Restaurants in Council Bluffs

Barley’s builds culinary character by guiding its delicious menu of traditional burger and steak fare through a series of exhausting yet rewarding victual rituals. Start with homemade flour chips ($5.95) with cheddar cheese and salsa as a way of making peace with growling stomach Gorgons. Equip both fists with a smokehouse burger (with cheddar, barbecue sauce, and bacon, $7.95) and a guacamole burger ($8.45), or contemplate the trinity of a triple club ($7.95) served with ham, turkey, bacon, and more between two slabs of marble rye. There are also a number of options for the vegetarian crowd, including the garden burger ($7.95) and garden Philly ($7.75), each stocked with 100% vegan patties. In between bites of burgers, steaks, and salads, sip on some fresh-squeezed ales and lagers from the bottle or tap, with varieties spanning the intoxicating rainbow from micro and macro brews.

Matsu Sushi serves delicate meals of ocean-fresh sushi, formed from a colorful selection of fresh salmon, snapper, tobiko, jalapeño, and avocado. Their extensive menu presents countless opportunities for tasty combinations of nigiri and maki along with riveting material to read as chefs carve up morsels of tuna and sea urchin. Sides such as a zesty carrot-ginger salad or spicy shiitake-mushroom sushi help keep table spreads symmetrical.

The light from 10 plasma-screen televisions illuminates the autographed NBA jerseys covering the walls of Blue Jay Bar and Grill. The downtown-area watering hole draws in more than sports lovers, though—cheerily belted tunes fill the air during karaoke on Thursdays, tickling the eardrums of guests playing Keno. A spacious outdoor deck juts out into the summer air, overlooking a bustling volleyball court, as servers dole out Jose Cuervo margaritas or voodoo punch from a tap. Inside, comfortable couches cradle patrons in an Irish-style poker room nestled together near an old-wood oak bar.

A menu of pizza, wings, and libations sustains patrons as they flit from one room or activity to the next, clutching pints of Fat Tire or buckling down to feast on two-for-one burgers. Live music, played by live people or self-aware robots, occasionally wafts in from the street next to the bar.

Chefs spin classic American dishes with a touch of gourmet flare. The "Americana fusion" technique, which yields such comforting cuisine as smoked-chicken-enhanced gouda mac 'n' cheese, helped Zin Room earn a spot on the Omaha World-Herald's list of Top 8 Restaurants in 2011, as well as ongoing usage in love songs written by foodies.

Located inside the luxurious Hotel Deco, the restaurant features sleek lights and chandeliers that softly illuminate diners' artistically arranged plates and rough-hewn pillars that support two floors of seating. Behind the stocked bar, bartenders mix drinks and use the wine wall's sliding ladder to allude to former lives as librarians.

Spotlights and lasers in shades of blue, green, and purple ricochet around Capitol Lounge and Supper Club, illuminating guests for an instant as they shimmy on the dance floor or relax on white leather banquettes. A menu of upscale pub snacks, such as fried mac 'n' cheese croquettes and flatiron steak, join drinks from Miller Lite to Grey Goose and Cristal to reenergize these revelers, who have three levels of club to explore and plenty of exposed brick and shiny metal ducts to admire. The lounge hosts weekly special events, bringing in prominent guest DJs for weekend preparties, staging Thirsty Thursdays, and setting up seasonal get-togethers such as back-to-school bashes and G8 Summit celebrations.

McKenna’s Pacific Street location provides a dining experience filled with soulful tunes and meats smoked silly. Opened in 1991, the joint has been whipping up down-home menu items that would make your grandma try harder. Start off with appetizers such as the black-eyed-pea dip with chips ($5.49) and a full pound of smoked chicken thighs ($6.79), or opt for an order of 12 McKenna’s wings ($8.79) that come in flavors such as Louisiana double dip, Jamaican jerk, and three others. Sandwiches include the Virginia smoked ham with pepper jack cheese ($7.39), smoked pork loin ($7.39), and barbecue smoked sausage ($7.29).