Talus Spirits & Sustenance

Talus has been on our list for a while, and we finally ventured to Papillion to pay a visit. The restaurant is a great size with a friendly vibe. We both immediately noticed it smelled like a clean hotel, and we liked the ambiance provided by the fireplace. My husband had wine and I started with the blackberry shrub mule. This was the best mule I've ever had. It was so flavorful and refreshing.My husband ordered the meatloaf. It was incredibly tender and had a little spice to it. I had the grilled apple bacon cheese sandwich with truffle fries as my side. The sandwich was superb, especially with the heavy-handed addition of fig jam. The truffle fries were also perfect; my husband tried a few and said they were some of the best fries he has ever had.We are so excited to have discovered this gem! I recommend making a reservation because it was quite crowded.

Food: I got the pork belly mushroom risotto here. The portion sizes surprised me, as it was enough for two meals for me! The risotto is very creamy and the pork belly was cooked to perfection. The combination of the meal may seem strange to some, but I'm all about fusion! The only complaint I have is that the risotto was cooked a little too al dente. Service: our waiter seated us quickly and was overall very helpful and friendly! Service was fast.Ambiance: It was a random Wednesday night and the place was absolutely PACKED! We had no reservation but had no trouble getting seated quickly. The vibe was relaxing and not too formal.

We really enjoyed our dinner here. The bartender was awesome and made me a NA old fashioned (most places only say they have NA beer) and don't go through the effort of trying to make something. It was as good as an NA cocktail is going to get. We sat at the bar and there was a good amount of people in the restaurant on a Monday night. There were some tvs on and sports and it was a chill place for a good drink and dish. We only got two appetizer like dishes because we weren't super hungry and they have a spin on them (adding Brussels to a Caesar salad) and I didn't hate it but I'm not sure I loved it either. I didn't like the warm with a colder salad. And the mushroom puffs. Again, didn't love them but didn't hate them. Would love to go back and try more.

Overall, love this place! Recommend a reservation to avoid disappointment as it's usually busy. The risotto is so good! Portions are huge and so far everything I've had is pretty good. Not fine dining but a great local option if you are looking for a well done, affordable meal! I love their sandwiches too! Tried the chocolate crème brûlée which felt more likeChocolate mouse but was still very good. Will keep coming back here! Noise level is medium, was quiet enough to have a conversation even on a busy night.

Such delicious food! The Brussels sprouts were perfectly roasted in the salad and the portion was huge! The dressing in my opinion wasn't enough so I asked for more. The salmon was super tasty and my friend finished it so quick. The fries were perfectly crispy and the perfect crunch and softness. Definitely sit outside when the weather is nice! Such a beautiful and relaxing environment.

I've been to Talus a few times and a lot of their offerings are great, with just a few I would possibly skip.The ambiance is pretty cool and "woodsy" with a fireplace and brick, as well as a lot of wood and wrought iron. The servers are great, and very attentive.We've been during the normal menu hours, as well as the happy hour (which has a totally different menu).The starters we've had on the normal menu are:-Eureka Crab Flatbread: This is like a crab rangoon flatbread! The bread is soft and covered in cream cheese, crab and the sweet chili sauce that almost stands in as the "sweet and sour" dipping sauce in the crab rangoon flavor. So good, and gigantic - this could be a meal in itself, if you're not sharing with anyone.-Brussels Sprouts: These are a mix of the sweeter version of Brussels and the savory, because they have a nice balsamic glaze as well as parmesan and some salty seasoning. So you get the best of both worlds if you're a Brussels Sprouts fan.-Peruvian Corn Chowder: I'm a super huge fan of any type of corn chowder, so I was excited for this. It was good and earthy, but seemed to be lacking some type of flavor - it had one base flavor of creaminess without anything added to cut the heaviness of the cream at all.The Entrees we've tried:-Mt. Fuji Mushroom Risotto: This was super tasty, and I don't even like mushrooms normally! The risotto was perfectly cooked and had the depth of flavor in the yakisoba cream and pork belly. -Chicken Pot Pie Risotto: This one wasn't as flavorful as the Mt. Fuji Risotto, because it was kind of all similar flavors without diversity in the salty, rich, savory, sour - it was just all one chickeny flavor, so if you're picking between the two, I'd go with the Fuji.Dessert:We've only had one dessert here, and it's one I definitely recommend - the Lithuanian Napoleonas Torte! We love the torte from the Lithuanian Bakery, and our server let us know that the Talus owners are family with the Bakery owner, so we had to try it. It was SO good with its fluffy layers, strawberry, and the little swipe of espresso cream paired with it. I would go back just for this!Happy Hour:As I said, we also went back for their Happy Hour, which has many small bites and apps that aren't on the main menu. We decided to go back and try each of them one day. They weren't all 10/10s but we did like many of them.-Cheeseburger Dip: This was my favorite. It was a cheesy dip with pickles in it, served with soft bread points you can dip into it. Really good, but I could do without the lettuce on top that they serve with it.-Italian Chip-Cho's: These were really well fried up homemade chips with a fondue cheese dipping sauce, topped in tomatoes, onions, and shredded cheese. Yum!-Ponzu Steak Stack: The steak in this was great and super tender/melt in your mouth. The steak bits were on top of some crispy wonton chips, with cabbage and other veggies and topped with delish sweet chili sauce.-Memphis BBQ Pork Slider: Tasty pulled pork with Memphis BBQ. It came basically as one large sandwich cut into two halves. -Shrimp and Corn Tacos: These were alright, with small shrimp bits, corn, avocado, and pico. It was a little dry and only after we'd left did I read on their website that it was supposed to have Crème Queso, that ours definitely did not have.-Buffalo Blue Brussels: Now these I was not a fan of because the blue cheese if VERY blue cheesy. I had had the OG Brussels and loved those so did give these a shot but just was not a fan.Sorry for the insanely long review, but I wanted to give a little snapshot of each thing we've tried since we've been a few times. The food is a little "old fashioned" in style, but I would say definitely give them a try, normally or for happy hour!

Great food and spirits! The old fashioned was on point and food was really good. Almost a hipster farm - to - table vibe, with prices comparable to an Applebees. Service was decent... seemed a bit backed up with ~60% occupancy.

We have given this place multiple chances and each time we leave saying we are disappointed and won't go there again. There is an attempt a creative identity that comes across as having no clear identity and limited ambience. It's like being on a cooking show where you have to make something from random ingredients and the result is Talus. We wish we could say this was our last visit but the outdoor patio is a nice place to hang out in the summer. It's a refreshing change from the fast food of Sarpy County. However, when your dinner comes out of your bottom less than a half hour after the meal you have to wonder.

Just a weird experience. This would be the second time I've been. The service is hit or miss. The bar service was slightly inattentive. The cocktails were a complete miss. For espresso martinis being so hot right now, you'd think they'd have that figured out.

Stopped in for Birthday drinks for Happy Hour. Service very friendly and fast. I got the Smoked Old Fashioned (not on the HH menu). It didn't disappoint. HH menu had lots of offerings but we only chose the Ponzu Steak Stack from it as other menu items reasonably priced. Vesuvius Flatbread tasty with nice amount of heat. Would not do the crispy Brussels sprouts again but my friend wasn't interest in the buffalo sprouts.