Shane and I headed out to dinner around 8:30pm one evening and decided to venture to 24th street to see if there was another Mexican restaurant we hadn't tried. We saw La Cabana d' Franko and noticed that they were still open, so we decided to check it out. This restaurant was decorated like a tropical cabana, and was completely empty except for a child who was watching TV in the back.
The woman in the restaurant was incredibly friendly and seated us promptly. She brought us some chips and salsa, which were both perfectly delicious. I appreciated that the chips were not thick like the pita-chip version of chips we have received at so many other places on 24th street. The salsa was delicious, spicy, and flavorful. We were really happy with the amount of heat in the salsa, as well as the small portion of chips so as to keep us from filling up before our meals arrived.
We talked to our server about the menu, and she had quite a few suggestions for us. She told us that their most popular entrees are these giant pupusa-like things that are full of meat, beans, and cheese, then topped with even more cheese. I cant remember what this was called, but it was delicious!
We decided to order another recommendation from our server, which I also cannot remember the name for... but I know it had the word tableta in it somewhere. Basically, it was a cutting board with onions, cilantro, cabeza, shrimp, rice, and steak, with a side of corn tortillas.
This dish was one of my favorites I have had on 24th street thus far. The steak was seasoned perfectly, the shrimp were cooked to perfection and were served on top of literally the best rice I have ever eaten. The rice tasted like butter and spices I could not identify. When I asked what made the rice taste so amazing, the server laughed and said "its a secret, but I can tell you it has jalapeno in it." The onions were sauteed just right and the cabeza was tender and juicy. The cilantro was an excellent addition to this tray of food, and when all wrapped up in a freshly made corn tortilla, this dish was mouth-watering deliciousness.
I want to go back to this restaurant and order nothing but a plate of rice topped with shrimp. I am fairly certain I could eat this rice every day of my life and never get sick of it... it was seriously, so, so, so incredibly delicious!
Shane had visited Wraps & Crepes during lunch one day and came home raving about how much he enjoyed his meal. Because of this, we jumped on the opportunity to purchase a Groupon for this fantastic restaurant.
We went to Wraps & Crepes late one evening and arrived about 30 minutes before closing time. We were the only customers in the restaurant, which gave us the chance to talk about menu items with the man at the counter. During Shane's first visit, he had ordered the Mediterranean Madness wrap with curried lamb. He enjoyed it so much that he insisted on ordering it again. We knew we were going to split our wraps so that we could each have two different types, so I decided to order the Spicy-li-Cious wrap with mint and yogurt marinated chicken. We also ordered some samosa's as an appetizer.
One samosa order comes with two samosas, which are filled with potatoes, peas, and deep spices wrapped in a fried flour shell, similar to a wonton wrapper.The samosas came with a chopped lettuce and tomato salad topped with two sauces that, when mixed together, tasted similar to french salad dressing. There were also two sauces, or chutney's, on the side, one which was dark in color and tasted somewhat like a tomato dip, and one which had a delicious cilantro flavor.
The Mediterranean wrap was filled with lettuce, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, cucumber pico, roma tomatoes with balsamic vinaigrette onions, hummus base, and curried lamb. I thought for sure that this would be my favorite of the two wraps, since it was so incredibly rich in flavor and delicious. However, upon trying the Spicy wrap, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the lettuce, grilled onions, jalapenos, fire grilled peppers, sliced cucumber, and minty-yogurt chicken created the perfect pairing of flavors that instantly became my favorite of the two wraps. The wraps were served with a side of delicious guacamole flavored chutney, which was a perfect addition to these already incredible wraps.
I am so glad we each purchased a Groupon for Wraps & Crepes, because we will definitely be returning again in the future, and may even try some crepes next!
Shane and I have lived in Omaha for three months, and the entire time we have lived here we had not eaten BBQ. We looked online for a good BBQ place in Omaha and came across Hartland Bar-B-Que. After reading the reviews, we were craving some seriously good BBQ. Hartland is located in Benson and is a very small restaurant with their own smoker sitting in the parking lot. When we entered, we were the only customers in the restaurant, and we were able to quiz the employees on their suggestions for our orders.
We asked the woman at the counter what she would recommend, and she said that the ribs and potato salad were her favorite things on the menu. She even gave us a sample of the potato salad to convince us to order it. Shane ordered a two meat dinner with pulled pork, brisket, potato salad, and coleslaw. All of the meals are served with cornbread.
Shane loved the fact that the brisket had an actual smoke ring, and enjoyed pairing the coleslaw with the pulled pork. There was a center station with three BBQ sauces to choose from: KC BBQ, Spicy BBQ, and Hartland BBQ, all of which were rich in flavor and delicious. They were even good mixed together. Shane's only recommendation would be to come earlier in the day, to get a more tender and juicy brisket. We arrived about 45 minutes before they closed, and the food was still amazing, but would have been even better earlier in the day.
I took the woman's suggestion, and ordered a half-rack of ribs, with a side of green beans and pork 'n beans.
My ribs came with a tasty dry rub and tasted amazing when dipped in the BBQ sauces. The meat was tender and flavorful. The green beans and baked beans were also good, but were nothing compared to the small portion of cornbread each meal came with. I was talking to the women working at Hartland about how much I loved the cornbread, and she told me that it was the only thing not made in house. She informed me that the cornbread is made by Sara Lee and comes to them frozen. As soon as I got home I looked up Sara Lee Cornbread online, and found a site where I can order enough of it to feed an army. This cornbread is seriously so good that I am considering ordering it to serve with the dinner at our wedding.
If you are looking for BBQ in Omaha, I would highly recommend Hartland, as it is incredibly delicious and will leave you dreaming of your next visit.
