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.

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.