Your Favorite Italian in Omaha

[bargainhunter]

Anyone know anything about Vincenzo's Midtown? We tried to go there a couple of weeks ago, but there was a sign on the door saying they were closed for the week due to A/C problems. I have tried calling there twice since then, but I get a message saying that the number is disconnected.

[Brad]

Anyone know anything about Vincenzo's Midtown? We tried to go there a couple of weeks ago, but there was a sign on the door saying they were closed for the week due to A/C problems. I have tried calling there twice since then, but I get a message saying that the number is disconnected.

Vincenzo’s for sale

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090724/E ... /707249913

The midtown Vincenzo’s near 76th and Pacific Streets, closed since late June for what one of its owners described as an air-conditioning issue, is for sale. The phone number was disconnected this week, and signs indicated the property was for lease.

Matt Knoblauch said Tuesday that he and the other owners are trying to sell the business and have given their landlord the option to seek a new tenant.

“Ideally, we would have someone else come in there and reopen it,” he said. “But I don’t know for sure what’s going to happen.”

Though the three Omaha Vincenzo’s locations share a name, the midtown Vincenzo’s is not affiliated with the others. The ones in the Old Market and near 144th and Blondo Streets have different owners and remain open. Knoblauch said people with unused gift certificates for the midtown location may e-mail [email protected].

[nativeomahan]

We will be dining at Pasta Amore this weekend. They have had consistently good food for many years, in Rockbrook Village. Not fancy, and not particularly inexpensive, but Italian food done well.

[mcarch]

100% Italian here.... so... My Mom's. Nothing even comes close.

[bargainhunter]

100% Italian here.... so... My Mom's. Nothing even comes close.

What are her hours & location? Does she accept Visa?

[mcarch]

We always told her to open a restaurant, but commercializing it to make a profit would destroy it.

[Big E]

We always told her to open a restaurant, but commercializing it to make a profit would destroy it.

Then run it at a loss. I wants me some food.

[almighty_tuna]

My Mom's.

What are her hours & location? Does she accept Visa?

I can't believe this post made it past Big E without a near OBLIGATORY mom joke. it was nearly lobbed in!

[Big E]

When it's THAT obvious, it is simply below me.

Even potty humorists have standards.

[mcarch]

I've got an idea how to make it, but there isn't a recipe for it. I watched her make it and how many shakes of everything she put in... That and I never have all day to sit around and wait for it to cook... you have to stir it every 10-15 mins. which sucks.

[bargainhunter]

We always told her to open a restaurant, but commercializing it to make a profit would destroy it.

Then run it at a loss. I wants me some food.

Me too! I have been craving GOOD Italian since we tried to go to Vincenzo's over a month ago.

[Brad]

Review: Make room, reservations for Pasta Amore

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091113/E ... tainment01

When the hostess at Pasta Amore asked whether we had reservations, we apologized and told her we hadn't expected the place to be so busy on a Tuesday.

“Well, we weren't,” she said, sounding both puzzled and pleased. “And then we were.”

We chalked it up as an anomaly, ate our heart's fill of Italian and came back again without reservations on a Monday night, a mealtime that has been Deadsville at most other Omaha restaurants this past year.

That time, there was a line out the door of the Rockbrook Village hideaway. The cozy couples and amarone-sipping attorneys in the main dining room and the local Italian-American society meeting in the lounge seemed in no hurry to leave.

An estimated 30-minute wait turned into drinks on the bench, appetizers at the five-seat bar, and soup and the rest of dinner at a table we secured some 90 minutes after walking in.

A server explained that remodeling in the party room had pushed some private parties into the dining room.

But even if the diners had been spread among all the rooms, the fact that so many turned out on a Monday during a recession tells me this 23-year-old eatery is doing something right.

[nativeomahan]

We will be dining at Pasta Amore this weekend. They have had consistently good food for many years, in Rockbrook Village. Not fancy, and not particularly inexpensive, but Italian food done well.

We did eat there, to celebrate a birthday. The food was great, as usual. Figure $30-$40 per person with a glass of wine.

[Brad]

Pasta Amore is celebrating 25 years at Rockbrook Village with specials this month. Chef Leo Fascianella, just back from his annual trip to his hometown in Sicily, said he and his wife, Pat, will be featuring new Italian and Sicilian wines throughout the month and sprinkling the specials board with dishes they've never served at the restaurant before. Look for gnocchi alla Romana (made with cornmeal instead of potato, and tossed with sage butter and sausage) and melanzane Palermo (baked eggplant with bechamel and fontina), among other fun-to-say treats.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100903/E ... ning-notes

[Brad]

According to FB, the chef at Lo Sole Mio was killed in a motercycle wreck tonight in Sturgis.

[jessep28]

Fucinaro passed away last week and Losole this weekend. Does this mean one of the Caniglia's is up next?

[Hyok Kim]

I don't know about authentic, and best is certainly subjective, but Nicola's in the Old Market will get my nod. Good date place, too.

-Big E

I respectfully disagree. Even Olive garden and International cafe had better spaghetti than Nicola's.

[Hyok Kim]

I guess that would beg the question 'what is authentic Italian?' Omaha used to have many so called authentic Italian Restaurants, Mr. C's, Venice Inn, Caniglia's, Angie's, Piccolo's, La Casa, Lo Sole Mio's, Trovato's, Malara's...

Piccolo's and Malara's are okay. La Casa does decent pizzas. Personally, I am underwhelmed by most 'Italian-American' restaurants in Omaha.

Many of these restaurants never changed or updated their menus which many of their patrons expected, but for some became tired old dinners. Some had great head chefs - but now depend on whoever they can get.

Ditto.

Caniglia's and Angie's closed and Mr C's is about to close.

Deservedly so.

Now we are seeing many Italian Nouveau restaurants open up around town, Carrabba's, Vivace's, Vincenzo's, Biaggi's, and Nicola's as Big E Suggests.

Vivace has great pizzas, really under-rated in Omaha. The best pizza I had in Omaha. Their pasta is kinda inconsistent. Their dessert is first rate, though. I don't recommend Nicola's.

Some have better atmospheres than menus, some are old and quaint. So it really depends on what you are looking for.

Exactly.

When all is said and done I would suggest Lo Sole Mio.

What about Pasta Amore? They had the best veal parmesan I had in Omaha.

[Hyok Kim]

We will be dining at Pasta Amore this weekend. They have had consistently good food for many years, in Rockbrook Village. Not fancy, and not particularly inexpensive, but Italian food done well.

I agree 100%! Their lunch is cheaper than dinner, but the same portion.

[RNcyanide]

Vincenzo's gave me food poisoning once. Never going there again.

Otherwise, my favorite is Vivace. But I have always wanted to try that place north of Aksarben.

[MadMartin8]

Vincenzo's gave me food poisoning once. Never going there again.

Oddly enough, me too.

[Hyok Kim]

100% Italian here.... so... My Mom's. Nothing even comes close.

Hmmm, the best Italian food I had in my life was in South Korea in the 70's. In 5 star hotel restaurant. Back in those days, 5 star hotels in South Korea sent their best chefs to the best cooking school in Italy, all expense paid.

[RNcyanide]

Vincenzo's gave me food poisoning once. Never going there again.

Oddly enough, me too.

I had the linguine tutto mare. What did you have?

[Hyok Kim]

Omaha is blessed with great Italian ristorantes.

Omaha has a few nice Italian restaurants. I wouldn't call it blessed.

 My favorites, in no particular order, include Lo Sole Mio, Nicola's, Vincenzo's (3 Omaha locations, but different ownership),............

What is so special about Nicola's? I find their food to be thoroughly mediocre.

Spezia, Pasta Amore (just ate there 2 days ago, and it was great),.....

I agree about Pasta Amore.

La Casa (outstanding Neapolitan pizza and decent other dishes),.....

La Casa is okay, but Viviace has far better pizzas. The best I ever had in Omaha. The best pizza I ever had was from a mini-local chain artisan Pizza place in Portland, OR.

[Hyok Kim]

I want to know your favorite Italian in the city - I want to find something new but I hate wasting a good night out on |expletive|...

My Favorites

Pasta Amore

Lo Sole Mio



Whats better out there?

I agree about Pasta Amore. Viviace has the best pizza I had in Omaha, and their desserts are outstanding.

[Hyok Kim]

Give Nicola's a try. It's not over-roasted prime rib and red suace red sauce red sauce mozarella parmesan pasta red sauce red sauce red sauce (it's more Mediterranean/Greek), but it's darn good.

-Big E

'Chefs' at Nicola's are not really trained pro's, based on Readers' (I think) interviews. 13th st. Coffee house owner, Sergio, who was not a trained as chef, nor the experience as a chef, trained some young kids (with no chef training/experience) as 'chefs'.

I am thoroughly familiar with Sergio's cooking ability. I had the pastas and sandwiches made by Sergio at 13th st. and I was not impressed.

[Hyok Kim]

In my not so humble opinion, for the best Italian in Omaha, go to Dr. Brown, borrow the Flux Capacitor, and time-warp yourself back to 1976 or so. Then visit Marchio's, Cantoni's, Ross', Sparetime, or to 1995 and visit Mr. C, Caniglia's, Angie's, etc. It's a type of cuisine that seems to be vanishing from this area!

It's still around, though, Piccolo's, Cascio's, Venice Inn, La Casa, and a few others.

Piccolo's and La Casa are okay. No thanks to Cascio's.

If you don't appreciate those place, well, then I guess you can try Olive Garden! {looking for a place to hide} Oh well ...

I'll gladly take Olive Garden over Cascio's.

[MadMartin8]

Vincenzo's gave me food poisoning once. Never going there again.

Oddly enough, me too.

I had the linguine tutto mare. What did you have?

I think it was like Chicken Parm or something. I don't remember...nor do I want to.

[Hyok Kim]

There's a reason that type of cuisine is vanishing from the area.

-Big E

I am with you on that one, except Nicola's.

[Hyok Kim]

pasta amore and nicola's in the old market are the best in town.

I agree about Pasta Amore. Pasta Amore is run by a chef trained from Italy. Nicola's run by 'chefs' trained by Sergio from 13th st coffee house, with no training/no experience as professional chef.

[Hyok Kim]

On the theme of Italian in Omaha, do not go to Casio's Italian in Bellevue. Terrible. Absolutely terrible.

I'm assuming then that this has no connection to Cascio's on 10th, correct?

Doesn't matter. I had dined once at Cascio's on 10th. What a sorry excuse for an Italian restaurant.

[Omababe]

Personally, I am underwhelmed by most 'Italian-American' restaurants in Omaha.

You should have been around in the 1970s. We've lost MANY old-school Italian places!

[Hyok Kim]

Personally, I am underwhelmed by most 'Italian-American' restaurants in Omaha.

You should have been around in the 1970s. We've lost MANY old-school Italian places!

I guess my loss. I came to Omaha in 1989.

[RNcyanide]

Vincenzo's gave me food poisoning once. Never going there again.

Oddly enough, me too.

I had the linguine tutto mare. What did you have?

I think it was like Chicken Parm or something. I don't remember...nor do I want to.

I would hate to see what caused it. Even though I got it from the one Downtown, I am still super hesitant to go to the one out west.

[nativeomahan]

Welcome Hyok Kim!

[MadMartin8]

Vincenzo's gave me food poisoning once. Never going there again.

Oddly enough, me too.

I had the linguine tutto mare. What did you have?

I think it was like Chicken Parm or something. I don't remember...nor do I want to.

I would hate to see what caused it. Even though I got it from the one Downtown, I am still super hesitant to go to the one out west.

I went to the one out west. :P

[nebport5]

Can we get a poll for this thread already??




Hyok Kim, you're default endorsement of Olive Garden ruins you're credibility. All the corporate training in the world can't save OG's assembly line pasta. I'll take fresh quality ingredients by "non-professional" chefs any day over that "food".

[RNcyanide]

Vincenzo's gave me food poisoning once. Never going there again.

Oddly enough, me too.

I had the linguine tutto mare. What did you have?

I think it was like Chicken Parm or something. I don't remember...nor do I want to.

I would hate to see what caused it. Even though I got it from the one Downtown, I am still super hesitant to go to the one out west.

I went to the one out west. :P

Noted. I will not be going there any time soon either.

[jessep28]

You can check a restaurant's rating based on the health department's last inspection here: http://www.douglascountyhealth.com/food ... ty-ratings . It looks like the PDF linked at the top has more recent data, but is incomplete.

[Hyok Kim]

Hyok Kim, you're default endorsement of Olive Garden ruins you're credibility.

Please, I did not give default endorsement to Olive Garden. I just gave it higher rating than Cascio's on 10th. I know personally how bad the food at Cascio's on 10th was, plus the awful decoration. To be fair, the portion was generous.

All the corporate training in the world can't save OG's assembly line pasta. I'll take fresh quality ingredients by "non-professional" chefs any day over that "food".

Btw. I am not necessarily opposed to 'non-professional' chef. The husband of one of my aunts on the maternal side could whip up wonderful Italian food, even though he didn't have a drop of Italian blood in him, nor had he ever visited Italy, nor had any professional training in Italian or any other cuisine for that matter. But he had passion for Italian food, and he experimented constantly, and finally he could make some real killer pastas, not up to 5 star Italian restaurant level, but better than most so-called, 'Traditional, family style, Italian-American' restaurants in Omaha. Plus, he had made pastas from scratch unlike those 'Italian-American' restaurants.

Also, the pastry chef at Viviace, Tina Tweedy had no professional training, either, but she prepares outstanding desserts, and keeps improving over the years. So I'm not automatically knocking out people with no professional training.

I am just pointing out if Nicola's has such wonderful Italian food, then how come we don't hear about the 'chefs' creating those wonderful Italian food? Maybe the owner doesn't want the 'curtains being lifted' and the paying public finding out how the 'chefs' learned to cook 'Italian' food? At least, Tina Tweedy doesn't pretend she attended pastry school in Austria.

Think about it. Why OWH has not covered Nicola's over the years if Nicola's has such wonderful food? OWH even covered Petrow's, Panda House, International Cafe, but no Nicola's. Maybe Nicola's doesn't want to be reviewed by OWH and to reveal how their chefs got the training? That they learned to cook from a coffee shop owner who had neither the professional training nor the experience?

I am not saying Nicola's food suck. I'm merely saying they're nothing special. To be fair, they are better than many 'Traditional, family style, Italian-American steak/pasta houses, which isn't saying much, considering how bad they are.

To put Nicola's at the level of Pasta Amore is an insult to the real chefs. That's what I object.

Btw. I also gave higher rating to spaghetti on International Cafe than Nicola's, and I know the cooks at International Cafe have no professional training.