Eating Omaha…Vidlak’s Brookside Cafe

 Sunday post church breakfast with John and Debbie on our quest to sample local Omaha fare, we stopped at Vidlaks for breakfast. Just a nice little neighborhood place that is always busy and for good reason.

Brenda and I don’t eat a great deal at one sitting and every time we share an entrée, these nice folks bring it to us split on 2 plates. No up charge, no eye rolling, just a big portion cut ,down for 2 people. I love this place! 

I talked Brenda into the chicken fried steak breakfast with eggs and hash browns. Too much for me alone but perfect portions for each of us. Our favorite breakfast is the Cheesebuger Omlet but we have that a lot so time for a change up. It delicious, lots of coffee refills and great company. 

Eating Omaha…Stoking Goat

 Being our anniversary this weekend and needing to use a gift card to this family of restaurants that includes Taxis and Stokes, we ventured out to eat at Stoking Goat in northwest Omaha. Listed and casual dining and being in a casual mood, we went about 5ish and found all day Sunday Happy Hour. 

The menu includes all sorts of interesting combo sandwiches, moderately priced and discounted drinks. We started with a very well made Kentucky Mule. Balanced and tasty it went well with dinner.

For starters, on the happy hour menu, we tried the onion dip with house made chips and Parmesan Crusted Chicken Thigh. The chips were crisp and delicious and the dip was great with a roasted onion flavor.

The chicken thighs, sliced thin and very crusty and crisp served with a sweet sauce were delicious. 

We split a Horseradish Steak sandwich that came on a Demi baguette with cheese and a side of truffle fries. Delicious medium rare Rib Eye that was melt in your mouth tender with a nice horseradish bite to it. 

The service was attentive and while not a busy place on a Sunday evening, it’s a beautiful place to grab an inexpensive meal. 

Townline BBQ sauce.

 

Townline BBQ Sauce

1/4 pound butter

3/4 cup minced onion

1/2 cup minced garlic

2 lemons, zested

5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

4 1/4 cups ketchup

1 cup tomato juice

3/4 cup light brown sugar

6 tablespoons molasses

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup chili powder

4 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons chipotle puree

Eating Omaha….Capri.

 We had company Sunday and Mat had watched a newscast about a new Italian eatery very close to us. On Tuesday we were able to visit with our good friends, John and Debbie Birge and maybe resurrect the Eating Omaha blog at the same time. No reservations except for 6 or more. Very tiny place and we got there at 6 and snagged a table for four. Several later customers were turned away due to very limited seating. 

This venue is actually in the back of a sports bar called Tanners. The owner has several venues in town and Capri shares a kitchen with the sports bar out front. Cool idea to fly a new concept with minimal risk.

Since this was a new endeavor the interior space was not much to talk about. Clean and utilitarian with a bar and friendly bartender and a single waiter the night we were there, all the tables were full. 

The menu boasts traditional Italian fare, large portions and very well executed. We sampled the Chicken Piccata, Lasagna and Chicken Parmesan. All very tasty and large portions. The Lasagna had a bit of heat to it, the ladies loved the piccata and the Chicken parm was crispy and loaded with cheese. The pasta was a bit over cooked but the sauce was a nice compliment to the dish. Great prices and included a delicious salad. I had Ceasar and the rest had the house salad with various dressings, all good. Nice list of cocktails but I had a beer. The waiter started us to 2 loaves of crispy garlic bread. All in all a great place to grab a bite and not break the bank. The 2 of us was $58 including tip. Can’t complain. Great food, great company.