SALTED EDGE
Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★⭑
District: Waterloo
Scenic restaurant with chef-driven cuisine
Perfect For: Date Night; Drinks; Upscale Dining
Standout Dishes: Bread Board; Sausage & Burrata Pizza; Bison Bolognese; Bison Tartare Pizza; Plum Creek Chicken
When I first saw the menu for Salted Edge, which opened in Waterloo is the fall of 2023, I was a bit worried. With steaks, seafood, pasta, burgers, pizza, and more, I wondered if this restaurant had too broad of a scope. Typically when restaurants try to offer it all, nothing truly stands out.
How silly of me to doubt chef Joel Hassanali.
With nearly 30 years of cooking various cuisines all over the country, there’s little Joel hasn’t experienced. That background and talent, backed by trusted sous chef Tiarra Hope, has allowed him to create something really unique at Salted Edge.
Rare is the menu where you’ll find deviled eggs and sea scallops on the same page, but Salted Edge pulls it off. This is the type of place you can enjoy a high-end dinner of steaks and truffle risotto with your significant other or a burger and fries with your family and not feel out of place.
The restaurant, which overlooks West Shores Lake, is gorgeous. Not only does it offer outdoor seating and stunning views of the water, but the interior offers several seating options. There are glassed-in private dining rooms, stools at the swanky bar, and a communal table right in front of the open kitchen, giving you a front row seat to the chefs’ proficiency.
ENTREES
Though Joel and his team no doubt gave great detail to the whole menu, you get the sense that the entrees are where they had their most fun. It’s here that they get to show their full breadth of skills, knowledge, and exquisite plating ability.
The Roasted Plum Creek Chicken is an excellent example. In the wrong hands, chicken is a boring bird that easily gets dried out. But Salted Edge serves a briny half chicken that’s not only moist and juicy, but also uses Joel’s signature spice blend to add a savory flavor to the skin. The potatoes are roasted to achieve a creamy texture, while the parsnip puree and wild mushroom demi bring sweet, nutty and earthy tones. It’s a beautiful and remarkably balanced plate.
The Bison Bolognese would fit on the menu of just about any Italian restaurant in Omaha. The long, flowing pappardelle strands (made in house) inhale the rich, meaty ragu of bison, pork, and wagyu, giving a nice amount of fat to balance the tomato base.
The Braised Short Rib is so tender it shreds beautifully from the touch of a fork and is wonderfully rich. When combined with the creamy, cheesy jalapeno potato cake and phenomenal jus, it creates memorable bite after memorable bite.
Risotto is a tricky grain that trips up even experienced chefs, but the base of the Grilled Shrimp Truffle Risotto is creamy as all get out while still allowing the individual grains to be slightly firm and have a discernible texture. It has a rich, umami flavor, and the shrimp add a nice mild sweetness (even if the cooking is a tad inconsistent).
But while Salted Edge excels at fine dining plates, it can deliver familiar favorites, too. The Dry-Aged Prime Edge Burger features one of the juiciest, most flavorful thick patties you’ll find in Omaha. Paired with crispy black pepper bacon, a blanket of melted gruyere cheese, a sweet red wine onion marmalade, and a buttery brioche bun, it’s a masterclass in burger creation.
PIZZA
Though Joel was initially a bit hesitant, the owners insisted Salted Edge offer pizza, and I’m glad they did. The pies that emerge from this brick oven are superior to many joints dedicated solely to pizza.
The base of the pizza is light and airy and has very little grease, giving these pizzas a very clean feeling. They have great structure—you can pick up a slice and it will lay flat in midair—allow with bubbly air pockets and scattered charring from their date in the oven.
Salted Edge offers several classic pizzas, such as margherita and pepperoni, but amped up with premium ingredients. The Sausage & Burrata, for example, combines hunks of mildly-spiced Italian sausage with creamy orbs of milky burrata cheese and charred broccolini. It’s one of the best pizzas in Omaha.
But Salted Edge can’t resist adding a chef-y spin, so you’ll also find Wild Mushroom & Truffle and Prosciutto & Pear pizzas on the menu. But the new age pizza you need to try is the Bison Tartare, an unexpected combination of sweet, raw bison meat, salty capers, and a mildly spicy aioli that adds heat and creaminess. It’s a wild pizza, but it’s fantastic.
APPETIZERS
It’s here we reach the item Salted Edge might be best known for: its famous Bread Board.
This monument to carbs features four different breads, each wildly different from the last, paired with specific salts and butters:
- Orange Rosemary Biscuit: The buttery, flaky biscuit has hints of citrus and pepper and is plenty delicious on its own. Adding a swipe of the sweet, nutty maple bourbon pecan butter really sets it off.
- Honey-Dipped Cornbread: The sweetness of the cornbread is accented by a layer of tangy goat cheese and the smokiness of fire-roasted corn kernels.
- Herb Butter Buns: Fluffy and airy, these buns are adorned with giant flakes of finishing salt to accentuate the buttery glaze.
- Cayenne Parmesan Popovers: The nutty parmesan cheese provides the dominant flavor in these light-as-a-cloud buns, but there’s a hint of heat from the cayenne and jalapeno salt. And you’re making a mistake if you don’t use all the sundried tomato butter.
Though you’ll see a platter of bread go to nearly every table during a visit, the Bread Board is far from the only appetizer at Salted Edge. The Crispy Shrimp Deviled Eggs are an elevated take on the picnic classic. The creamy egg is filled with a tangy mayo/dijon combo, then topped with a fried shrimp and a wonderfully sweet/salty smoked tomato bacon jam.
In the Wild Mushroom Tartine, crispy baguette slices are topped with a tangy goat cheese spread that’s balanced by the sweetness of honey and a mushroom marmalade. It’s a wonderful balance of richness, saltiness, and sweetness.
And the Colossal Shrimp Cocktail lives up to its name, with six enormous tender, juicy prawns. You can dip them in either an herbaceous green goddess dressing or the classic horseradish-forward cocktail sauce.
DESSERTS
Pasty chefs Katie Torres and Jessi Dolson handle the final course of the meal, and their ever-changing offerings provide the perfect sweet bites to end the night.
Among the choices you can expect:
- Chocolate Ganache Fried Donut: A ball of rich chocolate ganache is encased in yeasty donut dough and deep fried, creating a crusty orbs that oozes chocolately goodness when cut into. The dish is served with a seasonal ice cream (our most recent featured peppermint, which was heaven for this mint lover).
- Butterscotch Bourbon Creme Brulee: The interior custard is fantastic, as it’s smooth and creamy and highlights both smoky and caramel-forward flavors. The bruleed crust could be more pronounced, but the sweet, light-as-a-cloud chantilly cream is a nice foil for the heavy custard.
- Kentucky Bourbon Butter Cake:
rich, gooey, and tender with just the right amount of sweetness, the cake alone is perfection. And then the vanilla bean ice cream melts to fill every crevice of the crumb with rich creaminess. A crunchy honeycomb crumble set it over the top.
DRINKS
Salted Edge’s drinks are solid, but don’t quite reach the high peaks that the food does. While the Smokin’ Chimney Rock Old Fashioned has a brilliant presentation and a nice smoky flavor, it’s not quite as smooth as other versions of the drink in the area. I do appreciate that Salted Edge offers non-alcoholic cocktails that carry that alcoholic bite without the buzz.
On top of all the excellent food, Salted Edge offers fantastic service. The staff is attentive, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable about the menu.
Salted Edge provides ideal dining experiences for different dining expectations. Whether you want a fancy date night, a business dinner to impress clients, or a fun night out with the family, Salted Edge can deliver excellent food with unexpected twists on classic dishes.
Normally a restaurant with a menu with this eclectic would crash and burn. But Salted Edge excels in its diversity.