Jimi D's

6303 Center Street
Omaha, NE 68106
(402) 391-2011
Open for lunch and dinner, daily happy hour (even weekends!) from 3-6pm
www.jimids.com

Beer-battered Calamari with Roasted Red Pepper and Lemon Aioli Sauce

Chicken Wings, Buffalo Style with Bleu Cheese, Pickled Cauliflower and Celery
(Ask for extra hot.)

Jimi D's. Sounds like a chain, don't it? Sounds like Applebee's spawn. Sounds like it's gonna suck. To put it simply, the interior does kinda suck, but the food is stellar pub fare with an interesting flair. The high walls are decorated with art on canvas that you might find at Target, or maybe IKEA. The soundtrack is forgettable and the sports screens dominate the vibe. In our high-backed booth, though, we were able to focus on the grub. We laid off the Bud Lite and made this an eating happy hour, which our server didn't seem to mind. He refilled our waters often, but didn't hover over us, and didn't exude that gushing casual dining cheese that can be so popular. Happy hour appetizers focus on quantity and not quality: The fried calamari was soggy, but at least the breading wasn't too thick. The wings had lots of inedible stringy bits, but we still powered through the pile of them. The nice surprise came with the "entree," the Italian Grilled Cheese with a side salad. The Fontina was present, but not overloaded, and the tomato marmalade cut the grease with an even sweetness, all sharing taste bud space with the crunch of crisp fresh greens. How often does one find food at a sports bar that isn't simply average, overindulgent, generic, unhealthy, and/or boring? I wouldn't hang out at Jimi D's really, but I will go back for a quick late lunch or early dinner. With a wine selection that's better than you'd expect, and dishes ranging from gnocchi to fish and chips to a black bean burger, I do hope this relatively new eatery can find their true niche sometime soon.

Italian Grilled Cheese:
Fontina, tomato marmalade, fresh greens, with prosciutto (optional), on grilled sourdough.
You can actually taste everything! (Tommy Colina's, take note.)

Side salad with leafy dark greens and cherry tomatoes, with house-made balsamic vinaigrette.
I was wrong to expect iceberg.