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Review: A Google search leads to Phôba, where you can find a memorable, delicious bánh mì sandwich
Sometimes a cruise around the internet leads you to an excellent bánh mì sandwich. In this case, it also led me to some nice steamed hot chicken dumplings, a big bowl of hot pho on that one cool day last week and an excellent boba tea made with mint and sparkling water. I hadn’t heard…
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Review: At The Salty Dog, crispy, dry wings take time but are worth the wait
I wasn’t expecting to be writing a full review of The Salty Dog. My plan was to run in, try their chicken wings — recommended to me by some restaurant industry friends — and write a few sentences about them on my blog. But it turned out that the bar and grill, tucked in a…
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Review: At Tracks, carefully crafted chicken wings keep regulars coming back
At Tracks Lounge, chicken wings might be the main attraction. You would be hard pressed to walk past the handful of patio tables or the regulars holding up the bar and not see a basket of extra large, charred, saucy wings in front of them, along with a beer and a pile of crumpled napkins. …
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Review: At Everett’s, time, brine and custom sauces make the chicken wings stand out
It’s a few minutes after six on a Wednesday, and Everett’s — one of the top spots in the city where Omahans suggested I should try chicken wings — is packed. We scribble our name on the big chalkboard on the front wall and head next door to Brokedown Palace, the neighboring dive bar where…
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Review: At the Stuffed Olive, martinis are served up with a shot of 90s nostalgia
I’ll admit it: I can be a bit of a cocktail snob. (I know, you’re all gasping with surprise.) So when I saw The Stuffed Olive, a new bar in the Capitol District serving a massive menu of martinis had opened, I felt excited, but also trepidation: Martinis? More than a hundred of them? Can…
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Review: At this Yelp top 100 spot, Mexican meets Asian for an interesting culinary mashup
I don’t spend much time reading Yelp reviews — I like to go into most restaurants with as little knowledge as possible — but when I heard two Omaha restaurants had made the 2024 Yelp top 100, I’ll admit it. I started reading. Corner Kitchen and its mouthwatering Instagram had been on my radar for…
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Review: At Salted Edge, the popular bread board is just the beginning of the tasty, chef-driven menu
Chef Joel Hassanali had absolutely no clue that the Salted Edge’s bread board was going to become the new Waterloo restaurant’s unlikely calling card. Hassanali, the chef and partner in the business, along with owners Ashley and Gregg Young, all knew that they wanted bread on the menu in some fashion, but Hassanali said he…
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Review: At Tupelo Honey, some of the southern classics hit the spot while others could use a bit more soul
Omaha’s lineup of restaurants serving solid Southern cuisine is still fairly short. A trio comes to mind: Herbe Sainte, Mouth of the South, Acadian Grille. Now there’s a new contender: Tupelo Honey, the first restaurant to open east of tenth street in downtown Omaha’s new Mercantile development. After two visits, I found some dishes to…
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Of the 25 restaurants I reviewed in 2023, these are my top eight
A quick reminder before we dive right into the year’s best reviewed restaurants: As it has been for many years, my annual best-of list only includes restaurants that I have reviewed in the last calendar year. If you don’t see one of your favorites, that is probably why. Want me to review that favorite, or…
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Review: Ten years in to Tim Nicholson’s Boiler Room, the Old Market spot is as good as ever
It’s hard to believe that the last time I sat down to review what has become one of my favorite restaurants in Omaha — The Boiler Room — it was 2016. So much has happened since then, to diners, to chefs and to the Omaha restaurant scene. But one thing, at least when it comes…