Old Dundee Bar & Grill

4964 Dodge Street
Omaha, NE 68132
402.558.0801
Open daily for dinner, kitchen open late
Old Dundee on Urbanspoon:

A very respectable Fish & Chips

People sure did love that 49'r place. I arrived in Omaha just as they were auctioning off their tupperware, shortly before the big demolition and eerie replacement with a huge, shiny new CVS. Just a block away from the sacred ground of the 49'r grave, the Old Dundee seems to be handling a lot of their old patrons; on any given night you should watch for darts whizzing past your head and drunks stealing your bar stool. I, for one, really like it here. The downstairs bar in particular has excellent service, a decent tap selection (Hopluia, Ranger IPA, and so on), and a few comfy booths to get your grub on. It's impractical to pick apart the menu like it's some sort of five-star joint. The food feels good going down, which in this setting is what matters. For weeks now, Old Dundee has been featuring Soul Food Sundays, where you can pick up a plateful of favorites like featherbones, cornbread, and collard greens. This special dish changes weekly, and at under $7 a plate, it is not to be missed. If you're not into soul food (and to that I say, what's wrong with you?), the regular menu boasts a crispy pork tenderloin, fried pickles, honky-style nachos, and burgers galore. 2-for-1 shots are also available on Sundays to get your "drunger" going. Bring a couple of ones for jukebox tunes and cozy up to the bar. It's what the 49'r would have wanted.

Last week's Soul Food Sunday:
Fried chicken, greens, cornbread

Marylebone Tavern

3710 Leavenworth Street
Omaha, NE 68105
(402) 341-3232
Open daily for lunch and dinner

...But it was Monday, not Tuesday. 

You've seen the giant shamrock painted across Leavenworth. Maybe you've even been drunk here before. I won't argue that this is a great place to get loaded, but there's considerable "best burger" buzz swirling around about the Marleybone too. As a pub food aficionado, a devoted lover of all things served in greasy baskets without silverware but with plenty of napkins, I had to investigate.

The menus were crusted with grimy fingerprints, the mark of patrons past throwing burgers down their gullets and washing them down with pitchers of piss beer. There were also some charming grammatical errors on the menu, but it's not about spellin', it's about cookin', right?

My appetizer Drummies were a chicken product that somewhat resembled hot wings. They were heavily breaded with something mildly spicy, and kind of uncomfortable to eat, as they were very well done and overly crispy, so much that my Rumple Minze aperitif couldn't dull the pain. Even more distressing was paying $7 for them. Fortunately, the Boner Dog provided much more cheerful amusement, mostly due to the novelty of ordering a bacon-wrapped deep fried hot dog with a goofy name. So what if our stomachs "felt weird" for the rest of the day; we ate a Boner Dog! The favorite was indeed the burger, a patty with so much girth it was almost a round ball of beef. It came cooked through, but still juicy, and with melted pepper jack that made its way into every molten crevice. The Marleybone burger can stand up to some of the city's professed tried and true favorites, and is totally worth a try. My friends were fans of the fries, but I found them a little soggy and saltless, which isn't a huge deal.

Some things were a hit, and some were a miss. Take comfort in the cheap drinks and the friendly faces and you'll forget your food wasn't that great. I do believe that's the beauty of pub food.

Drummies with Ranch--
Ow.

Marleybone Burger with Pepper Jack--
A hit

The Boner Dog:
Bacon-wrapped, deep-fried hot dog with lettuce and tomato on poppy seed bun.
I guess it was kind of sexy. 

"Grill Cheese"