Bob's Grill & Cafe

317 South 17th Street
402.922.2430
Open M-F 7am-2:30pm
bobsgrillandcafe.com 

Omaha Beef ($5.39):
Sliced roast beef, cheddar, grilled onion, and steak sauce, which tasted suspiciously of barbecue.

Urban Omaha

While gnawing on the Omaha Beef sandwich at Bob's Grill & Cafe, comparisons to Arby's will be unavoidable. You might imagine the phrase "glorified Arby's." You can hardly wait to share this meaningful opinion with your dining partner, so much that you nearly choke on a slice of roast beef. Easy there, boy. Take a sip of iced tea from the styrofoam cup. Your dining partner will point out that Arby's is also pretty glorious. You'll agree, and continue munching thoughtfully, making the promise to yourself to stop trying to cover up your decades-long endearing relationship with fast food.

Indeed, the hastily piled slices of roast beef and the globular spots of half-melted cheddar will remind you of the Arby's classic. The onion bun seals the deal. If you're one of the lucky ones who spend your days in one of downtown Omaha's high-profile offices, it's unlikely you'll send your secretary all the way to Arby's anyway. Go instead to Bob's. If a salad is what you crave, they've got that covered. I enjoyed patting myself on the back so much for ordering a salad, that I figured I might as well reward myself by topping it with a couple of Buffalo chicken fingers. Aaaand, they've even got creepy artwork (see below). I tried to be a good fake journalist and call the restaurant to get the artist's name, but I couldn't reach Mr. Bob for comment.

The Bob's crew is fast, which could be a bad thing if standing in line is your only relief from the stiffness of your cubicle chair. And if you don't work in the area, this is still a great place to spend a leisurely lunch hour gawking at weirdos people watching through the ample front windows.

Am I supposed to know this iconic old man in a tutu? 

Buffalo Chicken Salad with Ranch ($5.79):
The lighter choice.
It was freshly made as opposed to pulled out of a fridge,
but I'm still losing sleep at night over the waste of a giant plastic to go container. 

Chicken Tortilla soup neither chicken-y nor tortilla-y.
Oh well. 

The pastry case!