-
·
The SBH review: The top 5 new(-ish) Omaha restaurants
It’s that time of year again: annual food lists are back. Honestly, I always enjoy digging around my own archive, remembering what I enjoyed (and sometimes what I didn’t) and realizing which restaurants, in my real life, I have visited again and again. Favorites change. This year, I’m trying something new: taking a look back…
-
·
As food costs rise, locally owned restaurants — and the diners who support them — adjust to paying more
One day recently, Paul Urban, who co-owns Block 16, did some math. For the first time in a long time — maybe ever — he noticed business at the popular downtown Omaha lunch spot slowing down. At the same time, food prices were steadily rising. Together, it felt significant enough to investigate. “I sat down…
-
·
The SBH Review: Clio is the hottest restaurant in Omaha. Can it handle the heat?
If you live in Omaha, use social media and have even a passing interest in food, you’ve most likely already seen photos of Clio, the latest in a series of new concepts opened by Flagship Restaurant Group in downtown Omaha. I wracked my brain for recent times that a restaurant has exploded in the style…
-
·
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…
-
·
Review: At Let it Fly, even the spouse of a sports lover can find something to appreciate
I have written about (and eaten at) a lot of sports bars in the decade I’ve been writing about restaurants, and I can tell you this with some confidence: Most don’t have very good food. Food often feels like an afterthought, a requirement, a third most important thing after Miller Lite and big televisions. Let…
-
·
Review: At Kros Strain, it’s all about figuring out what’s next
When you’re already the maker of one of the most well-liked beers in the state of Nebraska, you start asking the big questions: What’s next? What else can we do? How do we stay relevant? After a recent visit to Kros Strain’s west Omaha tap room, it sure seems like that’s what the team of…
-
·
My top five reviewed restaurants of 2022 (and five more favorites, for good measure)
It has been a real pleasure to return to restaurant reviewing this year. I knew I missed it; what I didn’t realize was just how much. As we close out 2022 — a year that has been personally challenging for me on many levels — I just want to say a quick word of thanks…
-
·
Review: At Anna’s Place, Omaha’s underground history is served in original, beautiful cocktails
Tucked behind a softly lit door — that light green or red, depending on luck — in the lobby of downtown’s new Hotel Indigo sits the city’s latest speakeasy, serving a succinct lineup of original, artful cocktails. If the light is green, knock with the big brass door knocker shaped like a woman. (If it’s…
-
·
Review: At Dynamite, some dishes are on fire, while others lack spark
Dynamite Woodfire Grill, the restaurant inside the new Farnam Hotel at 12th and Farnam streets, presents diners with an interesting proposition: Would you rather dine with us, or at The Boiler Room? With us, or at V. Mertz? For its price point — our dinners, after tip, stretched to $300 one night and topped $160…
-
·
Review: At Gather in Omaha, “something for everyone” turns out to be a rare success
Gather is the type of new Old Market restaurant that long-time Omaha diners haven’t seen in several years. The Old Market arguably hasn’t welcomed a good new restaurant since 2013, several years before the infamous M’s Pub fire. Gather, located in a rebuilt space also destroyed in that fire, is working to change that —…