Restaurants in Lincoln

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).

When drinking from a traditional Spanish porrón, diners must precariously funnel a stream of wine into their open mouths through a spout. Fortunately, at Espana, gracious staffers provide the daring drinkers with a glass of soda water to clean any spills from their shirts.

Porrón wine is only one of the Spanish traditions visitors encounter at the authentic Mediterranean restaurant, where more than 40 varieties of hot and cold tapas pair with pitchers of sangria amid the strains of a guitar. In the kitchen, chefs assemble exotic spices, fine meats, seafood, and vegetables onto small plates, drawing inspiration from generations-old Spanish recipes. They also prepare paella, a family-style rice dish that typically includes veggies, saffron, and meats. In 2009, an Omaha World-Herald writer lauded their paella a la tierra for its "earthy and rich, yet light and delicate" snails and "perfectly cooked" rice.

Out in the dining room, tapas plates speckle colorful red and yellow tables beneath the vivid abstract paintings that hang from sea-green walls. Each month, the dining-room stage hosts live cultural performances, which allow guests to enjoy Spanish guitarists, Spanish dance shows, and Spanish renditions of popular scenes from Good Will Hunting.

Anthony’s offers a range of cuts, all hand-selected, Certified Premium Black Angus slabs of beef. Anthony’s dry-aged steaks are aged for at least 21 days to offer a superior concentration of flavor as well as a tender beef that’s succulent enough to cut through with a dull spoon. The meticulous meat preparation is a tradition that reflects the restaurant’s 42-year history. The welcoming setting emanates the elegance and casual comfort of a tuxedo T-shirt and encourages all meat-lover and meatless-lover friends to unite.

The NoDo restaurant and bar's food menu consists entirely of pizza, and more than 20 gourmet specialties are made from fresh, never-frozen ingredients, and served up either by the slice ($4–$5) or by the "round" ($15–$21). The vegetarian margherita ($4 a slice, $15 for a 14", $19 for 18") stands alongside concoctions such as the truffle-oiled apple walnut ($4, $15, $19); the Bayou blast ($4.49, $16, $20), which pairs shrimp and andouille sausage with red onions; and the twice-baked pizza ($4, $15, $19), with sliced spuds, cheddar cheese, and crumbled bacon. All of Goodnights' pies are available either on regular crust or a custom canvas baked with basil, parmesan, and romano cheese.

Emulating the success of the Tokyo-based Burger America Yeah Man eatery, the owners of Sushi Japan Yakiniku Boy set up shop in Omaha to sling tasty rolled fishies and other culinary delights. Patrons can experience the flavor-retaining qualities of rice and its explosive taste properties when paired with a deliciously charged mixture of wasabi, ginger, soy sauce, and sake without the need of protective goggles or lead vests. Try a tasty specialty roll, which includes flavorful options such as the Captain Crunch Roll with shrimp tempura, crab, cucumber, and tempura crunches ($10.75), or the Caterpillar Roll with freshwater eel, cucumber, avocado, and sweet sauce ($11.95). Or opt for a dinner entree such as tonkatsu, fried pork tenderloin breaded in panko ($13.95), or a lunch of sansai udon, buckwheat noodles in hot broth with assorted mountain vegetables ($8.50). The drinks menu offers several cocktail, beer, wine, and sake options, though chicken-farm moonshine is currently unavailable.

Clay ovens quietly roast yogurt-marinated chicken, and cooks scurry about the kitchen of Tanduri Fusion, mixing exotic curries and sautéing ginger and garlic to coat tender cuts of lamb. Chefs use natural, fresh ingredients to prepare each dish, with inventive offerings including the tanduri top sirloin with cilantro-peppercorn butter and lamb sirloin wraps in grilled naan. For traditional Indian thali dinners, servers deliver large round dishes filled with a bounty of tandoori chicken or curried vegetables, complemented by sides of yogurt sauce and chutney.

Patrons may enjoy their meals tucked inside wooden booths or head out to the patio to soak up sun and satellite emissions while eating. A full bar offers some stool seating, perfect for casually sampling from the extensive wine list.