Lincoln’s best restaurants in 2018

December 26, 2018

This is the third edition of Lincoln’s best restaurants. I’m starting to realize that unless there are a lot of closings, this article isn’t going to change much … and I don’t want my favorite places to go away, so I suppose that’s a good thing. Also, congrats to all of the best places for not dying last year.

1. The Oven Cellar

The Oven is good. Very good. But by itself, I’m not going to call it the best restaurant in town. The Indian food is done well, but at the same time it’s traditional Indian, so it’s not like you’ll have a completely different experience upstairs than you will in any other upscale Indian restaurant. Enter the Cellar. The Cellar (below the Oven) brings in the unique and creative factor, and makes the entire experience unique and fun. The focus of the Cellar is on wine and they have just as good or better selection of that as anywhere you will find in town. But what makes it all come together for my favorite experience in town is the sommelier, Charles. He is accessible, fun to talk to, always remembers me and what wine I like even though I can’t go in very often (because I don’t want to take kids down there). He also really knows his stuff. If you’re not a fan of wine, I might not put the Oven Cellar first on the list of where you should go in Lincoln, but even for you non-wine drinkers, everything combined provides a very fun experience.

Favorite dish this year: The food doesn’t change, so the Chicken Tikka Madras wins again. But the curated wine list and ability to talk with Charles as you are tasting is what puts them over the top.
http://theoven-lincoln.com/about_cellar

2. Dish

Dish stays in the second spot this year. But the Oven is in first because of the entire experience and the food is secondary. So from a good, creative food standpoint, Dish is first on the list. Every time I’m in I find something new that is fun, interesting and really good. Lunch is almost my favorite time to go because they usually have some sort of chilled soup that is just fantastic. But given the choice, I’m still going for dinner because they rock the dinner entres.

Favorite dish this year: The chicken dish pictured above. I should have wrote it down, darn it. It was quite good, and besides some awesome chilled soup, it is the thing I keep thinking about when I think of Dish this year.
http://www.dishdowntown.com/

3. Venue + Piedmont Bistro

Since the venue owns the Piedmont Bistro and they serve similar types of food, I think I can group them together. At the same time they have different menus and decor, so they’re both worth a visit. In my view, Venue is killing it. Whether it’s their Instagram account that brings me in or their food once I get there, I’ve been super impressed with the variety and creativity. Just stay away from their blackened cream sauce, it’s too salty for my taste.

Favorite dish this year: Line-caught halibut (pictured above).
https://www.yourvenue.net/

4. JTK

JTK is always one of my favorites. They just updated their decor, which didn’t really need it, but I like the refresh. The menu seemed to have bit more of an Asian twist than it had in the past, which I really like. But just like any year I’ve been going, they still have new, creative and good food every time I’m in and an upscale atmosphere that makes for a fun and special night out.

Favorite dish this year: Braised leg of lamb (pictured above).
http://www.jtkrestaurant.com/

5. Copal

Copal was another restaurant to do a little interior renovation in 2018. As far as I could tell, it was mostly to put more tables in, which have been completely full every time I’ve been in for dinner. So the secret is out, Copal is an awesome place to be if you want an “authentic” Mexican experience … and I don’t mean authentic in the way you think I do. To me authentic is something that is completely unique, created by the chef at that restaurant and an experience that you’re not going to find anywhere else, even if it’s a the chef’s spin on a traditional dish. Not the same beans rice with meat and cheese wrapped in a tortilla that you find in thousands of restaurants across america and people will usually call “authentic,” when to me, it’s about as un-authentic as you can get: just reproducing what someone else came up with. My idea of authenticity is really what drives this entire list and even though Copal has a lot of “traditional” dishes, they absolutely do a great job of being both authentic and really good. I’m excited to see what they do in 2019.

Favorite dish this year: Duck tamales (pictured above).
http://www.copallincoln.com/

6. The Parthenon

The Parthenon is cranking out the traditional greek favorites and hitting dessert out of the park, which is great. But what brings me in often is their specials. They come up with some really unique and very tasty dishes every time I’m in. Their wine dinners are fantastic and a ton of fun. George is still there every single time I’m in and he always comes out to say hi. They’re not leaving the best of Lincoln list any time soon. Go there and enjoy this Lincoln gem often.

Favorite dish this year: The char fish special … just one of many good specials this year.

http://www.theparthenon.net/

7. Yia Yia’s

I don’t know what more you could ask for. Cool atmosphere. A great (and very large) curated beer list. Some fantastic, creative pizza. Bug free 🙂 It’s still one of my must visits, and I get to visit often.

Favorite dish this year: a slice of the Polynesian (what else?).
https://www.facebook.com/yiayias/

Honorable Mention (again)

Ivanna Cone: Just like the last two years, they have a blue mark because they’re awesome in every way, but aren’t really as much of a restaurant as they are an ice cream parlor. So I’m not sure I can rank them on a list that’s titled “best restaurants.” Not that I’m above having only ice cream for lunch or dinner. But make it a night out, go to one of the places above for dinner and head to Ivanna Cone for dessert … two blue marks in one night!
http://www.ivannacone.com/

Dropped out

No one. WooHoo!

More Honrable Mention

Lazlo’s (north or south): One of my most frequently visited restaurants and absolutely one of my favorite places to eat (and drink). Why don’t I give them a blue mark? I don’t know. It’s not you, Lazlos, it’s me. As much as I love Lazlos, you deserve one. Sorry, I’ll come around eventually.

Hub Cafe: They’re back! After landing on my 2016 list the Hub Cafe dropped out of the rankings in 2017 because they stopped doing dinner, specials and slashed their menu. But I’m happy to report that even though dinner still isn’t an option, they have been doing some really creative and really good specials and are completely worth going there often to check them out.

Prairie Plate: Still doing great stuff and I don’t think most of Lincoln even knows they exist. You just can’t get the experiences here anywhere else. This year I had a tomato flight with a variety of very different tomatoes grown in the Prairie Plate garden that are hard to find because they aren’t grown much anymore. It was quite fun hearing about each one and really good too. It’s hard to say you’re into farm-to-table restaurants in Nebraska until you’ve been to a table on their farm. 

MoMo: Kudos to MoMo for keeping up the good work. I’m including them here because every time I’m in they have something new that I’ve never had and makes me go home and tell my wife about it.

AmuManu:  AmuManu has always been a stop of mine for some really good Ramen. But this year they added a seasonal menu that was really good. I hope they keep doing that because I loved what they came up with.

Favorite new places this year

Green Flash: Welcome to Lincoln Green Flash! It’s awesome to have a well known brewery from San Diego open their only other location in Lincoln NE. On top of that, they did it right. Go there, you won’t be disappointed.

Mulberry BBQ: I’m still dreaming about that brisket. The best brisket in town.

Bourbon Street: The do crawfish/seafood boils, so the menu is very specific and fits a small demographic. But it’s neat to be able to have a place in Lincoln to go for a completely different type of experience and they do a good job of it too.

Cactus: More good stuff from Venue. A little more creative take on your traditional Mexican. Not up to Copal’s level yet, but who is? Cactus is still worth the visit.

Stur 22: I’m really happy to see a different type of food (Caribbean and African) available to Lincoln. They are doing things really well so far and are worth a visit.

Imagine that …

Wilderness Ridge is still inconsistent. 

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