Tip Top - Barley's - Alley Poyner

Downtown, Midtown, and all parts east of 72nd.

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Brad
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Post by Brad »

Chef
How do you like the Olympic Trials at the Qwest???
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Swift
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Post by Swift »

Both of InPlay and D&B will be successful, due to their distance from each other. I think InPlay will be more of a college kid hang out, while D&B will be "we got a babysitter, let's get smashed etc." type place.
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Post by OmahaChef »

I agree with Swift. As I mentioned in another post, we are drawing from North and South Omaha, Bellevue/Sarpy County, plus midtown and even West Omaha. Our lunchtime business has swelled, thanks to neighboring businesses, and even Gallop employees. Several times last week I saw former employees from First National eating lunch at InPlay. Sales this week are double last week, which were double the opening week, so things are looking good.

As to Omaha getting the Olympic Trials, Brad, I don't think I was more shocked or excited in a long time. I think it definitely changes how we will be viewed as a city. Andd it changes how we will be viewed when competing for future events. Omaha isn't a small town player anymore. I think in anything we compete for, we will be viewed as a serious player.
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Post by Blazepaw »

By the way are we going to call the new Latin based 24th St area MEXDO?

After we grab them up can we look forward to a ELKDO? May be a MILDO?

How about we use our brains and some of our actual city history to give this emerging area a fresh name that has everything to do with it and not what lies WAY south?

How about the "Love District".

I know at first it sounds a bit much, but if you would ask Philadelphia's citizens if Love Park was a bad idea they would say no it has worked out as a fantastic draw.

It would be named after a prominent citizen, and a minority.

It would always have that. Yet it would have the double meaning as well.

Not a bad one.

Preston Love wrote our cities official song "Omaha Blues"

Like I said "The Love District" sounds hokey at first but North Downtown works better? LOL
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Post by Harpoon »

How many times are you going to post this same thing Blazepaw? I count three threads already.
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Omaha Cowboy
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inPlay is lookin' GREAT..And thanks to 'The Chef'..

Post by Omaha Cowboy »

My brother and I visited inPlay Saturday afternoon and enjoyed lunch (the seafood alfredo was very good as was the service)..

DTOLuv joined us a bit later and we were all treated to a complete tour of the 60,000 sq ft North Downtown establishment by 'chef par excellence' OmahaChef..We saw both inPlay and inPlay banquet kitchen facilities, conference room and banquet areas and the behind the scenes 'nerve center' of the inPlay facility..Quite impressive and everything is coming together quite splendidly..We concluded the tour exchanging our thoughts and ideas for the entire North Downtown area..It was a great way spend our Saturday afternoon..

I also wanted to take this thread space to personally thank OmahaChef for taking significant time out of his VERY busy day, for being a gracious host, and for providing a very informative tour..It was GREATLY appreciated by all :) ..

..Ciao..LiO....Peace
Go Cowboys!
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Brad
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Post by Brad »

OmahaChef has gone to great legnths to inform people on this site.

Thanks Chef!

By the way chef, I have to ask, do you ever watch "Hells Kitchen" Monday nights on Fox?
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Post by OmahaChef »

Thanks for all the compliments, guys! I appreciate it. I do enjoy talking about InPlay and Forte, as well as all the other development planned for the North Downtown area.

Brad, I've caught maybe half of the heck's Kitchen episodes. It is interesting to watch, but I certainly don't run my kitchen like he does. I'm a lot more laid back.
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Post by Omaha Cowboy »

OmahaChef wrote:

'Thanks for all the compliments, guys! I appreciate it. I do enjoy talking about InPlay and Forte, as well as all the other development planned for the North Downtown area.'..

You're welcome Chef..We'll have to do it again soon!..

..Ciao..LiO....Peace
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Post by scraper »

I visited InPlay on Saturday in connection with the Habitat for Humanity fundraiser. While the food was solid (good pizza!) and the bar/restaurant area looks nice, the gaming area left something to be desired, in my opinion. The positives, the bowling was fun and a unique idea, and the basketball and football games are always a good time. I didn't get a chance to try the Nascar game, but that looked pretty cool. On the negative side, there were numerous games out of order even though the place is only a month old (2 biggies, the baseball and horse racing), alot of empty space for more games (are they coming?), and frankly, not as many games as I expected. Also, I thought it looked pretty tacky that they still have a CWS banner and a grand opening sign hanging on the outside, even though these events have been over for weeks. Given the old banners and all of the out of order games, it makes it seem like nobody's taking care of the place. Also, I think it would be a good idea to have TV's in the gaming area to watch sports while playing.

Overall, I was hoping for an ESPNZone atmosphere, but it felt more like Family Fun Center with a bar/restaurant. There also weren't many people there given that is was only $20 to play all day. I'm curious to see if it makes it given that substantial North Downtown development is a couple years away. Without the financial backing of a large chain, can the owners cover expenses until there is more development in this area? As ridiculous as it seems, there are lots of people in Omaha who would think twice about going here given the neighborhood (i.e.: the abandoned building right across the street and boarding houses just down the street).

I'm heading to Dave and Buster's tonight and am interested to see how the two stack up.
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Post by omahapropertymanager »

I still have some tickets to inPlay that I need to get rid of. They are $20 for unlimited play and are good this week. When you present the ticket you will also get a $20 gift certificate towards a future visit at inPlay. E-mail me if you're interested. Proceeds go to a good cause! brian@brianmarron.com

Thanks!
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Post by Harpoon »

I tried to go to In play for lunch today and when I arrived at the parking lot there was a busload of about 50 kids waiting outside the door. I said F*@k this and went elsewhere. So at least the place is busy. What are the prices like there anyway? Chef, I know you can shed some light on this.
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Post by DTO Luv »

Yeah last Saturday at was a great. For those few of us there it was REALLY great ;) ;) at InPlay. It sure made up for the morning I had with the car wreck, street fight, and moving out of my house.
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Post by almighty_tuna »

DTO Luv wrote:car wreck, street fight, and moving out of my house.
That sounds like a messy story
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Big E
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Post by Big E »

I ate lunch there today with my GF. We sat right smack in the middle of that busload of 50 kids. They were from the Boys and Girls Club, and kudos to InPlay for allowing that chaos. At one point, I said the bartender must have felt like Phoebe Cates in the bar scene from Gremlins... (not that I know what Phoebe feels like, but holy horseshoes I'd like to find out ;))

Anyway, I'm going to reserve my judgment of InPlay when I get to experience it during a normal scenario.

-Big E

PS: Chef: I saw you "surveying" a couple of times (I think). I'll buy you a beer if you can figure out who we were...
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Post by the1wags »

I went to InPlay on Tuesday evening and watched part of the home run derby. I didn't see Chef there, but you'd be happy to know the seafood alfredo was excellent. :) I need to go some weekend where I can play games and get half tanked. :)
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Post by OmahaChef »

Big E, were you the couple sitting at the end of the bar, facing toward the kitchen/server entrance? If so, I felt so sorry for you, surrounded by a sea of kids all wanting water. We hosted a total of 550 kids from the north and south Boys and Girls Club. It was a bit insane there for awhile.

As for prices, everything is under 10.00 except two items, the full rack of ribs and the 10 ounce ribeye dinners. Sandwiches and wraps and salads are about 6.99 or 5.99, and come with choice of fries, salad or coleslaw. Appetizers are 5.99 or less. Burgers and grilled chicken sandwich start at 5.49 I think (8 ounce).
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Post by Omaha Cowboy »

True that Chef..

I sampled the small supreme pizza at inPlay last night ($9.99), then the small taco pizza (also $9.99)..Good stuff!..

PS-The nachos are HUGE and the cheese topping was a big hit also last night..

..Ciao..LiO....Peace
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Big E
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Post by Big E »

<<<<
were you the couple sitting at the end of the bar
>>>>

Exactamundo! I thought about coming over and saying hello, but thought I'd save it for another time. The entire staff in there looked ready to go postal, and I wouldn't really have blamed them. The poor gal behind the bar... I think she filled enough "free water" to drop the Missouri about 6 inches. I bet it was a good tip day for her.

Those kids were all funny as heck, mainly because they weren't my responsibility. Several came up to me and tried to order food or drinks, as if I worked there. We walked around the floor to check the joint out and was asked three times for money to play games. It was hilarious because it wasn't in a panhandling kind of way, but like you would expect little kids to ask an authority figure. I have no idea why these kids thought I was the soccer mom.

-Big E
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Post by redfield »

Don't feel bad Big E, you weren't the only one mistaken for a soccer mom yesterday.

I saw the inside of inplay for the first time yesterday and in only a quick tour around the place we got stopped several times by kids thinking we worked there. They were very polite, and about as well behaved as you could ask kids to be in a place like that.

We were a bit suprised by the size and number of the conference/meeting rooms. I was expecting medium sized room or two. The main room looks like it can hold a good number of people.

The old pictures in the lobby were kinda neat to look at and read.

I didn't get a chance to try the food, but am looking forward to it after hearing the good words about the food on the forum here.

I want to buy, restore, and live in the fire station behind the tip-top, but I'm afraid I might get really drunk some night and hurt myself on the fire-pole...
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Post by OmahaChef »

You should do it! I sure hope someone does. I stared at the side and back of that building for weeks, then one day walked up to 16th Street, and was surprised to find out it was once Fire Dept. Station 4, built in 1913. I love the Street names in stone on the corner, and it even has a stone plaque in between the fire engine doors with the date built (1913) the names of the Fire chief, city council and mayor at that time. It could make a number of cool uses, and comes with a nice sized piece of land.

Sorry I missed some of you when you stopped by this week. Today would have been a perfect day. The restaurant was dead, as we had a banquet for 255 people, and with all the cars parked, people passed us by, thinking we were packed. Well, one side of the place was, but not the restaurant! I did have one forum member in the restaurant today. Nice seeing you again!
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Post by Harpoon »

Saw this article in the paper the other day about Inplay.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=145 ... nd=9273853
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Brad
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Post by Brad »

Thats great to start to hear things about Inplay from more than just people on this website.
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Post by Uffda »

it was once Fire Dept. Station 4, built in 1913. I love the Street names in stone on the corner, and it even has a stone plaque in between the fire engine doors with the date built (1913) the names of the Fire chief, city council and mayor at that time. It could make a number of cool uses, and comes with a nice sized piece of land
Rapid City has a microbrewery in an old firehouse right on Main Street downtown. Good food and great beer.

http://www.firehousebrewing.com/
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Post by eomaha »

Image
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Uffda
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Post by Uffda »

Image

Similar looking buildings. This one is dated 1915. This one has an open air eating/drinking area to the left of the building. It is partly covered for protection from the weather. The brewing area is on the right side of the building. I have only been there a few times. :D

I think it would be a perfect place for a brewpub -- close to the Qwest Center and maybe a new ball field. :D
Last edited by Uffda on Mon Aug 01, 2005 6:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Omaha Cowboy »

I would agree!..

..Ciao..LiO....Peace
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Post by OmahaChef »

In a post somewhere here, I mentioned this building too. I get to see the back of it every day from our loading dock. The stone plaque on the front has the name of the Fire Chief in 1913, the mayor and city council members. It's a great looking building, and I sure hope someone turns it into something over time. Comes with a nice sized lot too!
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Post by Alt(Bayern)München »

We ate at that place in Rapid City last summer when we took the kids to see the Black Hills. I
t was full inside, so we ate in the outdoor area to the left in the picture. Good food at a decent price & good beer!
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Post by Harpoon »

We already have a firehouse brewery in Omaha, the Upstream down in the Old Market. Not that I would complain about having another one just a mile or so up the road, we need all the cool bars that we can get here in Omaha.
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Swift
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Post by Swift »

(Was a little bored and decided to screw around in photo shop)

You mean like this?

Image
Image
Last edited by Swift on Tue Aug 02, 2005 11:03 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by Omaha Cowboy »

Very nice Swift!..

..Ciao..LiO....Peace
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Swift
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Post by Swift »

I can make it better, but I got tired of working on it after about 3 hours or so.

This is what I do instead of my homework! :lol:
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Post by Omaha Cowboy »

:lol: ..

Hey, it's better to focus on the betterment of Omaha anyway..

Uhhh..Get back to that studying..

:lol: ..

..Ciao..LiO....Peace
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Uffda
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Post by Uffda »

Looks good to me too. Nice work.
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Post by eomaha »

:D

Wow... very nice sweet! Now we just need someone to put together the business plan!
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Post by almighty_tuna »

All I see is a pretty red X!
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Swift
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Post by Swift »

Yeah I know, what's the deal, it was working last night.


edit: well now they should both show up, but I don't know what the deal with fotki is, they should both be the same size!


edit: hopefully now everything is be fine.
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Post by Finn »

Nice work swift. And I like how you added density with the structure next door.
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Swift
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Post by Swift »

yep, this is my vision for Omaha, 2006! :lol: Just kidding more like 2009.
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