Nightlife - Omaha Nightlife
Nightlife in Omaha is defined by good food, tasty drinks, lots of live music, and venues loaded with personality. The scenes, divided by neighborhoods, each offer a distinct style and vibe. The Old Market area is constantly popular, and each weekend people who don’t live downtown can count on driving around for at least a little while before finding a place to park. Bars downtown are often connected to restaurants, but many are worth a visit even if you’re only after a cocktail.
Midtown Omaha is home to a lot of dive bars, live music venues, and Omaha classics, including bars that have been standards for years and years. The new Midtown Crossing and Aksarben Village developments have brought lots of new hotspots to the city, and these two areas—one around 30th Street, the other around 60th Street—have suddenly become really popular. Blingy bars and swank lounges are the word of the day in West Omaha, and these newer outfits attract a mixed crowd of singles, young professionals, and older people out for an after-dinner drink.
What’s clear about the nightlife scene is that it offers a wide array of diverse options: No matter what you’re after, you’ll find it.
Overview
This chapter presents a wide range of nightlife options, including bars, clubs, dance halls, and cinemas listed by geographic area of the city. There are, of course, lots of other options to be discovered in Omaha, and some of those are listed in the Arts chapter. The legal drinking age in Nebraska is 21, as in the rest of the United States. There are also plenty of restaurants in Omaha that are popular nightlife destinations; those are listed in the vast restaurants’ chapter. This chapter focuses on listings of places where food is not the main draw. In some cases, restaurants with attached bars are mentioned, and that is because I felt they were exceptional enough to be mentioned. In those cases, the venue is listed in both the restaurants chapter and here in the nightlife chapter.
Most bars in Omaha don’t charge a cover, but when live music or dancing is involved, patrons can expect to pay anywhere from $3 to $20 for admission to a club or for a ticket to see a show.
Both Omaha and Lincoln are fairly spread out, and public transportation is limited. If you plan to go out drinking, be sure to use a designated driver or plan ahead by calling a taxi to get you to and from your bar or club safely. If you are a vacationer and plan to experience a lot of local nightlife, it might be wise to arrange your lodging options in the area you plan to visit most.
1. Blue Jay
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 345-1979
Address: 2416 Davenport St.
Description: For fans of Creighton University sports, the Blue Jay is the go-to spot for post-game drinks. The recently remodeled bar is much improved from its former self, and the owners brought back food service after not offering snacks for a number of years. On non-game nights, the bar is predictably a huge hangout for Creighton students and alumni.
2. Dubliner Pub
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 342-5887
Address: 1205 Harney St.
Description: A big, kelly green rock marks the entrance to the Dubliner Pub, announcing its Irish heritage to everyone who passes by on the street. The basement bar is popular year-round (though, obviously, especially on St. Patrick’s Day). The house band, The Turfmen, plays at least once a month, and their spirited Irish tunes keep the crowd on its toes year-round.
3. Farrell’S
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 884-8818
Address: 902 Dodge St.
Description: The main draw at Farrell’s is easy to see when you walk in the door: A group of comfortably worn-in leather chairs sit in front of a wall of television sets that display every big game taking place each night. Free wireless Internet means patrons can check their fantasy teams while they tune into the games, and a selection of tasty bar food along with a nightly happy hour makes Farrell’s a popular downtown destination for sporting events. In the spring and fall months, an outdoor fire pit surrounded by tables is a popular destination when the evenings are cool.
4. The Foundation
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 905-2270
Address: 1407 Howard St.
Description: One of downtown Omaha’s most recent additions, The Foundation is a popular after work hangout for the city’s young professionals. Nightly specials—Monday night is “guys’ night,” Tuesday is “service industry night—draw in mixed crowds. The Boxcar grill serves a variety of snacks, sandwiches, and other bar standards, and the bar has more than 100 bottled beers and 25 rotating tap selections. Pool tables live on the second floor.
5. French Cafe
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 341-3547
Address: 1017 Howard St.
Insider Pick:
Description: Though mostly known as a restaurant, the French Cafe has a charming bar on the east side that’s a quiet spot for those after a pre-or post-dinner cocktail. The bar side doesn’t have a set menu, though it serves the by-the-glass wine list that also serves the restaurant, and patrons can get just about any cocktail they desire from the vast selection of spirits. The amazing vintage bar is backed by a sheet of glass that lends a glimpse into the restaurant side, and patrons can get a glimpse of the beautiful wall of black and white photography shot in Parisian markets by Omaha transplant Vera Mercer (also owner of La Buvette).
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Address: 1008 Howard St.
7. La Buvette
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 344-8627
Address: 511 S. 11th St.
Insider Pick:
Description: La Buvette is a little slice of Paris transplanted to Omaha. In the spring and summer, and during the downtown Omaha Farmers’ Market Saturdays, its outdoor patio is the place to be, early afternoon to night, for a glass of wine or coffee. In the cooler winter months, its cozy interior, with uneven stone floor, creaky antique wood tables and chairs, and hundreds of bottles of wine lit by candlelight are indescribably lovely. Most wines by the glass (there’s at least 20 on the menu daily) run less than $7, and any of the bottles can be corked for $4 and consumed on-site. The atmosphere is artsy and diverse, and though the service isn’t always fast, La Buvette is a lovely place to sit, people watch, and enjoy good wine at a leisurely pace.
8. Mr. Toad
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 345-4488
Address: 1002 Howard St.
Description: Mr. Toad is like a library, but with drinking. Books line the walls of this downtown spot that’s decidedly cozy in the fall and winter; the bar’s outdoor patio—one of the Old Market’s best—sits on a prime corner and is packed in spring and summer. In the fall and winter, the special coffee is the drink to order.
9. Nomad Lounge
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 884-1231
Address: 1013 Jones St.
Description: Candles, velvet curtains, lots of wood and pulsating music make Nomad Lounge the one true club in the Old Market. Regular events for things like New Year’s Eve, Halloween, and other holidays often feature waitresses clad in body paint and not much more, along with cocktails created specially for each event. Resident DJs spin a wide variety of music; it’s always progressive and can include deep house, trip hop, afro beat, disco, indie rock, and more. A gallery space, in the back of the bar, plays host to a regularly rotating docket of local artists who mostly exhibit two-dimensional work. A portion of all sales from the gallery go to support local charities.
10. O’Connors
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 934-9790
Address: 1217 Howard St.
Description: A countdown clock to March 17 is the first thing a viewer sees on O’Connor’s website, and the Irish spirit at this supposedly haunted downtown bar is no joke. During the annual downtown Omaha St. Pat’s Day parade, O’Connors is one of the most popular stops and is right in the center of the holiday madness as the evening begins. The current bar owner, Katie O’Connor, will tell you that the second floor of the space—which used to be a hardware store—is haunted by the friendly spirit of its original owner.
11. Rose And Crown
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 346-8242
Address: 515 S. 20th St.
Insider Pick:
Description: A sort of hidden gem right outside downtown Omaha, the Rose and Crown has a stellar outdoor patio complete with a handful of tables and old shade trees. It’s off the major streets downtown and the fenced patio isn’t visible from the street, but once you find it, you’ll go back. Regular specials on beer and drinks and a neighborhood crowd make Rose and Crown a casual downtown hideaway.
12. Sake Bombers Lounge
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 408-5566
Address: 416 S. 12th St.
Description: On the second level of downtown’s Blue Sushi is Sake Bombers Lounge—a fun and funky space with mod decor, red lights, great views of the Old Market from a window seat, and daily happy hours, including an all day happy hour on Sunday. Food is on special, but drinks are too: half-price martinis (the bar offers more than 20 exclusive house blends), cold sake or Morimoto Soba Ale, and $3 sake bombs included. Happy hours run Mon through Sat from 4 to 6:30 p.m., Fri and Sat from 10:30 p.m. to midnight, and Sun from noon to 8 p.m.
13. Slowdown
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 345-7575
Address: 729 N. 14th St.
Description: A show almost every week of the night, weekly events like pub quiz and science cafe, and regular drink specials make the Slowdown one of north downtown’s most popular live music venues. On the rare night that nothing is happening at Slowdown, the free jukebox filled with great music and a shelf of dog-eared board and card games keep patrons busy.
14. Urban Wine Company
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 934-0005
Address: 1037 Jones St.
Description: With hundreds of glasses available by bottle and a regular selection of boutique wines available by the glass along with a great happy hour menu special, Urban Wine Company has become a popular downtown Omaha destination. The atmosphere is rugged and slick at the same time, and the outdoor patio is a popular seat in warm weather—it’s recently been expanded to allow for more seating. The meat and cheese flight goes great with one of the two-ounce or five-ounce wine flights, which allow patrons to choose between red, white, or a mix. Appetizers are sized (and priced) for sharing. Locals who love wine might consider the annual wine club membership, which includes regular tastings and events and free and discounted bottles of wine.
15. Brothers
City: Omaha, NE
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (402) 553-9744
Address: 3812 Farnam St.
Description: Brothers bar is a hipster’s dream. The dingy interior is flecked with kitschy decor. A couple of pool tables and an excellent jukebox are the bar’s signature activities, and its signature drink is Moscow mules served in freezing cold copper mugs. A sometimes venue for occasional live music, Brothers is a locally owned joint (not to be confused with the big-time chain of the same name). It’s one of midtown’s most popular stops.