Timber Dining Room at Lied Lodge

However deliciously simply such an existence may be, not every meal can be a burger.  Sometimes...you gotta treat yo self.  

Should fine leather goods not be your thing (and, really, leather jackets taste horrible, no matter how delicious the sauce), the Timber Dining Room at Lied Lodge in Nebraska City (just consider it far south Omaha and play along) would be a great place to start.  

Pretty, huh?  Well, the food matches the surroundings.

That pile of deliciousness you're looking at is slow-roasted pulled pork with green chilies, fried apples and fry bread (along with fresh green beans and cabbage).  Everything at the Timber Dining Room is fresh and local.  I'm not going to pretend that I can tell the difference between locally produced pork and a pig from Belgium (probably less of waffle-y aftertaste, I guess), but that knowledge certainly doesn't detract from the experience.  

What did the wife get, you ask? 

 

Fried chicken with chive-red chili whipped buttermilk, mashed potatoes.  I wouldn't dare get between the Lied Lodge and Time Out Foods in the battle for her fried chicken loving heart.

If you're looking for a semi-romantic to romantic evening (the minor variation depends upon whether or not you partake in the free wine tasting from 5 to 7), a delicious meal (yes, I realize that's the third variation on "delicious" I've used so far - feel free to buy me a thesaurus if it really bothers you), and memorable presentation, then head on down to Nebraska City.  

I'm sure the quaint little town would appreciate the company.  It does get so lonely sometimes...

Stella's Bar & Grill

Hambugers.  America.  Forget Beyoncé, this burger should have performed at the Super Bowl.

 

I would provide a "half-eaten" shot, but I'm afraid that by the time my hands hit the napkin again, this burger was already dead (for the second time, I guess).

Let's cut to the chase.  Stella's makes a delicious burger.  That napkin I mentioned above?  That's how they serve you your burger.  It takes a confident cook to send out food on a damn napkin.  Lucky for Stella's, at no point during the voracious consumption of my burger did I think, "Man, the only thing that could improve this burger is a plate".  In fact, the only that that improved the burger (at least in my wife's opinion) was the inclusion of peanut butter (the phase "tremendous mouth feel" may have been uttered). 

 

If you're of the opinion that "a burger is a burger," you obviously haven't been to Stella's.  

 

And may the Burger Gods have mercy on your soul.