Sam & Louie's Pizzeria

Restaurant: Sam & Louie's Pizzeria
Address: 7641 Cass St
Website: http://www.samandlouiesnyp.com/
Genres: Italian, Pizza, Pasta
Check Constraints: Short order.
Chain: Yes.| More Omaha Locations: Yes.

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Cheese Bread (5.49)
• Cheese Tortellini Alfredo (10.99) w/Chicken (2.49)
• Soda (1.99)

I'm gonna get right down to the nitty gritty on this one. The cheese bread here is solid middle-of-the-road cheese bread. There is cheese, there is butter, there is bread. It's nothing adventurous, nothing worth raving over, not terrible, but also not really worth the price.

The alfredo was a real surprise, though. It seems to be a recurring theme in our lunches that I find the best alfredo at places that specialize in other things. Usually pizza, strangely enough. I'm going to try hard not to think about that. Anyway, I went with tortellini because there is no such thing as too much cheese, and this didn't disappoint at all. Properly cooked tortellini with an alfredo whose only sin was being just a touch too salty.

Unfortunately, the prices here leave a lot to be desired, even if I was ordering off the dinner menu with the appropriate portions. I could have had food just as good, if not better, at Lansky's, for half the cost, or double the portion.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• 8 pc Cheese Bread ($5.49)
• 2 Slices Specialty Pizza Meal ($7.99)
  
• Buffalo Jack Pizza
• Drink

It should be noted that we had in mind a different pizza joint for the review, but it apparently isn't open for lunch, which is a distressing development. Regardless, we were all primed for pizza, so we headed to Sam & Louie's. I don't much like reviewing chains, for reasons I've stated before - on top of those, it somehow doesn't feel fair to pit something so supremely generic against something with flavor and character. But I'll do it anyhow.

The operating word here is "adequate". The cheese bread? Adequate. The price? Perhaps a bit on the high side, but generally adequate. The pizza in general? Adequate. The pizza I got, however, should be avoided; for something that was supposed to be spicy, it was basically a more tasteless version of a barbecue chicken pizza, sans even the barbecue flavor. According to the descriptions there was Frank's Red Hot involved somewhere in the construction of this pie, but they have to have been adding it by the cubic centimeter - I couldn't taste it at all. The red peppers and onions were diced into oblivion, and I wound up dipping the slices in the marinara from the cheese bread to get some well-needed flavor into it. Honestly, if I'd just had some pepperoni or something on the cheese bread I'd probably have had a better meal. I suppose it's fair to mention that it's likely that the pizza had been sitting out for a bit, and you would probably wind up with better quality if you ordered a whole pie. Not worth the risk in my opinion, though.

If you stick to standard pizza formats you'll probably find something decent to eat here. Sandwiches might work as well - they had a sampler for their stromboli under a heat lamp, and after accounting for that maltreatment it was pretty decent.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Salad ($1.99)
  
• 2 Slices Specialty Pizza Meal ($7.99)
  
• Thai Pie
  
• Drink

This place is a fairly common stop for a certain group of people at the company, so I guess I knew the place most. I usually get the 3 slices of 1 topping, because 6 bucks for a lunch's worth of pizza and a drink is fine. I wanted to try one of their specialties this time, and boy, it was special.

The garlic cheese bread was indeed adequate, but better than some places. The salad was also fine, not wilted or anything. The pizza... exactly as advertised. The sauce base was, of all things, peanut, instead of tomato or BBQ. Then cheese, chicken, red peppers, broccoli... it had a little heat and good flavor. I really think they did a good job putting thai flavor into a pizza format, and that's really enjoyable to me. Also not something that's done often.

The pizza seems to be more or less on par with prices to me, although a little expensive for specials by the slice. I would never really go out of the way for the place, given how close there's other options for me, but it's pretty fast and convenient. The other pizza options in the immediate area that are equivalent or better for lunch tend to be a heck of a lot more busy (and just as expensive.) But the Lansky's or Roman Coin treks (slower, but better) tends to favor them for anything but a solid quick lunch.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Salad ($1.99)
  
• 2 Slices Specialty Pizza Meal ($7.99)
  
• Hawaiian Luau
  
• Drink

Most has already been said. The salad was simple, and the poppy seed dressing pretty good. Sweet and not too strong/heavy. I thought the cheese bread was decent. For the pizza, I picked the Hawaiian style specialty pizza. Ham and pineapple has been one of my favorite pizzas for a long time, but I rarely get a chance to order it these days. This one had a little bit extra with ham, pineapple, bacon, and red peppers. However, the bacon tended to drown out the other items, with those items being a lot less flavorful.

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't really what I was looking for. It was also a bit lightweight for $10. It may have been better value to go with the single-topping special.

Spaghetti Works

Restaurant: Spaghetti Works (Ralston)
Address: 8412 Park Dr.
Website: http://www.spagworks.com/
Genres: Italian
Check Constraints: 15% Gratuity on parties of 8+, only one coupon per table.
Chain: Yes | More Omaha Locations: Yes

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Italian Soda, Strawberry (2.79)
• 4pc Cheese Bread (3.99)
• Soda (1.35)
• Fettuccini Alfredo (7.99) w/Chicken (2.49)
• Garlic Bread
  
• Salad Bar

About forty years ago, Spaghetti Works started here in Omaha. Since then, it's expanded slightly, to Lincoln and Des Moines, but there are still only four stores, total, two of which are in Omaha. This particular spaghetti works is decorated vigorously with old time advertisement signs and such, much like Billy Frogg's, only in much lower quantity. The salad bar is on the back of an ancient truck (probably a mock up) and there is an inexplicable and unidentified bust, which someone has painted badly. It is cross eyed, and if you were trapped with it in a dark room, it might kill you.

Of course, none of that is food, which is what matters, so we'll start at the top. The italian soda (we tried a number of varieties, as the intern decided to get a new flavor every time he got a refill) was pretty uniformly not to my taste. The strawberry, which I actually paid for, wasn't horrible, but it reminded me of my mom's wine coolers, which I used to sneak drinks off when I was a wee lad. Thus, I refute the accusations of my peers that I enjoy girly froo-froo drinks.

The cheese bread needs some help. The garlic bread part of it was quite good, but something in the cheese seemed off a bit. I didn't feel it so much, but Cham will likely harp on it for a sentence or two, and this may well be the only place where I advocate getting the garlic bread instead of the cheese bread. Luckily, garlic bread comes with every meal, along with the salad bar. Toasted ravioli was also ordered, with the beef being of superior quality, while the cheese was, strangely enough, cheese and hot pepper. Unfortunately, the beef was slightly overdone, while the cheese was slightly underdone, and in light of the fact that your pasta and garlic bread are endless, I suggest eschewing appetizers in favor of the higher quality entrees.

The alfredo here was not quite so excellent as Lansky's, but it was still quite good. A tad on the thick side, but definitely lacking in the bitter, and it didn't require any additional parmesan, which is always a step up. I kind of wish I had gotten the monster combo that Mecha got, though. Thirteen bucks, and he got a platter of food that was downright Mexican in its portions. He ended up taking home half of what he got in a box, it was that much, and it was, hands down, the best chicken parm I have ever tasted. I regret only getting one bite, because with more I might have managed to figure out how they made the breading so damn good.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Diet Coke ($1.99)
• Garlic Cheese Bread ($3.99)
• Hot Italian Pie ($10.49)

That bust was terrifying, all the more so because our flighty and scatterbrained server did not know who it was. Frankly I don't think I could work in those conditions - it's like some sort of bearded Big Brother. Incidentally, the decor didn't sit badly with me, with the exception of the rather inexplicable truck. On top of its inexplicability, it was also all the way across the building from the bulk of the seating, so hitting the salad bar almost required a guide, porters, and an elephant for success.

The salad bar itself was decent (it includes beets!) though there was nothing special about the dressings. I would like to say that I have absolutely no idea how I was expected to get at the middle row of salad toppings - that is to say, the ones buried in the center of the cart. I am not a short person, so the process of liberating some cucumbers involved me trying hard not to mush my face into the sneeze guard while overextending my shoulder to get under the damn thing. I'm not OSHA, but that is hardly an ergonomic design. Maybe they can hire a small child on a stepstool for people six feet and above?

As ND has predicted I will spend some words on the cheese bread. First, the cost is fairly high, at a buck a piece; secondly, something about the cheese blend they use here is off. I'm apparently the only one at the table who could taste it that strongly, but there is a strange metallic tang to the cheese, which just utterly destroyed my desire for the bread. I would chalk it up to a one-off experience, but I've eaten here when it was at the old location and it tasted the same then. Very sadly, they used the same blend for the hot Italian pie, though, as I will explain in a second, that's not the drawback it might appear to be.

One might have expected something called "pie" to resemble a more lasagna-like or baked spaghetti concoction, heavy on the cheese and with a density to it, but instead it's little more than a collection of penne, black olives, sausage, pepperoni, and their spicy sauce, topped with a smattering of the cheese blend and put under a heat source long enough for the cheese to barely melt. It wasn't horrible by any means, but I found myself wishing they'd added more sauce to it; it honestly was more or less bone dry, and without any cheese to hold it together I might as well have ordered one of the the bottomless plates and gotten some quantity.

On the other hand, their alfredo tasted nice, and the chicken parmesan was the best I'd tasted in a long while. It may be the case that there are a few other gems on the menu, but you might have to sacrifice a few visits to the god of the Doggy Bag until you find them.

==MapleSyrup==
Ordered:

• Toasted Cheese Ravioli (5.99)
• Alfredo Chicken & Mushroom Bake (10.99)
  
• Soda (1.99)

I still maintain that it was a bust of Karl Marx and that the restaurant owners may be communist sympathizers. I'm not saying it had any direct effect on the quality of the food, but be aware of the proprietors' political persuasions when patronizing this pasta-ry.

I went to check their online menu because I'd forgotten the exact names of what I'd ordered (I was fairly certain that I didn't ask for Chix Mush Bake by name) and their prices are actually slightly cheaper at this location than what they list there. The salad bar was standard fare: some lettuce with random accoutrement and standard dressings. The toasted cheese ravioli was filled with a creamier cheese and jalapenos, so they were more like jalapeno poppers. They were nothing special and I agree with ND that you should just skip the appetizers and go straight to the entree.

The alfredo chicken & mushroom bake was a mix of button mushrooms, chicken, mostaccioli, and alfredo. The mushrooms were cooked nicely, firm with an almost sauteed flavor. The chicken was inconsequential with chunks so small and scarce that I rarely noticed them. The alfredo was good, but a bit too thick and heavy for my tastes. I would have preferred it lighter. Overall though, it worked and I enjoyed it. However, after spying what Mecha got for $13, I'm not sure I'd get it again.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Italian Soda, Kiwi Cream (2.79)
• 3 Dish Combination (13.99)
• Lasagna
• Chicken Parmesean
• Manicotti (red sauce)
• Garlic Bread
• Salad Bar

So apparently I won Spaghetti Works. This particular Spaghetti Works moved kinda just across the street from its older position and modernized a bit. I liked the old place a bit more, what can I say, I'm a sucker for old timey atmosphere and wood.

The kiwi cream soda was definitely kiwi and cream both, pleasant, but not amazing. Although it seems that refills were freeish, and I might have sampled around a bit more if I'd have known, since usually drinks like that are full price refills. I'll have to do that next time. Appetizers wise, the meat ravioli was the winner of the two raviolis, the cheese bread was okay but not amazing, oddly.

As for the main dish, it was their 3 dish combination. Now, on the dinner menu at that link put it at 14.49, but I'd swear mine was, on menu, at least 13.99 if not lower, as Maple mentioned, the prices are different. Like everything here, pretty much, salad bar (decent selection, reasonably fresh, don't know what those other guys are whining about with respect to the sneeze guard) and garlic brad (yay) came with it, but the thing that made everyone agog was the proportions. The chicken parm was a full sized single breast, not mushy in the slightest with good breading, and is probably some of the best chicken parm I've ever had anywhere. The lasagna had a lot of layers, was fairly dense, and still very delicious. No dried parts, cut pretty easily, held together well when cut. Both of these are things I'll get again next time I go for sure. I felt like trying the manicotti, and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't really my thing. As usual with cheese-stuffed tubes, it was a bit annoying to get both tube and cheese in the same forkful. I took half of the chicken parm and the lasagna home as leftovers, reheated a day later, they still stood up pretty well on the flavor front. Good job, Spagetti Works.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Meatball Sandwich (7.99)

I'm pretty sure I heard that the truck was a real truck. If you had heard beforehand that the salad bar was in the truck, you'd see it as you enter the restaurant, so it's not really that hidden. I thought there was more seating on the other side of the truck, but if not, it is kind of out of the way. I do agree that the bust is creepy.

In any case, as has already been said, the appetizers were just OK. I had to ask Mecha if he'd gotten some kind of pureed cucumber drink, because that's really what it looked like. I didn't hear what he actually ordered.

I ordered a meatball sandwich, which came on flatbread covered in sauce and cheese. I'm not sure I could have eaten it like a real sandwich, so the knife and fork were used. The meatballs were pretty tasty, and were actually quite soft. I got fries with it, but it seems you can get pasta instead. The salad bar is actually extra for sandwiches. I was reasonably pleased with the portions, but looking back at the $8 in my notes, it might have been a tad pricey, especially with a $2 optional salad bar. While not bad, I'd probably try something else next time. There are plenty of options, and previously I'd only tried the create-a-pasta bowls (which are great).

Chicago Dawg House

Restaurant: Chicago Dawg House
Address: 3113 N. 108th St
Website: http://www.chicagodawghouse.com/
Genres: American, Hot Dog
Check Constraints: None
Chain: No | More Omaha Locations: No

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Traditional Chicago Dog (2.99)
  
• Cubby Kid (Corn Dog) (2.49)
• Side of Cheese (.49)
  
• Soda (.99)

Chicago Dawg House is tiny. It's mocked up to look kind of like a Wrigley Field concessions stand, I guess, and they went so far as to have actual fence put up on the bloody wall, so I suppose you can't fault the atmosphere. There is, however, a distinct lack of seating. All the seating consists of a single row of stools under a large counter along one wall. I was less than pleased with the seating, and while the food didn't quite make up for it, it was good enough that if they fixed the seating issue, I'd go back.

The deep fryers seemed to be running a bit on the hot side when we went, because everything was a bit on the crispy side. Not burnt, mind, which would definitely have ruined everything, but definitely crispy. For the corn dog, it was a bit crispier than I like, but because of the heat, it still managed to not ruin the inside, even if it was too hot to eat for a while. Pretty good corn dog, too. Not immense, but good enough, especially when dipped in the cheese sauce.

Everybody wants to know about the chicago dogs, though, I guarantee it. A chicago dog is a monstrosity, really. It's a collection of toppings that I still do not understand someone coming up with, and that I certainly wouldn't have tried had my friends not recommended it most heartily a few years back. Being who I am, unfortunately, I cannot eat a standard chicago dog, so I have them remove the onions and tomato slices, replacing them with cheese, delicious cheese. This has not steered me wrong. I have exactly one beef with these hot dogs, and that's that unlike Portillo's in Chicago, they use very large sport peppers, which changes how the flavor hits. Instead of tasting the other toppings, then getting a burst of heat as you bite into the pepper, you get the heat up front, dulling the taste of the other toppings. If they were to change that one little thing, I would call them pretty close to Portillo's equal, which is, to be sure, a high compliment.

Also, I sampled some of Mecha's chili and Cham's catfish, and let me say, that's some damn good catfish, and the chili is properly beanless, so thumbs up on those.


==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Traditional Chicago Dog ($2.99)
• Catfish Po' Boy ($4.25)
• Fries and Drink Combo ($1.99)
• Cubby Kid ($2.49)

Personal disclaimer: I am from the Chicagoland area. That means, if I wanted to, I could replace this block of text with a one sentence review that should tell you everything you need to know: "The hot dogs at Chicago Dawg House are adequate." Though that sounds like damning with faint praise, it's not - people from my neck of the woods take their hot dogs very, very seriously. Luckily for you, Chicago Dawg House does as well. Their traditional sports the... well, traditional... array of toppings, laid out by the great gods Ditka and Caray in the beforetimes, with the all-hallowed commandment; "THOU SHALT NOT SUFFER KETCHUP UPON THY CHICAGO DOG."

Perhaps it's not that worthy of melodrama, but finding someone willing to give me a taste of home is reasonably hard. Most "chicago dogs" are lacking in key elements like the sport peppers or the all-important kosher pickle spear, but they're all here, including the celery salt and optional poppyseed bun. In fact, my only complaint was that the actual dog (which was the required all-beef version) was only the standard dog size. That said, their online menu claims you can pick a larger version for 50c more, but it's "skinless", which I assume means it's missing a thick casing. So there's a trade-off there; the size vs. the snap of the casing. Either way, this is definitively the best Chicago dog I have had outside the actual city.

Their po' boy was very good as well, especially with the hot sauce (make sure you ask for it). It wasn't anything extremely special, but the catfish breading was delicious and it was served piping hot - as ND mentioned they must have had their deep fryers ratcheted to 11 that day. Some coleslaw on the side (or on top) would not have gone amiss, but they don't have any on their menu. The corn dog was good - and large, and also amazingly hot - but expensive. Hard to tell if they're hand-dipped on site, but it seems reasonable to assume they're not.

In conclusion, then, I have finally found a place I can get a good Chicago dog that is not approximately 500 miles away. If the seating's cramped, well, then there's always takeout.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Traditional Chicago Dawg ($2.99)
• South Side Chili Dawg ($3.25)
  
• Onion Woo Woos (rings) ($1.79)
• Drink ($0.99)

The seating is pretty cramped and all along one wall, and extends way into the back. It's in the narrowest of strip mall spaces I've ever been in, and that makes it rough.

Having gone to Portillo's in mid May, I have to say that this place definitely satisfies on the dog front. Cham gave you the technical description, thankfully, so all I have to add is that they put it together right in my opinion, given my experience. I'm not from Chicago, unlike Cham, so I don't have a long history with the flavor, but it's one I enjoy. Big plus.

The chili 'dawg' I chose, without thinking, was onions and chili, not chili and cheese. A thought to remember for next time. Their chili was high on the cumin flavor, not so high on the heat, which was enjoyable, and all around a great thing to slap on the traditional tube of meat.

Their rings are extremely light on salt and breading, leaving it mainly with light onion flavor, which you may or may not go for. Their cheese was okay. The lack of shakes, in my opinion, is a serious detriment, because I really do enjoy a pair of dogs, fries, cheese, and a shake as Portillos lets me have it, but unless you are really into that combo yourself, you don't have to worry. The service (place is short order) was fast and I have no real complaints. If you want a taste of the real experience, this will serve you well. Kudos.

Lansky's

Restaurant: Lansky's
Address: 50th & L
Website: http://www.lanskys.biz
Genres: Pizza, Pasta, Phillies
Check Constraints: Short order.
Chain: Yes | More Omaha Locations: Yes

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Chicken Alfredo (7.69)
• Cheese Bread (3 pieces, 2.69)
• #1 Giant Chicken Philly (4.95)
• Soda (1.79)

Lansky's is not hard to find. It has what was, once upon a time, a prime location, and is now still a pretty good one. It also has parking lots on both sides of the restaurant, and an entrance for each lot. In fact, the place is pretty stretched out inside, with the kitchen and half the seating at one end, and the rest of the seating stretched down along the way. Of course, people tend to congregate at the end with the kitchen and the soda machine, but what else did you expect?

More importantly, Lansky's is a local chain, with a restaurant each in Omaha (this one), Bellevue, and Council Bluffs. The Lansky's menu is kind of a mix of Italian, pizza, phillies, and sports bar, as you'll see with the selection of appetizers we ordered. For the record, the cheese bread is excellent, and comes with an oversized cup of handmade marinara for dipping, as do like, half their appetizers.

Lansky's has three ways to order their phillies. You can get them plain, just meat and cheese, which is how I like mine, or you can start heaping onions, peppers, shrooms, and other such nastiness on them. For my money, a giant hoagie with two or three pieces of quality cheese over which is heaped a huge helping of well seasoned chicken and nothing else, just cannot be beat. I couldn't even -start- on it this time, so I took it back to work, threw it in the fridge, and had it the next day, and it was every bit as good as fresh.

The chicken alfredo, though, oh man. I ate it there, of course. Every last bit of it, nearly down to licking the plate clean. I have been to actual professed Italian restaurants in Omaha, and not one of them has given me an alfredo quite so delicious. They only have grated parmesan, but you won't need it at all, the sauce is nearly a perfect blend of garlic, cream, and parmesan, very much unlike the overly creamy and occasionally slightly bitter stuff I've had elsewhere. It comes with two big chunks of garlic bread, which also goes well with the alfredo, and it's made with a huge helping of the same chicken as they use for the phillies, which really just puts the whole thing over the moon.

I got two excellent meals for eighteen bucks, and I gave most of the bread to other people. Go to Lansky's. Eat. Enjoy.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Regular Chicken Philly Meal ($6.99)
  
• #3 Style, (Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms)
• Regular Drink, Fries
• Regular Fried Ravioli ($3.95)
• 3pc Garlic Toast ($1.85)
• Beer Cheese Dip ($1.25)

"Nastiness", says ND. Delicious, says I. The only right way to enjoy the phillies is with the full complement of sauteed toppings, including green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. If you're desperately in need of more flavor I would support getting a tub of the marinara for them, but ketchup is for french fries. And heathens. The food here is what I would call "generally solid". Could you find a better cheesesteak in Omaha? Probably. Will you pay more? Possibly. The advantage here is the known quantity factor.

Their fries are seasoned, but nothing overwhelmingly special. The ravioli can probably be avoided - it's not burnt to a crisp like some places, but it's essentially nothing but a taste-free carrier vehicle for the pretty good marinara - or the beer cheese dipping sauce. This stuff is worth it, but eat it fast, because as it cools down it rapidly moves from "delicious" to "government cheese" status. Their garlic toast is also decent, but there's no reason not to get the with-cheese version like ND did.

Last point - the menu is expansive. It's not Wheatfields-big, but it's sizable. I know businesses that order work lunches out of here, which not a bad option, because it's good, cheap, and there's really something for everyone on their menu.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Build it your way Calzone ($4.75 + $2.00 for 4 toppings)
• Canadian Bacon
• Pineapple
• Green Peppers
• Roma Tomatoes
  
• Regular Drink, Onion Rings ($4.44 as a combo)
• Regular Spicy Pub Pickles ($4.45)
  

Knowing Lansky's has parking in the back is important for first-time visitors, because the front parking lot is kinda tight. I went with the pocket pizza option, as Lansky's will not only do pizzas by ingredients, but the calzones as well (with the same price as a personal size pizza.) This is good because their actual standard calzone selection, while containing a few delicious options, is very limited, and I didn't want to double up with anyone's choices there.

I think that next time, I'll sub out the tomatoes, which were admittedly good, for more cheese, as the calzone didn't seem to have quite enough cheese binding it on its own. The ingredients were solid (what do you want from pineapple?) and the crust itself tasty. This calzone, as prepared, was not hugely messy or difficult to cut, but I'm sure that can vary based on what exactly you get. They come with dipping marinara/pizza sauce, as there's not a lot (or maybe any inside), and I think that's the largest reason why this calzone, at least, wasn't a mess factory.

On the appetizer front, I actually liked the ravioli and could taste flavor in it, but it wasn't amazing or anything. The spicy pub pickles were as advertised, not too spicy though. Onion rings were fine too. The Beer Cheese sauce was pretty good as well. Cham's estimation of 'solid' for this place is not wrong, although I have to admit that this place has an excellent Aloha pizza (I like their topping choices) as well. And, having done it, the calzones reheat well enough, too.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Italian Sausage Calzone ($5.95)
• Regular Drink, Fries ($3.08 as a combo)

If I had seen the build-your-own calzone, I probably would have gotten exactly the same one Mecha did. I spotted the Hawaiian pizza option in the menu and thought that looked good, but wanted something more like the calzones. Italian Sausage was a fine choice, however. The calzones are pretty good sized. Due to work, I ended up taking home a corner of the calzone and a handful of fries. I could have finished there, but I felt like I needed to get back to work sooner and didn't really want it sitting in my stomach all afternoon anyway.

The calzone was pretty crumbly. It definitely could have used more cheese to hold it together. This style calzone had an awful lot of green/red peppers--maybe a little too much for my tastes. The marinara was a little hard to use with the calzone guts spread all over the plate. Still, it was tasty enough that I was pleased with it. The fries were actually pretty good. They weren't too dry or greasy. They were also lightly seasoned. The calzones reheat well enough, but the fries are another story. They were edible, just not nearly as good as the first time around.

==MapleSyrup==
Ordered:

• Vegetable Calzone ($5.25)
• Regular Drink, Onion Rings ($4.44 as a combo)

I was originally going to try the Reuben, but then I made the mistake of asking Moogle what he was getting and my fate was sealed. Unlike ND, I loves me some peppers and onions, so I went with the Vegetable Calzone. It was the size of a medium pizza folded over. The crust was a nice tasty crispy and chockful of mushrooms, green and red bell peppers, onions, and black olives. The peppers were cooked so they weren't soft and were on the verge of crunch. The onions didn't overpower any of the rest of the filling. Unfortunately, as Mecha lamented, the filling didn't bind together well. It could have used a good amount more cheese. I ended up cutting off a piece of calzone, scooping some crust and filling into my mouth, then shoving a half forkful of marinara in there to taste. It was a very good calzone, though next time I'll probably roll my own because a Hawaiian Calzone sounds really good.

It was a good price and a good calzone. I'll be going back.

Billy Frogg's Bar & Grill

Restaurant: Billy Frogg's Bar & Grill, West
Address: 8724 W Dodge Rd
Website: http://www.menuism.com/links/show/bfd6xEjW0r3BqKaby-t3N_ (Unofficial menu listing)
Genres: American, Bar & Grill
Check Constraints: None.
Chain: Local. | More Omaha Locations: Yes.

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Chicken Parmesan Sandwich w/Fries ($6.95)

The inside of Billy Frogg's feels like a young rich dude trying to impress you with how much old stuff he's collected. The place is -saturated- with old time signs of all sorts, from Standard Oil to old tavern signs to a giant baking powder sign or something. I forget exactly what, but there's so much of the stuff, and it feels so inauthentic, that it's really kinda sad. What it -really- is is a sports bar, and it shows in the kind of food they have available.

The appetizers will be listed later, but for my part, the cheese balls were preprocessed mass produced stuff, and the potato skins, though not bad, were also preprocessed mass produced stuff and could have been so much better, if only they'd had real bacon instead.

As for the sandwich, it was surprisingly good. A nice sized chicken breast, on a nice thick bun, with two types of cheese and lots of (I think) handmade marinara. It was definitely not the super-processed marinara dipping stuff you get at most sports bars, and unfortunately, it was a bit on the wet side, so if you get this, be careful when you pick it up, as it's going to leave a mess on the plate and possibly your shirt. On the other hand, it was pretty damn good, with all flavors working together in harmony.

My only other note is that damn, that hot dog was HUGE. You'll understand when you get to Moogle's post. I am really kinda sad that I didn't order that instead.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Chili-Cheese Hot Diggity Dog ($6.00)
• Cheese balls ($6.00)

They charged me $6 for each item, but I'm not sure that's what was printed on the menu. It was close, though, and may have been something like $6.25 and $5.75. Either way, I got a good deal on the dog. The fried cheese balls were nothing special. You got reasonable number of them, but a runny ranch dipping sauce. The potato skins were pretty plain.

I was a little worried ordering the hot dog that I'd be hungry afterward. When this beast came to the table, I quickly decided it was a great choice. This thing was a footlong (as they said in the menu), but it was no wimpy, skinny dog. It was an inch diameter. The whole top was burried in cheese. The bun was splayed out to about 5 inches wide and almost all you could see was cheese. There really wasn't a lot of chili compared to the cheese, but to me, it didn't really matter. It was enough. I think more chili might have just made it a hot-dog soup. It was a fight to finish the last bits of it. I left at least half of my fries. This monster also comes without chili-cheese for a little less cost, but I think it's worth the extra charge. Impressive and delicious.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Patty Melt ($6.95)
• Side of Onion Rings ($2.95)

I think ND's being a little uncharitable in his characterization of the decor. It's true that the place comes in about halfway between a "Crap On The Wall" restaurant (e.g. TGI Friday's, Applebee's, &c) and a sports bar. It's also true that the signage felt like someone was trying too hard. But it's not an uncomfortable place to be in - in fact it reminded me of a bar & grill I used to visit in Terre Haute, Indiana (side note: Go there, the patty melts are delicious).

In fact, it was partially due to the memory of that bar & grill that I decided to go for a patty melt today. And while I was abandoning the pretense of eating healthy, I decided that some additional onion rings wouldn't be out of place. I should start with the onion rings, which were clearly dipped and fried on-site, but which were nothing special. That sentiment was echoed in the other appetizers - avoid them unless you're just looking for something to nosh while you drink.

The patty melt was surprising. The construction was the same as any good melt - a generous patty, some good marbled rye bread, and some cheese which may have been Swiss but was probably Monterey Jack (if it was Swiss it might as well have been MoJack, since it had no bite). This one eschewed any additional dressing, which was fortunate, as it would have overshadowed the melt's one unique contribution, which was a strong black pepper taste. I have to admit that recently I have been ... rediscovering black pepper, for lack of a better word - it's such a ubiquitous condiment that sometimes one can forget it's really quite a nice flavor when given some real prominence. So, returning to the melt, I will comment that the pepper flavor was a nice twist on a good execution of the patty melt, and it's recommended. I should mention there is a Fuddrucker's-esque condiment bar with pickles, lettuce, etc over by one of the walls, but the patty melt didn't need anything of the sort.

The prices here may be a little overinflated, but to be honest they're cheaper than something off TGI Friday's menu, and the food is decent enough if you're in the mood for the bar and grill genre. I'd be interested to try one of the other locations - there's one downtown, and a newish one on 72nd in La Vista (near the husk of the old Walmart, in the place that used to be Boston's).

The Drover

Restaurant: The Drover
Address: 2121 South 73rd Street
Website: http://www.droverrestaurant.com/
Genres: Steak
Check Constraints: None seen
Chain: No. | More Omaha Locations: No.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Pork Chop ($13.95)
  
• Salad Bar
• Cottage Cheese
  

It is clear - both from the website and the context of the paper menus we received - that the Drover's lunch menu is a pale and pitiful reflection of its dinner one. The flimsy paper forerunner for lunch concerned itself mainly with sandwiches and moderate fare, but as is evident from their site, the robust dinner menu prides itself on having $30 steak. Let me tell you this, though; if the dinner's as good as the lunch? It's probably worth it.

In all seriousness, the lunch menu is probably an excellent way to get a good meal out of the Drover without paying high prices. The steak on the lunch menu, as Mecha will attest, is only $12, and there are several other grilled favorites there in that price range.

Since I am currently - still? again? whatever - watching my food intake, I opted for the pork chop with the salad bar and the relatively healthy option of cottage cheese. Well, initially I opted for the prime rib, but they were out of it. A mild interrogation of our server revealed that they receive the meat daily in time for dinner, and then cut it as necessary. If there's any remaining, it's sold at lunch the next day. The tone in her voice indicated this is a rare occurrence, with the notable exception of Wednesdays, when Whiskey Prime Rib is the special. If that Thursday was like any other, the special then was meatloaf with mashed potatoes.

But I ordered the pork chop, and that is what I will review. First I should mention the salad bar, though. If forced to pick a single term to define it, I'd go with "traditional". It had iceberg lettuce, green peppers, cucumbers, and olives, among a few other toppings, most notably beets. I'm not sure at what point my brain classified these as "traditional" salad bar fare, but it seems to me that when I was a child all salad bars seemed to have these dark red taste-bud landmines. Of course, now that I like them, it's actually difficult to find them anymore. Regardless, the salad bar's only real failing was the iceberg lettuce. The fresh cracked peppercorns (located on the top of the bar itself) were an extra plus that should not be ignored.

The pork chop, which at the server's suggestion was cooked to medium, was delicious. There was good flavor to it, and just enough fat remaining around the edges to give an added boost of flavor at times. It was bone-in, though the bone wasn't obtrusive, and the meat had a good amount of moisture still in it. If I were a man who truly feared trichinosis I'd have ordered it sent back and scorched, but I never saw the need to cook all the moisture out of an already lean meat. Regardless of personal preference, if you like your pork cooked to death, the plate comes with cinnamon applesauce for added moisture. Nothing too special about it, but certainly not bad. It also comes with two slices of grilled toast, and - as garnish, apparently - a slice of what we surmised was spiced apple. A strange rarity, and though you're probably not supposed to eat it, we all did.

In short, it's definitely worth a visit here at lunch, and if you've got the scratch for it, probably dinner as well. That said, I know that one's choice of steakhouse is a matter of often no less than religious import in this city; keep in mind that I didn't have the steak here. I'll leave it to the others to tackle that.

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Beefy Cheese Sandwich ($9.25)
• Cottage Cheese
• Cup of Beer Cheese Soup (Soup of the day) ($3.25)

Those apple rings were standard Christmas apple rings. If they're not made to be eaten, nothing is. Delicious. What's also delicious is their beer cheese soup, by the way. It was very thick, nearly to the point of forming soft-peaks, and it was fabulous. Thick and cheesy, with strong smoky flavor and bits of very good ham, with just a tiny bit of celery, and a good beer flavor throughout. I don't think I could take a full bowl of it, but as a cup of soup, this is as good as it gets.

I grabbed cottage cheese with my beefy cheesy sandwich. I continue to be amazed that Mecha didn't realize that serving cottage cheese with a pineapple ring was traditional. I don't know how he could not know this. It was a little less than properly cold, but it wasn't warm like I got at McKenna's. If you do not love cottage cheese as much as I do, go with the fries, because the plate comes with a big dipping cup of quite good barbeque sauce, and you are NOT going to want to put it on the sandwich.

The sandwich is on toast, just crisp enough to more or less withstand the onslaught of melted cheese and prime rib juice. The meat is a reasonable portion of prime rib, cooked medium rare or so, and sliced thin, with swiss cheese on one side and cheddar on the other. All the flavors blend together superbly, with the cheese managing to always be there without even coming close to overshadowing the flavor of the prime rib. If you want a sandwich, get this sandwich. It is king of cheese and beef sandwich. If I ever taste a better sandwich, I may die of the explosion of awesome in my mouth. And if you put barbecue on it, then may whatever god you believe in have mercy, because I will not.

Lunch, dinner, if you want steak, this is a good place to go. Well worth the money.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Luncheon Steak ($11.50)
• Fries
• Beer Cheese Soup

Pineapples are from the tropics! Cottage Cheese isn't! I don't know how that doesn't seem weird to anyone else. Ahem.

The Beer Cheese Soup was a 'Soup of the Day' as well, so it's unclear what kind of soups they have other days (although Chili seems always on the menu.) The soup, however, had a strong beer flavor note (which not all beer cheese soups have!) as well as the smoky cheese and ham flavors ND mentioned above. It kind of reminds me, texture-wise, of a thick cheese salsa, complete with blobbing on the top instead of just flowing back together. It's very good, though. Hopefully their other daily soups are as good.

The steak was a fairly small portion (7 oz) but as steaks go, this is about as well made as it gets. A thin layer of browned/blackened on the outside, and then a large area of medium-rare inside (I ordered it medium-rare). It had excellent flavor for a steak, and I ate it in thin slices, slowly to get the most out of it. The fries are normal long squareish fries, neither too thick or too thin, and tasted like the fries at a chain of steak houses back in my home town, so I'm figuring it's standard steak house fare on that front (as opposed to big honkin' steak fries) and they went well with ND's BBQ sauce. I also got the candied apple (and it was good) and some buttered (and maybe garliced lightly? We theorized it might have tasted garliced from what was cooked in that oven earlier, it was so light on the garlic flavor to ND and Cham's taste.)

On the overall, it was a good place to go eat a lunch and get some real flavor. The speed was a little slow (not annoyingly so, just noticeable) but that probably happens sometimes. I really am curious what the dinner looks like, though. Another time, perhaps.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Beefy Cheese ($9.25)
• Coleslaw
  
• Texas Chili ($4.00)
  

The chili was good. You have the choice to add onions and cheese. I picked both, but could have done without the onions. They ended up a bit overpowering. It was nearly a beanless chili, and not too thick or runny. It's not a bad choice, but you could probably do better for the money with the cheese soup, from what I hear.

The Beefy Cheese sandwich was amazing, and disappeared way too quickly. It came on two regular pieces of buttered toast, didn't seem terribly large. It had plenty of flavor, however. It came with a side of BBQ sauce as ND mentioned. It wasn't bad sauce, but it was way too strong for the sandwich. I tried maybe a third the sandwich with it (I'm a fan of BBQ), but it really overpowered everything else. The sandwich has a really good flavor all by itself. The coleslaw was pretty bland and not terribly creamy. I would pick fries as the side next time.

Blue Planet Natural Grill

Restaurant: Blue Planet Natural Grill
Address: 6307 Center St. Suite 101
Website: Blue Planet Natural Grill
Genres: Cafe, Organic
Check Constraints: Short Order
Chain: Sorta| More Omaha Locations: No

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Macaroni & Cheese Bowl (5.49)
• Chicken (1.00)
• Beef (1.00)
• Bacon (1.00)
• Sun Baked Fries (1.49)
• Apple Muffin (1.99)
• Orange Muffin (1.99)
• Drink (1.49)

If you like eating outdoors, Blue Planet has a nice looking outdoor patio area for you to eat in. I do not like eating outdoors, especially in the heat, so screw that crap. The inside is nice and roomy, though, which I can get behind.

In any case, this is really about the food. The apple muffins are really more wheat or bran than apple, the apple flavor is very understated. Instead, opt for the orange muffin, which is better than any place short of Wheatfields.

The sun-baked fries are cooked via hot air instead of oil, and it shows. They're reasonably crisp, plenty good, but you're going to want to make use of their three different catsup blends. I am especially fond of the garlic catsup, and would not recommend the pineapple-mango. The sweet potato fries (with just a bit of cinnamon) are also excellent, and give an odd but not unpleasant flavor when combined with the catsups.

The macaroni and cheese is not really macaroni and cheese. It's penne rigate in a light cream sauce with a bare hint of cheese. If you come here expecting to get CHEESE, you are going to be disappointed. On the other hand, if you order the right meats with it, you can get a good flavor going. I suggest avoiding the ground beef, as it tends to overwhelm other flavors, but if you went with, say, chicken and ham, you could get a good not-quite-chicken cordon bleu going. On the up side, though, they are VERY generous with the grilled chicken, it's in large, tasty chunks and there's plenty of it. Well worth the buck it costs to get it.

I'd definitely eat here again, though it wouldn't really be my main choice, but being at around 60th and center makes it nice and accessible for a lot of people, at a pretty good price for what you get.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Santa Fe Salad ($7.99)
• Drink ($1.49)
• Edamame ($1.49)
  

As near as we can tell, this is the only Blue Planet Natural Grill in existence. Their website mentions franchise opportunities but doesn't list any additional locations, so I feel fairly safe in saying this is not only a new restaurant for Omaha, but a new restaurant in general. I also feel safe in saying it's a good thing it's here.

The thematic gist of the place is natural/organic and/or healthy food which does not beg unpleasant comparisons to giant bricks of shredded wheat or overcooked brussels sprouts. That puts it, culinarily, in the same vein as McFoster's Natural Kind Cafe, which is pretty much an Omaha staple as far as I'm concerned. Still, this place is to McFoster's what Chipotle would be to a good Mexican restaurant; a streamlined, more publicly-accessible version of the food.

That's not to say it's a fast food joint, but it's quite definitely short-order. You get a number at the counter and wait for your food. Personally I think the inside of the place can get a little cramped when it's full, but there is actually room to sit down, as opposed to Worker's Take-Out. While you're waiting I suggest you avail yourself of the ketchups, all of which are organic. They've got original, and as ND mentioned, garlic and then pineapple-mango. They also have a chipotle ketchup. They're all pretty decent, but the garlic is the clear winner, and it's tough not to put it on everything.

It's pretty easy to eat healthy at Blue Planet (not surprisingly). Their salads double as wraps - or is it vice versa? - and they're tasty. What might be called the one downside to the Santa Fe salad is that there was too much stuff in the bowl to get it properly mixed. Additionally, it was an entirely spinach salad, which I usually find too monotonous but which in this case worked pretty well. as ND mentions, they're not shy about the chicken, and I got a fairly large serving for something on top of a salad. Their dressing selection, if you care beforehand, is Newman's Own.

The edamame side dish was interesting - it comes in-shell, and to be perfectly honest I wasn't certain if one was supposed to eat the shell or not. If you're supposed to be able to, then Blue Planet needs to cook it more, as I found the shells tough and fibrous; this leads me to conclude I was supposed to do what I wound up doing, which was squeezing the beans out of the pods individually, like a legume Push Pop.

I've eaten here maybe a dozen times before, and danced around the menu quite a bit. Their pizzas are good, if you can get one - they have a tendency to sell out of the materials by dinnertime (they may have fixed this, but I don't know for sure) - but the thing I like most on their menu is probably their bowls, which combine a decent amount of food with some good tastes. Definitely better - and better for you - than a trip to Burger King.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Asian Style Chicken Burger ($7.99)
• Orange Kick Smoothe ($4.49)

Their burgers come, by default, with the sun fries. The 'problem' with them really is lack of any seasoning or spicing whatsoever. They just end up very dull to my tastebuds (who just eats potato with no flavor? At least butter or something!). That's why the others went for ketchup, and I'm not a huge ketchup fan. The sweet potato fries, much more flavorful, and probably worth it even though they're a 79 cent substitution on the basic fries (according to the page.)

The burger itself had a very large chicken patty (overlarge, really, for the burger, but you can take care of that with some preemptive eating), and a very good mix of flavors. The wasabi mayo in particular had just a hint of wasabi, that I for one would have liked a little more of. The pineapple and teriyaki and everything worked together extremely well. It's definitely something I'd like to have again. I'm not sure it would work as well with the beef, with all the kinda subtle flavors, due to overpowering flavor on the part of beef. The pineapple also needs, perhaps, to be a bit smaller/some help with sticking, as it and the teriyaki were the two things most likely to leak/slip.

The place advertises their smoothies, so I had to give one a try. The orange kick was pretty simple in description, orange, cream, sugar. And that's exactly how it came down. The orange part was surprisingly sharp, like lemon instead of the nice unobtrusive orange most people are used to. The cream was very noticable (in fact, the only word I could use to describe that flavor/texture note was 'cream') and added an enjoyable lightness. The sugar cut that sharpness down to tolerable levels, I think, was the point. However, we are not talking a huge smoothie here, which makes the price point a bit unfortunate (there are a lot of other generally expensive drink flavors I enjoy at various resturants that are less expensive than this/have more flavor).

The place has a lot of options that seem worth pursuing, and I'd definitely consider it a second and third time. My main curiosity is how well it works for pre-order/takeout, since it has to compete with Gandolfos for me there (they're in the same minimall area), and Gandolfos is no slouch.