ISLA DEL MAR
Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★⭑
District: South Omaha; Southwest Omaha
Mexican Seafood & Sushi
Perfect For: Casual Dining; Date Night; Happy Hour; Lunch; Takeout
Standout Dishes: Torre Imperial; Torre Poke
If it’s true that we eat first with our eyes, then Isla Del Mar serves a feast before you even take your first bite.
The restaurant’s towers of fish, avocado, vegetables, and various shrimp preparations are technical marvels. Exquisite, tight rolls of sushi are garnished with delicate touches and flamboyant sauces. Each dish pops with vibrant colors, and the stunning whole fried tilapia stuffed with ceviche, shrimp, and octopus catches the attention of the entire dining room.
And yet, for all the beauty in these dishes, I’d come here again and again even if the chefs simply dumped all the elements onto the plate. Because as great as the food looks, it tastes even better.
Isla Del Mar started as a food truck that quickly became so popular that it opened a brick and mortar off 36th and Q. After a few years of wowing South Omaha with its fresh fish and birria tacos, it opened a second location in West Omaha near 132nd and center.
Both locations are massive, with enough seating for more than 100 people. And given the way people flock for these seafood towers, sushi rolls, and birria dishes, Isla Del Mar needs all the space it can get.
The only thing larger than Isla’s cavernous dining space is its menu, which includes well over 100 dishes. Most involve seafood with Mexican flair, including ceviches, aguachiles, tostadas, enchiladas, and seafood cocktails. There are non-seafood dishes as well, such as steak and enchiladas or quesadillas with chicken, not to mention Isla’s various birria dishes (tacos, pizza, ramen, etc.). You’ll also find more than 50 sushi rolls and sashimi/nigiri choices.
Suffice to say, you’re not lacking for options when it comes to Isla Del Mar.
Typically, expansive menus are a massive red flag. This usually shows a lack of focus and a prioritization of quantity, not quality. But from my visits to Isla Del Mar, this place is defying expectations. Yeah, there are a lot of dishes coming out of the kitchen, but none lack care, attention to detail, or most importantly, flavor.
The sheer freshness of Isla’s seafood is what stands out most. The fish smell fresh and mild and have a delicate, buttery quality.
The best way to experience them, in my opinion, is the astounding La Torre Imperial (pictured in the header photo), a column of fish ceviche, aguachile shrimp, cooked shrimp, octopus, avocado, and vegetables, adorned with a whole fried shrimp. Splashed with a chili-forward red sauce, it’s the type of dish that has Instagram influencers reaching for their phones from across the room.
The ceviche is lively, tangy, and citrus-forward, which balances the mild but perfectly cooked shrimp, and the octopus adds plump, fleshy bites. It’s excellent just eaten as is, but it goes to another level when loaded onto a crunchy, mayo-spread tostada. If you’re looking for a little more punch, opt for one of the Aguachile dishes, which incorporate chili peppers into the marinade and liquid.
The Torre Poke is the best version of poke I’ve found outside of Hawaii. How Isla Del Mar gets its tuna to taste this fresh is beyond me, but the velvety, slightly sweet chunks of fish are tremendous. The sushi rice is sticky and sweet, the avocado fatty, and the spicy crab mixture adds a creaminess.
Some of Isla’s most interesting options are its octopus dishes. The Pulpo Zarandeado, a full pound of octopus legs still attached to the head, is just as tasty as it is visually arresting. Prepared poorly, octopus is a chewy, mushy mess. But when cooked correctly, as Isla shows, it’s firm and tender, and the mayo/mustard sauce is a perfect complement to the octopus’ mild sweetness.
The Pulpo a la Diabla might not be as beautiful as some of Isla’s other dishes, but it’s no less flavorful. Isla smothers the chunks of octopus in buttery, spicy sauce and serves it with fresh tortillas. Included on the plate is a creamy mac salad that’s far less sweet than most American versions.
Isla also offers plenty of plates that might be more recognizable as Mexican food to the average diner, including quesadillas, fajitas, tacos, and enchiladas. But you won’t find ground beef here; these dishes are stuffed with interesting seafood like marlin, shrimp, manta ray, and buttery, delicious blue crab. The Blue Crab Enchiladas, cooekd in a tangy, slightly spicy sauce and draped in a blanket of warm, gooey cheese, are particularly good.
The Guacamole, a testament to the beauty of the avocado, is the perfect way to start the meal. Smooth but with sizable chunks of avocado, this appetizer has just the right amount of acid.
And if your sweet tooth is calling at the end of the meal, satisfy it with a slice of Tres Leches Cake. This sponge cake is saturated with condensed milk, whole milk, and evaporated milk, giving it a luscious, creamy consistency. It walks right up to the line of being too sweet but doesn’t cross over, and tangy chunks of strawberry bring balance.
For as fresh and vibrant as the fish itself are at Isla Del Mar, they doesn’t sing as strongly in the sushi portion of the menu. The beautiful seafood is present, but can be relegated to background roles due to other stronger components.
The Isla Sushi is a great example. The sweet unagi sauce, spicy mayo, and cream cheese but the more delicate flavors of salmon and tuna to play secondary roles. There’s a similar effect in the Crispy Mango, where a sweet mango sauce takes over the spicy crab.
And while I appreciate the boldness of the Cielo, Mar, & Tierra (Air, Sea, & Land), this roll is just a lot. Grilled chicken breast, skirt steak, and shrimp are stuffed inside a roll with cream cheese, cucumber, and avocado, then tempura fried. Finish this whole roll and you’re in a full-on food coma.
None of this to say the sushi isn’t tasty at Isla Del Mar; most of the rolls I’ve had are delicious. They just doesn’t feel as refined as some of the fish-forward plates. But there are rolls like the Nebraska Summer that buck that trend. The raw, fatty flesh of the salmon balances perfectly with the crispy shrimp tempura, and the spicy crab adds a touch of sweetness. Here, the fish is allowed to shine, and it does so brilliantly.
No restaurant in Omaha quite matches Isla Del Mar’s upbeat, happy vibes, which bring more to mind a party than a restaurant meal. Isla Del Mar is fun. It feels like a celebration from the moment you walk in, from the bright walls and paintings to the multiple sushi counters and jovial music. The restaurant even hires live performers and mariachi bands from time to time.
Simply put, there’s nothing quite like Isla Del Mar in Omaha. From the incredibly fresh seafood with Mexican flair to the lively atmosphere to the plating worthy of an art gallery, this restaurant is offering something new and different. And given its rapid expansion, Omaha is taking notice.