It had been 5 years since we conducted a Best-ter-est of Omaha reader poll. Looking at the old results, it's easy to see why it was time to do another one.
Though we'll never have the voter turnout that some other polls may have, I'm okay with that. Quality is what matters. I view this as a curated list. Curated by the die hard food fans that encourage restaurateurs to bring new ideas into Omaha. Curated by the people that aren't satisfied with good enough ― the passionate that will seek out the best, travel into the unknown, and support our favorites through fervent word of mouth praise.
Thank you for being part of our curation team and being part of our effort to praise the Best-ter-est of Omaha.
The Results
The results below are separated into 3 sections.
First we have our category results. We list the top 3 in each category. We may list more if we found the additional results interesting. There are some categories that we list less than 3. That means we just didn't get enough responses to be of interest. If a winner trumped the competition by a large margin, we list the ratio (e.g. 2:1). We also included some color commentary for many categories.
Next we have some favorites dishes. These are just the dishes that had multiple votes. Please take a chance to look at the raw data to see all the nominees in this category. It's pretty interesting.
Finally we have Omaha's Favorite Restaurants. It's what makes everything worthwhile.
UPDATE: We had a reader point out to us that Hiro and Hiro 88 are technically the same restaurant (same menu, management, etc). The revised results are below. The categories that were impacted are marked with a * [Best Sushi, Best Japanese, Favorite Restaurants]
And the winners are...
Best American Restaurant | |
Block 16 | 1st Place WINNER 2:1 - 18 Votes |
Lot 2 | 2nd Place - 9 Votes |
Boiler Room | 3rd Place - 4 Votes |
J Coco | 4th Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Jams | 4th Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Blatt Beer & Table | 4th Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Grey Plume | 5th Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Railcar | 5th Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Salt 88 | 5th Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Best American Restaurant is confusing, because what is "American" cuisine? I think most of the restaurants nominated fit the bill, but there is a long flat tail. | |
Best Bagel Shop | |
Bagel Bin | 1st Place WINNER - 16 Votes |
Bruegger's Bagels | 2nd Place - 13 Votes |
Panera | 3rd Place - 7 Votes |
Best Bagel will probably go away next time. Let's just call Bagel Bin the best and be done with it until a competitor arrives. | |
Best Bar-B-Que Restaurant | |
Hartland BBQ | 1st Place WINNER 3:1 - 14 Votes |
Parker's Smokehouse | 2nd Place - 4 Votes |
Famous Dave's | 3rd Place - 3 Votes |
Skeet's | 4th Place - 2 Votes TIE |
Ozarks | 4th Place - 2 Votes TIE |
Boxer BBQ | 4th Place - 2 Votes TIE |
BBQ is divisive and our results conflict greatly with the recent OWH food crawl. | |
Best Chinese Restaurant | |
Canton House | 1st Place WINNER TIE - 5 Votes |
JC Mandarin | 1st Place WINNER TIE - 5 Votes |
Rice Bowl | 1st Place WINNER TIE - 5 Votes |
New Gold Mountain | 2nd Place TIE - 4 Votes |
Golden Palace | 2nd Place TIE - 4 Votes |
Three Happiness | 2nd Place TIE - 4 Votes |
Omaha still lacks a sense for authentic Chinese food. If you've never been to Canton house, go check it out. And always ask to see the other menu at a Chinese restaurant. They may not have one, but chances are, they do and if you have round eyes, you didn't get it when you walked through the door. | |
Best Coffee Shop | |
Archetype Coffee | 1st Place WINNER - 7 Votes |
Scooter's | 2nd Place - 6 Votes |
Aromas | 3rd Place - 5 Votes TIE |
Caffeine Dreams | 3rd Place - 5 Votes TIE |
Blue Line | 4th Place - 4 Votes TIE |
Crane Coffee | 4th Place - 4 Votes TIE |
Best Coffee shop is probably dominated by shops that are close to where a voter lives. Not too many people are going to travel out of their way. | |
Best French Restaurant | |
Le Bouillon | 1st Place WINNER - 21 Votes |
Le Voltaire | 2nd Place - 16 Votes |
Dario's Brasserie | 3rd Place - 6 Votes |
It's funny to see the Best French Restaurant list now that there's an actual French restaurant in the French Cafe space. | |
Best Greek Restaurant | |
Greek Islands | 1st Place WINNER 2:1 - 18 Votes |
Jim and Jennie's Greek Village | 2nd Place TIE - 7 Votes |
Katie's | 2nd Place TIE - 7 Votes |
Feta's | 3rd Place - 3 Votes |
Best Indian Restaurant | |
Mother India | 1st Place WINNER - 14 Votes |
Jaipur | 2nd Place - 11 Votes |
Curri | 3rd Place - 5 Votes TIE |
Flavors | 3rd Place - 5 Votes TIE |
Kurry Xpress | 3rd Place - 5 Votes TIE |
Best Italian Restaurant | |
Avoli Osteria | 1st Place WINNER 2:1 - 18 Votes |
Lo Sole Mio | 2nd Place - 9 Votes |
Dante's Pizzeria | 3rd Place - 7 Votes |
Pasta Amore | 4th Place - 5 Votes |
Nicola's | 5th Place - 3 Votes |
Best Japanese Restaurant * | |
Hiro / Hiro 88 | 1st Place WINNER - 14 Votes |
Sakura Bana | 2nd Place - 13 Votes |
Sushi Japan | 3rd Place - 8 Votes |
Best Korean Restaurant | |
Maru | 1st Place WINNER - 10 Votes |
Korea King | 2nd Place - 4 Votes TIE |
Korean Grill | 2nd Place - 4 Votes TIE |
Wongs Hunan Garden | 3rd Place - 2 Votes |
Omaha is still pretty weak in selection for Korean restaurants. It's too bad; I think a really good Korean Restaurant would walk away with a Good for Groups category. All those delicious banchan. | |
Best Mexican Restaurant | |
Rivera's | 1st Place WINNER 2:1 - 10 Votes |
Taqueria Tijuana | 2nd Place - 5 Votes |
Hector's | 3rd Place TIE - 4 Votes |
Cilantro's | 3rd Place TIE - 4 Votes |
Taqueria El Rey | 4th Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Mula | 4th Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Dos de Oros Taco Truck | 4th Place TIE - 3 Votes |
If I find the time, I'd like to put all of the Best Mexican restaurant nominees on a map. Overall I think the nominations were very solid. The problem is that there's actually too many good places, but none that really stand out as a level about the rest. It makes for very split results. I think Rivera's won because it's good, fairly authentic, and it has the benefit of being out West. But hey, compared to 2009, this list is pretty good. | |
Best Seafood Restaurant (Not sushi) | |
Taita | 1st Place WINNER - 15 Votes |
Shuck's | 2nd Place - 12 Votes |
Plank | 3rd Place - 10 Votes |
Remember when Charlie's on the Lake used to walk away with the Best Seafood category? | |
Best Soul Food | |
Big Mama's Kitchen | 1st Place WINNER 4:1 - 12 Votes |
Omaha needs a Soul Food Culinary Tour. There are many places other than Big Mama's. I didn't list any other results because I think the category was a wash (aka not useful). Check out the nominations if this is an area you're interested in. | |
Best Steak House (Focus is steaks) | |
Drover | 1st Place WINNER 4:1 - 24 Votes |
Spencer's | 2nd Place - 6 Votes |
801 Chop House | 3rd Place - 5 Votes |
The Drover crushed it. If you look at the Best Steak, Best Classic Restaurant, Where to Take Guests, Favorite Dish and Favorite Restaurants - it did very well. | |
Best Sushi Restaurant * | |
Hiro / Hiro 88 | 1st Place WINNER 2:1 - 22 Votes |
Taita | 2nd Place - 8 Votes |
Blue Sushi | 3rd Place - 7 Votes TIE |
Sakura Bana | 3rd Place - 7 Votes TIE |
Sushi Japan | 3rd Place - 7 Votes TIE |
It's funny how personal favorite sushi restaurants are. But Hiro really broke away from the pack. Reverse Happy Hour? You can't say it's the multiple locations because that didn't help Blue very much. | |
Best Thai Restaurant | |
Salween Thai | 1st Place WINNER - 16 Votes |
Mai Thai | 2nd Place - 9 Votes |
Bangkok Cuisine | 3rd Place - 5 Votes TIE |
Laos Thai on 24th | 3rd Place - 5 Votes TIE |
Thai Spice | 3rd Place - 5 Votes TIE |
Best Burrito Spot | |
Qdoba | 1st Place WINNER scattered- 4 Votes |
Chipotle | 2nd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
De Leon's | 2nd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Taqueria El Rey | 2nd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Omaha is not a burrito town. Not sure why. | |
Best French Fries | |
Dario's Brasserie | 1st Place WINNER 2:1 - 14 Votes |
Block 16 | 2nd Place - 7 Votes |
Amsterdam Falafel & Kabob | 3rd Place - 4 Votes TIE |
Runza | 3rd Place - 4 Votes TIE |
Omaha loves their Runza. Runza and Frings seems to be the thing. | |
Best Fried Chicken Spot | |
Block 16 | 1st Place WINNER - 9 Votes |
Time Out Chicken | 2nd Place - 5 Votes |
Big Mama's Kitchen | 3rd Place - 3 Votes TIE |
Jack and Mary's | 3rd Place - 3 Votes TIE |
Popeye's | 3rd Place - 3 Votes TIE |
I'm fully expecting to see Heritage on this Best Fried Chicken list next time. I was surprised to see a lot of places from 2009 fall off the nominations list. | |
Best Hamburger Spot | |
Stella's | 1st Place WINNER - 18 Votes |
Block 16 | 2nd Place - 11 Votes |
Dinkers | 3rd Place - 3 Votes TIE |
Goldberg's | 3rd Place - 3 Votes TIE |
Louie M's Burger Lust | 3rd Place - 3 Votes TIE |
Best Hot Wings Spot | |
Oscar's | 1st Place WINNER 2:1 - 10 Votes |
Crescent Moon | 2nd Place - 4 Votes |
Wing Stop | 3rd Place - 3 Votes |
Best Onion Rings | * low number of total votes |
Big Fred's | 1st Place WINNER TIE - 4 Votes |
Runza | 1st Place WINNER TIE - 4 Votes |
Block 16 | 2nd Place - 3 Votes |
I would love to do an Onion Ring Food Crawl. Heck, you could start an entire blog around the topic. Though it seems Omaha doesn't have the same fondness for rings as I do. | |
Best Restaurant for Pasta | |
Avoli Osteria | 1st Place WINNER 2:1 - 18 Votes |
Lo Sole Mio | 2nd Place - 7 Votes |
Dante's Pizzeria | 3rd Place - 5 Votes |
Pasta Amore | 4th Place - 4 Votes |
Best Restaurant for Pizza | |
Dante's Pizzeria | 1st Place WINNER 3:1 - 22 Votes |
Pitch | 2nd Place - 7 Votes |
La Casa | 3rd Place TIE - 4 Votes |
Mama's | 3rd Place TIE - 4 Votes |
I was surprised to see so much solidarity around Best Restaurant for Pizza. It's a topic with strong opinions - crust, sauce, toppings - but Dante's really seems to please the GFC crowd. | |
Best Sandwich Shop | |
Block 16 | 1st Place WINNER - 8 Votes |
Worker's Takeout | 2nd Place - 5 Votes |
Gandolfo's | 3rd Place - 4 Votes |
Firehouse subs | 4th Place - 3 Votes TIE |
Kitchen Table | 4th Place - 3 Votes TIE |
Star Deli | 4th Place - 3 Votes TIE |
Best Breakfast Spot | |
Over Easy | 1st Place WINNER - 9 Votes |
Lisa's Radial Cafe | 2nd Place - 6 Votes |
Dixie Quicks | 3rd Place TIE - 5 Votes |
11-worth Cafe | 3rd Place TIE - 5 Votes |
Bailey's | 4th Place - 4 Votes |
Best Brunch | |
Lot 2 | 1st Place WINNER - 8 Votes |
Dixie Quicks | 2nd Place - 6 Votes |
Le Bouillon | 3rd Place - 5 Votes TIE |
Taxi's | 3rd Place - 5 Votes TIE |
Best Buffet | |
Flavors | 1st Place WINNER - 5 Votes |
China Buffet | 2nd Place - 4 Votes |
There are rarely winners in Best Buffet. | |
Best Desserts | |
Delice | 1st Place WINNER - 4 Votes |
Grey Plume | 2nd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Wheatfields | 2nd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Le Bouillon | 3rd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Mark's Bistro | 3rd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Vivace | 3rd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Omaha needs more dessert focused locations that aren't just Ice Cream. | |
Best Family Restaurant | |
Cheddar's | 1st Place WINNER- 3 Votes |
Over Easy | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Upstream Brewery | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Millard Road House | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Omaha doesn't like family restaurants, or your favorite family restaurant is the one closest to you resulting in a very split vote. | |
Where You Take Out of Town Guests | |
Drover | 1st Place WINNER - 6 Votes |
Grey Plume | 2nd Place TIE - 4 Votes |
Lot 2 | 2nd Place TIE - 4 Votes |
Block 16 | 3rd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Boiler Room | 3rd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Dante's Pizzeria | 3rd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
M's Pub | 3rd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Best Restaurant for a Business Lunch | |
Block 16 | 1st Place WINNER TIE - 3 Votes |
J Coco | 1st Place WINNER TIE - 3 Votes |
M's Pub | 1st Place WINNER TIE - 3 Votes |
Charleston's | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Sullivan's | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Wilson & Washburn | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Best "Theme" categories aren't very telling. When the winner of Best Restaurant for a Business Lunch has a 3 way tie for 1st place with 3 votes each - not very helpful. I'm thinking a Best Service category might be nice, but not if it gets such split results. | |
Best Restaurant Happy Hour | |
Blue Sushi | 1st Place WINNER - 5 Votes |
Plank | 2nd Place - 4 Votes |
Best Beverage Program | |
Boiler Room | 1st Place WINNER 3:1 - 10 Votes |
Grey Plume | 2nd Place - 3 Votes |
Krug Park | 3 Votes - No food menu |
Best Late Night Food Spot | |
Amsterdam Falafel & Kabob | 1st Place WINNER - 5 Votes |
Localmotive | 2nd Place - 4 Votes |
Baxter's | 3rd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Nite Owl | 3rd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Best Food Truck | |
Localmotive | 1st Place WINNER 3:1 - 20 Votes |
Taqueria El Rey | 2nd Place - 6 Votes |
Dos de Oros Taco Truck | 3rd Place - 4 Votes |
Best Restaurant for a First Date | |
Grey Plume | 1st Place WINNER TIE - 3 Votes |
Le Bouillon | 1st Place WINNER TIE - 3 Votes |
Boiler Room | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Espana | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Kona Grill | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
La Buvette | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Lot 2 | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Most Romantic Restaurant | |
V. Mertz | 1st Place WINNER - 5 Votes |
Boiler Room | 2nd Place - 4 Votes |
Dario's Brasserie | 3rd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Mark's Bistro | 3rd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Most Underrated Restaurant | |
Taita | 1st Place WINNER 2:1 Scattered - 4 Votes |
Avoli Osteria | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
Tasty Pastry | 2nd Place TIE - 2 Votes |
It seems like Omaha has a lot of underrated restaurants. If you look at the raw votes, there were a lot of different places mentioned, just not a lot of consensus. | |
Most Overrated Restaurant | * OR added to filter out from analysis |
Grey Plume - OR | 10 "Winner" 2:1 |
Blue Sushi - OR | 2nd Place - 5 Votes |
Gorat's - OR | 3rd Place - 3 Votes |
Mark's Bistro - OR | 3rd Place - 3 Votes |
Upstream Brewery - OR | 3rd Place - 3 Votes |
Omaha has a deep love/hate relationship with The Grey Plume. Most Overrated, but also Best Restaurant, Best Chef, Top 5 Favorite Restaurants, and numerous other top 3 finishes. | |
Best of the Classics (Open more than 20 years) | |
M's Pub | 1st Place WINNER - 6 Votes |
Drover | 2nd Place TIE - 5 Votes |
V. Mertz | 2nd Place TIE - 5 Votes |
Lo Sole Mio | 3rd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Piccolo's | 3rd Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Future Classic (Open 20 years from now) | |
Block 16 | 1st Place WINNER - 6 Votes |
Grey Plume | 2nd Place - 5 Votes |
Dario's Brasserie | 3rd Place - 4 Votes |
Best New Restaurant | |
Modern Love | 1st Place WINNER - 9 Votes |
Pig and Finch | 2nd Place - 7 Votes |
Le Bouillon | 3rd Place - 5 Votes |
Look! A Vegan restaurant won Best New Restaurant in Omaha! | |
Best Chef | |
Paul Kulik | 1st Place WINNER TIE - 10 Votes |
Clayton Chapman | 1st Place WINNER TIE - 10 Votes |
Dario Schicke | 2nd Place - 3 Votes |
Awesome to see a tie for Best Chef. | |
Best Restaurant | |
Grey Plume | 1st Place WINNER - 9 Votes |
Boiler Room | 2nd Place - 6 Votes |
Block 16 | 3rd Place - 5 Votes |
Avoli Osteria | 4th Place - 4 Votes |
Dario's Brasserie | 5th Place TIE - 3 Votes |
Lot 2 | 5th Place TIE - 3 Votes |
The Best Restaurant list makes me smile. Good job! |
Best Dish
The Best [DISH] (Specific Item) categories are tricky and risky. I'm super happy to see we had duplicate submissions in every category meaning there are certain things that certain restaurants are known for. I highly encourage you to review all of the submissions for these. If you sort the category column, you can see which restaurants most frequently have a favorite dish. The Best Pasta Dish is interesting because Dante's Bolognese get the most votes (4), but Avoli had the most total mentions (10 vs 7)
Make sure to look at all of the nominees for Favorite Dish (under the More Best Dishes tab). Lots of good things in there.
Best Bowl of Soup (Specific menu item) | |
Brazen Head: Creamy Baked Onion | Mentioned 2x |
Sgt. Peffers: Chicken Florentine | Mentioned 2x |
Best Dessert (Specific menu item) | |
Goldberg's: Bread Pudding | Mentioned 2x |
Ted & Wally's: Dutch chocolate ice cream | Mentioned 2x |
Best Pasta Dish (Specific menu item) | |
Dante: Bolognese | Mentioned 4x |
Avoli: Carbonara | Mentioned 3x |
Avoli: Bolognese Bianco | Mentioned 2x |
Avoli: Tajarin all'Uovo w truffles | Mentioned 2x |
Dante: Carbonara | Mentioned 2x |
Best Pizza (Specific menu item) | |
Dante: Margherita | Mentioned 3x |
La Casa: Hamburger w/ onions & Romano | Mentioned 3x |
Pitch: Shroom Pizza | Mentioned 3x |
Dante: Amore di Carne | Mentioned 2x |
Dante: Funghi Bianco | Mentioned 2x |
Sortino's: Johnny's Surprise | Mentioned 2x |
Best Sandwich (Specific menu item) | |
French Bulldog: Pork Belly Sandwich | Mentioned 3x |
Block 16: Reuben | Mentioned 2x |
Kitchen Table: Meatloaf sandwich | Mentioned 2x |
Workers' Takeout: Cuban Pork Roast | Mentioned 2x |
Best Steak (Specific menu item) | |
Drover: Whiskey steak | Mentioned 5x |
Best Vegan Dish (Specific menu item) | |
Modern Love: Mac & Shews | Mentioned 4x |
Favorite Dish | |
Grey Plume: Duck Fat French Fries | Mentioned 2x |
Drover: Whiskey Ribeye | Mentioned 2x |
Avoli: Truffle Tajarin all'Uovo | Mentioned 2x |
Runza: Swiss Cheese Mushroom Runza | Mentioned 2x |
For the Favorite Restaurants, we asked each voter to list their 5 favorite restaurants. I tallied up the number of total times a restaurant appeared, and I also tallied up a weighted amount. I combined both for a final total.
Omaha's Favorite Restaurants *
Favorite-ter-est towards the top
That right there is a mighty Best-ter-est list.
Thank You Omaha.