Brewsky's is a small chain of pretty nice sports bars in Lincoln, NE. I happened to meet a buddy at the Omaha location (of which I didn't know existed) for a few beers and some appetizers one evening.
Brewsky's started in 1990 in Lincoln when two brothers, Jim and Jon Mumgaard, and a buddy, Brian Kitten, opened the first location in the downtown area near the University of Nebraska campus. The concept of Brewsky's as a sports bar with good food caught on right away.
In 1992, the owners hired a chef, Ed Janousek, to upgrade their already good food offerings. Janousek, who was named a Nationally Certified Executive chef in 1997, oversees a wide and varied menu that includes both standard sports bar food as well as aged steaks, pork chops, gourment burgers and my favorite, an albacore tuna salad sandwich with melted cheese.
In 1994, Brewsky's opened a second location on the north side of Lincoln. They expanded to SE Lincoln in 1999, Omaha in 2001, and opened a fifth location in the Haymarket Square area of Lincoln in 2005.
I've now been to three of the Brewsky's locations and each offer pretty much the same thing - a lot of televisions, good food, a great selection of beers and a very nice selection of single malt Scotch whisky. Each Brewsky's has advanced satellite packages and offer nearly every sports channel available. I understand the Brewsky's locations are packed for NFL games on Sunday.
On a recent visit to the Brewsky's in Southeast Lincoln (see map), I had lunch there. I didn't really know what I wanted that particular day. I was sort of burned out on burgers, a reuben didn't sound all that good to me. I was having a lot of problems trying to figure out what to have when the waitress came over and asked me if I was ready to order. I sort of hemmed and hawed for a moment and I finally asked her, "What do you like?"
She said, "You like tuna?" I said I did. "Our tuna melt is pretty tough to beat." I ordered the tuna melt with fries.
And she wasn't kidding. The tuna melt was full of very good tuna salad. It had an ample amount of American cheese melted on top. And the slices of the whole wheat bread were thick and had a nice grilled taste. It was simply one of the better tuna melts I've ever had. And it's usually tough to find an outstanding tuna melt sandwich anywhere.
There's something about the sports bars in Omaha and Lincoln - they're all very good. There's a lot of competition in the market and they all have to keep up with one another. I think the food at Brewsky's is probably the best compared to the other sports bars in the area. If you're a sports junkie and need some good food to go along with your sports, Brewsky's is the place.
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