Omaha Restaurants: Reviews & Recommendations

[planojim]

while I don't know about the food, although I've heard it's decent for bar food, Crescent Moon Alehouse has one of the better selections of good microbrews on tap that I've found in the midwest.

Crescent Moon Alehouse

3578 Farnam

[snekse]

I concur. Pretty darn good beer and a pretty darn good pork tenderloin sandwich.

[jsolomon]

When you're at the Crescent Moon, try "Hopluia". It's a beer made at a brewery I used to consult at south of Lincoln. Amazing stuff if you like hopsy beers.

[sladeums]

When you're at the Crescent Moon, try "Hopluia".  It's a beer made at a brewery I used to consult at south of Lincoln.  Amazing stuff if you like hopsy beers.

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I've also seen this around at area Hy-Vee's in 24-oz singles.

If I remember the cost was pretty out there...$3, $4 bucks or something.

I remember looking at it and wondering if maybe the price tag was for a 6-pack and not the big can, but that was not the case.

might try it now, though.

[jsolomon]

It's not a swilling beer. It is quite good, though. I can usually get it for between 2.50 and 3.00 a can.

[thursdaynext]

FYI-

Mother's Good Food (which I mentioned in a post upthread) is now open. SO and I popped in early Saturday evening for a reckie. The menu is essentially unchanged from their previous incarnation up on Calhoun Rd, but the beer & wine selection is much expanded. No Dixie or Vodoo beer as of yet (I assume Katrina-related delays) but a variety on tap, primarily Empyrean brews). We had GREAT oyster po'boys, d'lish crawfish gumbo, good jambalaya & avg. red beans & rice (I sauced them up quite a bit). Closed Sundays except for bar business in the eve w/ live music. This Friday nite (to celebrate their re-opening) will also feature some NO music.

[snekse]

FYI-

Mother's Good Food (which I mentioned in a post upthread) is now open. SO and I popped in early Saturday evening for a reckie. The menu is essentially unchanged from their previous incarnation up on Calhoun Rd, but the beer & wine selection is much expanded. No Dixie or Vodoo beer as of yet (I assume Katrina-related delays) but a variety on tap, primarily Empyrean brews). We had GREAT oyster po'boys, d'lish crawfish gumbo, good jambalaya & avg. red beans & rice (I sauced them up quite a bit).  Closed Sundays except for bar business in the eve w/ live music. This Friday nite (to celebrate their re-opening) will also feature some NO music.

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Thanks, I'll put that on my Soul Food ToDo list. Not sure what other places in Omaha serve Jambalaya besides Butsy's. Mmmmmm, Jambalaya.

[thursdaynext]

Gotta keep encouraging culinary diversity in this town!

[joiei]

I am going to be in Omaha for the Memorial Day weekend visiting my brother. He is new to that area. Where should I go for meals. It needs to be a place where he can wear bluejeans.

Some places that I have looked at are

The Flatiron Cafe

V Mertz

Vivace

and ice cream place that I don't remember the name Tom and somebody's sounds like lunch to me.

Cuisine style is open, middle eastern appeals, just need to keep it casual. I will be staying in Old Market area.

[Blanche Davidian]

You mean Ted and Wally's. They just have ice cream.

All those places you listed are pretty highfalutin for casual eating. Just so you're warned.

My parents like the Upstream Brewery in the Old Market. Zio's is decent pizza. I like the Diner better than the Garden Cafe for breakfast, but both are OK. Do not, under any circumstances, go to Spaghetti Works.

You really shouldn't go to Omaha without eating at an Italian steakhouse. There is a huge and thriving Italian-American community in Omaha and it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. Gorat's, Caniglia's, Mr. C's, and Angie's are all steakhouses. My family likes Lo Sole Mio for straight-up Italian, and I remember Malara's being good, too.

Our family loves Nettie's Fine Mexican Food, which is so far south it's in Bellevue. It's a very smoky dive, but the chili is great.

Amongst my Omaha acquaintences, the Sitar is considered the best Indian restaurant.

I'm afraid you'll come up short for good middle eastern. The only place I can think of is King Kong (the mere mention of the name will make native Omahans shout "Ees not JAI-ros, ees YEE-ros!" thanks to their awesomely bad TV commerical.) I think there's a Persian restaurant in the Old Market, but I've never been there.

Edited to add: check out this thread for more recommendations.

Edited May 22, 2006 by Blanche Davidian (log)

[snekse]

There's a pretty good thread here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=79178

[joiei]

Thanks everyone for your help. IF anyone would like to meet up for coffee one morning, pm me only please. Is the Memorial Day parade a funky thing? I can get out there and wave a flag for the HEROS, deed I can.

[joiei]

First Impressions

This afternoon after arriving in Omaha, I wandered from my hotel down to the 13th Street coffee shop and had a pretty good iced latte.

After meeting my brother we went to Delices and ordered an iced latte, not as good as the other one, he had a cup of coffee that he could not drink, he said it was one of the worst he has had in a long time with an eclair which he said was excellent. ???

For dinner, we went to the Flatiron Cafe. We shared an order of the Portobello mushroom fires with sweet thai chile sauce over a little asian slaw. They tasted like there was possibly nuts in the breading, very good flavor with the cool slaw.

My brother had the olive oil poached halibut with fresh mozzarella vinagrette, roasted tomato salad and jerusalem artichoke puree, it was served steaming hot and was very good with the puree. I ordered a special of roasted sea bass over an asian slaw with tempura nori roll. THe sea bass was cooked perfectly, tender and moist. It was over a bed of the same asian slaw as on the mushroom plate, which I did not mind all that much and was drizzled with a just slightly sweeted soy based sauce. The service was efficient, not overly friendly, and got the job done. I liked having the windows on both sides of the pie shaped room, lots of light and seeing beyond the inside of the restaurant. The desserts offered didn't do it for me so we passed. THe only problem we had, the cream curdled in a cup of coffee, so they immediately brought a fresh cup and some fresh cream.

Over all, a bit pricey, but presentations and tastes were worth it. Plus, we had seafood in Omaha.

Tomorrow, we are going to try a brew pub for brunch and dinner is still up in the air. My brother keeps taking about the buffet at the Horseshoe casino. He was a real sport for dinner tonight, so I will have to return the favor tomorrow. Plus, I might get a tour of the power plant that he is working on.

later, gaters

[Jaymes]

Wish I could join you in Omaha. I used to live there, you know.

I'd be up for some liver dumpling soup and czech goulash at the Bohemian Cafe.

And wonder if the restaurant at the Blackstone Hotel is still around. I'd really give a lot to have another Reuben Sandwich at the place that invented it.

[joiei]

Wish I could join you in Omaha.  I used to live there, you know.

I'd be up for some liver dumpling soup and czech goulash at the Bohemian Cafe.

And wonder if the restaurant at the Blackstone Hotel is still around.  I'd really give a lot to have another Reuben Sandwich at the place that invented it.

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THe Blackstone Hotel is now an office building

As for the Reuben Sandwich, you can either check for ratings here or add your own ratings.

I am running into one small problem, it seems most places are going to be closed on Memorial Day, so we will have a bit of challenge to stay out of chain land. But we shall see.

[joiei]

Omaha day two

Well, our schedule had to be changed a bit today. No biggie. We did make it to the brew pub which was way out in big box land. Brother said the beer on tap was pretty good, but the food was nothing special. It is the Upstream Brewing Company.

Then we just drove around a lot. Found what was probably the old Italian neighborhood below 10th. Came across Orsi's, went in to see the bakery but it turned out to be a pizza take out, smelled wonderful. THere sure are a lot of steakhouses (old style like from the 40s and 50s in this neighborhood. I did check out the former Blackstone hotel and it is strictly offices, in fact the company my brother works for, it is their headquarters in Omaha. One building that I didn't expect and was surprised by when I saw it was the Mutual of Omaha. It caught me completely off guard. A homer moment?

For dinner we ended up at Vivace in the Old Market. We sat outside and the service was pretty good. I ordered hummus as a starter and I do not know what the food runner brought me the first time, but it was not hummus. Scott, our waiter immediately removed it and brought out the correct dish. It was actually pretty good. A nice balance of flavors. My brother ordered the flatiron steak and I ordered the chicken piccata.

The piccata was lacking, there was no artichokes, no onions, no asparagus. It was served with garlic mashed potatos and they were on the cool side. The sauted summer squash and zukes was not very exciting. The sauce on the chicken was pretty good. My brother said the flatiron tasted good but was not as hot as it could of been. They did offer desserts for the appetizer mix up. I was totally unimpressed with almost everything except Scott's service. He and I had a discussion about the fact that there was no nice dry rose on the wine menu. Not the white zinfindel stuff but a nice rose from cote de provence or Bandol. The weather just called for one. Over all, I would not go back nor would I recommend it to anyone.

edited to add that the iced latte at the 13th Street Coffee has been good both times I have been there.

Edited May 29, 2006 by joiei (log)

[joiei]

Last day in Omaha

We spent time checking out the Lewis and Clark stuff, the monument on the bluffs outside of Council Bluffs was probably my favorite because of the view. For lunch we ended up at Ricks Boatyard Cafe on the riverfront. We went there for the view and casual atmosphere. We ordered the special of the day, BBQ pork sandwich with homemade chips. I was going to order the crab cakes but they had sold out because of the weekend.

Then we went to Ted and Wally's and had ice cream. The I would rather eat chocolate than work was interesting, the vanilla was vanilla. But it was fun, they make the ice cream right there on premises in old fashioned ice cream makers with ice and rock salt. That was fun.

I didn't make it to 13th street coffee, we spent too much time driving up to Ft Atchison.

After this, I left for Kansas City. It was fun and if my brother stays there long enough with the construction project, then I will go back.

[snekse]

And Mother's Good Food (Cajun) is reopening after New Year's in a new location, having taken over the old Saddle Creek Bar space.

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FYI...

Mother’s Good Food, 1410 N. Saddle Creek Road, has officially closed. Owner Mike Coldewey could not be reached; however, word on the street is he plans to reopen the joint as the Saddle Creek Bar and Grille.

I wonder if they're still going to be serving the same type of food?

[snekse]

It looks like several Omaha restaurants are closing shop including

Di Coppia at 132nd & Dodge

Mother's Good Food on Saddle Creek

Jonesy's at 8602 Maple St.

Ellada's at 168th & Center

Restaurant failure brings call for support

Four days after closing his fine-dining establishment, the owner of di Coppia this week called for Omahans to support independent restaurants.

Di Coppia was one of three locally owned restaurants to close their doors in the past month.

"Ultimately, it's going to come down to the people of Omaha, as far as which restaurants survive and don't survive," said di Coppia's John Halligan, who shut down his restaurant on June 10.

"We went over budget when we moved, and that didn't help the situation. We had to take on a lot of debt moving out of Regency," Halligan said. He said the costs were in the "hundreds of thousands of dollars."

But he pointed to growing competition from chain restaurants as the main cause.

"With all the chains that are here in town, they've got the big dollars," he said. "There's a lot of them opening up and they're splitting up the market."

[kayswv]

Good afternoon,

My husband and I will be passing through Omaha in a couple of weeks enroute from Minneapolis to home. Will be there for only one night. We both really want a great steak.

Have researched the forum and am looking for recommendations on "the" best place to get a delicious steak. No requirement for it being fancy, just good flavorful steak.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.

Kay

[IowaDee]

I'm hoping for a quick reply. We will be in Omaha this Sunday thru Tuesday.

Other than Old Town, I have no idea where the "good eats" are lurking.

[joiei]

When I was there Memorial Day, the best meal we had was at The Flatiron Cafe in downtown. It was within walking distance to our hotel. Nice atmosphere, good service and excellent meals.

[FlourPower]

You'll get a different answer depending on who you ask. Some would say Johnny's at 32nd and L near the Stockyards but ever since I got an ice cream scoop of braunschweiger and saltines as an "appetizer" I've had a hard time getting past that. Some consider it a classic. To be fair, I haven't been there in 10 years so what do I know. I think Anthony's at 72nd and Grover is decent as well.

Another one that comes up a lot is Gorat's, where Warren Buffet regularly eats. Nothing special and nothing fancy -- straight out of the 1960s. That one's at about 45th and Center.

The Drover on 72nd isn't bad, and neither is Brother Sebastian's at 120th and Pacific. I've heard good things about Flemings in Regency, although that's a chain.

With the exception of Fleming's, those are old school steakhouses if that's what you're looking for. The Flatiron, mentioned earlier, is an excellent choice, especially if you have some in your party who aren't into steak.

For pure kitsch you can't beat Mister C's up north. They've got photos in the lobby of the owner with the prize winning steers at the fair. But for the love of God don't go there for the food. Just cocktails. Steak was not meant to be served with a side of spaghetti.

[bbqboy]

Johnny's or Mr. C's. I happen to like the idea of Spaghetti as a side which is an Omaha Steakhouse Tradition. Mr. C's Sauce tastes like it has Anise in it. Quite nice in a traditional way.

[thursdaynext]

Second the suggestions for:

The Drover,

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar,

and I also really like the Flatiron, which has good steaks, but is not primarily a steakhouse