Dining Notes

MANLY EATERY IN WORKS AT FORMER MACARONI SPOT

Brick House Tavern + Tap plans to open its first Omaha restaurant this summer in a Westroads Mall outbuilding.

A Brick House spokeswoman confirmed this week that the testosterone-fueled tavern has secured a lease on the former Romano's Macaroni Grill, which has been vacant for more than a year.

Brick House was launched in 2008 by Houston-based Ignite Restaurant Group and has restaurants near Chicago and Houston and in Missouri and Pennsylvania. It plans to add about 16 more this year, said Robin Ahearn, an Ignite senior vice president. She described it as “a temple to beer” with an all-female service staff.

The restaurant offers beers by the bottle, can, draft, micro keg and 100-ounce “beer bong.” Its Web site lists about two dozen imports and a handful of smaller American labels, along with the typical Budweiser, Miller and Coors varieties.

The manly menu includes everything from deviled eggs and meatloaf sliders to prime rib sandwiches, “Man-Cave” mac-and-cheese and “Double-D” cupcakes. Look for it to open for lunch and dinner daily this summer, depending on construction.

* * *

MIDTOWN CROSSING NETS GOURMET BURGER EATERY

Modern gourmet burger restaurant Blanc Burgers + Bottles is coming to Midtown Crossing this summer, the development announced this week.

Owned and operated by Circle Restaurant Group of Prairie Village, Kan., Blanc has locations in Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo., and in Leawood, Kan.

On the menu: hamburgers made and topped with upscale ingredients (Kobe beef, bison, lobster, mahi-mahi, Berkshire ham); hand-cut, sweet-potato and truffle fries; fresh salads; alcohol-spiked milkshakes, and bottled beer and wine.

The Omaha location is scheduled to open on Farnam Street near Turner Boulevard in late August.

* * *

NEW NAME, DIGS FOR CLEAN PLATE

Earlier plans for a Clean Plate restaurant in south Omaha fell through. But owner Elle Lien said she's found a new permanent location — and a new name — for the temporary vegan restaurant she ran last summer in the Empty Room space near Slowdown.

Via e-mail, Lien said the Daily Grub should open on the northwest corner of 20th and Pierce Streets in April.

“The spirit of the menu is the same — seasonal and locally sourced — but Daily Grub is a counter restaurant with a smaller menu selection,” she wrote. “There will always be a soup, a sandwich, a ‘blue bowl' special and a dessert. I'm also going to include some a la carte snack items — boiled peanuts, fried chick peas, a pickling platter.”

And, yes, she promises: There will be weekend brunches.

* * *

FOOD SUMMIT ENDS, KITCHEN WORK BEGINS

Organizers of the “No More Empty Pots Food Summit” last month found lots of support for starting a community commercial kitchen but no group ready to carry the torch.

Nancy Williams said that means she and other meeting organizers likely will form a nonprofit group to steer the effort and secure, license and manage commercial kitchen space — including but not limited to the kitchen in the Lake Point Building at 24th and Lake Streets that helped give rise to the idea.

“We fully intend to have some sort of pilot running this summer,” Williams said. “In the next two, three months, there should be someone using that kitchen.”

For more information or to connect with the group, visit http://nomoreemptypots.wordpress.com/.

* * *

TASTY TIDBITS

Soon you'll be able to get tastes of Nebraska in New York. Nebraska Brewing Co. recently signed a distribution agreement with Union Beer Distributors in New York City, which means beer retailers throughout New York state can order and serve Nebraska Brewing Co.'s beers. The first beer shipments should be en route next week.

Matt's Grill & Catering has opened a catering division at Anthony's Steakhouse. It's called Anthony's Catering, said Jennie Warren. She and husband, Matt Warren, closed their restaurant in January but wanted to keep on catering. The new setup has a nice synergy, Jennie Warren said.

“Now we can refer our clients who want an on-premise event to them (Anthony's), and they can refer their clients who want off-premise catering to us.”

P.F. Chang's China Bistro this week expanded its gluten-free menu. It now includes 28 items, including some beef dishes for the first time and a flourless chocolate dome dessert.

Bella Vita Ristorante has added $5 weekday lunches and some new Sunday hours. The $5 menu includes Italian sliders with house-made chips, lasagna, chicken panini, jumbo cheese ravioli or spaghetti with meatballs and is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The Elkhorn eatery is now also open from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.

Brix, the wine-and-more store at Village Pointe, is hosting a tasting of Jameson Irish Whiskeys on Saturday, with samples of 12-year, 18-year and gold reserve varieties from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and a drawing to win a bottle.


They missed Mardi Gras, but the new Gator O'Malley's has opened in time for St. Patrick's Day.
Steve Kelly, son of owners Russ and Carolyn Kelly, said the Cajun and Irish bar and grill opened last week at 12143 West Center Road. It's open 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily, and from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. on St. Patrick's Day. The number is 916-5201.

Petrow's Restaurant is offering dishes in honor of two saints this coming week: For the Paddies and their beloved St. Patrick, they'll be serving corned beef with cabbage, carrots and potatoes on Saturday and from Monday through Wednesday. And, for the Poles and their beloved St. Joseph, they'll be offering smoked Polish sausage, sauerkraut, potato dumplings, golumbki (a cabbage, beef, rice and tomato casserole), Old World soup (a cream borscht with Polish sausage, ham and hard-boiled egg) and kolaches on March 19.

Those who attend “The Color Purple” at the Orpheum next week can get a glass of red or white with their dinner at Lo Sole Mio Ristorante Italiano. The restaurant is offering a free glass of its house wines to dinner customers who present ticket stubs on the day of the show, which starts Tuesday. The eatery also plans a spring wine dinner March 24 at 6:30 p.m. The meal, which includes five courses paired with Ruffino wines, costs $65 per person (including tax and tip). For reservations, call 345-5656.

Omaha's Slow Food chapter is presenting “The Real Food Connection,” a sort of farm-to-fork networking session from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. March 21 at Douglas-Sarpy County Extension Office, 8015 West Center Road. Local food growers, food purveyors, farmers market organizers, chefs and others have been invited in an effort to connect local food with local foodies. The event is open to the public. General admission is $5. For more information, e-mail slowfoodomaha@gmail.com.

— Nichole Aksamit

Got restaurant news, questions or tips? Call food writer Nichole Aksamit at 444-1069, or e-mail nichole.aksamit@owh.com. Dining Notes runs Fridays.

« Food & Dining

Share