Neighborhood: Blackstone

South 33rd Street to 38th Street; Leavenworth Street to Dodge Street.

  • Six patios I love, plus a recommendation on taking takeout outside

    Six patios I love, plus a recommendation on taking takeout outside

    The summer of 2020 has been the summer where I do exactly none of the things that I enjoy about summer, and that absolutely includes drinking wine on as many restaurant patios as possible. (It also includes the College World Series and the Maha Music Festival, but I probably shouldn’t get started down this path.)…

  • The new Blackstone food hall will open with precautions June 22

    The new Blackstone food hall will open with precautions June 22

    The Switch, the new food hall in the Blackstone District, is one of the more anticipated openings since the beginning of the pandemic. The hall, which will open June 22, has precautions in place to make dining in (or taking out) safe. General manager Miranda McQuillan said the hall and its large outdoor patio will…

  • I’m not ready to return to restaurants

    I’m not ready to return to restaurants

    I miss eating out.  Restaurants have shaped the last decade of my life. Food continues to be a central focus of my work.  Dinner at an Omaha restaurant is my job, my pleasure, a huge chunk of my identity, as big a part of my daily ritual as brushing my teeth, getting dressed and reading…

  • Takeout chronicles: Nite Owl

    Takeout chronicles: Nite Owl

    Editor’s note: Welcome to our new series. We can’t dine out right now, but we can order in. I’ll share my chronicles of getting to-go meals, curbside takeout or delivery from various Omaha restaurants a few times a week. How to order To order, call 402-991-6767. You may have to call several times to get…

  • Fizzy’s Fountain & Liquors will be the new Omaha retro hot spot

    Fizzy’s Fountain & Liquors will be the new Omaha retro hot spot

    Noah and Katie Mock are Omaha’s king and queen of nostalgia. They’ve already wooed us with their singular wood-paneled grandparents’ basement vibe with Nite Owl, in the Blackstone District. Prepare to be wooed anew. Fizzy’s, their latest effort in Little Bohemia, at 1408 S. 13th St., opened Wednesday. I was lucky enough to be invited…

  • Block 16’s Burger Fight III is about more than who won the contest

    Block 16’s Burger Fight III is about more than who won the contest

    How many talented chefs can Block 16 get in one room? Last Sunday, it was three (not counting the restaurant’s owners and many guests) in Le Bouillon’s Paul Kulik; Dario Schicke, of Dario’s Brasserie and Avoli Osteria; and Nick Strawhecker of Dante and Forno, who competed against one another at the restaurant’s third Burger Fight,…

  • Mercury adds new food and Forno revamps its happy hour

    Mercury adds new food and Forno revamps its happy hour

    Last weekend Matthew and I stopped by one of our favorite spots, Mercury, to find they’d updated their food menu with some real gems. The highlight of what we tried is the new Dr. Pepper barbecue chicken sandwich: tender, sweet meat stacked deep on an absolutely delicious cornbread and honey biscuit bun. A pile of…

  • Three Happiness closes after a Wednesday morning fire, goodbye Saigon Bowl, new Indian in Blackstone and new Korean-poke in Aksarben

    Three Happiness closes after a Wednesday morning fire, goodbye Saigon Bowl, new Indian in Blackstone and new Korean-poke in Aksarben

    → Many midtowners shed a tear for the popular Americanized Chinese takeout spot, Three Happiness Express, after it caught on fire early Wednesday morning. The Omaha Fire Department tweeted about the fire, near 51st and Leavenworth Streets, around 7 a.m. Wednesday. Shortly after the fire was out, the restaurant posted on its Facebook page that…

  • The new midtown food hall has a name, the end of the road for Ahmad’s (for now) and downtown has a new Green Room

    The new midtown food hall has a name, the end of the road for Ahmad’s (for now) and downtown has a new Green Room

    → There’s a new cocktail spot on 16th Street. The Green Room, at 306 S. 16th St., specializes in “upscale cocktails at dive bar prices.” It’s on the first floor of the Farnam 1600 building on the southeast corner. → The Switch, the new food hall coming to the Blackstone District, announced its official name…

  • TBH, these are my favorites of 2019

    TBH, these are my favorites of 2019

    I’m doing the annual year-end wrap up a bit differently this year. Instead of focusing on just what I wrote about in 2019 I’m instead focusing on the entire city. (Side note: Click here to see a couple hundred stories I wrote before I left the Omaha World-Herald in 2019.) I came up with fun…