Nightlife in Council Bluffs

Since 1925, the Dundee Theatre’s gold curtains have been parting for generations of rapt audiences. Originally a vaudeville theater, the venue was transformed into a movie house during the Great Depression as a cost-cutting measure. For the next half century it traded hands, sometimes screening art films, sometimes featuring family fare, and once showing a 118-week run of The Sound of Music, which was eventually halted by a town statute banning raindrops on roses.

In 1980, current owner Denny Moran stepped in and renovated the theater to recapture some of the splendor of its early days. The old vaudevillian stage and dressing rooms still lurk behind the silver screen, counterbalanced by a state-of-the-art Dolby Digital EX sound system and Cyrano de Bergerac smell system. Under Moran's watch, the Dundee Theatre now screens an eclectic mix of art and independent films, cinema classics, and cult favorites.

Nosh Wine Lounge's valiant experts curate a diverse list of vinos for at-home enjoyment with the wine club. Induce heightened senses of fermented nirvana with two carefully selected wines each month, which in the past have included Australia's Ringbolt cabernet sauvignon and Oregon's Foris pinot noir. The four bottles of wine arrive in monthly pairs accompanied by a fact sheet that details tasting notes, suggested pairings, and a photograph of the wine's childhood home. Club members dining at Nosh receive a mélange of extra benefits, such as a coupon for a free appetizer from the lounge's chef-created menu, which includes a delectable crab-cake or caprese salad. Waived corkage fees on club bottles of wine whet appetites, and invitations to an annual wine tasting help to prepare members to decide how to use discounts on future events and on bottles of wine from the retail shop.

The menu at Brewburgers bursts with specialty burgers splashed with the eatery’s own original flavors. The Blue Jay burger melds 100% certified Angus beef with portobello mushrooms, gorgonzola, and fried onion strips ($8.95), whereas the Inside-Out burger sends bacon and cheddar deep into beef’s inner circle to set up a juice-embezzlement sting ($8.95). Land and sea toss their feud aside in the pepper-crusted ahi tuna burger, which comes smothered in tangy ginger sauce and napa cabbage ($9.95). The brisket sandwich douses Canadian-style cured and smoked meat with mustard and heaps it on rye bread ($7.95). Answer a parched throat’s persistent text messages with one of the restaurant’s dozens of cold brews, including thirst quenchers from Boulevard, New Belgium, and Left Hand.

Jazz serves up the tasty, authentic fare and festive party atmosphere one typically finds while strolling down Bourbon Street. Creole and Cajun cravers can browse the restaurant's massive menu, featuring fresh seafood, po' boy sandwiches ($7.49), zesty pastas ($12.99/full order), and spicy blackened entrees. Diners are immersed in a hodgepodge of New Orleans–based décor and swinging live music throughout the week as local bands perform blues and jazz standards, helping visitors let the good times roll while keeping the bad times safely encased in electrified lock boxes.

The owners of Brewsky’s Food & Spirits know that the best way to get friends and family together is to create a vibrant space filled with live music, all the best sporting events on TV, frosty brews, and a menu of comfort foods. While taking pride in being the spot to gather for Huskers games, as well as all other major sporting events, the owners also take immense satisfaction in serving a selection of juicy steaks, flame-broiled burgers, and wings that their chef concocted exclusively for the restaurant. The team also entertains patrons with trivia nights and shows such as dueling pianos or quarreling xylophones at the Haymarket location.

The light from 10 plasma-screen televisions illuminates the autographed NBA jerseys covering the walls of Blue Jay Bar and Grill. A spacious outdoor deck juts out into the summer air, overlooking a bustling volleyball court and the Creighton University campus, as servers dole out five different Nebraska-brewed beers from a tap. A menu of pizza, wings, and libations sustains patrons as they flit from one room or activity to the next, clutching pints or buckling down to feast on two-for-one burgers.