Nebraska Restaurants

Side Pockets is the perfect place for those who can only digest food while watching sports on the tube. The growing franchise boasts 16,000 square feet of space with multiple big-screen TVs, darts, tri-weekly poker, and a menu that's full of finger food for fingers stained blue with pool-cue chalk. Tiptoe these "hand-cues" to the toasty corners of toasted ravioli (stuffed with spicy beef, $6.99) or to the edge of a half-pound mushroom Swiss burger ($7.99). A hearty Reuben ($7.99) will improve your ability to second-guess the referees on the TVs, as will a chicken Caesar wrap ($8.29) or country-fried steak (with home-style mash, $9.29). And from Side Pockets' taps flow standards such as Miller Lite, Bud Light, and Boulevard Wheat, though you can also pop open a bottle of Blue Moon and many other domestic and imported beers.

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Turning Heads on Blondo transforms clients with a variety of salon and spa services that won them a place in the 2013 Best Hair Salon winner's circle assembled by Omaha Magazine. Using floor-to-ceiling mirrors for reference, stylists sculpt strands into artfully colored looks and aestheticians apply stress solution aromatherapy facials to tighten aging surfaces. For all-over care, the specialists pamper bodies with wraps—enhanced by salt and mud rubs—as well as customized massage strokes. The detail-oriented team can also add flash to lashes with extensions or shift the shade of skin with airbrush tanning services.

After beads etc.'s helpful, friendly staff helps students find the best beads among its selection of more than 250,000 pieces, eager beaders will then spend 90 minutes boning up on the basics in Intro Jewelry Making 1. Once students have gained the beads' trust, they'll be free to advance to the next tier of adornment creation with the 90-minute Intro Jewelry Making 2 class, in which students will make a dangle key chain and one pair of earrings with six- and eight-millimeter Swarovski crystals. The enrollment for this second-level course includes costs for all necessary materials.

Sam & Louie’s pizzas and classy service hearken back to the golden era of Gotham, when the first thin-crusted NY pizza was baked in an art-deco oven by a flapper dating Vito Corleone. The S&L recipe is the closest match to the original 1920s creation. If the hand-tossed house specialty, Sam & Louie’s Best (Italian sausage, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, black olives, red onion, mushrooms, and red and green bell peppers; $15.49 for a 12”, up to $23.99 for an 18”), or the sophisticated Manhattan (creamy alfredo sauce, thin-sliced meatballs, and Canadian bacon) don't satisfy, you can create your own pie from more than 25 fresh toppings. Familiar favorites such as pepperoni, Italian sausage, and mushrooms share wedge-space with buffalo chicken, ricotta cheese, broccoli, and unicorn meat (available seasonally). Prices range from $1.99 per slice up to $14.49 for an 18” of cheese, with each topping costing extra. Available sauces include alfredo, Thai, and pesto.

There's a dish to satisfy every taste at Spaghetti Works, where diners can customize meals to their hearts’ and mouths’ content. Plates of fettuccini or whole-wheat mostaccioli can be enjoyed with sweet italian sausage, beer-cheese sauce, and a wide variety of other toppings. Meanwhile, the restaurant's cooks also prepare classic Italian dishes, such as homemade lasagna and shrimp scampi, and craft gluten-free pizzas and pasta bowls. Diners can cap meals with beer, wine, a cocktail, or more than 20 flavors of Italian sodas.

Known as a family-friendly establishment, Spaghetti Works delights both children and adults with its quirky decor. All three locations feature red-checkered tablecloths and vintage model T trucks, the backs of which hold salad bars with all the fixings. And at all three locations, guests can admire the setting sun from an outdoor patio—a sight almost as beautiful as that of a kitten hatching from its shell.