Taste of Lincoln

I’ve been wanting to try Wing Street wings for some time.  We were at the mall Christmas shopping so we stopped at the Pizza Hut on 66th and O Street.

We ordered the traditional wings with medium sauce and blue cheese dressing.  My only comment on the service was I eventually got up and got ranch from the salad bar after two attempts to get my blue cheese.

As for the wings…They were cooked just like I like them.  Out of the deep fryer, not the microwave, and were temperature hot at our table.  The sauce was a bit disappointing.  The flavor was good, but there was some unnatural substance that made the sauce thicker.  At my house, I use butter to accomplish this, but Wing Street had almost a jelly like consistency to them.  To be honest it really tainted my experience and I couldn’t get past it.

Brewsky’s still rules the wing world in my opinion.

We went over to a friends house Saturday night to watch the Heisman and stopped off at the Hog Pit BBQ on 14th and Superior for some take out.

First the good:

1. Probably the best brisket I’ve had in a long time.  It was machine sliced really thin, but we got a healthy portion for around $9.
2. The side dishes.  Normally this doesn’t matter to me at a BBQ place, but this was something to call out.  We had the Mac ‘n Cheese, Baked Beans, Green Bean Casserole, Potato Salad and corn bread.  All were awesome!  The Mac ‘n Cheese was ridiculously good!!
3. The service.  The new owner was working and incredibly nice while I waited for my food.  He knew his stuff and wanted me to let him know what I thought.

My Constructive Criticism:

1. In addition to the brisket, we got a full slab of baby back ribs.  They were cooked well and cut into individual bones.  The only thing with our rack was the rub was still very grainy on the bones.  It tasted great, but we may have gotten some with a little too much rub that kind of clumped on the ribs.

Truthfully that wasn’t enough for all of us to think it was anything but great BBQ!!  Please visit this location and help support a local BBQ joint.  Please don’t disgrace Lincoln BBQ like this article did.  Paul’s is still my favorite, but as a resident of North Lincoln, the Hog Pit will see a lot of me!!

Had the priviledge of joining Buffmeat and Beach Bum at Dante’s Pizzeria in Omaha on Friday night for their grand opening. Located at 168th and Center, Dante’s features wood-fired pizzas and focuses on using local ingredients. Menu is a little off-putting if you aren’t familiar with the components, however, the wait staff was quite knowlegable about the menu and offered to answer any questions before we had to ask. Our waiter also offered up recommendations on what to order when asked. Based on her recs, we went with meatballs, bruchetta and cured meat that I can’t recall the name of. All selections were full of flavor and the bruchetta had a unusual mix of ingredients that in no way resembled a traditional tomato/garlic/basil bruchetta.
As a group we opted to split pizzas amongst us. We ordered a four-cheese pizza, a sausage/onion/mozzarella selection and a mushroom/ham option. When the pizzas were brought to the table, we all noticed that they weren’t covered in cheese, but instead had homemade mozzarella sliced melted on top. I think that freaked the 7 and 3-year-olds, but I quite enjoyed it. The sausage/onion pizza was my selection and I was so very happy with the choice. It had bold flavor and a rich tomato sauce. I assume the sausage was homemade, as was the mozzarella cheese.
Good dining, little loud and really bright lights inside. Worth the trip on some slick roads to eat there.

I finally made it to the Capital City Grill (301 North 8th Street, Lincoln, NE 68508) this week to meet a friend for lunch.  To be honest, I looked at the menu one day and it didn’t look like something I would be interested in.  My opinion was quickly changed.

The server helped talk me into the Santa Fe bowl.  I didn’t have my camera with me, but if you have ever had a burrito bowl at Chipotle, this is the basic premise.  The Santa Fe featured seasoned chicken, corn, black beans, green onions, sour cream and peppers served on top of a three cheese risotto.  The combination rocked and I can’t wait to go back and get it again.  To me, that is the best compliment I can give.

The bowl was around $8 and with a drink and tip it was around a $12 lunch.  More than I like to spend, but I would be willing to give up a few smaller lunches to save up for this one.  Service was good and they kept the intimate booths that graced the failed restaurants before it.

It definitely competes head to head with Bread and Cup more than any place else (which I also love) but I think each features something a little different that should keep people going to both.  I’d like to see this one make it, so give it a try when you can!   Let’s break the curse of this location!!