Rural Foodies
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Bonfire Grill - Broken Bow, NE
One of the least profound insights the Rural Foodies have gained from a year or two of seeking out the best dining experiences to be had in rural Nebraska is that who’s in charge in the kitchen makes a huge difference as to what ends up on your plate.
more about the Bonfire Grill...
Palace Steakhouse - Red Cloud, NE
We have come to poke around Red Cloud a bit before trying out dinner at the Palace Steakhouse, which we’ve been told is a venerable landmark in downtown. Venerable it certainly is, and so what if decorating isn’t their longest suit? We understand they make it a point to serve Nebraska beef, and that’s what we’ve come for...or at least what some of us have come for.
more about Palace Steakhouse...
Back Alley Bakery - Hastings, NE
Technologically speaking, retained-heat brick ovens are way dark ages, in use by ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans thousands of years B.C. So why, in an age of microwave Hot Pockets and dough-in-a-can, do people still make bread this way?
more about Back Alley Bakery...
Tub's Pub - Sumner, NE
Rocky Mountain oysters are what is left over when you turn a young bull into a steer. Also known as calf fries, prairie oysters, cowboy caviar, or Montana tendergroin, they are usually peeled, breaded, pounded flat and grilled or deep fried. Although they undoubtedly evoke the “eeeeww” factor in some, they are considered a great delicacy by many, and are undeniably a huge draw on Mountain Oyster Night at Tub's Pub.
more about Tub's Pub...
El Rinconcito - Lexington, NE
We had come to El Rinconcito – the “little corner” of El Salvador in Lexington. Recommended by one of our readers, we were warned it wouldn’t be fancy, but we were promised a food experience that would be interesting, unique and delicious.
more about El Rinconcito...
Jane's Tavern - Rockville, NE
Lobster is one of those dishes one associates with silver platters, fine crystal, waiters in tuxedos with vaguely French accents and perhaps a little Mozart from a string quartet in the background.
more about Jane's Tavern...
China Hy Express - Lexington, NE
We may not be expert in Chinese cuisine, but in our travels we have learned that most of what passes for Chinese food in America wouldn’t actually be served in China....
more about China Hy Express...
Down Home Café - Franklin, NE
If you’ve ever pulled a sublime dish out of the oven — done to perfection, the air filling with the rich redolence of Good Food — and said to yourself, “What’s Wolfgang Puck got that I haven’t got?” you have to appreciate what Alicia and Michael Williams have done...
more about the Down Home Café...
Minden Coffee House - Minden, NE
When you get right down to it, a great coffeehouse is as much about the ambiance and atmosphere as it is about the coffee. It has to feel right. There needs to be some big easy chairs and a couch, a few high stools, and at least one geeky guy with a laptop, and a lady of a certain age with a romance novel and a mocha latte...
more about Minden Coffee House...
Cunningham's Feed - Arapahoe, NE
Sometimes, flipping though one of those glossy City magazines you find in hotel rooms, you come upon an ad for some rustic-themed restaurant that gushes about their antique pinewood floor or international beer selection or how Chef Antoine (or Philippe or Maurice) garnishes dishes with heirloom tomatoes and fresh herbs to create the “gourmet experience of a lifetime.” Oh, please...
more about Cunningham's Feed...
Mac's Creek Vinyards - Lexington, NE
For many of us who, in our salad days, may have preferred Boone’s Farm, Annie Green Springs or Blue Nun to, say, a saucy little French Pinot Noir, enjoying wine requires a certain maturity...
more about Mac's Creek Vinyards...
Lucky Chuck’s Pool Hall BBQ and Steak Outfit - Eustis, NE
The thing that makes a restaurant special is the passion of the people who own and run it. Take, for example, Lucky Chuck’s in Eustis. Chuck Laier is a man who knows his meat...and his smoke...and how the two combine to create a taste that transcends them both.
more about Lucky Chuck's...
Take 5 Coffee House and Restaurant - Arapahoe, NE
Food is one of those things that binds us together as a society. From earliest times, a shared meal not only nourished the body but strengthened the bonds between family and community members. It’s where humans reconnect and restore. It’s one of the things that make us human.
more about Take 5...
Gourmet House Japanese Restaurant - Kearney, NE
Of all those cuisines and cultures, one of, if not our very favorite is Japanese. A Japanese dining experience is a symphony for the senses. The atmosphere is cool and relaxing, the service quiet and decorous, the food arranged like tiny works of art.
more about Gourmet House...
Rural Foodies at home: Our wurst idea turns out to be our best.
The thing that motivates the Rural Foodies — well, foodies in general, I suppose — is a love of food in all its astonishing variety. We’re always up for new things, for interesting tastes, for cuisines we haven’t tried as well as for excellent preparations of foods we know by heart. more about our Wurst Idea...
The Coppermill Restaurant - McCook, NE
Only the most intrepid of rural foodies, anticipating a new restaurant experience, would drive 72 miles each way on a cold and blustery February night in Nebraska. But we’d heard great things about the Coppermill Restaurant — a landmark in McCook.
more about The Coppermill Restaurant...
The Speak-Easy - Holdrege, NE
Did you ever go to a “country” steakhouse in the city? Often as not, they’re in a shopping mall, going by names like “Sodbuster” or “Country Cousin” and distinguished by their weathered barn wood paneling and props like galvanized washtubs and pitchforks...
more about The Speak-Easy...
Bella Italia - Cozad, NE
December inspires us Rural Foodies to gather with our friends and eat fabulous food. And for a meal that tickles our imagination and delights our palate, we are willing to travel. On a blustery December day, my friends and I drive more than an hour to eat at Bella Italia, a little-known treasure in Cozad, Nebraska.
more about Bella Italia...
Town Talk Restaurant - Cambridge, NE
My friend and I have dinner reservations at the Town Talk Restaurant in Cambridge, and our scenic drive takes us over central Nebraska farmland and into western Nebraska ranchland. When we arrive in Cambridge, the Town Talk is easy to spot on Cambridge‘s main business street. It‘s a Cambridge tradition, and although the ‘new’ owner, Richard Barnes more than doubled its size, hungry customers first fill the booths in the old section.
more about the Town Talk Restaurant and Bar...
LakeShore Marina Restaurant and Lounge - Johnson Lake, NE
A sun room with what seemed to be a 240 degree view looking out over the lake was the perfect place to sit and visit with a glass of wine, but as the sun started to sink beneath the treetops, those old familiar hunger pangs began to gnaw, and the discussion turns, as it often does, to "where shall we eat?"
more about LakeShore Marina Restaurant and Lounge...
Burchell's White Hill Farmhouse Inn - Minden, NE
You will be glad to drive a country mile to dine at Burchell’s White Hill Farmhouse Inn. If you’re looking for a farm-country kind of experience, you just can’t get more country than this. Wide fields of green corn plants flank the gravel road leading to the farmstead nine miles north and west of Minden, and while signage is minimal, the trip is well worth the adventure for some great barbeque.
more about Burchell's White Hill Farmhouse Inn...
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