Martha’s Pick:

Brownie’s Bar and Grill
125 E 2nd St (Papillion)
Fare: Bar food
Cost: $30 for one appetizer and two meals
Reservations: Not needed

Greetings, Eaters and Readers!

For this month’s pick, I knew more about where I wanted to dine than what I wanted to eat. I felt like I always heard a constant buzz about downtown Papillion. After our recent visit to Sauced by Alfaro’s, and quickly looking up and down the main street, I could tell that stretch of road offered quite a few options and I knew we’d be back. My turn to pick, I landed on Brownie’s Bar and Grill after a quick map and restaurant search. I can’t say anything specific jumped out at me except that it seemed like a comfy old neighborhood watering hole. We hoped to find a good mix of drinks and solid bar food inside when we met up on a recent Tuesday.

Onion rings ($5.49) — half order

Both Jaclyn and I had done the dumb thing of eating a later lunch. That usually sets us up to be more full than we would prefer when we have one of our blog dinners. Because of that, we opted to split a half order of the onion rings. Though the quantity was halved, the size of the rings were generous. Personally, I thought they were already lukewarm when they got to us and I didn’t find the coating to be particularly crispy. If I’m going to love an onion ring, I need fresh, warm, crispy – and these missed those marks for me.

But we didn’t have too much time to be whelmed or underwhelmed because however long it took our server to walk from our table, back to the kitchen, and back to our table – we were being served our main course sandwiches. In hindsight, our onion rings were probably a victim of being ready and waiting a little too long. We gave this all a spoonful of forgiveness though: our server had told us it was her very first shift and the place was definitely buzzing with the dinner crowd.

Brownie’s BLT ($9.49) — Mounds of bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo on toasted egg pane bread

Jaclyn was boring and got the BLT. I say boring because what can you really say about it? She says she likes her homemade version better – but only because Rotella’s makes the perfect bookends to this summer classic sando. So, even though she ate it all, Jac says she’ll just stick to what she knows she likes.

French Dip ($10.99) — Thinly sliced hot roast beef and swiss cheese on a warm hoagie bun with Au Jus

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a dozen times: I am in the middle of a personal quest to try any and all of Omaha’s French Dips. Although a few other items on the menu tried to catch my eye, I ordered Brownie’s take on the beefy sandwich and waited eagerly. I think what I’ve learned throughout my FDQ – my French Dip Quest, if you will – is that the bread is nearly as important as the meat. I’m sure every appetite is different, but I need a perfectly crunchy-soft-warm-toasty vehicle for my thinly sliced roast beef. So right off the bat, this bun was not that. It wasn’t toasty at all, though it was soft enough.

The roast beef was middle of the road – it could have been warmer with a bit more moisture. If I used the Au Jus sauce, it just made my bread soggy and that overpowered the whole bite. Next time I visit Brownies – which might be more for friends and drink than a meal – I would pass on this French Dip.

Final Bites

We’re sure there’s a reason Brownie’s has maintained its place in the Papillion main street neighborhood. They proudly boast that they’ve been in business since 1983. That’s a huge accomplishment! We didn’t sit outside, but we could see their large patio and could definitely picture some fine, cool, not-too-hot summer evenings out there. And we think that’s probably Brownie’s sweet spot – a solid “on your way to anywhere” location for locals to meet and catch up over a good drink. We’ll even leave the door open to the possibility that we just didn’t order their strongest culinary offerings. So if anyone wants to meet us at Brownie’s – we’ll see ya there. But we’ll be the Good Bite Gals on the patio, sticking to the beers and cocktails until someone can tell us the better menu items to order.

Cheers!
The Good Bite Gals

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