, roasted chicken, black bean salsa, melted cheese, sour cream and spicy chipotle sauces and crispy pork belly. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but it’s worth it. Texturally interesting with contrasting temperatures and flavors, this is one dish I think most diners would favor, our table included.

There’s much to like at Santoro. I look forward to trying more of the menu and sampling the new cocktails Rivera said are on the way. It’s a fun, vibrant restaurant, one of the buzziest spots in Omaha. It’s also a bit uneven right now, in its infancy, but the chef’s track record and its early success make me confident it will get there.

Santoro

https://santoroomaha.com/

8601 West Dodge Rd

402-916-5838

Hours: 4-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday

This story was originally published by Flatwater Free Press, an independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories in Nebraska that matter. Read the article at: https://flatwaterfreepress.org/9216-2/