HopCat
Hoppen Hierarchy:★★⭑
District: Lincoln
Burgers, Sandwiches, & Vast Beer Selection
Perfect For: Casual Dining; Happy Hour; Lunch
Standout Dishes: Cosmik Fries; Better Living Through Fish Tacos
The addition of the Railyard has been a true blessing to Lincoln. It’s added a number of bars and restaurants that added to the Haymarket area and allowed the city’s more mature crowd an option outside of O Street.
The Railyard boasts a number of great eating options, but none are as good as HopCat. It’s a staple in several Big Ten cities.
HopCat has a great vibe to it. It brilliantly walks the fine line between being a bar and a quality restaurant. If you want to have a brew with your buddies after work, HopCat is a perfect stop. Ditto if you want to take the family somewhere for a weeknight dinner. That’s a tough tightrope to tackle, but HopCat does it perfectly.
The interior is vibrant and the decorations are quite modern, giving HopCat a very inviting atmosphere. The service is friendly, fast and efficient. One of the restaurant’s biggest attractions is its expansive beer menu. HopCat has 130 taps, so there’s a brew for every palate. The menu is constantly shifting as kegs run out and new ones arrive, allowing diners to constantly experience new beers and ciders. The extensive menu has to be constantly updated and reprinted to keep up.
The menu has all kinds of options, ranging from burgers to creative mac and cheese options to sandwiches, salads, and fish and chips.
But the highlight are the Cosmik Fries, which made Food Network’s Top Ten Fries in the Country. The fries are battered with beer and finished with black pepper seasoning. They’re absolutely delicious as is. Even the strongest-willed diners will find themselves continually reaching into the basket for more. And when combined with the restuarant’s beer cheese sauce, they jump yet another level.
The burgers are creative and fun, but the beef itself doesn’t really stand out. They’re a fine bar food option, but they’re not going to have you rushing back. Same goes for the mac and cheese, though I do enjoy that HopCat’s willingness to add bacon, chicken, and even chili to this classic comfort dish.
The BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich is about what you’d expect from a bar. Served between a pair of delicious pieces of Texas toast, the pork was tender and flavorful, though it was dominated by sauce flavor. It’s pretty much on par with what you’ll find in the refrigerated isle in the grocery store; it’s not bad, but it’s nothing special. The pork was mellowed a bit by the yogurt coleslaw, which has a nice tang that melds nicely with the pork to constitute a perfectly passable sandwich.
My favorite entree is the Better Living Through Tacos, which can be ordered with blackened tilapia, roasted cauliflower, or chicken. The seasoning brings a brilliant combination of spicy and salty, but it doesn’t overwhelm the flavor of the fish, which provides a nice freshness. The slaw adds a sweet pop, and the avocado slices and “lava” sauce perfectly balance out the dish.
HopCat isn’t the type of restaurant you seek out for the food. But if you’re looking for a fun place to hang out, try some new brews, and have some creative fare above the traditional bar experience, this is just the place.