6 Foodie-Recommended Restaurants to Visit in Omaha, NE
According to chef, restaurateur and James Beard Award semifinalist David Utterback, the restaurant scene in Omaha, NE, is a hidden gem.
“Secretly, Omaha has one of the best food scenes in the country,” he says. “We punch way higher than other cities of our size.”
That’s true in both the breadth and depth of the culinary scene. Diners can find flavors from around the globe, and folks wanting fine dining can head to one of the region’s multiple James Beard Award nominees for a special night out.
Utterback highlights two factors contributing to the region’s culinary vibrancy. Because of the area’s numerous jobs in cattle stockyards and food processing, he says, Omaha has always been a city for migrant populations. As employers search for ever-cheaper labor, new cultural and ethnic groups come to the area, bringing their own culinary traditions. A second factor is Omaha’s affordable cost of living.
“I have cooks who left the city as young men and went to places like San Francisco to work at great restaurants, and the only way it works for them is living out of their car,” he says. “The cost of living attracts cooks back to Omaha, and we’re seeing growth now because entrepreneurs are coming in from out of state.”
We spoke with Utterback about his favorite restaurants in Omaha, NE. Here are some that have made his list.
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1. Block 16
Ultra-creative Omaha, NE, sandwich shop Block 16 is owned by spouses and chefs Paul and Jessica Urban (who were semifinalists for the James Beard Awards Best Chef: Midwest honor in 2023). The downtown spot is simple and approachable, Utterback says, but because they are trained chefs, every ingredient is a step above.
“Everything is handmade in house,” he says, “and a large portion of their produce comes from their own farm. Their claim to fame is every day, they’ve got an absolutely wild special of the day.”
Think a poutine Philly cheesesteak topped with fries, curds and gravy or a crab rangoon hot dog, which is a wonton-wrapped wiener fried and finished with sweet and spicy chili and rangoon.
2. The Boiler Room
The Boiler Room is a spot that ends up on every list, Utterback says, but the hype is deserved.
David Utterback
“Whenever I’m bringing chefs or somebody from out of town, that’s the restaurant I take them to – The Boiler Room – to say, ‘Omaha is not what you thought,’” he says.
Chef Tim Nicholson was nominated for a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest in 2024, which speaks to the spot’s “professionalism and craftsmanship,” Utterback says.
The staff is also topnotch. When visiting, Utterback puts his culinary destiny in their hands, allowing servers to bring him whatever they recommend. They’ve never steered him wrong, he says.
“If you’re headed out for a nice night on the town, you should go there,” he says.
3. Dante
“The pizza game in the city has really come up,” Utterback says. “We’ve got a lot of new pizza spots, but I don’t think anyone talks about Dante like they should.”
The Omaha, NE, restaurant turns out Neapolitan-style, wood-fired pies and is one of less than 100 pizzerias in the U.S. to receive the stringent Vera Pizza Napoletana certification, which guarantees pizzas are being made with the correct ingredients and methods according to Neapolitan tradition. In addition to excellent pies, Utterback praises Dante’s housemade pasta.
“There are not that many restaurants that are making pasta by hand,” he says. “It’s very labor-intensive to make your own pasta. Their rigatoni Bolognese is just awesome.”
4. Khao Niao
Another great restaurant in Omaha, NE, is Khao Niao. The family-owned spot offers Thai and Lao dishes (including a Lao version of pho, a dish that originated in Vietnam) in a casual setting.
“It’s kind of the Thai restaurant that everyone has experienced, but the chef makes everything in house, including the noodles,” Utterback says.
The compact menu is filled with classic dishes – laap, curry, pad thai and pad kee mao (drunken noodles).
“The dishes are all very rich in flavor,” Utterback says. It’s by far his favorite Thai restaurant in Omaha: “If they’re not open, I won’t eat Thai food.”
5. Kinaara Indian Cuisine
In addition to well-known Omaha, NE, restaurants, Utterback champions lesser-known gems, too.
“There’s some stuff that flies under the radar, like Kinaara Indian Cuisine, a really great Indian spot,” he says.
With a 2022 relocation from a strip mall spot to a swanky former champagne bar, the style of the cuisine – though not its stellar quality – has shifted a bit from what Utterback calls “Indian-American standards” to “more fine-ish dining,” with tasting menus and collabs like a recent partnership with Terrible Gerald’s, a pizza food truck, that yielded creative mashups like butter chicken and tikka pizza.
“It’s bold and takes a lot of guts to step outside the standard,” Utterback says.
6. Blue & Fly Asian Kitchen
Blue & Fly Asian Kitchen stands out with its Sichuan entrees.
“There aren’t a lot of Chinese restaurants that aren’t cooking Chinese-American Mongolian beef,” Utterback says. “While they certainly have those types of items, there is real Sichuan cooking going on in there.”
Opt for the traditional Chinese menu, where you can find two of his favorites: Chongqing-style fried chicken with roasted chiles and beef or lamb stir-fried with onions and peppers and spiked with cumin.
This article was sponsored by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.