Pub Grub and Upscale
Cunningham’s offers the best of worlds at its bar and restaurant
By Jim Delmont
Cunningham’s is a sports bar-cum-restaurant where you can have pub grub on one side and upscale fare on the other – or the reverse. The large sports bar side offers the same menu as the smaller, adjacent restaurant. It’s a dual, side-by-side operation that has a big sports bar cheek by jowl with a smaller, white tablecloth bistro operation, tabbed Cunningham’s grill.
This has been the concept for owner Imojean Richards since the place opened about a year ago with chef Jere Jenkins at the helm. The chef today is Matt O’Brien, a veteran of both fine dining spots and pubs/taverns. A hands-on chef, as he puts it, O’Brien has greatly expanded the menu, adding pizza, plus nachos and other sports bar favorites, and some outstanding beef choices. Among the latter, but available only on Fridays and Saturdays, is a sensational bargain and a real treat: smoked prime rib (12 oz.) with “loaded” mashed potatoes and slender, crisp green beans “al dente” for just $18. This is a tender, succulent prime rib, with just a scent of smoke in its flavor. It is dry-rubbed with crushed black pepper, salt, Worcestershire and rosemary, then sets 24 hours and is smoked four hours.
The availability of some fancy fare on both sides leads to interesting possibilities: “You’ll see customers eating the prime rib at one table in the pub, while next to them folks are enjoying nachos or wings,” said Derek Richards, Imojean’s son and the manager of the restaurant. “We want people to have a really great dining experience here, at an independent Omaha restaurant,” he added.
Well, there are not many (if any) sports bars where you can order up beef medallions with a Jameson Irish whisky demi-glace, Mediterranean chicken with artichokes and crimini mushrooms, coconut-breaded jumbo shrimp, pesto shrimp pasta, or grilled Portobello mushrooms with balsamic glaze. If you’re not in the mood for such elevated fare, try four kinds of pizza, nachos, half-pound burgers, various sandwich wraps, fish ‘n chips, lots of beer-battered items, hummus with pita chips, various salads, a Reuben, a Philly sandwich, tuna and club melts, or even a pulled-pork sandwich.
But the strongest offering in the sports bar mode are the wings. A big favorite with customers, the wings are marinated for two days, smoked twice, then grilled – not fried (a pound is $7, two pounds, $13). The heat can be turned up, seasoning-wise, at your request. A new version has a grainy peanut butter flavor; the barbecue version is sweet but not heavy ;and the 4-alarm fire version will test your mettle. They have a new hot smoker for the wings (“they never touch a fryer,” O’Brien said, “and are super moist and juicy”).
“This is food you wouldn’t expect,” Derek said. “ it’s not generic bar food. People can come by for a game totally informal or someone like a lawyer in a suit can go to the white tablecloth side, in a quieter environment and have pub food with a glass of good wine.”
The calamari are hands-down the best in town. First, they are huge – and tender. So often calamari is chewy, tough, rubbery. Not here – they melt in your mouth, artfully glazed with a home-made tempura batter and served with a sweet-hot chili dipping sauce ($8) with tiny drops of Chinese mustard. Shrimp Havarti (a $12 appetizer) swim in a pesto-butter sauce that is delicious, with melted Havarti cheese – flanked by chunks of crusty French bread. The house salad is a mix of tender romaine and field greens with dried cranberries, candied pecan bits, feta cheese, all anointed with a tasty balsamic dressing and topped with shredded fresh parmesan ($4 small; $7 large, a reduction in price from a previous visit). Prices here are about the same, item for item, as a year ago.
Fish ‘n chips are unusual: lightly battered walleye filets, served with cole slaw, a citrus tartar sauce, dill potato chips and a beer battered pickle spear – all for $14 (but watch for tiny bones, as in all filets other than salmon, which never seems to have any, at home or in restaurants). Half pound burgers are all around $8 and adventurous – jalapeno pepper, cheddar-bacon, Swiss mushroom and others, with a potpourri of add-ons at only 35 cents each (there is even a veggie burger).
A tuna melt is $8, a Reuben also $8, ditto the Philly sandwich, a club melt $9, and several other sandwiches under $10. At Cunningham’s they cook their own corned beef, serve hand-patted burgers, and kettle-cook jalapeno chips, then crush them for batter for the Thursday lunch special breaded pork loin that is topped with sliced ham, pepper-bacon, lettuce, tomato and lemon aioli (mayonnaise). The pulled pork sandwich ($8.50) is made from pork rubbed with sugar and salt, marinated overnight, then smoked.
New items include a smooth, creamy, rich spinach and artichoke dip ($8), served with warm pumpernickel slices and pita chips. A soup of the day – a creamy jalapeno and chicken concoction with jack cheese was worthy of a much more expensive restaurant – elegant, with a touch of heat. Wait for cooler weather and try the Guinness-braised beef stew, tangy, with an orange-red broth. A real treat here are the coconut shrimp, available in an $8 salad or as an entrée at $14. The salad has tender field greens, the crunchy battered shrimp, a lively raspberry vinaigrette, plus avocadoes, tomatoes, candied almonds and red oinion – the sweet flavors are offset slightly by a topping of Havarti cheese. It’s good enough to be a light, offbeat dessert!
As an entrée, the coconut battered shrimp are drizzled with a raspberry glaze, served with an unusual, tasty risotto that is chewy with coconut. Many items here are very rich – the pizzas are thick, heavy with ingredients, including a meat-dominated sliced smoked ribeye with sweet, caramelized onions and the sharp flavor of green peppers, topped with mozzarella and almost hidden horseradish sauce.
The Thai chicken pizza is equally rich, with Thai peanut sauce, smoked chicken, Havarti and Mozzarella, but it could use a tad more sweet Thai chili sauce to spike the flavor. The other pizzas (all are $19 and would easily feed two people) are BBQ shrimp and “the wing pizza,” with lots of bleu cheese, plus mozzarella and smoked chicken. Nachos are heavy, too – a thick , filling, “loaded” version, with the usual ingredients plus a house-made sauce combined with an alfredo sauce – a two and a half hour prep just for the sauce (but ready when you arrive).
Among the more upscale entrees, the scallops wrapped in bacon were truly memorable: seared, then grilled and served with Parmesan risotto and a lemon caper dill beurre blanc sauce and al dente vegetables($18). The sophistication in O’Brien’s kitchen is evident in this dish plus others: slender green beans are prepared in chicken stock with white wine, salt and pepper; beef medallions come in a demi-glace that resembles a traditional Marchand de Vin sauce, but is made from Guinness and Jameson Irish whisky; a side of wild rice has almonds; Mediterranean chicken is prepared with infused olive oil, rosemary, garlic and basil. They make all their own salad dressings, dips, and marinades and prepare their own crème brulee dessert
There is a lot more on the menu, so you could be occupied with it for months – well into the football season. They do a big lunch business at Cunningham’s, with specials most days. Happy hour specials are many (check the web site) and they have a modest, inexpensive, wine list that includes Banfi Rosa Regale (a lady could enjoy the entire small bottle because it has only seven per cent alcohol). Tap beers include the Irish favorite, Smithwicks Ale, a smooth, slightly heavy amber with a bite to its finish, but perfect for pub food. Guinness is available, too, as the owners are moving in an Irish pub direction, as is Fat Tire (by the bottle) and many other good beers. A four layer chocolate mousse and a couple of other chocolate and cheesecake desserts are available, too – all $5.
“It’s unique here,” said Chef O’Brien. “I’m really happy to have my own food, my own specials. I’m a hands-on chef, for 25 years now. I even do dishes – I always have.”
Cunningham’s (either side) is a fun place, with excellent food. You can dine on appetizers alone, a burger or sandwich, or go all-out for an upscale meal. Your call.