OMAHA RESTAURANTS TO VISIT DURING THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
The 2023 College World Series is upon us, and whether you’re an Omaha native looking for a bite around the stadium between games or a visitor who wants to experience what Omaha’s awesome food scene has to offer, downtown Omaha has you covered. From fine dining to grab and go, here are 12 restaurants to consider as you plan out your CWS eating.
Block 16
If “fun” and “delicious” crashed head on, the resulting carnage would be Block 16. This quick-service restaurant will use seemingly any ingredient in a sandwich, burrito, or burger. The standard menu has some of Omaha’s tastiest food items, from the infant-sized Poutine Burrito to the Mackribeo, a far more delicious take on the famous McDonald’s sandwich. Block 16 also has a daily special that often looks like something created while one was (ahem) under the influence.
But wild as some of the combinations seem, this isn’t stunt food. Jessica & Paul Urban are veterans of the fine dining industry and expertly pair flavors and textures that would make no sense in another restaurant. But Block 16 has the rare ability to pull together disparate ingredients and create beautiful amalgamations.
Or, if you just want a great burger, go here for the Block Burger, one of the best burgers you’ll find in Omaha.
Kitchen Table
Kitchen Table is obsessed with two things: 1) making everything they can (including bread, ketchup, jams, etc.) in house, and 2) utilizing whatever ingredients are local and in season.
The cozy eatery is known for its sandwiches, salads, and vegan dishes, but its calling card is its breakfast sandwiches. To find eggs this fluffy, light, and delicious is truly rare, and Kitchen Table pairs them with homemade biscuits, breads, and spreads. For the best breakfast sandwich in Omaha, get the Chili Crisp Egg Breakfast Sandwich, a flavor mash-up of breakfast and Chinese takeout (I know it sounds weird, but just trust me).
Coneflower Creamery
With Omaha’s summer temps often in the 90s and 100s, you need to find ways to cool off, and what better to do the job than ice cream? Then again, the options at Coneflower Creamery are so craveable that they’re just as enjoyable in subartic temperatures as they are in the heat.
The ice cream is so smooth and creamy that it almost has a velvety mouthfeel. It’s sweet, but not overly so, and balances well with whatever flavor the chefs choose to pair it with. With its “farm-to-cone” approach, Coneflower dishes up the freshest-tasting ice cream in the city. And with its new location in Millwork Commons, Coneflower is within walking distance of the ballpark.
Dirty Birds
When the hankering for a fried chicken sandwich hits, Dirty Birds is your answer. Not only will these sandwiches satiate your tastebuds, but they’ll crush your appetite for the rest of the day.
The chicken at Dirty Birds hits that very tough fried chicken target: crunchy on the outside while remaining moist and juicy on the interior. The sandwiches are piled high with this delicious chicken, homemade pickles, and a creamy aioli. This is the type of sauce-on-your-face, juice-running-down-your-arms restaurant that hits the mark every time.
The Boiler Room
Omaha isn’t all sandwiches, fried chicken, and ice cream; we have some excellent fine dining spots as well. And if you want to experience the best of what the city has to offer, The Boiler Room awaits.
With a kitchen headed by 3-time James Beard Award semifinalist Tim Nicholson, The Boiler Room puts out some of the most beautiful and delicious plates in the Midwest. From supple filled pastas to perfectly-cooked seafood and gorgeous steaks, The Boiler Room pairs its dishes with thoughtful sauces, vegetables, and starches to complement the main dish. Simply put, you won’t find much better food anywhere in the surrounding zip codes.
La Poblanita
South Omaha has a number of great taco spots, all of which are a short drive from downtown. But none of them feature the show-stopper that La Poblanita does: the Fuego Taco.
These rich, savory birria tacos have cheese oozing out of their fried shells, and the broth is delicious enough to drink through a straw. They alone are worth a visit, but La Poblanita serves excellent versions of many authentic dishes, including Chicken Mole, Carne Asada, and Seafood Soup.
Via Farina
Pizza magic happens in the giant wood-fired oven at the center of Via Farina. The dough, a combination of natural Italian flour and wild yeast, takes at least three days to create before its trip into the fiery belly of the oven. All the work shows in the final product—the inner crust is a bit loose, but it folds perfectly. It gains structure the closer you get to the pie’s edge, where the outer crust has pleasant air bubbles and pockets of char for added flavor. It’s near perfection.
Via Farina also offers several pasta dishes and some wonderful shared appetizers. But if it’s pizza you seek, this is your place.
Clean Slate Cafe
Let’s be honest: delicious as burgers and hot dogs are, ballpark food gets a bit heavy after a while. And when you want a change of pace, Clean Slate Cafe offers lighter fare that doesn’t sacrifice one iota on flavor.
Located just a few blocks from the stadium, Clean Slate Cafe offers sandwiches, breakfast dishes, and salads that will fill you up and delight your tastebuds without delivering yet another gut bomb. The cafe also has creative daily specials, so be sure to check the chalkboard on the wall to see what the chefs are playing with.
Muchachos
For some quick context on Muchachos, consider its rapid ascension: it started a few years ago as a food truck. That quickly evolved into a brick and mortar in Lincoln, and Omahans clamored so hard for a location here that owner Nick Maestas basically had no choice to open one.
Suffice to say, this place is beloved.
And for good reason. Muchachos creates New Mexican-BBQ fusion by taking expertly-smoked brisket, chicken, and pork and stuffing them inside tacos and burritos or on top of mac & cheese or nachos. If you want the full Muchachos experience, get the Hatch Mac Burrito, which loads the restaurant’s signature hatch mac & cheese alongside the meat into a grilled tortilla.
La Buvette
If you have some time to kill and want a beautiful patio to relax on, La Buvette is your place. Speed is not the name of the game here; this is a restaurant that beckons you to stay, have a glass of wine, and enjoy small plates from its menu, which changes daily.
An Omaha staple for more than 30 years, this French bistro will make you feel like you’re enjoying a meal on a Paris street cafe. The menu features a number of shared plates along with seafood, pastas, salads, and desserts. But coming here and not ordering the bread plate, with its variety of fantastic, carb-y options, is a borderline sin.
Centi
Located inside the downtown version of Hardy Coffee, this start-up has a variety of frozen treats, but not in the flavors you expect. Forget rocky road and mint chocolate chip; Centi’s menu includes Taro, Horchata, Chocolate Absolute, and Black Sesame. They may sound wild on paper, but chef Erick Landa makes masterpieces out of each.
The gelato itself has a soft texture and a slow-to-melt milkiness, and the flavors aren’t overly sweet. Plus, if you’re unsure of which enticing flavor to go with, you can savor six with a gelato flight.
Mexitli Restaurant
Another former food truck, Mexitli Restaurant delivers tacos with pops of flavor that you’ll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. While some Mexican restaurants tend to have similar flavor profiles in each dish, Mexitli’s proteins all pop with their own unique flavors.
Pro tip: skip the lame hot dogs inside the ballpark and opt for the Mexican Hot Dog, fried to crispy perfection and wrapped in bacon. Eat this and you’ll swear off stadium franks forever.