Omaha Driver Entertainment Guide

Located at 7602 Main Street, at the top of the hill in old Ralston, is Scorz Sports Center, a bowling and entertainment facility. Scorz has a spacious bar area and Time Out Cafe’, which serves assorted sandwiches with your choice of fries or a side salad, as well as pizzas and appetizers. The Scorz facility has both open and league bowling. In addition, the facility can be rented for birthday celebrations, office parties and other events. Happy hour is held Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday nights Karaoke nights! Visit their website for their telephone number, for a complete list of their hours of operation, prices, and a list of the other services Scorz provides. Happy Motoring!

Eileen’s Colossal Cookies makes some of the best cookies in the area. Eileen started baking cookies in her Hastings, Nebraska home in 1982 and now has cookie franchises throughout the midwest, with two Omaha locations and one in Papillion. The Omaha locations are: 144th & Center, and 72nd & Pacific; the Papillion location is 8410 S. 73rd Plaza (73rd and Giles). Eileen’s cookies are delicious! Chocolate Chip, Snicker-doodle, M&M… need I say more. Eileen’s has several wonderful flavors from which to choose. Open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pick up a box for your family, for co-workers or for the Omaha Driver! Yum. Happy Motoring!

Located at 4931 S. 72nd Street, just South of “L” Street, is the Sanders ATA Black Belt Acadamy. If you, a friend, or family member are interested in learning more about self-defense, the Sanders ATA Academy may be well-suited to your educational needs. A member of the American Taekwondo Association (ATA), the academy teaches Karate as well as Taekwondo, a martial art that originated in Korea that focuses on positive behaviors such as non-aggression, respect and mental discipline. The Omaha Sanders ATA Acadamy is open for classes Monday through Thursday in the evenings, and on Saturday mornings.  Both youth and adult classes are available. Just call (402)733-2359 or email SandersATA@aol.com. Happy Motoring!

Located at 2121 S. 73rd Street, one block north of Mercy Road on 73rd Street, is one our family’s favorite Omaha steak houses, the Drover. The Drover is well known for its famous “Whiskey Steaks”, that use the Drover’s original and secret whiskey marinade. The inside of the restaurant is dimly lit with rustic dark wood decor. The Drover has several small alcoves with tables and seating, providing privacy for small groups. The Drover has a small cocktail lounge, as well as a small buffet salad bar with traditional, but somewhat limited, salad selections. The salad plates are “chilled.”  The Drover has several seafood menu items on their menu, and they are open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch, and nightly for dinner after 5 p.m. This Spring after the potholes are filled, have your mechanic check your vehicle’s front-end alignment and wheel balance, it’s been a hard Winter. Happy Motoring!

Located at 616 S. 72nd Street is Penzys Spices. If you know someone who likes to cook, this is the place to visit. Penzy’s has a an astonishingly broad choice of spices, herbs and seasonings. Although Penzy’s has stores in 24 states, this is the only location in Nebraska. The aroma inside the store is delightful as would expect. There are several sections, rows upon rows of spices, and recipe suggestions that employ the flavorful ingredients. I was most impressed by the gift box section and the gift box selections. They have wedding gift boxes, various salt free gift boxes, and my personal favorite: the grill & broil gift box. Take your time and survey all of the choices, it is a wonderful place to loiter. Happy Motoring!

The Winter of 2009-2010 has been one for the Omaha record books, with 28.3 inches of snow accumulation October through December 2009, and an additional 7.9 inches during the first 10 days of January 2010. The snow, combined with wind and bitterly cold temperatures, has challenged the fortitude of both young and old. Despite the blizzard conditions, many Omaha youth have made the best of a bad situation. Skiing at Mt. Crescent has been a popular Winter activity, as has sledding at Memorial Park. Others have simply derived pleasure by building a snowman or a snow fort as shown in the photo above. This particular structure was photographed on January 10th in the Turtle Creek subdivision near 90th and Harrison Streets. It is over 6 foot tall!  Oh the stories Omahan’s will have to tell about this Winter! Happy Motoring!!

Located at 1017 Howard Street, in the Old Market, is the French Cafe’. The French Cafe’ is well known in the Omaha metropolitan area for elegant, fine dining and was voted by Omaha Magazine as Omaha’s best formal dining restaurant in 2009. Start your traditional French meal with a bowl of Classic French Onion Soup. It is excellent. Here is a link to the full dinner menu. The French Cafe’ is open on Sundays for Brunch, served for 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. And, it is open 7 nights per week for Bistro or Dinner service. The French Cafe’ can also host your special events or meetings, with private (for fee) rooms available. Reservations may be submitted online using their convenient web reservation form. Happy Motoring!

Author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book “Little House on the Prairie“ comes alive in musical form, with performances at the Orpheum Theater next week. Popularized by the television series with the same name, the musical’s cast of performers includes Melissa Gilbert who was a member of the original TV series cast. Melissa will also be signing copies of her book, “Prairie Tale”, between and after show performances.  The Orpheum Theater, located at 409 S. 16th street, will host the performances January 12 through January 17. Ticket prices range from $28 to $58, and may be purchased from the Omaha Performing Arts website or by phone 345-0606 , toll free at 866-434-8587, or at the Holland Center box office, located at 13th and Douglas Streets. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books are marvelous and, coupled with a strong cast, should provide a great show. Happy Motoring!

HuHot Mongolian Grill is a restaurant chain with franchises in 12 states, including 4 Nebraska locations. HuHot’s has a restaurant in Lincoln, and 3 in Omaha. One is located at 990 S. 72nd Street, another at 710 N. 114th Street, and another at 17660 Wright Street (177th & Center). HuHot is a fun eating experience for the entire family. Guests get to choose their own meats, noodles, vegetables and sauces for grilling by HuHot’s professional cooks. The sauces include mild traditional Mongolian flavors such as Teriyaki, garlic oil, sesame oil, and sweet and sour. Bold Asian and hot flavors are also available, including Thai peanut, ginger, curry, chili oil, kung pao and Szechuan. HuHot is open for lunch and dinner, and their hours of operation may be found on HuHot’s website. My wife and I love this place. Give it a try and Happy Motoring!

Two months ago, I began a city-wide search to find the maker of Omaha’s best hamburger.  The search led me to over 20 different hamburger joints, to a radio interview with Dan Arthur and Michelle Reill on Star 104 FM, and into a better understanding of the people and businesses in our community. These are my findings.

To begin, let me tell you that I am not a food critic. In fact, I am rarely “critical” of anything that resembles food that is placed in front of me.  I eat anything and everything.  In fact, my wife says that I am “tasteless.”  Thanks, dear… I think!!?

However, I do enjoy a good hamburger. And, despite repeated warnings that beef contains growth hormones and antibiotics, I will continue to eat it.  I ask you, “How can being all buff and full of bacteria-fighting substances be bad for you?”

My journey to burger joints in and around metro Omaha began in early November, 2009 with a posted message (i.e. a “tweet”) on the popular social media site, Twitter.com.  I told folks on Twitter that I was looking for the best Omaha hamburger, and I asked for their ideas.  Within 24 hours, I received 31 burger suggestions from helpful, friendly Omahans.  Here is the list of restaurants and their locations: Omaha Driver Burger List. And, being full of bravado (and fluff), I promised to consume them all! In a month!!   Naturally, I added the Twitter folks’ names to my prestigious “know-their-burgers” Twitter-list.

Before making my first burger stop, I composed my evaluation criteria; a 3 point rating scale (1 low, 2 medium, 3 high) in the following categories: Bun freshness, juicy goodness, food warmth, choice of condiments, choice of cheeses, taste, and presentation Wow-factor!  I intentionally excluded cost and time service considerations; but wrote about those aspects in my blog posts on www.omahadriver.com.

Being familiar with several of the burger chain restaurants, and having had their products previously, I immediately assigned their ratings. This allowed me to narrow my attention to those that were the popular “repeat” suggestions – those included Stella’s, Dinkers, Petrows, Louie M’s Burger Lust, and a few others  

And so, the consumption began.  I had a burger daily for lunch or dinner during the month of November and well into December.

Omaha Driver Favorites

After more than a month of feasting, my favorite burgers were <drum roll>:

1. Five Guys at 697 N. 132nd Street
2. Stella’s at 106 Galvin Road S. (Bellevue) and
3. Burger Star at 1222 S 71st Street (South of Pacific)

 Honorable Mentions

• The “Holy Cow” burger at Ace’s Diner (At Harrah’s in Council Bluffs served only on the weekend). It has 4 half-pound burgers, 10 slices of cheese, 8 slices of bacon.
• The “Haystacker” – Served at Dinkers, a great burger topped with an egg easy-over.
• McFoster’s Veggie Burger – Didn’t know you could do that with soy products!
• Wohlner’s Kobie Burger – A great grocery store and a great burger maker.