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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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This chef is teaching refugees how to cook and introducing Omaha to African cuisine one meal at a time
Mouthwatering scents fill the basement kitchen where Djamil Djibril Bah-Traore is teaching his latest class of students how to make their way in America. He shows them how to chop vegetables, measure spices and prepare dishes for an upcoming event catered by House of Bah, the company and nonprofit foundation that Bah-Traore started. “How much…
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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…
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Review: At Fremont’s Semo Pasta + Wine, the customers’ desire and the chef’s talent create a winning combination
One of the best meals I’ve eaten this year is in one of the most unexpected places: Fremont’s main street. Semo Pasta + Wine, which chef Drew Statz and his wife, Michelle, opened in downtown Fremont last spring, is what he calls “European-inspired Nebraska cuisine.” After two visits, I think it’s one of the most…
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Review: The Blackstone District’s Kamp makes grown-ups feel like kids again
It didn’t take me long to decipher what I think is the through-line between all four restaurants — Nice Rollz, Angelwingz, SingleDouble and Los Rollies — at Kamp, the food hall and bar in the Blackstone district. As we dined and drank down a path of Takis-dusted elotes; crunchy, ground beef filled rolled tacos; messy…
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Review: The thrill of the hunt is part of the fun at the Asian Market food court
There’s a certain few friends I absolutely know will say yes when I ask them if they want to meet me for lunch at the food court inside the Asian Market on 78th and Dodge Streets. That’s how I found myself facing down a space — and a menu — much larger than I intended…