I'd heard about a new place in Omaha that featured an impressive and ever-changing beer list and a menu that featured gastropub cuisine - including a pretty good burger - Blatt Beer and Table. On a recent trip to Omaha, I found Blatt Beer and Table in the shadows of TD Ameritrade Park on the north end of downtown Omaha. (see map)
TD Ameritrade Park is where the city of Omaha hosts the annual College Baseball World Series for two weeks each June. The stadium was built to keep the College World Series in Omaha as the NCAA was making noises of moving the championship series to another city because of the antiquated nature of the former stadium, Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium. The stadium opened in time for the 2011 CWS and also is home to the Creighton Bluejays baseball team.
In the area near the stadium, a handful of businesses opened up to cater to people going to the College World Series (the Centurylink Center arena and convention center is also within walking distance of the area). Owners Nick Hogan and Anthony Hitchcock of the Flagship Restaurant Group, which includes Blue Sushi (click here to see my entry on Blue Sushi), Roja Mexican Grill, and Plank Seafood and Provisions, wanted to build a restaurant in the neighborhood around the stadium that was going to be open for the other 50 weeks of the year, as well.
With Rosenblatt Stadium being torn down after TD Ameritrade Park was built, the owners wanted to recognize how much the stadium meant to the people of Omaha by naming their new pub Blatt Beer and Table. (It's said that a grandfather of one of the owners threw out the first pitch at Rosenblatt Stadium after it opened in the late 1940's.) They wanted the pub to be a place where friends and strangers could congregate at large tables to sit and visit over beer and continental pub food.
The executive chef for the Flagship Restaurant Group - Tony Gentile - came up with the menu for Blatt Beer and Table. The group hired Dustin Bushon - one of the owners of Krug Park, a neighborhood beer bar in Omaha that has been called one of the top 100 beer bars in America by Draft Magazine - as an advisor as to which beers they should serve at Blatt. And after the Daily Grub closed in Omaha, the group hired its former owner, Ellie Lynch, to come up with an eclectic cocktail menu. When all that was in place, Blatt Beer and Table opened in June of 2012 with a limited menu just in time for the College World Series. They got up to running full bore later in the summer.
Parking is available in metered parking spots in front of Blatt Beer and Table. It was a nice day when I pulled up to the place - it's industrial facade included a garage door that was open to allow the warm spring air come into the bar. I sat at a large table near the bar and was soon greeted by my server, Samantha. I looked through the beer menu as they have 24 beers on tap and a number more in bottles and cans. I decided on getting an Anchor Steam in a bottle. I found out later that they were featuring Wasatch beers, as well. I hadn't had a Wasatch in a long while, but I had already ordered the Anchor Steam.
To me, the place seemed more like a sports bar than a gastropub. Flat screen televisions were hung around the place all turned to sports channels. I was told the back patio area had been enclosed over the winter and it added double the dining space to the restaurant. Many of the tables were high with metal stools with wooden seats. They weren't the most comfortable. They also have an upstairs patio that happened to be closed that day. I'm sure there weren't enough people to warrant the rooftop patio to be open.
The main bar is a rectangular, three-sided bar that features uncomfortable looking metal stools. When they were moved, they made a loud screeching noise on the concrete floor. But it was the type of bar where I could see myself sitting down with a friend and having a few beers. I liked the sort of contemporary industrial mixed with old world urban architecture in Blatt Beer and Table.
They had interesting snacks and appetizers on the menu including honey roasted peanuts sprinkled with a combination of ground chipotle chili powder, coriander, cumin and cinnamon; frites (French fries) served with a parmesan/peppercorn aioli and smoked housemade ketchup; and the Blatt Mac which features cavatappi pasta in a white cheddar sauce with smoked paprika and chopped green onions, then topped with a Panko breadcrumb and Havarti cheese crust.
The main menu isn't big, but it's certainly creative. They feature just one burger, the Blatt Burger, on the menu. They have sandwiches such as a Dixie-fried chicken sandwich, an Indian-spiced grilled chicken sandwich, and something called the Salmon Gravlox BLT - they take coriander and orange-cured Scottish salmon, top it with a lemon caper and dill whipped cream cheese, add applewood-smoked bacon with lettuce, tomato and cucumber, and serve it on mini pretzel rolls. That actually sounded good.
The main entrees list is also light, but interesting enough. They have a bock beer-battered white cod fish with fries, down-home Southern-style fried chicken and waffles, and a Steak and Frites entree that features a Black Angus flat iron cut steak - a cut that got its push from the agriculture department at the University of Nebraska.
The Blatt Burger featured a Black Angus beef ground patty, topped with the aforementioned parmesan/peppercorn aioli, Guinness stout-braised onions, lettuce, tomato and garlic dill pickles and served on a butter-grilled brioche bun. For an extra dollar each, you could get white cheddar cheese and applewood-smoked bacon on top of the burger. That's exactly how I ordered it from Samantha. She asked me if I wanted a side with it. I had a choice of frites, creamy cole slaw, dill potato salad, house-cut potato chips with either salt and vinegar or chive and sour cream flavoring, as well as a couple other sides that didn't thrill me too much. I thought I'd try the fries, even knowing in advance that I probably wouldn't eat many of them.
I thought it took exceptionally long for my burger to get out to me. It was well over 20 minutes from the time I ordered to the time someone other than Samantha brought my burger out from the kitchen. I suppose good things take time. It was served in a round metal pan with wax paper. The burger looked kind of impressive with the garlic pickles, lettuce and tomato speared to the top of the brioche bun.
Opening up the burger to add Blatt's housemade ketchup and mustard (served in glass bottles just like Heinz began to in 1869 to show how fresh the condiments were), it looked like a delightful mess with the criss-crossed bacon strips and the melted white cheddar cheese covering the burger. The parmesan/peppercorn aioli was spread on the crown.
The burger was... good. Not exceptional, like I've had at other burger places in Omaha. But it was good enough that I liked it. The burger patty was thick and juicy, the white cheddar cheese and bacon went well with it, and I especially liked the spongy brioche bun. If I were grading the burger, I'd give it a solid "B".
The fries, however, were pretty much a throwaway. They were way too salty for my taste. They were crunchy on the outside with a nice potato flavor inside, but the salt was overpowering.
You know, I did like Blatt Beer and Table. I thought the burger was fine. Samantha's service was prompt and friendly, but the burger seemed to take a long time to get out to me. Still, I would recommend give Blatt Beer and Table a try. I liked the concept and the atmosphere. It's a welcome addition to that area north of the downtown area of Omaha.
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