-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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 the tiny Khao Niao, Thai and Vietnamese classics are made with care
Whenever a friend says something along the lines of “have you tried the Thai place on 155th and Ruggles?” a little light flips on in my head. After two recent visits to that west Omaha hole-in-the-wall — which turns out to be called Khao Niao Thai-Lao Restaurant — I’m glad I have such friends. This…
-
Review: At Saffron, well-executed Indian classics are great, and there’s more to come
Saffron Urban Indian Kitchen is trying to figure out a way to stand out in Omaha. Our city already has a lot of good neighborhood Indian spots (Kinaara is one I like) and a couple of higher-end choices (Jaipur is one I like, too.) When you first arrive at Saffron, and take in the upscale,…
-
Review: The Dundee Dell is back for a new generation of locals
One of the toughest things a restaurant owner can take on is the reinvention of a classic. The Dundee Dell, which is nearing a century of history in midtown Omaha, is certainly that kind of an icon. So I was excited to see a successful revamp of this neighborhood spot, at 5007 Underwood Ave., when…
-
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 —…
-
Review: West Omaha’s popular Crumbl Cookies are worth the hype
Sometimes a restaurant opening creates such an intense amount of buzz, it becomes unavoidable. In those rare cases, I simply have to check out whatever it is people are finding so irresistible. That’s what happened after I started hearing murmurs about a cookie place called Crumbl, which opened nine weeks ago in West Omaha. As…
