There's a place over in Lincoln, NE - LeadBelly - that one of my dealers out there was telling me about that I've had on my "Restaurants to Visit" list for awhile now. The only problem is that LeadBelly is located in downtown Lincoln and I very rarely make it to the downtown area of Lincoln. It was last year that I had heard that LeadBelly had opened a second location in the Midtown Crossing residential/entertainment area near downtown Omaha. I wanted to give the place a try, so I went there for lunch on a recent trip out to Omaha.
Tony Young and Mike Martin knew each other from working in restaurants in Lincoln's Haymarket district. When Young and his wife, Wendy, started their own restaurants group - Red Herring Concepts - they invited Martin to participate in the endeavor with them. Red Herring's first restaurant, a deli/coffee shop/burger joint/wine bar/craft beer place called Toast opened in 2009 on the northwest side of Lincoln. But the Young's and Martin had a different concept in mind for another restaurant that featured gourmet burgers, eclectic sandwiches, street tacos, and an revolving list of craft beers.
In 2012, the group was approached by the owner the historic Seaton & Lea building in the Haymarket district about a space that had a spotty track record for restaurants that were housed there. Since 1998, the spot had housed six different restaurants, the last being the Capital City Grill. The Youngs and Martin felt that their concept restaurant they had been working on for the past three years would work well in the space, but the building needed some renovations to make it workable for them. They had to go in front of the Lincoln Historical Preservation Commission to give their renovation plans for the space. Commissioners eventually voted for approval of the renovations and work commenced on the space in late 2012. LeadBelly opened the day after Memorial Day in 2013.
But even before they opened LeadBelly in Lincoln, the Red Herring Concepts group had been looking hard at the new Midtown Crossing development in Omaha. No available spaces clicked there for Martin and the Youngs initially, but then when the developers came back to them in 2015 to let them know a corner building that used to house a pizza place called Ingredients had become available, the group jumped at the property. They kept the pizza oven and the high-end grills in the place and changed some of the decor around. LeadBelly in Omaha opened in April of 2016.
The Omaha LeadBelly is located on the southeast corner of Farnum and S. 33rd St. (see map) It's tough to miss the building with the big sign on the corner and the large mural on the front of the building. While there are parking garages in the immediate area, I was able to find a metered parking spot just down Farnum a few steps to the east of the restaurant.
The inside of the restaurant featured a well-lit room both from the antique-style Edison lights and the natural light coming in through the large windows on the west and north side of the building. There was a small bar up front with high-backed red vinyl chairs.
There was a small half-wall that separated the bar area with some high tables and an area that had booths and tables along the west wall with windows that looked out onto 33rd St. There were a number of diners in the place just after the noon time rush.
I ended up seated at the bar where I was given a menu by the bartender. She asked me what I'd like to drink and I took a long look at some of the craft beers they had on tap. I ended up ordering a pint of the Founders All Day IPA.
The menu at the Omaha location is significantly different from the Lincoln LeadBelly mainly due to the fact that when they took over the Omaha spot there was a pizza oven and an industrial grill-top that allowed them to do more entree-based foods such as chicken fried steak, a French onion flat iron steak, and fish and chips. They have an expansive appetizer menu for sharing at the Omaha LeadBelly including barbecued pork sliders, a wide variety of street tacos, Newcastle beer-battered onion rings served with a sriracha aioli, and poutine with waffle fries, gravy and aged white cheddar cheese. You could also get the poutine as a main dish by adding steak, chicken or smoked pork to it.
They had a number of salads, different varieties of their "Grown Up Mac + Cheese", and a number of interesting sandwiches such as the "Dusk 'til Dawn Griddler" consisting of sausage, candied bacon, fried eggs, and grilled potatoes topped with Muenster cheese and sriracha sauce, and served on a toasted brioche bun. Of course, since this was Omaha they had to have a reuben sandwich on the menu.
But the list of their gourmet burgers was also long and interesting. They had a burger called the Blackstone that featured a burger patty topped with pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, 1000 Island dressing and served on a pretzel bun. The Hangover Helper featured a burger topped with a fried egg, candied bacon, fried potatoes, white cheddar cheese, poblano pepper, sautéed onions, LeadBelly's Bloody Mary sauce and also served on a pretzel bun. But the most interesting one was the Full Leaded Jacket - a burger topped with chili, a queso sauce, tomatoes, onions, fresh jalapeños, corn tortilla chips and sour cream, all served on a fresh-baked cinnamon bun. Now, THAT would be a mess!
I ended up going the burger route and got the Cheese Mushroom burger - the burger was topped with a tarragon queso sauce, sautéed mushrooms, shredded lettuce and red onion slices. It was served on a toasted bun and came with a side of crinkle-cut fries that I didn't pay much attention to.
The burger was a half-pound of locally sourced beef, and was fire-grilled, thick and juicy. The tarragon cheese sauce with the sautéed mushrooms were a great complement, as was the red onion. Quite frankly, the shredded lettuce didn't really add much to the taste of the burger. The bun held together very well with the juiciness of the burger as well as the oozing cheese sauce on top. It was a very good burger.
There's a lot of good burger places in Omaha, and LeadBelly is another one that I've come across in my travels there. Their menu is extensive and varied with not only the gourmet burgers, but with a large selection of sandwiches, appetizers, salads, mac and cheese dishes, pizza and main entrees. LeadBelly is the kind of place anyone can go to and probably be able to find something that you'd like to order. It's a nice, clean space with parking in the area. LeadBelly is a good place to hang for drinks or food with friends, family or work colleagues.
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