Five restaurants made their way to Lincoln in 2007
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By JEFF KORBELIK / GZO
The past year was a great one for Lincoln diners who enjoy what I like to call the “dining experience.”
A handful of non-sports bar or non-sandwich shop-type places hit the scene.
These are restaurants that specialize in the overall experience, providing good food, service and atmosphere.
Three of those places — jtk, Francesca’s and Magnolia — found their way on my best-of list for 2007.
Below is a rundown of those and two others.
Please note, this is NOT a favorites list, but rather a list of favorite new (or new to me) restaurants that Ground Zero visited the past year.
Places such as Maggie’s, the Parthenon and Venue are restaurants that would make a regular best-of list, but none of them are new.
Eateries were evaluated on food quality, service and presentation and are listed in the order they were featured:
thé Cup (Jan. 19) — The coffee-sandwich shop has really taken off since it opened in early 2007. Diners can enjoy panini sandwiches, homemade soups and, at times, live music in the old Coca-Cola bottling plant.
V. Mertz (July 13) — If you’re looking for a place to impress your significant other, this is it. Located in Omaha’s Old Market, V. Mertz is one of the few places I have given four stars for food, service and atmosphere.
jtk (Aug. 24) — Found in the train station in the Haymarket, jtk is far different from owner Jason Kuhr’s downtown sandwich shop. This has a bit a flair to it, with a menu reflective of a French bistro with American leanings.
Francesca’s (Nov. 9) — Francesca’s is a welcome addition to a city that doesn’t have much Italian food outside of corporate restaurants. Located at the Yankee Hill Country Club, it’s on par with Vincenzo’s, another successful, locally owned Italian restaurant.
Magnolia Restaurant (Nov. 30) — This finally might be the restaurant to make a go of it in the Haymarket spot that’s become a black hole for restaurants. Magnolia complements a beef, chicken seafood menu with some of the best vegetarian entrees around.
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.
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?? wrote on December 29, 2007 3:09 pm:
Sicilian John wrote on January 27, 2008 11:36 am:
OK, now the food. If your benchmark for good Italian food is Valentino's, then I suggest you do not waste your time reading any further, you have no idea what quality Italian food is.
However, if you have a palate here's the scoop. Everything was SALTY. I mean REALLY SALTY. TO the point of inedible.
We started with Crab Cakes, that were frozen and deep fired. I could see Sam's Club written all over them.
Then, the Garlic Roasted soup actually wasn't salty- It had NO taste whatsoever. It was like watered down salad dressing.
The Caesar salad had little to no taste akin to the Garlic Soup, only this time with heavy salt.
Next comes the main course. Mind you we ordered two of the priciest items on the menu. Veal Saltimbocca and spaghetti bolognese, (which turned out to be Manicotti Stuffed with sausage.
The veal was so tough and it was so salty to make it inedible.We had no choice by this time and when the waiter asked how everything was we told him the truth. He was very professional and removed it from the bill.
My bolognese was horrible. It was so salty, almost as if the cover fell off the salt shaker while it was being prepared.
So, we had three courses each and everything was garbage, (if you know what Italian food really should taste like).
The best thing on the table was the glass of wine, and that's because no one at Francesca's had anything to do with it.
With 2 glasses of wine, the bill would have been about $75.00, so this is no cheap venue. I would have gladly paid that if the food hadn't of been sub human.
The only saving grace was the staff. They were all very anxious to please and it showed. The decor was quite impressive, if you are so lucky to get to sit in the "Reserved" room.
But the bottom line of any restaurant is the food. Francesca's is so off course and the scary thing is they don't even realize it.
Save your money and go somewhere else. "