Lola’s Cafe
There’s an old statistic that bounces around in Nebraska food circles: Omaha has the most restaurants per capita of any city of comparable size (around 1 million people in the metro area). The factoid is repeated over and over, and its accuracy has ceased to matter. It persists as a point of pride, a rallying call for the state’s largest city, where locals love eating out.
Above all, Omahans go for steak, medium rare, few exceptions. The city’s elderly purveyor, Johnny’s Cafe, is a century-old south Omaha staple, though it gracefully shares the limelight with some of the city’s newer hotspots, like Committee Chophouse, where classics like the Delmonico and the chateaubriand have found new traction. Omaha isn’t all about down-home steak; in 2023, David Utterback became the city’s first James Beard Award finalist for his notable sushi at Yoshitomo, Gather is turning heads with ingredients from its hydroponic farm, and international spots like Kinaara are putting their own luxurious spins on meat with items like wagyu coconut fry. Still, in 2024, the Boiler Room’s Tim Nicholson sealed the city’s second James Beard nomination with a classic lineup of charcuterie, sausages, and pork belly.
Dining remains a central focus in the city, and Omahans rally around locally owned restaurants, where you can find hand-made crab rangoon, fast food-style seitan burgers, farm-to-cone ice cream, and of course, plenty of beef.
Sarah Baker Hansen is an award-winning writer who covers the food scene in Omaha, Nebraska.
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