dante

this restaurant is over priced and the food is at most ok. there was a food critic there and they spent most of their time with him. horrible value. will not be back. by the way bolegnese means stroganoff here. homemadepastavery over rated.

very nice and somewhat fancy italian restaurant, they have all the essentials on their menu to make them a legitimate italian establishment such as a variety of lemon cello's, italian beers and authentic italian wines. i have heard their pizza is very very good coaching to traditional fashion however the one we had was slightly burnt i was very happy however with mypastaand our service.

i've eaten here a few times. it is a nice modern italian restaurant in the shops of legacy. it's basically a place to grab some gourmet pizza, but they also offer some other tasty selections.

zucchini fritti - these are very very tasty. i am a huge fan of zucchini fritti almost everywhere it is served. unlike the zucchini sticks or thick zucchini slices you are probably used to having fried. these are almost as thin as potato chips. they are very tasty and my only complaint is they should give you twice as many.

meatballs - a few jumbo meatballs served as a small plate or appetizer. they are very good meatballs covered in a delicious marinara.

bolo joe - this is, essentially, their house bread with a mound of their delightful bolognese sauce on it and some grana padano (an italian cheese related to parmigiano reggiano, but younger). a tasty small plate to be sure.

pappardelle bolognese - their bolognese sauce is amazing. skip the pasta. just fill a huge bowl with bolognese and i will eat with a spoon like a good stew. their homemadepastais very tasty, but i think they got the shape wrong. it does not want to stay on your fork. it is a combination of it being both too short and too wide.

the neapolitan pizzas are what people come here for. it's the big draw. crust on them is superb. it's just the way i love pizza crust. sauce is simple. i prefer mine a bit more spiced and i also prefer more sauce on my pizza than this place gives you. i've had a few different selections of their pizza...

margherita - simple and good. this is sort of the "cheese pizza" of the pizza snob world.

giuseppe - good, but the "papa's sausage" is just too overpowering. it's all you taste when you bite into this pizza. they need to use less or find a less potent sausage. also, it doesn't take like the italian sausage you're probably used to having on pizza. i'm not a big fan of other types of sausage on my pizza as i don't think the flavors meld well.

oma-za - essentially, this is the giuseppe with mushrooms instead of peppers. they list it a few notches down on the menu and change the order in which the ingredients are listed in order to make it look unique, but it's essentially a giuseppe knock-off. it's good, but has the same problem with the over-powering "papa's sausage."

service is friendly. i haven't encountered any pretentiousness in my visits here. they always ask if i have reservations when i walk in, but i never do and i still am seated immediately. granted, i don't go when they're slammed. as with all things, ymmv.

restaurant is clean and well-maintained. parking is shared with all of the other businesses in the shops of legacy, so it can be a challenge to find a spot during peak business hours.

i find this place inconsistent. the only consistencies are the small portions and high price tag. the first time we went thepastawas amazing bc of this we keep coming back but it's hit or miss and for this price tag nothing should ever miss.

i've never been let down by anything ordered here. the service is always great too.pastais fresh made and pizza is excellent.


-----15 apr, 2012-----

loved the entire trip.pastais fresh and the pizza is fresh. it's all priced right too.

great pizza, but don't miss the pasta. fantastic food all the way around. have had one bad visit where the service was a miss and the food was sub-par, but every other visit has been amazing. all of the pizzas are great but i think the real treat here are thepastadishes.

quickly becoming a favorite. i tried dante for the first time a couple of weeks ago and went back for a third time last night. i came to try the pizza but have discovered their perfectly executedpastadishes. house made pasta, top quality ingredients, cooked perfectly. the bucatini carbonara is rich and creamy with a pleasant texture to the noodles. i could eat this every day. the parpadelle bolognese with house made noodles had a nice combination of meaty flavor with a hint of red wine. if you have never tried gnocchi, you need to try dante's version. i had it with the fried pork belly and pickled vegetables. nicely browned, light and fluffy dumplings combined with the fatty richness of the pork belly and balanced with the crunch and vinegar coming from the vegetables.

about the pizza. wood fired oven, artisan meats and cheeses, thin crust, how could you go wrong? i will say the pizza is very good. the flavors of the ingredients excellent. i would order any of their pizzas again. from a personal preference standpoint, i prefer a slightly heavier, new york style crust to the paper thin naples style.

i would agree with some reviewers that some of the menu items are pricier than i spend on my average meal but the quality and portions make them worth every penny. i like to take advantage of the happy hour bar menu. order 2-3 appetizers and a few beers and you can easily have dinner for two in the $20 range and be quite satisfied.

consistently delicious. i love this place. dante's has a high quality product with local ingredients when possible. they actually make their own mozzarella. the pizza crust is a fabulous brick oven-baked artisan bread.

my husband and i visit dante's frequently and have found that they are always on their game.

my sons and my husband find the giuseppe pizza is a perfect pizza. the meat is tastefully spicy and the rich homemade mozzarella cheese is awesome.

i love the pizza, but just tried the squash tortellini this evening. it was crazy delicious. the squash filling was creamy and full of flavor and thepastaitself was a perfect texture. the tortellini was served with olive oil and maybe some butter which allowed the squash filling flavor to really (like my 10-yr old says) "pop". totally loved this dish.

dante's has great customer service. everyone is knowledgeable and helpful and just really nice.

where's the flavor?. i can't count on one hand the number of people who told me that dante is the place to go for pizza in omaha. eventually we made the trek out to far suburbia to check it out. we were very disappointed in what we found.
the restaurant itself is vaguely industrial in appearance, broken into several dining areas on two levels. nothing to write home about in the looks department.
we decided to eat outdoors, where at least the air was fresh. i ordered the margarita pizza with prosciutto as a $2 add on. my husband chose the casarecce bolognesepasta(the menu said it was beef, pork and red wine). that sounded like it would have a bright, bold flavor, which is what he was in the mood for.
we also ordered a bottle of barbera wine.
our server was friendly and service times were not a problem. our wine was delicious, and served in big beautiful glasses. so far, so good.
my request for a side dinner salad to go with my pizza was rebuffed ("we don't serve salads like that"), which marked the start of the downhill spiral to come. everything at dante is a la carte, which is fine, but what gives with not even offering side salads with dinner?
when the food arrived the pizza looked and tasted great, although it was overcooked a bit, with some of the crust burnt. but the huge disappointment was the pasta, which contrary to 2,000+ years of italian cooking was as lifeless in appearance as it was totally tasteless. we both agreed we had suffered through better meals in hospital cafeterias. bolognese sauce should be taught in "italian cooking 101," and i have no idea how an italian ristorante could screw this one up.
upon bringing the problem of thepastawith the missing taste to the attention of the waiter thepastameal was taken off the bill, after a visit from the manager, who offered to substitute a dessert. we opted instead to head to the yogurt place up the way.
the restaurant was 2/3 full on a friday evening. you obviously can get a good meal here, but it apparently is up to the fate of what is on the menu (which apparently changes daily) or who is cooking the day of your visit. lacasa pizzearia has much more consistency for my money.

updated february 2011: we stopped in for drinks and dessert one friday evening. the gelato was good, as was the french pressed coffee. service was friendly.

food: 6 (out of 10)
atmosphere: 7
service: 7
value: 7

wishes it could have been better.... the first time i went to dante's i thought it was fantastic. i had a fresh caprese salad with locally grown tomatoes and the prosciutto flat bread, it was absolutely delicious! however, when i ate there again recently, the pizza was doughy and soggy and the tortellini was $14 for four pieces ofpastaand some corn. way too overpriced for what we got. i'd go back again if they improved the size of their dishes.

agree "more than pizza". 'za is amazing, but chef nick shines in hispastaand app creations. meatballs, gnocchi, pork belly, putanesca, 'nuff said (even if the spellings wrong).

best italian food in omaha. i visited dante the week of their opening and i have a strong feeling the restaurant will be a 'destination restaurant' in omaha (think m's pub, la casa) with characteristics of hipness similar to a baby blue or boiler room. the pizza is great but i enjoyed thepastaeven more. the menu is very imaginative, which is nice to see, especially in west o. i met the chef (nick is his name i think) and i learned that he has been training and planning for this restaurant for years, recently moving from philadelphia to omaha. omaha is lucky to have him and his new restaurant.