SAUCED BY ALFARO
Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★★
District: Papillion
Scratch-made chicken sandwiches, wings, and specials
Perfect For: Casual Dining; Takeout; Lunch
Standout Dishes: Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich; Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos; Screwball Peanut Butter Whiskey Burger; Nashville Hot Wings
All it took was one bite of the Screwball Peanut Butter Whiskey Burger to realize it was the perfect summation of Sauced by Alfaro. The sandwich ripped me out of reality and took me back to my grade school cafeteria, where I enjoyed many delightful PB&J sandwiches.
But now that nostalgic sandwich was fused with a bacon cheeseburger, the peanut butter sauce featured whiskey, and the “jelly” was a bourbon blackberry jalapeño marmalade. It was wildly new and somehow familiar all at once.
In the hands of most cooks, there’s no way this burger works. Most wouldn’t be inventive enough to conceptualize such a dish, and those who did wouldn’t be bold enough to put it on the menu. Then to have the ability to pull together this wild band of flavors into a cohesive dish… let’s just say not many could do it.
Michelle Alfaro can, and that’s what makes Sauced by Alfaro special.
Sauced by Alfaro is a scratch kitchen with a constantly updating menu that never fails to surprise and excite. From the rotating burger of the month (e.g. Bourbon Peach Habarnero Burger and Bourbon Cranberry and Brie Burger) to Swiss Mushroom Chicken Soup, Asian Cheesesteaks, Puffy Tostadas, and French Onion Dip Sandwiches, you never know what Chef Alfaro is going to come up with next.
She’s a master at taking familiar, well-known food items like wings, burgers, tacos, and rice bowls and adding a special zing that makes them completely unique. It’s a tired cliche to say you can taste the love in a dish, but Michelle is one of the rare cases where it’s true. Her passion for food and cooking caused her to leave her career in 2018 to pursue a life in cooking, and she’s never looked back.
So pay no mind to the fact that she lacks professional training. The way her flavors sing, you won’t care about those minor details.
While some of Sauced’s more creative specials jump off the menu, what defines Sauced is its proficiency in nailing the cooking basics; only then does Michelle add her creative touches. Each fry is cut by hand. Every shrimp is breaded the morning of service. Every burger is seasoned to perfection and cooked to a masterful medium well.
Once the baseline is established, Michelle can have her fun.
As stated above, I’m not sure any item better exemplifies this than the Screwball Peanut Butter Whiskey Burger. It’s a conundrum on paper, but it just works.
The bourbon adds just a hint of smokiness to the peanut butter sauce, which pairs well with the tart sweetness of the bourbon blackberry jalapeno marmalade. The black pepper bacon is brilliantly crispy, and the melty pepperjack infuses every bite with a touch of gooey, slightly spicy dairy. The buttery brioche bun adds a fat that plays well with the fresh veggies.
This is a masterclass in burger construction. And though burgers come and go from Sauced’s ever-changing menu, this burger has lodged its place in my brain, and I greatly anticipate its return.
Another masterpiece is the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich, which gets my vote for the best sandwich in the city. This sandwich packs some heat, as crispy, hand breaded tenders are liberally dunked into a pot of hot chili oil that builds in heat the more of the sandwich you consume. But the sauce also has brown sugar, and bread and butter pickles and a hot honey aioli help to add balance.
Any lover of French dip sandwiches will fall head over heels for the Guinness & Swiss, which is headlined by caramelized onions cooked down in Guinness. Combined with tender, thing slices of sweet roast beef, gooey Swiss cheese, and a buttery roll, this sandwich is everything.
And that’s even before you baptize it in the Guinness jus, which is so rich, deep, and delicious you’ll want to slurp up any remainder with a straw.
The love and care that goes into each dish is borderline ridiculous. On days when Sauced offers chicken tenders with Michelle’s signature Salted Caramel Whiskey Sauce, diners flock to the restaurant, causing hours-long wait times. And still Sauced hand breads every tender and Michelle makes the sauce—which has, unlike most iterations of this type of sauce, a balanced sweetness thanks to large flecks of salt and the smoky bitterness of the bourbon.
Most of these dishes come with Hand Cut Fries (which can be ordered in Cajun or Garlic Parmesan form) are crispy and liberally seasoned with large flecks of pepper and salt. They’re among the best fries you’ll find in Nebraska, hands down.
But the one special you absolutely cannot miss is the Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos. The base of the dish is plump, tender hand-breaded shrimp that receive a wonderful crispy texture from the deep fry. The bang bang sauce adds a sweet & spicy creaminess, but honestly the best part is the shell. Hand-crafted each day, the shell defies science—it’s fried and crispy, yet still chewy. It addles the brain, but you’ll push through the momentary confusion to keep shoveling these tacos into your mouth.
And what would a restaurant called Sauced be without some killer wings? The wings start from a great foundation: these large, meaty drums and flats are fried to achieve a crispy texture and char-buffed on the grill (if requested) to add texture and smokiness.
From there, you can choose from Sauced’s 9 unique sauces, starting with the expected (Buffalo, Teriyaki, Garlic Parmesan) and moving the inventive (Bourbon Honey Mustard, Buffaque, and Honey Sriracha). The best of the bunch may be the Nashville Hot, which brings the heat, without incinerating the tongue. Rather, brown sugar adds a nice sweetness to balance the chili oil.
Sauced’s side dishes are nearly as special as its mains. The Crispy Cauliflower starts with heads of cauliflower that are breaded and fried to an excellent crispiness, creating a crunchy outer shell. Even though these bulbs are coated in the tangy bang bang sauce and jalapeno crema, they don’t become soggy.
Even something as simple as salsa is executed to perfection at Sauced by Alfaro. Michelle actually started her culinary career with salsa, and it shows in her signature product. This salsa is so vibrant and fresh, more forward with herbs and tomatoes than spice, that it’s worthy of eating off a shoe, much less on one of Sauced’s homemade chips or tacos.
Sauced is located in a small space off the main street in Papillion, but it has a large patio. And if seating is filled, you can always take your food next door to Twisted Vine and enjoy a brew while you crush your meal.
And while Sauced’s base menu is tremendous, I’d recommend following its Facebook page to stay up to date on its ever-changing specials.
It’s really not possible to sum up Sauced in one sentence, but if I were to try, it would be: “Homey, scratch-made classics that surprise and delight with special and thoughtful surprises.”
Or you can just take one bite of the Screwball Peanut Butter Whiskey Burger, and you’ll perfectly understand why this is a must-try.