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

Dunn Deal Cafe

2310 North 16th Street (Just south of Lake Street)
Omaha, NE 68110-2236
(402) 341-3600
Breakfast, lunch and dinner 
Cash only


Half eatery and half convenience store, the building that houses the Dunn Deal Cafe was bustling by noon. The specials board boasted Featherbones and Ham Hocks and Pinto Beans, among other things, but we ordered from the menu. The fried okra and crinkle cut french fries were both a little on the soggy side; maybe ask for them extra crispy. The mashed was definitely mediocre, but the brown gravy made up for it. The fried catfish came on two slices of standard wheat bread with a heaping handful of pickles. Add some mayo and you've got one helluva homecooked sandwich. The chicken fried steak was rich as hell, but what else would you expect from such a dish.


I wouldn't really call it a hidden gem or anything, but if you're looking for a comfy kitchen with soul food staples this is a your place. The breakfast looked awesome (served until 11am), and the folks were friendly. Try it. 

Fried Catfish Sandwich with Fries

Chicken Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes and Fried Okra--Dig the plate

Big Mama's Kitchen

3223 North 45th Street (just north of Maple)
Turning Point Campus, Building A (look for the restaurant signs)
Omaha, NE 68104
(402) 455-MAMA
Open for breakfast and lunch, plus Friday and Saturday dinner, closed Mondays
www.bigmamaskitchen.com

Woo boy. Big Mama's Kitchen not only feels like a school cafeteria, it is actually an old school cafeteria. ("If my school served this food for lunch I might have gone to class more...") Odd location aside, this place is pretty good. I'm not really a soul food connoisseur, but here we have an Omaha institution. We opted for a medley of appetizers: fried okra, macaroni and cheese, beans and cornbread, and featherbones. The okra was crunchy outside, gooey and green on the inside. The beans were excellent, but the cornbread was disappointing and dry. Bummer. Mac and cheese was very creamy and not the baked kind we were hoping for. It might have been Velveeta I was tasting. The featherbones, though, were awesome. I had never had this dish before and it was kinda fun peeling the meat off the little sheets of bone. The sauce--a delicious spicy BBQ--was served on the side, making the meat a lot easier and neater to eat than your average rib-like food. Looking forward to going back for breakfast sometime; the plastic leopard print tablecloths are a joy to eat off of. Try a cranberry sun tea if they've got it.

Featherbones

Beans and Cornbread

Macaroni and Cheese, Fried Okra

Cranberry Sun Tea