BrewBurgers

We had a Groupon for BrewBurgers so we decided to check it out. The restaurant was nearly empty when we arrived. We noticed that they served fried pickles, so we ordered them as our appetizer. The pickles were long slices that were fried and served with a homemade ranch sauce that was very runny. 

 The pickles were actually very good, but we would have preferred if the ranch had been thick enough to stick to the pickles once we dipped them.

BrewBurgers has quite a few burger choices that all sound very good. Shane ordered the inside out burger. This burger was filled with cheese and bacon, but was almost flavorless with such a minimal amount of cheese and bacon that we couldn't even taste them.

Shane also ordered the house fries which were served with a "spicy" Cajun chicken gravy, white cheddar cheese curds, sour cream, and chives.  

The gravy was good, but was not even a little bit spicy or Cajun. The cheese curds were minimal, and the fries were somewhat limp. This dish would have been immensely better if the fries had been smothered in the gravy.

I ordered the west Texas burger, which was topped with cheese, fried jalapenos, and fried onions. The fried jalapenos were the best part of this bland and saltless burger. 

I also ordered a side of Parmesan garlic fries. The fries looked homemade and still had the skin on them, but they were sitting in a pool of oil and tasted like nothing more than garlic and Parmesan. Basically, every single part of my meal needed salt.

Overall, our experience at BrewBurgers was a big fail, and will not be something that reoccurs.

Margarita's Mexican Restaurant

As much as I love the truly authentic Mexican restaurants Shane and I have been finding in Omaha, I still have cravings for the Americanized version of Mexican food that I grew up with. I had passed by Margarita's a few times before I decided to check it out. As soon as I walked inside, I knew this place would meet my craving. The wait staff were all Hispanic, and the clientele was an eclectic mix. My first visit to Margarita's, I ordered the Bandera Mexicana, which was a beef enchilada, a chicken chimichanga, and a chili relleno with a side of rice. The beef enchilada contained ground beef and a corn tortialla and was covered in enchilada sauce. It was good, but I am not a big fan of ground beef, so its not something I would order again. The chicken chimichanga was also good, with a crispy shell and cheese sauce over the top. The chicken was shredded and flavorful. The chili relleno was one of the best I have ever had, as it was HUGE, perfectly fried, and covered in sauce and cheese. 

 Overall, my first trip to Margarita's was a huge success. It reminded me of my hometown favorite, and had chips and salsa that were almost identical to what I grew up with. In fact, I enjoyed my experience so much, that once Shane moved to Omaha, I encouraged him to go with me. 

We ordered the molcajete, which means "stone bowl", as well as a chili relleno on the side. The molcajete came with chicken, steak, pork, shrimp, bacon, onions, peppers, and tomatoes and was served with a side of rice, beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, and flour tortillas. 

 The molcajete comes with more than enough food for two, and is one of our favorite Mexican dishes. The only drawback (which isnt even really a drawback) is that the steak, chicken, and pork all come in large pieces and need to be cut up in order to wrap them in tortillas. This dish is so good that Shane and I have gone back once more for another order of molcajete. 

For those of you who prefer Americanized but still delicious Mexican food, Margarita's is the place for you!

Taqueria Tijuana

After reading reviews online about Mexican restaurants in Omaha, we decided to check out Taqueria Tijuana, a restaurant on 24th St and Q with 5-star ratings on both Yelp and Urban Spoon. We went into the restaurant and sat down at a table. We were sitting there for about 5-7 minutes before anyone came to assist us. I wanted to order horchata but they were out, so I ordered a mango drink instead. They brought out four bowls before our meal. One had a spicy red salsa, one had a green sauce that tasted like pureed jalapenos, a bowl of grilled jalapenos, and a bowl with limes and radishes.

It was almost like they were trying to torture me, because they brought out all of these things but never brought any chips for me to dip in the salsa. For anyone who knows me really well, they know that I LOVE chips and salsa. To go to a Mexican restaurant and be served all of these delicious looking things but nothing to dip them in is just sad!

Shane ordered menudo, a tripe soup with a red chile broth. It tasted as if the tripe had not been cleaned, and the broth tasted almost dirty. This was our first time to order menudo, and will probably be our last time. Shane literally ate about 10 bites of this dish and left the rest on the table. It was just too gross to eat. Shane says that he thinks this is what menudo was suppose to taste like, but that it just wasn't for him.

I ordered three tacos (one carne asada, one al pastor, and one cachete) and a side of Mexican rice. The rice was good, but tasted just like the rice you get from Taco Bell. The tacos were also good, but they were nothing compared to Tacos el Peligro around the corner. Shane ate most of the cachete taco, since he liked it significantly more than I did. The al pastor was good, but was missing the pineapple I have had in other al pastor. The carne asada was good as well, but would have been better with thicker pieces of steak. I really enjoyed the avocodo sauce on the tacos, but would have liked some pico de gallo to add to them. 

This restaurant was a huge disappointment from the great reviews we had read online, and the wait staff was very slow and inattentive to us. Shane used the restroom and came out with the most disgusted look on his face, saying he would wait till we got home since something "blew up" in there.

We paid at the counter and I noticed that they had refilled their container of horchata so I decided to order one to go. By far, the horchata was the best thing I got from Taqueria Tijuana, and I will not recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Amato's

Before moving to Omaha, we had seen an episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives that featured Amato's Cafe. I remembered seeing their homemade sausage covered in roasted peppers and I wanted to be sure to try it once we got here. After moving, we saw Amato's again on an episode of Man vs. Food so we decided it was time to visit. We stopped by Amato's quite a few times, each time only to find that they were closed... Amato's is only open until 1-1:30 six days a week, excluding Mondays. Because of their odd hours, we decided to go for breakfast on a weekend. 

As soon as you enter there is a map of the USA with push pins all over it from Amato's guests. I was able to put a push-pin on the map for WashMo but Shane wasnt able to put one from his hometown, because someone else had already been here.

The most popular breakfast dish at Amato's is the triple berry ricotta pancakes. Since Shane and I arent really big fans of pancakes, we ordered other things from the menu. My favorite breakfast food is biscuits and gravy, so I decided to order the Italian biscuits and gravy. This meal consisted of four biscuits smothered in gravy and topped with Amato's homemade italian sausage.

The biscuits were plump and moist and the sausage was incredibly flavorful but the gravy left a lot to be desired, as it tasted as if it had been poured out of a can. Why anyone would have such great biscuits and amazing sausage and cover it in canned gravy is beyond me. It made me want to eat nothing but the sausage on top and forget the rest of the meal. This is not something I would order again. Seriously, they should take a lesson from Shane on gravy, because his homemade gravy is out-of-this-world delicious.

Shane decided to order the tutti omelet which was filled with Genoa salami, Italian ham, and provolone and topped with roasted red peppers. The omelet is served with home fries and toast, which were basic and somewhat flavorless... even to the point where Shane had to add salt (something he rarely ever does). 

Since I was so eager to taste the roasted red peppers, Shane and I split our meals 1/2 and 1/2. He thought my meal was good, as biscuits and gravy is usually his favorite breakfast food as well, and he is not nearly as picky about his gravy as I am. I, on the other hand, thought his meal was much better than mine. I could have eaten an entire bowl of the roasted peppers, and to imagine how amazing the sausage from the biscuits and gravy and the peppers from the omelet would taste together.... mmmm.. I must go back when they serve lunch food!

This restaurant was one of the best we have tried from Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, and may have given us a little more hope that not all of the triple D shows highlight inedible restaurants. We will definitely go back at lunch time so that I can try this sausage link covered in red peppers that I have been wanting to try since day 1!

Thai Orchids

While reading restaurant reviews on urbanspoon.com, Shane stumbled upon a Thai restaurant called Thai Orchids. We read the reviews, all of which were positive and decided to check it out. The restaurant was small, and has only been open since June 2012. There weren't very many other people in the restaurant, and there was quiet Thai music in the background. The menu featured a large variety of Thai dishes, and it was very difficult to decide what to order, as everything sounded so good! 

We had read online that the Tom Kha soup was the best thing in the restaurant, so we decided to order a bowl of it to share.

Tom Kha soup has a coconut broth made with lemon grass, fish sauce, chili paste, lime juice, and more. The menu offers meatless, chicken, or shrimp Tom Kha, so we chose the shrimp. This soup was by far one of the best soups we have ever eaten, and we wished that we each had our own bowl and didnt have to share with each other. The broth was rich in flavor and had bits of lemon grass that gave a zesty zing to the soup. The shrimp were tiger prawns that were perfectly seasoned as well as cooked to perfection. 

Before our meals were served, the waitress brought a selection of spices and sauces to the table. Some of the sauces were sweet, some were spicy. The fact that these were offered was one of Shane's favorite things about Thai Orchids.

For our meals we asked the server what her favorites were. She suggested the noodles with seafood, so I decided to take her word for it and place my order. 

This dish came with a variety of seafood such as tiger prawns, mussels, crab, scallops and calamari. There were also a variety of fresh vegetables in this dish, such as carrots, peppers, onion, and broccoli. The "sauce" on the noodles was thin and light in flavor. This dish was good, but it would have been so much better if it had some extra flavor in the sauce. I added some of the sauces that had been brought earlier and the dish became much better and had a much stronger flavor. My only wish would have been for the spices to have been added before the dish was brought to me, so that my first bite would have been as good as it was with the additions.

Shane ordered the Thai pepper steak. His meal was flavorful and delicious. The steak was slightly spicy and tender, the vegetables were perfectly crisp, and the sauce was excellent. His dish came with a side of rice that was perfect for soaking up all of the delicious flavors from the pepper steak.

We enjoyed the Tom Kha so much that we returned to Thai Orchids within a week for some more. This time Shane wasnt very hungry, so I ordered a bowl of Tom Kha for us to share and the Panang curry steak dish. I had asked our server from this visit which dish was his favorite, and he pointed me to the Panang chicken. Since I wasn't really in the mood for chicken, I ordered the steak. 

This dish was creamy, slightly spicy, and a perfect blend of curry. It came with a side of rice as well, which was once again used to soak up the deliciously flavorful sauce. This dish was much better than the noodles with seafood, and was definitely something I would order again. 

Shane and I really enjoyed our visits to Thai Orchids, and our mouths literally water every time we even think of the Tom Kha. If you are ever in La Vista, be sure to stop by Thai Orchids and order a bowl of Tom Kha. Trust me, you'll be glad you did!

Petrow's Restaurant

     Petrow's Restaurant, what can I say? Good service, good prices and salt-and-pepper-crowd food. The lack of spices and flavors was highly disappointing. From this point on in Omaha, if I walk into a restaurant and the majority of the clientele is over 60, I'm turning around and walking out. I've experienced this scenario twice (see the Millard Roadhouse post) and it's been the same thing - bland, boring, poorly-executed food.
     Let's start with Stephanie's meal. She had the sirloin steak topped with pepper rings (breaded, deep-fried green bell peppers). This meal was served with vegetables, a dinner roll, a salad and American fries. She loved the pepper rings and little else. I actually finished her steak because she found it tough to chew which is rarely a bad thing as far as I'm concerned because I love all the connective tissue, etc. However, the steak was pretty much flavorless - just a piece of meat thrown on the grill. While that's not always a bad thing, as long as you're using a good cut of beef, it definitely was a negative in this case.

    I had the Philly Steak sandwich and a bowl of French Onion soup. The sandwich was made up of sliced beef rib eye with sauteed onions, peppers and melted Swiss cheese on a grilled hoagie bun. I was disappointed with the bland, flavorless sandwich. At least put some salt on there somewhere! The soup was decent but I would have enjoyed some bread or croutons as is traditional as well as a more flavorful cheese as opposed to the two non-melted triangles of Swiss that topped the soup.

     All in all, I can't give much of a recommendation for Petrow's Restaurant. If you like your food dull and boring, go to Petrow's!

Millard Roadhouse

     Stephanie and I are fans of nose to tail eating. No part of the animal is a bad part to eat. I love cartilage, marrow, tripe and am willing to try any part of the animal. When we saw that the Miller Roadhouse serves one of our favorites, chicken gizzards, we had to check it out.
      As we arrived, we noticed the restaurant was packed - with mostly retirees which we lovingly refer to as the "salt and pepper crowd" due to this groups tendency to avoid any herbs and spices beyond the two most common table top flavor enhancers. We were greeted and seated immediately and our waitress was quick to get our drink and appetizer order which, of course, was the aforementioned chicken digestive organs - Yum!

     The gizzards did not disappoint. They were far and away the best part of the meal as far as I was concerned. They were flavorful, just the right amount of chewy and there was a full POUND of them! The brown, spicy Roadhouse Gravy served with them was delicious and was easily Stephanie's favorite part of the meal. The breading on the gizzards was much tastier than that on the broasted chicken that Stephanie had as her meal. I'm not sure if they're supposed to be the same but there definitely seemed to be a difference.
     As for the meals, Stephanie ordered the 2 Piece Chicken Dinner and I had the Blackened Chicken Alfredo. The Chicken Dinner came with a side of coleslaw, a biscuit and mashed potatoes with gravy. The chicken, advertised as "...The Best Chicken In Town Since 1997", was not fried, but broasted. Would that it were fried because the chicken was basically flavored with flour, salt and pepper and nothing more. Plain is an understatement. If this is the best that Omaha has to offer, we should all stop eating fried/broasted chicken in this town because it's a waste of time.

    My meal, I'll admit, was a mistake from the get go. Stephanie warned me, "This isn't the type of place where you want to order pasta." Haven't I learned by now that she's always right? No. It sounded good and that was all that was good about it. I'll save you the time of describing this disaster and just say that what I was served was more Alfredo noodle soup than anything that resembled Blackened Chicken Alfredo. Tasteless and soggy...and terribly disappointing. Don't let the pic fool you! There is a soupy mess under those noodles.

     Our mission to find chicken gizzards? SUCCESS! They were great. No complaints. Our attempt at a good meal featuring "the best chicken in Omaha"? Complete and utter failure. The service was good, the prices decent, the food...left a lot to be desired.

     
    

Vietnamese Restaurant

Shane and I were driving around town one day when we saw a restaurant called Vietnamese Restaurant on 84th and Giles. Still on the hunt to find our Omaha version of Sartell, Minnesota's Viet Flavor, we decided to stop and see how Vietnamese Restaurant compared. Our initial impression was very positive, as all of the customers in the restaurant were Asian and there was an intoxicatingly delicious smell coming from the kitchen.  

After looking over the menu, we were excited to see that there were three different types of Bahn Mi offered. While none of them were a meatball Bahn Mi (our favorite from Viet Flavor), the pork Bahn Mi sounded pretty good so we decided to order it first.

The pork was perfectly seasoned and delicious, there was plenty of Vietnamese mayonnaise (our favorite), cilantro, and daikon. Overall, this was the best Bahn Mi we have had in Omaha, and we were very happy with our selection. 

Shane ordered the Combination Beef Noodle Pho, which had a delicious homemade broth with Vietnamese processed meatballs and shaved beef. The pho came with the usual fixings of bean sprouts, basil, and a lime but did not have the typical jalapenos that we enjoy with pho. This soup was very good, but was still not as good as Viet Flavor.

I asked our server (who I believe was also the owner of the restaurant) what her favorite dish on the menu was and she insisted on the Catfish Clay Pot. Being daring, I decided to order this dish, not having any idea what to expect. 

This meal was a small portion of catfish in a rich and flavorful broth served in a piping hot clay pot with a lid. It came with a side of white rice, which was nice to have for soaking up the broth around the catfish. The catfish was so tender that it melted in my mouth, and I literally spoke the words, "You know that TV show, 'Best Thing I Ever Ate'??? This would qualify". This was seriously one of, if not, the best things I have ever eaten in my life. I told one of my supervisors about this dish the next day and she went to try it a few days later. She came back to me raving about how delicious it was, and was in awe of its deliciousness. 

The couple at a table near us both ordered bubble tea, and it looked so good that I decided to order one to go. There were quite a few flavors on the menu, and the server told me that the Papaya was a good choice, so I took her word for it and placed my order. 

The bubble tea was a perfect finish to an amazing meal. We loved Vietnamese Restaurant and will be returning soon for another bowl of the Catfish Clay Pot.

Jazz

On my birthday Shane and I went to a restaurant in downtown Omaha called Jazz. We later learned that Jazz is actually a chain restaurant in multiple other cities. I was drawn to the restaurant from their colorful and "cute" menu. This restaurant looks like it would be a lot of fun on the weekends, when there is actually a jazz band playing. The only down side to eating here is that you have to park far away and may have to pay a meter if you don't come on a weekend or evening. 

It took us quite a bit of time to decide what to order, as everything on the menu sounds delicious. We asked the server what her favorite food was, and she suggested the Chicken A La Mar, which is actually the special on Tuesday evenings. We started out our meal with complimentary bread and an order of fried pickles.

 The bread was pretty basic and was served with plenty of butter. The fried pickles were lightly breaded and crispy, and were actually pickle spears, which is my favorite way to have fried pickles. I wish there would have been more of these, because I could have eaten them forever. They were especially delicious when dipped in a side of ranch dressing. 

Taking the servers suggestion, Shane ordered the Chicken A La Mar, which was absolutely delicious lightly breaded chicken with a crab and shrimp cream sauce served over a bed of rice with a side of zucchini. This meal was worth going back to Jazz alone. It was absolutely fantastic!

Shane also ordered a side of hush puppies, which he says were a light consistency, crispy on the outside and well seasoned. They were served with a southwest type dip that Shane also enjoyed quite a bit. I don't really like hush puppies, but these were actually pretty good.

We had watched a show on the Food network the day before going to Jazz and I had seen something about fried oysters. I have tried oysters in a half shell and I didn't like them one bit, but I thought that fried oysters may be different. This assumption lead me to order the fried shrimp and oysters, which would typically come with a side of Cajun coleslaw and hush puppies, but I swapped out those sides for fried okra and jambalaya. 

My jambalaya was good, but not really spicy enough for my liking. The breading on the oysters and shrimp was thick and crunchy. I personally prefer my breading to be a little bit lighter than what I received with this meal. The oysters were much better than oysters in a half shell, but they were still not something that I would choose to order again. They were much better with hot sauce, but tasted somewhat bland in flavor.  The fried okra was the typical frozen type, which was good, but nothing overly special. 

Overall, the fried pickles and Chicken A La Mar are worth a trip back to Jazz, and those two things alone enticed Shane and I to both purchase a Groupon from Jazz about a week ago. We will definitely return to try more Louisiana specials.

Curri

Some of the ladies I work with and I decided to go out for my birthday to have lunch at Curri, an Indian lunch buffet. The restaurant was very busy and had a large buffet with quite a few delicious options such as tikka masala, tandoori chicken, salad with various dressings, naan, galub jamun, pakora, and more. I tried a little bit of everything on the buffet, and was not disappointed with a single item. 

The rice was rich in flavor, there was a variety of curry dishes, the tikka masala was creamy and delicious, and the naan was lightly buttered and toasted.

The restaurant had cleared out quite a bit by the time we wrapped up our lunch, and we were all very satisfied with our meals. This restaurant is a great place if you only have an hour lunch break, and was so good that I returned again a few weeks later with Shane. The choices on the buffet were different for both of my visits, and each time I was very happy with my meal . I will definitely return a third time for some delicious Indian food at a great price!