Welcome!

My name is Dan, and I have a growing passion for food, and Omaha, my family, and my family's business has helped fuel that. Let me explain.

Omaha

I love Omaha. I'll defend it to the death. But just about the only thing to do during the weekend is going out to eat and drink. Oh, sure, we do concerts pretty well. And there's those two weeks during June around that one baseball stadium where things kinda get hopping. But let's not kid ourselves; Friday and Saturday you'd better have reservations or show up before 6 if you want a seat at pretty much any restaurant in town. And there are a lot of restaurants in Omaha. There are 1300+ listings on the Yellow Page's website when I posted this. Obviously, this includes all fast food restaurants and the like, but still, that's a lot of places to sift through when you're trying to figure out where you want your next basket of wings or whatever. And the sheer volume of restaurants in Omaha means that you, as a customer, can be very picky when deciding where you'll spend your dollar. Which also means the restaurants out there need to do at least one thing spectacularly if they want to survive this town. Because of this, a big portion of this city has developed a bit of a refined palate. I won't place myself in that category, but I will say I'm wading through the morass of food joints in Omaha trying to reach that level.

My Family

I'm sure a large portion of you out there can say just about the same thing that I'm about to: my family makes damn good food.

I'm part Italian (most Italians in Omaha can claim distant relations with the Caniglia family, and I'm no different), part Polish, and part Lithuanian. Now, the last two can't claim a culinary history that the former can, but I will put up kugelis (koo-gah-liss) and Lithuanian stuffed chicken legs against nearly any classic French dish. So here I am surrounded by sugo and salsiccia, or crazy good Lithuanian ribs and cabbage, or mom's homemade pizza, or chocolate pecan pie, or totos (pronounced"the-those"), or...you get it. I'm going to develop a taste for more quality foods.So I'm not going to like that crappy pizza with bitter sauce and cardboard crust. Sorry, cheap college bros.

My Family's Business

My family owns the Lithuanian Bakery. I've been working there in some way since May 1999. Everyday, I'm surrounded by Sourdough Rye breads made with a sour culture more than 50 years old, and of course the Omaha-famous Napoleon Torte. And all those other, really-shouldn't-be-a-secret-but-for-some-reason-they-are things like the Bacon Bun, Hazelnut Torte, and zagareliai (commonly called "bowties"). I work at one of those places that the kids in Buddy Holly glasses, tight jeans, and flannel seek out because they're foodies, and I totally share that mentality (if not their fashion sense).

I'm surrounded by good food. So now I'm looking for more good food. I hope I can help you wade through the choices in Omaha as I go head first into it.

I hope to post a new review every Thursday. I don't know if that will be possible, but that will be my goal.

There are, however, some places I won't review because of a conflict of interest. I will just say this: you should go to all four places at some point. The three are:

7M Grill - My cousin, Aron Mackevicius, is the head chef here. He works in what he calls "comfort fusion." I've eaten there more times than I'm willing to admit (no, they don't give me a price break, and they shouldn't), and I've never had a bad dish. Website. Facebook.

Lot 2 and Baxter's Pizza - I know the owners of these two trendy eateries through a weekly poker game that lasted about three years. If you can get into either place, and they have limited seating in both places, you need to. Lot 2 website. Lot 2 Facebook. Baxter's website. Baxter's Facebook.

Lithuanian Bakery and Kafe (obviously) - My aunt makes great soups and an awesome Reuben. We only do lunch until 2 pm, but that location is open unto 6 pm for pastries, breads, and tortes. Website. Facebook.

I hope you enjoy my reviews!

Dan.