Omaha Food I miss and Detroit food I like

Omaha's dining, arts and music scene

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NovakOmaha
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Location: Metro Detroit Michigan

Omaha Food I miss and Detroit food I like

Post by NovakOmaha »

I've been reading about Omaha burgers, BBQ, etc. & I've been thinking about Omaha food & Detroit food. Bear in mind I haven't been back to Omaha since the summer of 2015 & since 2008 I've only been back maybe a dozen times.

Ok, Omaha food...
Don & Millies was always good for burgers, frenchees, fries & shakes. The burgers tasted similar to Kings of my youth. The frenchees were good but smaller than the ones at Kings. Also I think I liked their onion rings.

I don't know about now but Jams had really good food & was a fun place to meet friends after work.

Broncos. Yeah the last time I ate there it negatively affected me but I won't go into details.

Lanskys had great pizza & philly sandwiches. Best Philly's around.

Petrows was always good & fun. Great menu.

Upstream. Fun to try the beers, loved the soups & the rest of the menu was always well done.
Stokes on 114th. Same as Upstream but without the beer selection.

M's Pub. I don't know the current situation but outstanding food

La Casa & I'll throw in Johnny Sortinos. Big Freds too. Omaha neopolitan is a favorite of mine. Can't get pizza like that in Detroit. They're all about square pizza with burned edges. It's good but once in a while I really miss Omaha style.

JC Mandarin. Very good.

Delice. I put on a pound just typing the name.

Jack & Mary's. A family favorite.

Greek Islands & Jim & Jenny's. Yes there are tons of Greek restaurants here and they are great but those two make me hungry

Lo Sole Mio. In a class by itself. Hands down, best in America. Don hit it out of the park. Family recipe from Italy. Winner every time.

Jericos for the prime rib

Taste of Thailand. Wow. Yum!

Louie M's. Fun place & I was working my way through the menu. Awesome.

Ok. Runza. Yes, I like them. Especially the Italian & the cheese Runzas. Fries are ok & burgers too. Definitely don't have them here.

Valentino's. Loved them as a kid when they only had the one Lincoln location. Over the years the quality went due south. Greasy, not nearly as good as they were in the 70s. The garlic rolls were really good. Sad.

Godfathers. Same as above. When Willy just had the one location it was really good. Later the quality just wasn't there.

Skeets. Ok, now I'm really hungry. It's the spices baby.

Steakhouses. I'll just say that Gorats in the 70s & 80s was better than anywhere else in the country. Other than that pick a Caniglia restaurant & it was good.

Ted & Wallys. Fun to go & get a cone & walk around the Old Market.

Yes there are more but those were our favorites.

As to Detroit the restaurant scene is Omaha on steroids. It has a large Greek population & there are diners all over the place. Check out Kirby's & National Coney Islands for owner managed chains & Lafayette & American Coneys for one location places. Detroit coneys are hot dogs with a form of chili sauce, mustard & onions. Seriously, check them out. Huge menus & amazingly prepared food.

There are tons of locally owned restaurants. You name it there is a non national chain serving it and it's good.
There are all the national chains & they keep busy but as the above list shows we favor locally owned ones.

I think the difference between a city like Omaha and a city like Detroit is that while both populations like to eat out metro Detroit has about 5 million people, 5 times metro Omaha. More people, more choices. Also Omaha diners were and probably still are fickle. They will turn on a restaurant quickly. Makes it hard.


Anyway, I was just thinking about it. I know I've not mentioned most of the restaurants that have opened in Omaha in the past few years. From what I've read here & heard from friends the trend is good. I hope so because just hearing that the Bohemian Cafe closed ruined my day.
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nebugeater
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Re: Omaha Food I miss and Detroit food I like

Post by nebugeater »

THanks

Nice overview from someone that knows the scene but has been removed long enough to not have a knee jerk reaction. Mentions I couple of place I need to add back to my list to get to soon.
For the record  NEBUGEATER does not equal BUGEATER    !!!!!!!
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skinzfan23
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Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 11:26 am
Location: Omaha/Bellevue

Re: Omaha Food I miss and Detroit food I like

Post by skinzfan23 »

nebugeater wrote:THanks

Nice overview from someone that knows the scene but has been removed long enough to not have a knee jerk reaction. Mentions I couple of place I need to add back to my list to get to soon.
Completely agree with your thoughts as well.
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Greg S
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Re: Omaha Food I miss and Detroit food I like

Post by Greg S »

In Detroit I love the coney islanders and Pizza Papalis.

Greg
NovakOmaha
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Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2004 3:00 pm
Location: Metro Detroit Michigan

Re: Omaha Food I miss and Detroit food I like

Post by NovakOmaha »

Greg S wrote:In Detroit I love the coney islanders and Pizza Papalis.

Greg
Pizzapapalis is awesome. Buddys is good too.

Let me know if you re ever coming.
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