Big Ten Trip of a Lifetime - Year 5

[HeyBurke]

By the way, if you do go to the Haymarket, don't go to Brix and Stone. That place is awful.

[huskerswrkhavoc]

Bars in Lincoln close at 1am.

 

You can buy booze in Lincoln at any grocery store 24/7, except on Sunday mornings until noon. Not sure about Gretna/Omaha. Main grocery stores around here are Hy-Vee, Super Saver (in Lincoln) and Wal-Mart superstores, but I recommend avoiding the Wal-Marts. For obvious reasons.

 

The Haymarket is a region of downtown Lincoln from O Street to R street, 9th street to 7th street. It contains kitschy little shops and is the best concentration of restaurants in town, including The Oven, Lazlo's, Vincenzo's, El Portrero, Maggie's, Bread & Cup, Brewsky's, Buzzard Billy's, Old Chicago (which I'm sure you're familiar with), and for dessert Ivanna Cone, the best ice cream in Nebraska (7th & P, right across from Lazlo's). There are several bars down there as well, but the "main" bars are from 9th street east along O street.

 

You will be thoroughly unimpressed with a runza. Try one just to try it, but you won't buy two. It's a traditional old food in Nebraska that is very meh.

 

Valentino's pizza is slightly better than frozen pizza. 30 years ago it was fantastic, but they went corporate, lost their soul and now they make trash. Do not get their pizza. It is an absolute crime what they have turned that business into.

 

There are no good pizza joints in Lincoln. If you want fantastic pizza come to my house on Friday and I'll make you a pie, regular, thin-crust or deep-dish.

 

Misty's in the Havelock district (on Havelock Ave) is a traditional old restaurant in Husker folklore. They serve a mean prime rib and the Havelock location has a pep band every Friday night before the game. As many have mentioned, it is in dire need of renovation. The food is meat-and-potatoes, and decent. They have a downtown location at 11th & P, but I have heard way too many people talk about bad experiences there. The one time I went there I had a very bad experience with the server and I won't go back.

 

For tailgating I highly recommend hitting the 'gates under the viaduct west of the stadium. I go over there before every game and it's a great time.

 

Elk Creek Water is the shizzle. Just don't drink too much of it. The comparison to a screwdriver someone made up above is apt, but it's got about 10x the alcohol of a regular screwdriver. It tastes like a nice mix of orange and grapefruit juice and it will knock you on your keister.

 

I-80 between Gretna and Lincoln gets VERY congested before games, so if you're coming down I recommend coming early in the AM to avoid traffic.

 

Actually, bars in Lincoln close at 2 am now...You can buy alcohol up until either then or 1... for some reason I want to say that a buddy was stopped from buying alcohol at 1 exactly at a gas station on West O, but that may have been on a Saturday night, so the 'Sunday' law may have been in effect, or it could of been a personal thing. And as far as pizza goes, I hear people talk about Lazzari's all the time.. but don't quote me as saying it's good, another place I've yet to try.. Everything else is pretty much right, except Val's isn't AS bad as you're making it sound. And Elk Creek is fantastic, and I'm not a screwdriver fan, but that is what it reminded me of, except better.

[GSG]

 

There are no good pizza joints in Lincoln. If you want fantastic pizza come to my house on Friday and I'll make you a pie, regular, thin-crust or deep-dish.

 

 

If that's the case, come to my house and I'll make "runzas" that will blow Runza's runzas out of the water! Runza!

[knapplc]

 

There are no good pizza joints in Lincoln. If you want fantastic pizza come to my house on Friday and I'll make you a pie, regular, thin-crust or deep-dish.

 

 

If that's the case, come to my house and I'll make "runzas" that will blow Runza's runzas out of the water! Runza!

 

My mom made, by all accounts, the "best" runzas ever, and I hated them. Something about hamburger roasted with cabbage in a bread pocket just has never appealed to me.

[TripOfALifetime]

If it's an 11:00 kickoff, would you say be on the road by 8:00? Earlier?

 

Earlier. Like 7am at the latest. A lot of folks come to the game from Omaha.

 

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but the interstate between Lincoln and Omaha is under construction (widening), so that's the biggest factor in my recommendation to leave early.

 

Since you're staying at the Super 8 next to the outlet malls, you could just take a right as you leave the outlet mall complex and take the very next left, and take Highway 6 into Lincoln. It'll add maybe 10 minutes onto your drive, but you'll drive through a couple of small towns and get the feel of more rural Nebraska - if you're into that kind of thing.

I'd be all for avoiding the traffic and taking a scenic route. Thanks!

 

And thanks for the dinner invitations, we'll politely decline, but thank you.

 

I'm looking forward to the trip now because everyone on here seems willing to help an out of state visitor have a good time.

[GSG]

 

There are no good pizza joints in Lincoln. If you want fantastic pizza come to my house on Friday and I'll make you a pie, regular, thin-crust or deep-dish.

 

 

If that's the case, come to my house and I'll make "runzas" that will blow Runza's runzas out of the water! Runza!

 

My mom made, by all accounts, the "best" runzas ever, and I hated them. Something about hamburger roasted with cabbage in a bread pocket just has never appealed to me.

 

I was kinda waiting for someone to say something like this. I grew up eating a lot of German/Russian/Irish cuisine, so I like things like runzas (we just call them cabbage burgers) are pretty popular in our family. When my uncle comes back from Texas he eats a Runza runza almost every day while he's home.

 

Having said that, if I go out of town, I'm not getting fast food unless it's just drunk food after the bar.

[knapplc]

And thanks for the dinner invitations, we'll politely decline, but thank you.

 

[74Hunter]

If you are staying in Gretna, theres not much there besides Runza, lol. But head down highway six, and you'll hit Parkers Smokehouse about two miles west of Ashland. They have good food and beer. Also, you could try Linoma Beach if it's still open. They supposedly have good steak, it's on hgwy six just east of Ashland and the Platte River. There is also Round the Bend steakhouse on highway sixty six between Ashland and South Bend. I've heard that mahoney state park by ashland is good too.

[Kruzu]

Most people from out of state aren't fond of runzas, it is bit of an aquired taste. I recommend the valentinos pizza at the game.

 

Is it weird that I love Runzas but I find Val's pizza to be disgusting?

 

Nope. I completely agree. Val's gives me heartburn. The sauce is terrible.

Yup, the sauce...tis bad.

[Guy Chamberlin]

I was kidding about Gretna.

 

There is no reason to stay there unless every other place in Eastern Nebraska is booked.

 

If you're looking for the College Football experience, spend a couple extra bucks and get an equally crappy motel anywhere in Lincoln.

[TripOfALifetime]

I was kidding about Gretna.

 

There is no reason to stay there unless every other place in Eastern Nebraska is booked.

 

If you're looking for the College Football experience, spend a couple extra bucks and get an equally crappy motel anywhere in Lincoln.

Pretty much everything was booked in Lincoln or more than 2 times the price of what we are paying in Gretna. Gretna is only 30 minutes away and last year we stayed over 1 hour away from State College, PA in Johnstown, PA so we're already doing better this year.

 

Post game - do people leave the lots right away, or do they sit around and have a couple beers waiting for the lots to thin out and possibly fire up the grill again.

[knapplc]

Depends on what time the game is. If it's a 7pm game almost everyone will pack up and leave. A lot of people tailgate and never go into the game at all, so there should be folks around the lots if it's an afternoon/11am game.

[bbeerma2]

Most younger people I know tailgate before and hit up the downtown after. Embassy Suites is usually packed after the games. On the earlier kickoffs (2:30 or 11:00) people tend to sit around there and watch the other games on the t.v.s. It's a bit pricey though and you'd probably do better to hit up the typical bars. Barry's is going to close (unless a new owner keeps it the same) after the season and has been ranked as one of the top places nationally so for history's sake it would be worth a visit.

[amezu29674]

Runza in Runza right back out.

[Malth]

Runzas are great, but Runza's runzas are meh, imo. I grew up eating homemade runza's, and I thought the fast food version was pretty underwhelming.