Dozo Lincoln

Dozo Sushi Grill & Lounge, located in Lincoln’s Haymarket (151 N 8th Street), offers a variety of options for both sushi lovers and haters. Happy Hour runs Monday - Saturday 3p-6p, noon - 10p Sunday and a reverse option Thursday-Saturday from 10p-1a. Dozo offers various apps, rolls and drinks for a discount ranging from $4-$9 in most cases and around $15 for Dozo fishbowls and $12 for flavored sake bombs.

Dozo’s interior is nice. Unfortunately every sushi place I visit is “nice”. They all have the sushi spot esthetic, ensuring you never mistake it for anything other than what it is. I do like their bar more than some places I’ve been to but at the end of the day, it’s just another place to get sushi and asian dishes.

The first off putting thing for me was the prominence of both gin and vodka options on their HH drink menu. I drink dark almost exclusively so to not be able to try one “signature” cocktail that included a liquor I liked was disheartening. Eventually we got ahold of the bartender and to my delight the well whiskey/bourbon they had was Jim Beam. My Beam & Ginger only being $5 was a small victory, albeit the only one of the night.

For a starter I ordered the Firecracker Shrimp ($6: battered fried with sweet and spicy mayo sauce) as I am obsessed with this option at most sushi spots. What I got was interesting. Tail on shrimp, which I got over eventually, without much batter to speak of. They were good sized so I really wanted to enjoy them however between the sauce being a bit blah and lack of batter fried-ness I ended up sending it back. The waitress was a good sport about it, taking the charge off my final bill and inquiring in the kitchen about it (turns out the batter they used was “off” that day) so I let the issue rest.

I tried their shrimp tempura roll ($4: mayo, avocado, smelt, shrimp tempura, tempura crunch) will was another disappointment. I have a feeling half the ingredients weren’t included, or I was just so over Dozo by this point I didn’t notice. These rolls were huge, not something I’d normally complain about but in this instance it was just too much. You almost wanted to cut it in half to enjoy comfortably. Other than the size, these rolls didn’t stand out. I realize I’m a sushi snob but these were nothing to write home about.

I give Dozo 1.5 smiles. I liked that they rectified my shrimp situation and that the bartender came to our table personally to find a drink I would enjoy, but the food didn’t make me want to return.

Rock Bottom Brewery Omaha

Rock Bottom Brewery’s Omaha location, located in the Old Market (1101 Harney Street), is a leader in “beer on demand” technology. With select party booths that boast taps right at the table one of their award winning beers is never far from hand. Happy Hour is Monday - Friday from 3pm-6pm, with two late night Happy Hours (Monday-Thursday 9pm-close and Friday & Saturday 10pm-close) as well as all day Sunday. Specials include $3, $5 and $7 discounted appetizers like single kobe sliders, ball park pretzels and chicken quesadillas as well as $2 off Rock Bottom pizzas, signature beers, wine by the glass and cocktails. Daily bonus HH specials include Monday ½ price wine bottles, Tuesday $6 southwest lemonades, Wednesday $6 Absolut martinis, etc. on top of their daily specials like $5 margarita and mojitos on Mondays. Rock Bottoms interior is pretty standard. A nicer Old Chicago, plenty of seating, low light and central bar. Everything you expect from a “chain” brewery.

I ended up doing this review in two parts. The first visit happened to coincide with some big event downtown earlier, resulting in RB being out of jalapeno spinach dip, sliders and pretzels. If you know me, you know once I want something I get really worked up when it is no longer available. Hence my return visit. My first trip included a mango margarita ($7 for HH, $5 when I returned on a Monday) which was delicious. I tend to be pretty ehh on most margaritas because super fruity/syrupy. These were not that. Pretty strong (two had me feeling it) and not too much flavored syrup (since again this is a chain I gave them a pass on not using real fruit).

Their Southwest Egg Rolls were next ($7: pulled chicken breast, black beans, roasted red peppers, zucchinis, carrots, tomatoes, corn & pepper jack cheese with a spicy ranch dipping sauce). Really liked these as they weren’t super greasy. All the veggies made me sort of pause but I felt healthier afterwards so that’s good. The dipping sauce was really yummy and complemented everything they had going on in the egg roll. The wrapper also wasn’t super thick which was good. Portions were really good, RB is a sharing app place for sure. These also passed the microwave at 3am without them being soggy and gross test.

Since they were all out of the things I came for on my first visit I tried the Skillet Chili Cheese Fries ($6.95: crispy seasoned french fries, cheddar & pepper jack cheese, housemade steak chili, jalapenos, red onions and sour cream) which wasn’t on the HH menu, but reasonably enough priced to be a substitute. Although the actual fries didn’t seem to be seasoned I loved the steak chili and there was enough of it that you didn’t have to eat plain fries. Again this was huge so I had another 3 am snack for later.

Again I returned a few days later because I HAD to try this dip. I ordered the Jalapeno Pretzel Stix ($5: hand twisted pretzels served with jalapeno spinach cheese dip) which was worth the return visit. The actual pretzels have jalapenos and cheese baked into them so you can eat them solo no problem. The actual dip was alright, it got cold rather quickly which rendered it sort of gross. Also didn’t expect this to be more queso dip than spinach dip. But the pretzels, they were great.

I give Rock Bottom 5 smiles. Everything I had was good and even the tiny misses like the dip and all the veggies in the egg rolls weren’t horrid. Rock Bottom also offers so many HH and daily specials it’s nearly impossible to not find something you can try here.

Cantina Laredo Happy Hour Review

Hello Happy People! Todays review comes from the modern Mexican restaurant Cantina Laredo. Cantina is located in the heart of Midtown Omaha ( 120 South 31st Avenue). Happy Hour times are from 4:00pm to 7:00pm Monday-Friday, Reverse Happy Hour 9:00pm to 10:00pm Monday-Thursday and on Friday 9:00pm to 11:00pm. Cantina offers $5 house Margaritas, $4 House Wines, $4 Well Drinks, $2.50 Domestics, $3.25 and half off bar food. Food only served at the bar for discount.

Its only right to start of with a Margarita when you're at a Mexican restaurant. I had the pleasure of having the Melon Midori. FYI any Rita that is flavored besides Lime is $1.50 extra. I like how you have the choice of either having your Rita on the rocks or blended. Of course I had to have my blended! I did enjoy this drink, it was a mix of sweet and tart. On the plus side my Bartender hooked me up cause this one was nice and strong. Despite the picture the Ritas are in a large glass, worth the $5.

 

 



I should be ashamed of myself, as a Foodie I never had crab cakes before. Cantina Laredo popped that cherry and I'm glad they did. The cakes are served with poblano sauce on the bottom and roasted red peppers as a garnish. Moist, delicious, and decadent is the best way I can describe it. Each bite you can feel the texture of the crab and the freshness from the red peppers. For me the cakes were in the perfect portion and I left satisfied.

 

 

 

Unfortunately I didn't save my notes on my laptop and I forgot the official name of this flatbread. So lets call it Bomb.com Steak Cherry Salsa Flatbread! LOL!!! In my lifetime I eaten many flatbreads in my day. This one is definitely on my top 5. The steak was cooked well done and not tough at all. I love how the cherry and mushroom complimented each other giving you savory and sweet. This dish is perfect to share with your girls or just yourself alone.

 

Overall I have to give Cantina Laredo 5 Smiles! I loved the Margaritas and the Flatbread. Cantina Laredo has a low key dark atmosphere but the windows by the patio gives you tons of natural light, which I adore. I do see myself coming here again on a Thursday for Ladies NIGHT!