North 40 Chophouse

Wow! We traveled from Illinois to Colorado last week, via my van. The food in Colorado was all bar food. My husband and I were craving an upscale, fresh, detail oriented meal. North 40 did not disappoint. Amanda (?) at the Hampton Inn front desk recommended this restaurant. The moment we stepped in, we knew that we had hit the jackpot. North 40 is in what looks like, a revitalizing area of town. The decor was classy and unique. The owner or manager approached our table and asked had we dined there before. As we had not, he offered us 2 free glasses of champagne. Genius way of welcoming new diners and identifying new customers! Our waitress was a great lady. We enjoyed the relaxed conversation. On to the food.... Homemade fluffy, warm rolls were brought to the table! I had scallops on top of fried cheese and the shrimp and grits. Delish. The adobo sauce on the shrimp? Magnificant. My husband had the Caesar salad, ribeye, and au gratin potatoes. He said that it was the BEST steak he had ever had. And we are from beef country! At the end of the meal, we were presented with 2 homemade blueberry muffins for breakfast. This meal is in our top 20 list. We travel as much as we can and search out eclectic, highly rated, top quality food. North 40 did not disappoint. The only sad thing is, we don't live down the street!

Fantastic spot in North Platte, NE. Sit at the bar and have a burger with the best Caesar salad you’ll ever have or treat yourself to a fantastic steak. Attention to detail is unmatched. You won’t regret it!

We found this place on our road trip to Yellowsrone from Kansas City. It's worth every penny. They do not skimp on the details. Bread brought in mini cast iron skillets. Excellent quality steak knives. Sliced to order prosciutto. The food is excellent and very well presented. The service was excellent. They gave us some champagne as it was our first time. Our server boxed up our leftovers she threw in a couple of the best blueberry muffins we've ever had!! This was definitely an unexpected gem in North Platte. We will definitely make it a stop on our trips and may even go just for the meal!!! It's that good.

Highly recommend stopping at here if you make it to the North Platte area. The service was phenomenal and the teamwork was impressive. The timing of drinks, appetizers, meal & dessert was perfect! We did not leave hungry, that's for sure! The pound of bacon was amazing and the bread was delightful. We will definitely be back to enjoy again!

North 40 is a shining star in an otherwise culinary destitute small town. I had an opportunity to speak with the head chef and provided very nitpicky critiques, which were very well received. The quality of the ingredients is extraordinary given the restaurant’s geographical location. The diver Montauk scallops were exceptionally seared. Albeit, the sauce treatment is a bit of identity crisis between the beurre blanc and poblano sauce the scallops are the shining star. The orange reduction didn’t quite add the acidic value to elevate the prawn, but nonetheless well cooked, well seasoned. The gratin was the most balanced seasoning of the three sides - I could go as far as saying there was a taste too much salt, but I’m a salty eater and for me they were perfect. The white pepper wasn’t overpowering, but you knew it was there and that was a nice treat if you know what you’re tasting. The middle of the gratin was too al dente, it could not be cut with a fork, but the perimeter of the ceramic dish was absolutely perfect. The potato was the shiny star - as it should be. The 8 ounce filet was near perfect rare. These are not sous vide steaks and salamander broiled at 800 degrees and you can tastes that unmistakable sear. The beef is local Nebraska and wet aged which just adds that extra awesomeness. The crème brûlée did not appear to me to be brûléed a la minute, the sugar was cold and the ramekin rim was cold, but the chef assured me that it is in fact brûléed a la minute and I believe him. The berry compote does indeed come from the refrigerator when applied to the dish and it was unexpectedly cold - room temperature would have just given it one more notch. The custard was perfect. Given the color the egg to cream to ratio is on the egg side and that’s ideal. The custard is the winner here…

Note to management. I realize this is a small town, but staff migrating to the bar after hours for a drink and or food is poor optics and creates an ambience which borders on too friendly. Chit chat between of duty and on duty staff should be avoided in the presence of patrons. I was there for a good two hours and the general manager never left the bar. That’s not to insulate he was imbibing, but nonetheless it’s poor form.

The staff should be properly educated on the provenance of the food. Where did it come from? Why should I be excited about it? My server didn’t know that the beef was local for example. At this price point I would expect a server or bartender to rarely go into the kitchen to ask a question from a diner. This happened on least three occasions when I asked questions. Hosting kitchen and front of house knowledge sessions would very simply elevate the dining experience which would also empower the staff to “sell” the merits of the dishes based on sourcing and preparation. This is an easy to do.

Oh, I did sample the crab and Brie bisque. I didn’t order a full portion of it. The bisque itself was of crab of unknown origin until I asked where the crab came from. “Bluecrab from the gulf”… There were various bits of onion, I think I spotted some celery and what I believe to be jalapeño chunks in it as well. The bisque has good intentions, but lacks that seafood umami punch; I didn’t taste any sherry and it generally felt like a soup to me. Cheese and seafood are hard to pull off which is why the Italians forbid it. We could save the expense on the “gulf crab” and dial in an amazing French onion topped with Gruyère and the fans would go wild. Use the bones from the steak chops and build an extraordinary stock layered with a crouton and brûléed Gruyère garnished with chive and no one will remember that the bisque was eighty-sixed (see what I did there)!

This is a gem. I worry about the local financial support to sustain the quality of the ingredients. Trim the menu in times of need and stick to higher quality fewer things as we enter an economic downturn. I hope to have an even better experience on my next visit. Thank you, Team!

5/5 for North Platte. 4/5 if in an MSA >1 million in population.