What To Eat in Nebraska
The word “runza” has been trademarked by a fast food chain out of Lincoln, but the German/Russian meat-filled pastry pocket from which the name was derived is found throughout eastern Nebraska, where it is called bierock, Go Cart, or, simply, cabbage burger. A must-eat! Omaha is home not only to impressive steak dinners, but to a unique specialty known as the cheese frenchie, which is a cornflake-crusted, deep-fried grilled cheese sandwich. Up in the northwest, look for extraordinarily good Mexican food – a legacy of farm workers who migrated here generations ago.
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The bierock is a gift of Volga Germans, a group of immigrants who originally fled Germany for Russia, but then came here from Russia to escape communism. They brought with them recipes for a baked yeast-dough bread pocket filled with beef, cabbage or sauerkraut, and onions. These portable meals, which are similar to the Upper Midwest's pasties, were a favorite lunch among farm workers; and today they are served at Church suppers and fund-raisers throughout Nebraska and Kansas.
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Cheese frenchees are an Omaha specialty: grilled cheese sandwiches dipped in batter, crusted with cornflakes, and deep-fried. Some include mayo, some don’t; many are made on extra-thick Texas toast. The contrast of crunchy exterior and creamy cheese inside makes this a sandwich that is as good for texture as it is for taste.
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Scottsbluff, Nebraska, has been home to immigrants from Texas and Mexico for nearly a century; and it boasts restaurants that reflect that southwestern flavor. The custom in many of them is to flash-fry corn chips and tortillas so they puff up in the oil and become as three-dimensional as a sopaipilla – airy breadstuffs with fragile skin. As simple chips, they're great, and as shells for tacos, their pillowy character adds crispy-chewy pleasure to every bite.
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Taco Town
The taco at this Nebraska restaurant comes in a crisp corn shell pliable enough that it doesn't shatter, loaded with ground beef that is cream rich and peppery.
Scotty’s Drive-In
French fries at Scotty's Drive-In are thin & crisp with nice potato flavor. They go well with short-order hamburgers in single, double and triple configuration.
Gering Bakery
Best dish at Nebraska's Gering Bakery is the cabbage burger - a pocket of tender bread enclosing beef, cabbage, & onion. Frosted peanut butter pretzels, too!
Tina’s Cafe
A small-town cafe in the city of Lincoln, Tina's is known for immense cinnamon rolls and an item called the Go Cart, which is the classic Midlands Runza.
Shirley’s Diner
Shirley's is a heartland cafe serving the unique Nebraska cheese frenchee: a grilled cheese sandwich dipped in corn flake batter and deep-fried.
Stella’s Bar & Grill
Flavorful hamburgers, freshly ground and hand-pattied, make Stella's an Omaha-area gem. French fries are fresh cut and fried crisp, served in abundance.
Bob’s Bar & Grill
Bob's is an unrepentant Nebraska dive bar known for double-wide hamburgers. Cheese is optional. Onions and pickles come on the side
Homemade Heaven Sandwich Shoppe
Homemade Heaven of Ogallala bakes its own bread and makes cabbage pockets, the meat-filled pastries that Nebraskans also know as runzas or bierocks.
