Avoli Osteria

5013 Underwood Ave

402.933.7400
http://www.avoliosteria.com/
M: Closed
T - Sat: 5pm - 10pm
Sun: 5pm - Close

This isn't exactly an eye-opener, but there's a lot of Italians in Omaha. I'm one of them, actually (if I remember correctly, my great-great-grandmother's maiden name was Caniglia, of Omaha restaurant fame; this really doesn't say much, however, like most Italian families from the time, the Caniglias were a huge family). But most of the Italians here (read: damn near all of them) trace their heritage to Sicily, a rocky island mostly made up of hard-scrabble people who make their living off the land and sea, and who only kind of identify as Italian. It's why the "Italian" you see here is so homogenous. Everyone's nana or mother (in my case, both) makes their zagu, and of course, everyone's nana's or mother's zagu is the best, but everyone has their favorite restaurant, which is usually the one whose zagu is the closest to their family's version. In my case, it's a toss up between Lo Sole Mio's and Piccolo Pete's (whose sauce is spicier and not as sweet as the rest of the Caniglia restaurants). Also, the agrarian background of the Sicilian families here help explain the "Italian Steakhouse" that seems to be fairly unique to Omaha.

All of the above is why Avoli is an outlier in Omaha, and a welcome one. Avoli does northern Italian. Both Sicily and northern Italy are agrarian, and as such "simple foods done simply" is kind of the mantra for both areas, but since the climes and available foods are so different, the styles to achieve that are very different. Pasta isn't entirely eliminated from the menu up north, but it does share room with risottos and polenta. Olive oil, again, isn't entirely gone, but it's use is pared back quite a bit. There is a ton of different protein sources in use as well, at least in comparison to the American Italian we usually see here, and you'll see that in my dishes, too. Those are probably the three most evident differences, though there are more, for sure. Anyway, on to the review!

The first time I ate there was on Saturday, a day I usually avoid. But the Huskers were playing at 7, so the local restaurants not sports-related would be fairly slow. And since I was already out Ubering and since the the Husker's opponent was South Alabama, I decided dinner at 7 pm would be fairly easy to do. And it was.

It was a gorgeous 68° when I sat down in the outdoor patio. Although busy, there were still plenty of seats available. This day I ordered the Bruschetta du jour Del Giorno, the pork cheek ravioli, and for dessert the Tre Gelato and an espresso.

I should really make bruschetta more often, Simple stuff, and always amazing.

First off, the plates. When my bruschetta came out, the plate struck me first and foremost. All my dishes were served on the kind of tableware you'd associate with your grandmother, and I loved it. It was like they scoured the local thrift stores and Goodwills to find all the donated grandma-ware they could find. A very nice change of pace form the some of the avant garde plates some super-trendy places employ.

The bruschetta of the day was goat cheese that had been whipped together with...something (honestly I forgot, but there was so much to remember when doing this review; I should really take notes during reviews like this one), tomato jam and garnished with chives. The goat cheese spread reminded me of a cheesy, only slightly sour sour cream that was smooth and creamy. The tomato jam exploded with flavor over the understated goat cheese; it was slightly sweet with a tomato-y umami (big surprise, right?). The bread I'm sure they got from La Quartier, and was very well toasted and crunchy. I'll always look at the bruschetta first when I come here in the future.

Next came the ravioli.

The menu did not say anything about green pasta. Not that I wouldn't have ordered it. This place is full of surprises.

Whenever I see cheek meat on the menu, I'll order it. It is probably the most tender meat on the animal. I love the stuff, I just wish more places served it, so when I saw it on the menu here, well, I ordered it. The ravioli came out without a sauce per se; it looks like they sauteed some carrots and leeks together, then threw in the ravioli to finish it out, so everything has a nice coating of olive oil. The romano they grated on top melted very nicely into the hot dish. The carrots were cooked down to a tender-but-not-mushy consistency and added a very small amount of sweetness to the pasta. As for the ravioli itself, the stuffing was awesome.

This stuff hasn't seen a blender; it was slow cooked and pulled apart to keep the texture of the cheek meat intact.

Tender, juicy, perfectly seasoned. And notice how thin the noodle is; it wasn't like I was getting a mouthful of pasta and a little bit of meat with every bite. Very well proportioned.

Finally, the dessert I ordered was the gelato and an espresso. It came with a small rosemary shortbread cookie.

A little melty, but it made for easy eating.

The three flavors I got were the classics chocolate and strawberry, and the not-so-classic olive oil. All three were very creamy, as it should be. The chocolate was very chocolaty, which is a good thing. The strawberry was good, though nothing to write home about. The olive oil was an interesting one. Understated I think would be appropriate. Slightly sweet and very smooth, as one would expect. The cookie had the piney flavor one would expect from the rosemary, and was very crunchy. The consistency and texture of the cookie strongly reminded me of the Pecan or Almond Sandies in the grocery stores.

I wish I put something down for size comparison. This was one of those tiny, tiny cups. My finger didn't even fit through the handle hole.

Now, an 8pm espresso may sound crazy to you, but I had a long night of Ubering drunks home ahead of me, and coffee with my dessert just sounded right. It came with two sugar cubes, I used one, and sipped it down between bites of gelato and cookies. It was perfect.

With food, espresso, tax, and tip, it all came to $41.

The next visit occurred on Thursday around 5:30pm. They were able to seat me indoors this time, right before another reservation showed up. It would seem reservations are the way to go at this place, I just lucked out. All the tables indoors had a marble top. There were small chandeliers throughout, as well. Even in my button up shirt, I still felt a little out of place, until I saw the guy being seated in athletic shorts and a graphic tee.

This week is Restaurant Week, a fundraiser for the Omaha Food Bank (and at the time of this posting is ongoing from today through Sunday). There are dozens of restaurants throughout Omaha participating, including Avoli, and the way it works is they have a very small special menu that you order from, its three courses, and comes with a fixed price, which is dependent on the restaurant. Here, that fixed price is $30, and you can add wine pairings to all three courses for an extra $15.  I'm not a wine guy, but I chose to add that to my meal as well. These dishes are supposed to be Restaurant Week offerings only. Here's their menu for this Week:

I had to ask for it back to take this picture, because of course I would forget to do that.

On this day I ordered the Brandade Crostini, the Fregola Sarda with Lamb Belly, and the Flourless Chocolate Cake.

I feel I'll lose some man points, but I like whites over reds.

First to come out was the wine (De Forville Arneis) that was paired with my appetizer. I'm no sommelier, so here's a real wine expert's take on this wine, all of which I agree with: 

Full-bodied but refreshing, it boasts juicy green apple, white pear and mineral sensations. The creamy palate is brightened by fresh acidity, giving a clean, fresh finish. 

Not long after the wine came the crostini.

They like the very finely chopped chives here.

 The bread was sliced impossibly thin, which means when you toast it, there's no where for bread to hide. On top of the wafer-thin slice of toast was the brandade, which is salt cod and olive oil. In this case, the cod was shredded and mixed with the oil, which made for a chewy and flavorful bite. The wine was very well paired because the saltiness of the cod was washed away with the acidic and sweet nature of the wine.

Next came the lamb belly. It was amazing. Like, seriously, it was crazy good. It is probably Top 5 in restaurant dishes in my lifetime, and easily the best I've reviewed up to this point. It's that good. If this doesn't end up on the menu within the next two or three iterations then Avoli is making a huge mistake.

A vertical pic? Oops, that was not on purpose.

Where do I start? I guess the pasta. Fregola is a type of pasta, kind of like a pea-sized ball. Fregola Sarda is the Sardinian version of this pasta. Don't ask me what the differences are, because I don't know. I'm just reporting to you what the Google told me. My server told me the pasta was given the risotto treatment, making the sauce creamy and thick. The rosemary was very pronounced, which gave the sauce a tangy, citrus-y/piney flavor. This was a great compliment to the lamb belly, which was a more tender version of the pork belly you're more likely to see. I was told the best thing to do was to cut the chunk of meat up into small bits and mix it into the pasta to savor throughout the dish. I did as I was told, but it was harder to accomplish than one might think, The different layers of the meat were very loosely joined, so as I sliced they tended to separate. Oh well. This meant many times I was greeted with small chunks of the most tender fat I've ever eaten. The meat just melted in my mouth the way those weird mints you find at weddings do. That is, except for the very top bit. That was a crunchy, salty piece of meat heaven. Seriously, get this before its gone.

Here's a mouthful. This wine was called Tenute Soletta (that's the company) Cannonau di Sardegna.

Again, I'll step aside and let an expert describe the wine:

There's a glimpse of dried herb and rosemary behind more intense aromas of black fruit, cherry and leather. This rich wine is concentrated and persistent...

If you notice the name of the wine in the caption, you'll see it's from Sardinia. So the pasta is Sardinian, and is heavy with rosemary. You can see why it was paired. I didn't like the wine as much, but its because I don't really like any reds, save for a malbec maybe.

Finally the dessert. Because I got the gelato the last time, I got the flourless chocolate cake, and it came with a digestif called Branca Menta.

Very small, but its really dense, so a little goes a long way.

The dense, fiercely chocolate cake was rather like fudge. There was a chocolate ganache on top that my server said was made with a little bit of the Branca Menta, lending as small amount of minty flavor to it. It can garnished with a raspberry sauce with a few chunks of raspberries, and a small amount of crushed walnuts that I could have sworn were lightly candied. The Branca Menta was intensely minty and sweet over slight bitter flavors. It feels thick, so it was meant to be sipped, and was served in a glass that was about double-shot sized on a stem. It all combined to be an amazing end to an amazing meal.

With the three course meal, all three drinks, and tax and tip, it came to $61.

The Session Room

1502 Mike Fahey St

402.342.4393
Sun-Sat: 11 am - 2 am
http://sessionroomomaha.com/

The Session Room has only been open since May, but they've already started to make a name for themselves with one of their trendy menu items: the pizza cone. You may have seen the review by the OWH (a quick Google search didn't turn up the review, but I know I saw one sometime in June); the cone is exactly like you think it is: the cone itself is made up of pizza crust and its filled with pizza sauce, toppings, and cheese. This is the thing that brought me in, and while very good, the other menu items are what's going to keep me coming back.

When you walk into the place you are greeted with a bare-bones establishment. An industrial ceiling with exposed I-beams, Edison bulbs hanging over tables on long electrical cords, cement floors, and just enough beer and alcohol-related decor to keep your eyes interested. There were a few TVs hanging over the long, well-stocked bar that were all tuned to sporting events, which I appreciated as I was able to follow my Kansas City Royals while eating. The music was a very good mix of classic rock. All the tables were hightops, though. I hate hightops. Those are another one of those trendy things. I dunno, I guess I like being able to put my feet anywhere on the floor, instead of being forced to rest them on that little ring around the base of the table or the base of my chair. That said, if the exclusive use of hightops is my only real gripe, then that's a good thing, I think.

I visited on a Wednesday in successive week, at about 6 pm, which was right before their main dinner rush happened. The first time my eyes were too big for my stomach and I ordered a Meat Lover's pizza cone, Timmy Tok Thai Egg Rolls, and 10 of their spiciest chicken wings (more on these in a moment).

Fried to perfection. Look at how delicate the shell looks.

The egg rolls came out first. They were spectacular. Tender, thin strips of cabbage and carrots with more than enough meat inside. The sweet chili sauce was an excellent addition. They are kind of expensive as you only get two whole rolls at $7, but my word are they delicious.

Side.

Top.

The delicious, delicious inside.

The pizza cone was next. The outside was crisp, almost crunchy, and the inside was ooey, gooey, and amazing. The top half of the cone was basically meat and cheese. About half way down was the pizza sauce that was reminiscent of, but a thousand times better than, Godfather's. The sauce on the bottom reminded me of the chocolate on the bottom of the Drumstick novelty ice cream cone. (Sorry, now you want a Drumstick. And so do I actually). These are fairly small; you can figure that each one is worth about a slice and a half of a normal pizza. At $5 each, this is a pretty good deal.

Very meaty wings, here. Also, my eyes regretted this decision when I took out my contacts.

I was, crazily, still hungry after those two so I ordered some of these wings. I decided that I was a man's man and ordered their spiciest wings. Unfortunately, I forgot what they're called and the sauce is not listed online. The sauce was not "Eat 12 wings in 30 minutes, get your order free" hot, but it certainly packed a punch. I got them down, but not without some tears. The wings themselves were perfectly fried and crispy, and they held enough meat to make a meal out of them. The ranch I got with them was a life saver, and I could tell it was made there. All-in-all they were excellent wings, but I'll stick with the classic Buffalo or BBQ wings next time.

All this, plus my pop and the tip came to just over $33.

The next week I obviously had learned my lesson and only ordered two things: another pizza cone that, again I cannot remember the name of and is not on their online menu, and the Caprese flatbread.

The sauce in the cup. Dear lord the sauce.

The pizza cone this time was not the best, I'll be honest. If you look on the menu, its essentially the Chicken Bacon Ranch with a few other ingredients thrown in. Anyway, what made me dislike it was the ranch sauce. It was just too much garlic and salt. I felt like if it was regular pizza sauce I'd have another winner here. Also, the crust was slightly underdone this time. I like it that way but I can see why others would not. As for the fries, they were in a novel shape that held a good crust-to-potato ratio, if that's a thing, and very well seasoned. The sauce, which they call "boom boom sauce," was slightly spicy and really made for a great dish.

I'll be honest, this was bigger than I thought it was going to be,

The flatbread was all about what was on top. The crust was okay, but the sauce, cheese, and tomatoes more than made up for it. Excellent stuff here, but really, it's good for two./ I once again waddled out.

This day, with pop and tip, I walked out at just over $21.

I should mention that the service I got both days was excellent and personable.

These guys have  a lot going for them, including being in a nice, up -and-coming location. Definitely a great location for before and after Blue Jays basketball games come winter.I can see a nice, long future for The Session Room.

Taste of Omaha 2015

If you're a foody and you're in Omaha, then the Taste of Omaha is your ComiCon. Now, I would have been there anyway, but since I convinced my uncles to have a booth there for the Lithuanian Bakery, I was there anyway. This is a good thing as it afforded me three days to sample the goods throughout the event. Here's a quick SparkNotes review of all that I had. It's in alphabetical order, so don't think I'm ranking them or anything.

The Back 40 

317 Main St., Macedonia, IA, 51549 (712) 486.2687

This one time, at the AppleJack Festival, my dad had BBQ pork nachos. He physically retched after a few bites. I thought it was pretty good. I did not get the pork nachos here.

If what I had here was any indication, this little bar and grill in Macedonia is one hell of a restaurant. 

The BBQ sauce was Sweet Baby Ray's I believe. 

The pork sliders were very, very good. Tender meat, plenty smokey, and the bun was in the same vein as a King's Hawaiian roll, though not quite as sweet. At was amounts to $2.50, this was a good value for a festival.

Mac and Cheese. perfect on a hot day! (/sarcasm)

The smoked mac and cheese was of the KFC variety, though much, much better, obviously. I could taste plenty of smoke throughout the cheese sauce. Very creamy.

Chicago Dawg House

3157 Farnam St 68131 (402) 504.1234

The guy who runs this shop has a deep understanding of marketing, as he's all over the place, including being a regular caller/character on Todd 'n' Tyler and 1620 The Zone. He also has a pretty good understanding on what makes a good hot dog. I've had a few from him, including the namesake Chicago Dog before. I'll just say the one I had from the cart outside the Shedd Aquarium was better, but not by much. This time, however, I had the other Chicago classic: the Hot Italian Beef.

I'm sorry, I was walking and trying to take a picture with my phone. At least its in focus.

The giardiniera was nice and spicy. The beef was tender, and well seasoned. And of course I got it dipped so the entire thing was sopping and messy. Solid sandwich. This was a half size, and at what amounts to $3.75, not a bad deal either.

Curri

1028 S 74th Plaza 68114 (402) 614.0009

Alphabet soup.

The beauty of the Taste is you have the opportunity to try things you might never otherwise try. The beauty of working an event like the Taste gives you the opportunity to barter the stuff you brought to sell to eat the stuff other people brought to sell. In this case, those two beautiful things met in one place. I've never had Indian food before, and they approached my table offering a trade (they did this twice, actually). So, without money coming out of my pocketbook directly, I accepted.

This looks like Indian comfort food.

First I tried the chicken tikka masala. The sauce was very creamy and spiced with flavors I wasn't familiar with. It wasn't spicy, per se, but there was a little bit of kick. I wasn't a huge fan of it to be honest, but my dad, who was with me at the booth, loved it. The rice they served with it was an odd long grain white rice I've never seen before. All in all, I wouldn't turn it down if it was placed in front of me, but I'm not sure I would go out of my way to order it.

I thought with the bright red color of the chicken, it would be spicy. I twas not. It was just delicious.

The next day they came by to trade again, and this time they brought over tandoori chicken and, um, I'm not really sure. I think it was the chat on the menu, which after a little research on Google is actually spelled "chaat." I would be willing to bet that Taste screwed that spelling up.

The chicken was perfectly juicy and, again, full of flavors I didn't recognize. the chaat looks like, essentially, a spicy chickpea sauce over rice. It was a lot spicier than I thought it would be, which isn't a bad thing. Good little side dish.

La Casa

4432 Leavenworth St. 68105 (402) 556-6464

Hey, they got a roach coach!

Their pizza is constantly in the top 3 for pizza places in Omaha, and oddly I've never had it before. Personally, for me, it goes Orsi's, Mama's, and Roman Coin. I'm not sure I'll put La Casa anywhere in there after the slice I had, but I can totally see why people have such a high opinion of them now.

I wanted the beef, but I only had six tickets, and the hamburger was eight. This pepperoni was six.

Hey, the pizza was very, very good. Thin crust that wasn't soggy, and was actually nice and crispy, a miracle for pepperoni pizza. but at what amounts to $3.75 for this single slice, there were much better deals around.

Little España

11036 Elm St. 68144 (402) 557.6738

I've always wanted to try España in Benson but I've heard it can be pretty expensive, so I jumped at the chance to try it at the Taste, especially after I saw some folks walking around with bacon wrapped stuffed dates. Unfortunately, by the time I visited on Sunday, they were out of those, so I tried the stuffed peppers.

I'm not sure if they were supposed to be warm or cold. The ones I was served were cold. Nevertheless, they were amazing.

The peppers, called piquillo peppers, were sweet and not at all hot. They were stuffed with a soft goat cheese and almonds, and covered in a balsamic reduction. These were most likely the best thing I tasted all weekend, but at $3.75 for three peppers, on the expensive side, thus confirming my fears about the hit to the pocketbook. In a completely related note, look for Little España as my next review.

Nothing But Goat Grill

No permanent place, it's a food truck. Lexington, NE (308) 651.0327

Goat? Goat!

When I saw these guys were going to be there in the newspaper, I knew I had to try them out. I've had goat once before, at Guaca Maya when they happened to have it on the lunch buffet. I remember it having a very beefy flavor, and since it was very slow roasted, the meat was super tender and fell apart when you picked at it. So I got a brat.

Um, I only remembered to take a picture when I was on my last bite. Sorry.

As you can see, it certainly looked like a proper brat. But the flavor was completely different. It was very smoky, almost too smoky. It was stuffed in natural casing, so there was a very satisfying snap when you bit into it. The kraut he put on it was tangy, and probably something like Frank's kraut. All in all, I think I'd rather have a real brat than this one, especially when it cost me, essentially, $8.75. I should have gotten the burger.

Salty Dog Bar & Grill

2411 S 24th St, Council Bluffs, IA 51501 (712) 256.4851

It was a long walk over the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge to get here, but this was worth it.

Well, they kept things simple with only one thing on the menu. What so you think I got?

Unassuming, but brilliant.

They were grilled to perfection, with a great smoky flavor, tender and juicy. The ranch was unneeded. And at $3.75, there are places that have wing specials that cost more than that! Great value, especially at a festival.

Thai Esarn (aka Thai Spice)

555 N 155th Plaza, 68154, (402) 493.9944

I want to be where these guys were next year. It was always busy. Really good spot.

Only after doing some research into these guys did I realize that I've eaten here before. They must be in the middle of a rebranding, because the roof outside their storefront says "Thai Spice." Anyway, they've got some really good stuff there, and in no way did what I got this weekend represent what I've had there before.

I love sweet chili sauce.

The crab rangoon was slightly sweet to my surprise, but good. The vegetable ball was hot and kinda bland. A whole bunch of "Eh..." going on here.

Taste of Asia

333 N 78th St. 68117 (402) 905.2258

These people were so generous, it was unbelievable. You should go there just so I can start to repay them.

Okay so these guys were right next to us, and there was almost no trading going on because they just straight fed us all weekend. Like, we tried to give them some slices of torte, and sure, they accepted some of the time, but they mostly turned us down. That's why I have so many pictures to show here.

I can't count how many of these I had. So many egg rolls...

The egg rolls they fried fresh right there before serving them, and they are out of this world. They had pork ones and veggie ones. Each had that really thin, transparent rice noodle that is common in Thai cuisine. They suggested a sweet fish sauce to dip it in, and that was excellent, as well.

Lots of peanuts.

They made a ton of pad thai, which is why I had so much of it. It was slightly spicy, and though the sauce that coated the noodle was good, I just kinda wish they put more on it. 

I've never had pho before. Now I need to find more pho.

As I said in the caption, I've never had pho before. I'm familiar with it, though, as my Vietnamese friends rave about the stuff on their Facebook every winter. And normally, in summer, a hot soup really isn't high on my list, but, being Nebraska, that Saturday morning it was 49°, and by the time I was given this bowl, it was still only about 60°. Now, never having had it, I don't know where this ranks in the world of pho, but I loved this stuff. The broth had a surprising amount of ginger, the noodles were a lot longer than I gave them credit for (which must be an Asian thing, having long noodles like that), and the beef was in big wide, thin slices. A little bit of chili oil went a long way, but all in all, it was delicious.

I've seen people make Korean wings before, but I've never had them. What was I thinking?

Finally, the Korean wings. Sweet, kinda spicy, fried to perfection. What a sauce. Gotta get more of these the next time I visit the restaurant.

Jazz, a Louisiana Kitchen

1421 Farnam St

402.342.3662

Sun-Thurs: 11 am - 12 am

Fri-Sat: 11 am - 1 am

http://omaha.jazzkitchens.com/

Based on some recommendations from some friends of mine, I decided I was due for some Creole cooking and made a couple trips to Jazz, a small chain that is, I think, based out of Kansas City.

Outdoor seating was available, but it was still kinda chilly out, especially in all that downtown shade.

Walking in, you are first greeted with the classic wrought iron fence and gate that surrounds many yards in New Orleans. I love that touch. Inside, the walls are adorned various New Orleans ephemera, including an authentic-looking, gigantic cape that a waiter said came from the '88 or '89 Mardi Gras parade. Very, very cool stuff even if it's a replica.

Despite the name, both times I went in I heard no jazz. The first day I heard classic rock, and the second I heard blues. No complaints from me, though. Maybe the employees would go nuts if all they heard was one style of music everyday.

Ugly and worn? Yeah. Full of character? Absolutely.

The first day I visited was at about 5:30 on a Wednesday, and as I expected, even at a downtown restaurant, it was pretty quiet inside. I was seated at a table that was all kinds of scratched and graffiti-ed, befitting a down-home jazz bar. I ordered the Voodoo Wings and the Chicken ala Mer.

Hmm, baguette? Not really crusty enough, but close.

After ordering I was presented with a basket of baguettes and butter. The butter was whipped, making it very creamy, and they added garlic and herbs to it, so there was a lot going on with each bite. Very good, but, you know, its bread and butter. Moving on.

I very much dislike breaded wings. These are breaded wings. I loved these wings.

I'll admit I was slightly disappointed when I saw the wings were breaded. I've always thought the breading on wings just added an unnecessary barrier between you and the delicious fried goodness that you ordered. But these were just very slightly breaded, and doused with their Voodoo sauce. I should mention, you don't get to choose sauces here, as the Voodoo is the only choice. Yes it is spicy (though certainly not overly so), so if you can't handle heat, you may want to stay away. If you can, however, you'll need to order a plate of these. If "the sauce is the boss", then this is le patron. I was told they take their hot sauce, which is available in a bottle on every table, and add brown sugar and black pepper. Slightly sweet, but with the classic Louisiana hot sauce still present. I can't get enough of it. Get the wings.

Not the best picture I've ever taken, but certainly not the worst. I need to work on my staging.

Here's how the menu reads on the Chicken ala Mer: 

Here it is: our most popular item and the one that’ll keep y’all comin’ back. This chicken is topped with a shrimp & krab parmesan (sic) cream sauce over a bed of rice with your choice of veggie. Ooo, baby!

I'm not sure I had a choice after reading that. Fried chicken breast covered in a creamy seafood sauce, dirty rice, and sautéed veggies? Can't go wrong! And it was very good. The dirty rice gave that late Cajun kick that it should, the chicken was moist and tender, and the sauce was very creamy and full of flavor. The veggies needed a little bit of help with the house seasoning that is helpfully put on every table, but otherwise was well done, as well.

Because the wings were still on Happy Hour pricing, I got out of there with tip, tax, and everything for less than $20.

Two weeks later I visited again, this time on a Thursday, again at about 5:30 pm. I ordered the stuffed mushrooms and the shrimp po'boy.

Fried or stuffed, I love me some mushrooms.

I'm kinda sorry to report I didn't care for the mushrooms. They've got a seafood stuffing that was baked with Parmesan and white wine. But all I tasted was bread. Like, I know there was probably shrimp and fake crab and all that, but it was so loaded with bread crumbs, that's all I could taste. So much potential, so little reward.

Again, I need to work on my photography. I hate being that guy in the restaurant, but you gotta see what I'm eating!

The po'boy was one of the things I was specifically told to order here by my friends, and it didn't disappoint. Po'boys are essentially simple sandwiches made with one of about 3-4 meats, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Some of the seafood ones and the beef one has a special sauce, but they're all on baguettes. This one has what is essentially popcorn shrimp, and there was an orange sauce that I wasn't able to identify but was delicious. The shrimp was perfectly fried and wasn't too rubbery, and the batter held enough flavor to compliment the sandwich and not take it over. The cole slaw was decent, nothing to write home about. The hush puppies, though. I was taken aback.

I'm not too proud to admit the only hush puppies I've ever had was from Long John Silver. I know that they are certainly not the be-all-end-all, but I also thought I had a good idea on what hush puppies can be. I was very wrong. These held all kinds of flavor that I never expected, with visible herbs and spices. And slightly sweet which surprised me the most. It's just a hush puppy, but boy, what a hush puppy.

With tax, tip, and everything, I walked out at just under $25.

The menu is rather large, and I want to try a few other meals (I'm looking at you, stuffed catfish and muffuletta). I don't know when I'll go back, but it certainly is on the list of places to visit again.

Hog Wild

4950 S 108th St.
402.991.4227
Sun-Sat: 11 am - 8 pm
http://www.hogwildpitbbq.com/

As I was in the process of eating/writing my review for Brazen Head, I came across this post on /r/Omaha, which is the unofficial official Omaha page on reddit. For the shortened version, someone who goes by CrayolaHead accidentally walked in during the soft open for Hog Wild, and unintentionally got a free meal that he quite enjoyed. So, I mentioned I would review it the next chance I had. That time is now.

First things first: this is the first chain I'll be reviewing. These guys are based out of Kansas, and this location is the first, from what I can tell, outside of their state. They are so new here that, at the time of this posting, their website doesn't even list Omaha as one of their locations. Also, this is the first drive through I'll be reviewing. Honestly, I've always thought a drive though BBQ place would work. It takes so long to cook the meat that you have to have it prepared to start the day anyway, all you would have to do is pack it and toss it out the window. Well, they beat me to it. Damn. Finally, regarding BBQ in Omaha: not that long ago I'd have said Omaha was sorely needing good local BBQ joints, at least ones without "Dave" in the name. Obviously, others have seen that opening as well, because there's been a small flurry of them opening up recently, including a food truck called "402 BBQ" that has garnered quite a bit of good ink. This can only lead to good things in the future.

Like most BBQ places, you walk up to a counter and place your order and pay. After that you wait a minute or two by the pop machine as they put your meal together, then they call your number and you go find a place to eat. The dining area is actually fairly large compared to some BBQ places, is brightly lit, has country playing all the time (its easy enough to ignore if you're like me and hate the stuff), and the walls are covered in picnic table tablecloth-style wall paper and photos of cows and pigs.

(Warning: incoming digression.) Regarding the music: maybe it's because I associate Kansas City with BBQ, but am I the only one who thinks BB King goes best with a rack of ribs? Regarding the pictures on the wall: its a bit disconcerting looking a pig square in the face when chowing down on some pork shoulder. And on a slightly related note, what is the fascination of having a happy pig as your mascot of a BBQ joint? Its a little macabre, is it not? Hog Wild is no exception here. (End of digression, thank you for your patience.)

I stopped by twice, as usual. Both times on a Wednesday at around 5-5:30 pm. The first day I ordered the three meat combo. I chose ribs, brisket, and the hot links, with cole slaw and potato salad as sides.

The tray is heavy and coated on top with a kind of rubber coating. You can easily see where I put the bread on it. Actually I can't get over the trays. They are really high quality. Like, seriously. I didn't know they made them like that.

These ribs were legit.

The spare ribs were awesome. I could easily pull them apart with my hands, which is good as the silverware I was given was of the plastic variety. They were amazingly tender, but they still held on to the bone. They were brushed with a sweet and mild BBQ sauce that paired very nicely with the strong smokey and salty flavors the meat held. Excellent stuff, this.

I was expecting slices of brisket, but I guess pulled will do as well.

The brisket was...okay. I can't complain about the technique in smoking it, for certain. It was very tender and moist, just like a good brisket should be, But the flavor was overwhelmingly of roast beef with a little BBQ sauce. Yeah, when I go out for BBQ, I don't expect pot roast.

I find it kind of odd they slice it for you like this. Not that I was offended, which is how the next sentence will sound: I felt like a six-year-old being served like that. 

Finally I dove into the hot links. When you bite into them, there's a good snap to the outside, and the sausage itself was very tender. They are doused in their spicy BBQ sauce (the "hot" in "hot links" I guess), which took me a little by surprise. It was good spicy, I just wasn't expecting it. By the way, its never been adequately explained to me: what kind of sausage is it when you order sausage at a BBQ place?

The sides were standard fare. The slaw was a generic cole slaw. The potato salad was no different than what you'd find at Hy-Vee, so good, but nothing spectacular. Each meal is served with two slices of Texas Toast from Rotella's buttered and grilled. I know its Rotella's because they have a sign saying as much at the register.

All told, between the meal, the drink, and taxes, my total came to $15.23.

The next week I stopped by I wasn't as hungry so I got the two meat combo. This time I ordered the pulled pork and ham; as sides, I got the mac and cheese and corn.

Its a beautiful thing.

I was really excited about this pulled pork, and the coloration of the meat was especially enticing.

I'm sorry to say the pulled pork suffered the same kind of fate the brisket did. Again, just like the brisket, the technique isn't what wrong: it was super tender and juicy. But all I tasted was roast pork. There was no smokey-ness to it. I didn't sense any BBQ rub bark that is a hallmark of good BBQ and I had to pour a ton of sauce on top to make it taste right. Maybe that's what they're going for, but I hope not.

Now I kinda regret not moving the front piece to get a good view of what the ham actually looked like.

The ham was excellent. Smokey, well brined, tender, salty, delicious. Get the ham. Like seriously, get the ham.

The mac and cheese was basically the same stuff you'll find at KFC, which I kinda like actually. At least a step up from Kraft. The corn was buttered and warmed canned corn. I was honestly expecting a half cob like you'd find at Long John Silver's and was kinda disappointed I was served canned. There are better choices on the menu, so stay away from the corn.

With the meal, drink and taxes, my total came to $12.48.

It just occurred to me that I've gone this far in a review of a BBQ restaurant and I haven't really talked about the BBQ sauce. Hog Wild offers two kinds: a mild and a hot. They are essentially the same sauce, but one is spicier than the other. They're not world beaters, but they are still very, very good. On the sweet side, thick, smokey, tomato, and vinegar. Excellent stuff, here.

I think these guys will have some staying power in the long run, but they need to improve a few things. They're in an accessible part of town with a lot of businesses around that should be tired of burgers and Valentino's by now, so they'll do just fine. Give these guys a shot. You don't even have to get out of your car to do so.