Neighborhood: Downtown

  • 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…

  • Who knew Omahans loved shrimp this much?

    Who knew Omahans loved shrimp this much?

    I’d heard about the annual Shucks Fish House “Shrimp Fest” for years, but somehow never managed to check it out. It turns out I might be the only person in Omaha who wasn’t there. Owner Greg Lindberg said during the four-day event, Shucks sold about 47,000 shrimp to close to 3,000 diners. That’s a lotta…

  • 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…

  • Instagram: Jan. 14

    Instagram: Jan. 14

    Today on the blog: @block16.jessnpaul made my dream burger. Read more at the link in my profile on my new website!

  • When Block 16 makes your dream burger

    When Block 16 makes your dream burger

    This week has been pretty cool. My new website launched Thursday – you’re here, so you know – and on Friday my friends Paul and Jessica Urban made me the lunch special of my dreams. Seriously. The backstory: I asked the Urbans to come up with something spectacular, as they do daily, to help me announce…

  • 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…

  • Old Man Drinker’s absolute best places to get a cocktail in 2019

    Old Man Drinker’s absolute best places to get a cocktail in 2019

    Hello friends, citizens of the nearly one million person metropolitan area known as Omaha and treasured guests who found this on Google.com after panicking upon remembering they are gonna be with their lame co-workers on an Omaha business trip in 24 hours and have no idea where to drink. It’s Ol’ Man Drinker, risen from…

  • Old Man Drinker’s cocktail awards

    Old Man Drinker’s cocktail awards

    Let’s do some Old Man Drinker awards, since it’s awards season and there is so much more cocktail love to go around in Omaha Town. Best West Omaha restaurant to get a legit drink: Dante, 16901 Wright Plaza. You my have noticed that my Top 5 bars in Omaha list is East Omaha focused. Sorries,…

  • Brunch at Au Courant, square doughnuts and Sundays at V. Mertz

    Brunch at Au Courant, square doughnuts and Sundays at V. Mertz

     → Au Courant has added brunch to its menu for good. The Benson restaurant will serve Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Check out its Instagram for the full list of new hours. (I can’t wait to see what’s on that brunch menu, by the way.) Au Courant is at 6064 Maple St. → V.…