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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…
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Review: At Sofra Kitchen, Omaha’s dining past and future collide with varied results
If you want to understand how restaurants have changed, and perhaps how our city’s dining scene has changed, consider Sofra Kitchen, the new breakfast, lunch and soon-to-be dinner space in Midtown Crossing. It’s taken over the former Grey Plume bay — certainly, any food lover in Omaha would agree that the Grey Plume, at its…
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Review: Seafood and steak still rule at the newly reopened Twisted Cork Bistro
The Dungeness crab pot, one of the new dishes on the menu at the newly reopened Twisted Cork Bistro, is a contact sport, in the best possible way. I barely took any notes while I was eating it, and for good reason: I was eating crab, mussels, tiny roast potatoes, crisp-tender green beans and bread…
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The 16 Best Restaurants in Omaha, Nebraska
From classic steakhouses to sushi, explore the top dining destinations.
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A selection of my favorite cookbooks and food books, which you can buy at Tiny House Bar Wednesday night
When Tiny House Bar owner Megan Malone asked me what my favorite cookbooks were, it led to a great idea: Let’s have a selection available at the Tiny House Holiday Scholastic Book Fair, which is this coming Wednesday, November 16. It has been a pleasure not only to pull together a partial list of favorites,…
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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…
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Review: At Benson’s Virtuoso, much has changed, but the high-quality pizza remains the same
It’s been a while since I found myself in Benson with a slice of what is, in my book, one of the city’s top pizzas. I can’t quite say why it’s been several years — since 2017, to be exact, when I was first reviewing the restaurant — since I’ve returned. But here’s what I…
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Review: At Hacienda Real, home cooked Mexican and Tex-Mex hits the spot
Sometimes when I’m deciding whether or not to review a place, I turn to Google, simply to learn a little bit more. When I googled “Hacienda Real,” the Lincoln-based, locally owned chain of Mexican restaurants that opened its third location in Omaha in August, this line popped up inside the box devoted to recent Google…
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Review: At Winchester Bar & Grill, your small town dive bar burger dreams come true in Omaha
I’d heard a lot about Winchester Bar & Grill — in particular, about the burgers at Winchester — long before I ever set foot in the dive bar dining room a few weeks back. I kind of love it when rumors turn out to be true. Winchester made me feel like I was in some…
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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…