Fine dining has no ‘limits’
By Gerry Beltz
Restaurant critic
The weather is nice, your stom
ncii is empty, and you want to go
]’ r ' drive, but you’ve eaten at
• *ery ife and restaurant in the
city.
No problem. Just head out of
the city limits to find some very
fine dining opportunities.
Mamasitas, 605 Monroe, in
Bennet (about a 20-minute drive
southeast of City Campus; take
Highway 2 to Highway 43, then
turn right), serves excellent
Mexican food at a reasonable
price, and it’s all homemade! The
chips, salsa, everything is made
from scratch, said owner Dennis
Gardner. When you go into
Mamasitas, the chips are already
waiting at the table for you, and
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mild salsa. (A word of warning: I
like spicy Mexican food and hot
sauce as much as the next person,
but this hot sauce just about pick
leu my giblets permanently!)
I ordered the combination plat
ter #2 (taco, enchilada and chile
relleno, with rice and beans) and
an iced tea and dinner salad and
still paid less than 10 bucks for a
VERY filling and tasty meal.
Dennis came over and chatted with
me for a while, passing on some of
the history behind Mamasitas,
which will celebrate its seventh
birthday in November. Also, I sam
pled the mole (pronounced moe
lay) sauce, which is a mild
Mexican sauce with a chocolate
base.
Mamasitas also offers both
domestic and Mexican beers and
margaritas made “only with Jose
Cuervo Gold tequila,” Gardner
boasts.
Overall grade: A
Not in the mood for burritos?
Well, then, head west to ...
Merle’s Food and Drink (8250
West O St., about 10 minutes due
of City Campus) isn’t very
fancy, but again, the food is
absolutely scrumptious. To cele
brate payday, I opted for the
Merle’s Special (12 oz. ribeye
steak with potato, salad, bread and
tea for $10.95) and could barely
finish the meal. Homemade bread
definitely added to the experience,
along with a well-cooked steak.
Merle’s also offers prime rib,
seafood and pork, as well as both
on- and off-sale alcoholic bever
ages. A wide variety of appetizers,
including breaded veggies and buf
falo wings, are also on the menu.
The menus are very cool as well
- just chock full of information
about both Merle’s (which once
housed Emerald’s second post
office) and the town of Emerald.
Overall grade: B+
Still haven’t worked the driving
out of your system? Well, about
seven minutes due south of
Emerald is...
Denton’s Daily Double
Steakhouse (about 20 minutes
southwest of Lincoln at 7230
Lancaster) not only features fine
food, but loads of keno and pickle
cards as well! I grabbed the club
house steak special (only $8.95 for
steak, pile of potato wedges, salad,
roll and drink) and was pleasantly
pleased with the cut and size of
steak I received. The menu here
had a wider variety of dinner selec
tions available, but the prices
weren’t that different. The staff
members were very helpful; they
even walked me through my first
keno entry (which I lost, natural
ly). Weekly specials include prime
rib and margaritas.
Overall grade: A
Obviously, there are more
places to eat than the few listed
above. Also recommended is the
Branched Oak Inn (about 15 min
utes northwest of Lincoln at
Branched Oak Lake), or - for the
truly adventurous - you can make
the 90-minute trek to Hastings
f due west on T-80t and visit the
O.K. Cafe for one of the world’s
best hot roast beef sandwiches.
The one common factor I have
found throughout all of these visits
is that while there may be little dif
ference among the prices of restau
rants in and outside of Lincoln, the
food is almost always homemade
and tastier outside, thus making
the journey much more worth
while.
Now go forth and munch!
I
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Aaron Steckelberg/DN
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Stage is set for 1997-98
theater performances
By Liza Holtmeier
Senior Reporter
The old and the new will share
the stage this year during the UNL
theater department’s 1997-98 sea
son.
“As always, our goal is to pro
vide positive professional training
for actors and technicians and pro
vide a wide range of experiences,”
said Juliana Hagemeier, theater
manager for the Department of
Theatre Arts and Dance. “People
have the opportunity to do and see a
wide variety, from classical reperto
ry to contemporary work.”
The diverse Main Stage season
begins in October with George
Bernard Shaw’s “Misalliance.” The
show is a witty conversation
between two families brought
together by their engaged-to-be
married children. The play takes
place on the countrv estate of a man
made rich by selling underwear. The
plot thickens as a female Polish
acrobat, a pilot and a would-be mur
derer enter the scene. Directed by
Tice Miller, the play will be in the
Howell Theatre from Oct. 10-18.
Student tickets are $6.
The second fall Main Stage
show is Sam Sheperd’s “A Lie of the
Mind,” directed by Paul Steger. This
play, revolving around two families
and their married children, details
how the families come together after
domestic violence breaks out
between their children. The show
runs Oct. 31-Nov. 8 in the Studio
Theatre. Student tickets are $6.
The semester’s final Main Stage
show is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
“Oklahoma!” With songs such as
“Oklahoma!,” “Oh, What a
Beautiful Mornin’!” and “Surrey
With the Fringe on Top,” this show
tells a tale of young love and
tragedy. The show is a collaboration
between the theater and music
departments and the Lied Center for
Performing Arts. It will show at 8
p.m. from Dec. 11-13, and at 2 p.m.
on Dec. 14 in Kimball Recital Hall.
Student tickets are $11 and $7.50.
The spring semester Main Stage
performances include John
Osborne’s “Look Back in Anger” in
the Howell Theatre, Christopher
Marlowe’s “Dr. Faustus” in the
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the Johnny Carson Theater, and
“Arcadia” by Tom Stoppard in the
Howell Theatre.
This season, the theater depart
ment will institute Main Stage stu
dent previews for theater, dance and
art students who are required to see
the shows. These previews will be
the night before the show’s public
opening, and admission is $5. All
Main Stage shows will have pre
views, except for “Oklahoma!”
The Theatrix season, UNL’s sec
ond stage, also begins in October
with “Minor Demons,” written by
Bruce Graham and directed by
Michael Rothmayer. The play focus
Please see THEATER on 45
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13th & M St. (across from the Cornhusker Hotel) 474-1974
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