Taste of Lincoln

During my lunch hour today I tried the new franchise of Sam & Louie’s on 1501 Pine Lake Road. A lot of people have heard of them from Omaha, but this was a new one for me.

My adventure did not start off right with the person taking my order. They had a two slice and a drink special for $5.99. Listed in their toppings was Buffalo Chicken, so I asked for that. She couldn’t find it on the screen so she told me it was a specialty and I couldn’t get it. I was being playful, but I told her it was listed with all the toppings. I moved to plan B and asked for a ham and ricotta. Well the ricotta wasn’t visible on her screen and that caused another mess. As the line behind me grew I just said scrap it and give me two pepperoni. It was then the owner (I assume) stepped in and found my original request under spicy chicken. There is something to be said for taking a pizza order by hand (plug for entry below).

The pizza came out together with my other two friends and it actually wasn’t bad. The crust was the perfect mix of thick and thin. The toppings were also good, but I prefer Cookies wing sauce to the Frank’s used here, but no big deal. My only beef was with the sauce. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but I am not a fan of the sweeter tomato sauce. I like mine a little more original, but apparently that is their claim to fame.

Overall, because it’s two blocks away, I’ll be back. It is in no danger of beating out Lazarri’s for my favorite pizza in Lincoln, but there are some other menu items I want to try.

We hit the Texas Roadhouse in Omaha this weekend. Normally I don’t put in Omaha restaurants, but since we are getting one here in Lincoln I thought it would be ok.

Let me say that I was very impressed with the Omaha location. I have been to others in different cities (yes that’s right, another chain in Lincoln) but this one really took care of me and my family. The service was great and everything came out the way that it should.

My wife and I split the sirloin and rib combo. (Side note: As a Kansas City Certified BBQ judge, we are taught that when ribs fall off the bone, they are generally overcooked.) They highlight their fall of the bone ribs and we were just in the mood for a steak so this was a nice choice. For a sirloin, it was one of the better steaks I’ve had outside of our house in a long time. The rib meat just fell off the bone and had to be eaten with a fork, and it was excellent as well.

Topped off with loaded homemade mashed potatoes (for $1 extra) and I left full and happy. We have been disappointed with the places we have paid for the past few weeks, but this was not one of them. I’ll be happy to get the bank statement and reminisce about this experience.

When does the one in Lincoln open??!!!???