City: Omaha, NE

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (402) 558-5010

Address: 6405 Center St.

Description: Sammy Amato started selling his signature sausage and pepper sandwiches out of a county fair booth (as told on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) and now he runs a popular diner out of midtown Omaha. He’s making those sandwiches the same way he always has: a hoagie bun toasted with garlic, handmade sausage (that he makes every day), and a sauce made of peppers and house-made marinara. His signature chicken fried steak sandwich is also doused in the pepper-marinara mix, topped with cheese and double breaded before it’s cooked. The inside of Amato’s isn’t anything fancy—simple diner chairs and red tables—but its hearty, homemade food is the star anyway. Amato’s famous ricotta pancakes are another staple, and Sammy makes the cheese, based on his mother’s recipe, every day, and puts it in pancake batter along with a handful of fresh blueberries, then cooks it on a hot griddle. If you really want to go for it, top your pancake with a fried egg and enjoy.