My "Best of Omaha" Calculation ~ Sarah Eats Omaha

My friend Courtney gave me this great idea to do a post on which area of town has the best restaurant. It may come as no surprise to some that I have my biases already (Midtown for life!) but being of an analytically-inclined mind, I had to do the calculations to be sure.

Then things got a little crazier.

Inspired by the Yelp 100 list, and the popularity contest that is the annual 'Best of Omaha' I thought it would be a good idea to also figure out what the top places to Eat in Omaha were!

This list was created with Yelp's listing of the restaurants in Omaha, sorted by 'Highest Rated'. I made a spreadsheet an took the top 200 listings, and calculated a score for each based on the average rating and number of reviews. This was a little tricky and is totally arbitrary, but I think came up with a reasonable result which didn't unfairly rank places with 5.0 ratings and 5 reviews higher than places with 4.5 rankings and 100 reviews.

I didn't include the Culvers and Which-Wich chain-type places that were included in the top 200. Or things that I don't think qualify as 'restaurants' - awesome though they maybe - like Howlin' Hounds, International Bakery or Jacobo's. I also tried to exclude places that have more than 5 locations (Bonefish Grill, Sullivan's Steakhouse) in an attempt to answer the "what qualifies as a chain" question.

Also, I deleted duplicates (sorry Abelardo's and the many iterations of Blue Sushi) and - this was a difficult decision - places with less than 10 reviews (sorry Mariscos los Willy's). To handle score ties I also sorted by average rating, then # of reviews. I also feel the need to point out that these are NOT my favorite restaurants, or even necessarily an endorsement, but it's certainly a better indicator than rating alone or popularity alone.

Here's what I came up with for our Top 150 (because 100 just wasn't enough!) Interestingly enough, I have only been to 127 of these restaurants. There are probably better ways to do the formula, so bear with me on this first 'Best of' iteration.

The 150 "Best" Restaurants in Omaha

Rank	Yelp	Restaurant	Avg.	#	Score
1	33	M’s Pub	4.0	222	622
2	3	Stella’s Bar & Grill	4.5	167	617
3	108	Upstream Brewing Company	3.5	266	616
4	9	The Drover	4.0	214	614
5	7	The Boiler Room	4.5	144	594
6	2	The Grey Plume	4.5	130	580
7	5	Block 16	4.5	125	575
8	37	Pitch Coal-fire Pizzeria	4.0	173	573
9	11	Dario’s Brasserie	4.5	104	554
10	15	Amsterdam Falafel & Kabob	4.0	149	549
11	6	Lot 2 Restaurant Wine Bar	4.5	88	538
12	46	Plank Seafood Provisions	4.0	135	535
13	8	Kitchen Table	4.5	77	527
14	21	Leo’s Diner	4.5	73	523
15	14	Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant	4.5	72	522
16	17	Mother India	4.0	121	521
17	95	Blue Sushi Sake Grill	3.5	170	520
18	12	801 Chophouse	4.0	117	517
19	30	Saigon Surface	4.0	114	514
20	4	Mahogany Prime Steakhouse	4.5	59	509
21	18	Taqueria Tijuana	4.5	58	508
22	16	Crescent Moon Ale House	4.0	104	504
23	10	Laos Thai Market	4.5	52	502
24	19	La Buvette Wine & Grocery	4.0	100	500
25	26	Mangia Italiana	4.5	48	498
26	49	Marks Bistro	4.0	98	498
27	31	Big Mama’s Kitchen	4.0	98	498
28	39	Avoli Osteria	4.5	43	493
29	122	Twisted Fork Grill and Bar	3.5	141	491
30	38	Taita	4.5	40	490
31	75	Korean Grill	4.5	38	488
32	65	Lisa’s Radial Cafe	4.0	87	487
33	20	The Salty Dog Bar & Grill	4.5	35	485
34	27	Hartland Bar-B-Que	4.0	85	485
35	62	Dixie Quicks	4.0	85	485
36	107	California Tacos & More	3.5	131	481
37	22	Maru Sushi & Korean Grill	4.0	80	480
38	69	McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe	3.5	129	479
39	43	Nicola’s	4.0	78	478
40	66	Espana Restaurant	4.0	78	478
41	60	Pizza King	4.5	27	477
42	28	Twisted Cork Bistro	4.0	77	477
43	23	Thai Kitchen	4.5	26	476
44	51	John’s Grecian Delight	4.5	26	476
45	24	Blatt Beer & Table	4.0	76	476
46	64	Hiro 88	4.0	75	475
47	45	Jackson Street Tavern	4.0	73	473
48	34	Golden Palace	4.5	21	471
49	59	Shuck’s Fish House & Oyster Bar	4.0	71	471
50	68	El Basha	4.0	71	471
51	89	Time Out Foods	4.5	20	470
52	71	Bangkok Cuisine	4.0	68	468
53	52	Localmotive Food Truck	4.5	17	467
54	41	Jams	4.0	67	467
56	86	Star Deli	4.5	14	464
57	83	Zio’s Pizzeria	4.0	64	464
58	168	Sam’s-Leon Mexican Supplies	4.5	13	463
59	187	Harold’s Koffee House	4.5	13	463
60	85	Dinker’s Bar	4.0	62	462
61	189	Morning, Noon, & Night	4.5	11	461
62	74	Salween Thai	4.0	61	461
63	47	Wilson & Washburn	4.0	58	458
64	78	New Gold Mountain	4.0	58	458
65	84	Bailey’s	4.0	58	458
66	35	Flavors	4.0	57	457
67	57	Louie M’s Burger Lust	4.0	56	456
68	88	Flatiron Cafe	4.0	56	456
69	105	Marrakech Gourmet	4.0	55	455
70	73	Abelardos Mexican Food	4.0	53	453
71	123	11-Worth Cafe	4.0	53	453
72	100	Sakura Bana	4.0	52	452
73	167	Vivace	3.5	101	451
74	145	Bohemian Cafe	4.0	50	450
75	104	Dundee Dell	3.5	100	450
76	56	Swine Dining	4.0	49	449
77	29	French Bulldog	4.0	49	449
78	102	Azteca	4.0	48	448
79	157	7M Grill	4.0	48	448
80	114	Spezia	4.0	46	446
81	36	Boxer Barbeque Co	4.0	46	446
82	127	Lazlo’s Brewery and Grill	4.0	45	445
83	90	Dudley’s Pizza & Tavern	4.0	45	445
84	32	Ragazzi’s Pizza	4.0	44	444
85	98	Oscar’s Pizza & Sports Grill	4.0	43	443
86	110	Eat the Worm	4.0	43	443
87	148	Roja Mexican Grill + Margarita Bar	3.5	93	443
88	164	Tokyo Sushi	4.0	42	442
89	87	Sushi Japan	4.0	42	442
90	42	Mai Thai	4.0	42	442
91	82	Wave Bistro	4.0	40	440
92	141	Netties Fine Mexican Food	4.0	39	439
93	131	Brazen Head Irish Pub	4.0	39	439
94	97	Taxi’s Grille & Bar	4.0	38	438
95	109	Nosh Wine Lounge	4.0	37	437
96	161	Railcar Modern American Kitchen	4.0	36	436
97	58	Dolce	4.0	36	436
98	76	Worker’s Takeout	4.0	35	435
99	150	V Mertz	4.0	35	435
101	99	Canton House	4.0	35	435
102	134	Thai Spice	4.0	34	434
103	112	Over Easy	4.0	34	434
104	101	Mantra Bar & Grill	4.0	34	434
105	48	Katie’s Restaurant & Taverna	4.0	34	434
106	195	Malara’s	4.0	33	433
107	106	Tanduri Fusion	4.0	32	432
108	192	Pla Too Thai	4.0	32	432
109	55	Orsi’s Italian Bakery	4.0	32	432
110	166	Kobe Steakhouse of Japan	4.0	31	431
111	61	Ethiopian Restaurant	4.0	31	431
112	116	Le Voltaire	4.0	30	430
113	152	Bulldog Burgers	4.0	30	430
114	165	Le Bouillon	4.0	29	429
115	151	Legacy Gyros	4.0	28	428
116	113	JC Mandarin	4.0	28	428
117	124	Pudgy’s Pizzeria	4.0	26	426
118	179	Okinawa Sushi	4.0	26	426
119	156	Jim & Jennie’s Greek Village	4.0	25	425
120	178	China Buffet	4.0	24	424
121	139	Beyond BBQ	4.0	24	424
122	153	Rivera’s	3.5	74	424
123	197	Thai Orchids	4.0	23	423
124	162	Shirley’s Diner	4.0	22	422
125	184	Vietnamese Restaurant	4.0	21	421
126	128	Gerda’s Bakery	4.0	21	421
127	103	Caribbean Delights	4.0	21	421
128	190	Vidlak’s Brookside Cafe	4.0	18	418
129	129	Taqueria La Esmeralda	4.0	18	418
130	147	El Rancho	4.0	18	418
131	193	El Alamo	4.0	18	418
132	135	Dante Pizzeria Napoletana	3.5	67	417
133	137	Los Portales	4.0	16	416
134	130	House of Hunan	4.0	16	416
135	163	Ethnic Sandwich Shop	4.0	15	415
136	144	The Jaipur	3.5	64	414
137	169	La Casa Pizzaria	3.5	63	413
138	136	Jimi D’s	3.5	61	411
139	132	J Coco	3.5	57	407
140	125	Ponzu Sushi & Grill	3.5	56	406
141	94	Sinful Burger Sports Grill	3.5	55	405
142	154	Rice Bowl	3.5	54	404
143	172	Vietnamese Asian Restaurant	3.5	51	401
144	121	Benson Brewery	3.5	48	398
145	138	Sgt Peffers Cafe Italian	3.5	47	397
146	115	Guaca Maya	3.5	47	397
147	158	Wheatfields Eatery and Bakery	3.0	97	397
148	171	Three Happiness Express	3.5	46	396
149	117	Salt	3.5	46	396
150	159	Mama’s Pizza	3.5	46	396

Neighborhoods

And what about that neighborhood thing? From the list above, I next needed to list which neighborhood each were in. (Luckily I could do this mostly from memory, which saved some time).

To do this, I had to decide which neighborhoods to use, and to keep it simple I originally used the Visit Omaha website and was going to use:

Downtown Omaha

20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east, and Leavenworth Street on the south to Cuming Street on the north.

North Omaha

Cuming Street on the south, Read Street on the north, 72nd Street to the west, and East Omaha and Carter Lake, Iowa to the east

East Omaha

The Missouri River on the east, the Carter Lake and Carter Lake, Iowa on the south, and Florence Boulevard from Jaynes Street north to Read Street on the west.

South Omaha

Dodge Street on the north, Harrison Street on the south, the Missouri River on the east, and 72nd Street on the west

Midtown Omaha

Cuming Street on the north, Center Street on the south, 24th Street on the east, and Saddle Creek Road on the west.

West Omaha

Traditionally all areas of Omaha west of 72nd Street, but by the early 21st century 72nd Street to I-680 is often considered Central Omaha

But that seemed too simplistic, plus the definitions were a little arbitrary and up for debate. So, I decided it'd be much more fun to just make a big Google Map of these restaurants and let people decide for themselves. It's kind of a toss-up depending on where you draw the boundaries. Enjoy!

August 07, 2014