30hop, which opened its first Omaha location two months ago, is all about the beer. 

That’s in fact where it gets its name: The upscale bar and grill’s first location, in Coralville, Iowa, had 30 beers on tap. 

In Omaha, it’s actually 32 beers, 27 of which are brewed in Nebraska, Iowa or Kansas.  I knew  before my two recent visits that beer was a big deal at the restaurant. The hop in its logo gives that much away.

But what I did not realize was twofold:

1. The young west Omaha restaurant is already incredibly popular, filling what close to 100 seats even on a random Wednesday.

2. Their menu, surprising at moments, goes beyond sports bar fare, veering into noodle and rice bowls, tacos and cauliflower. A few of those dishes turned out to be some of the best the kitchen has to offer.

Most Nebraskans who enjoy a cold beer will recognize many of the breweries on tap at the restaurant, which is in the new Heartwood Preserve development off 144th and West Dodge.

Just on the local beer front, you can find Kinkaider, Zipline, Kros Strain, Code, Scriptown, Infusion, Site-1, Divots, Backswing, Empyrean, Lucky Bucket, Five-0-Five, Saro Cider and Brickway on the current menu. There are also beers from Nebraska’s neighbors and a random outlier from California.

I like this hyper-local focus, especially when Nebraska has such a booming beer culture. Manager Andrew Kyker said while the restaurant has many televisions, most showing sports, they’re not setting out to be a sports bar.

“We aim to serve everyone, from suits to sweats,” he said. “We try to care for all people, and that means we have many different options for people looking for many different things.”

I can tell you from my dozen years reviewing restaurants that “something for everyone” is generally hard to successfully pull off. But 30hop does a decent job of it, and Omahans are voting yes by packing the restaurant’s parking lot.

The umami burger caught my eye right away. A soy garlic glaze with an Asian bent, and a hint of that aforementioned umami flavor is what sets it apart. I asked for my burger cooked medium, which the server said they could do, but the two smash patties (as they so often do) came well done.

The umami burger was good aside from the doneness. It came delivered on a pretzel bun with plenty of toppings: pepper jack cheese, spicy aioli, pickled jalapeno along with pickles and coleslaw. I liked it, though if I had to order a burger again, I’d probably go with the classic burger. I tried that burger on my second visit, and it arrived much closer to how I prefer my burger cooked.

Either way, I liked it. It comes topped with white American cheese, a savory onion jam, pickles, garlic aioli, shredded lettuce and tomato. The burgers come with fries, which are super crisp and have a crackled coating on the outside, lending that extra crunch with each bite. Diners get the choice of several salads if you choose the $3 upcharge to avoid fries — a nice touch. I tried the Caesar salad and had no complaints.

The menu boasts several newer menu items, Kyker said, meant to appeal to diners looking for something other than the usual bar-and-grill fare. We tried two of the bowls, which are offered with either sticky rice or noodles as the base. Matthew enjoyed the ahi poke bowl, made with flavorful ahi tuna and lots of toppings — 30hop doesn’t skimp here. The bowl had rice, slaw, wonton strips, pineapple pico, avocado, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, edamame, sesame seeds, nori strips and scallions, all topped with a creamy, spicy aioli. For the $18 price tag, it’s loaded with textures and flavors.

The salmon zen bowl offers a similarly loaded lineup, but with cooked ingredients instead of raw. Seared salmon and stir-fried vegetables are served with roasted mushrooms, rice, teriyaki sauce, scallion, crisped onion and a drizzle of aioli. Another friend tried the spicy peanut noodles, which had a spicy kick from a generous amount of chili crunch mixed in. Udon noodles and peanut sauce are a great combination and this plate is no exception.

I appreciate the thought that went into these bowls. They don’t feel like an afterthought.

My brother-in-law rated his truffle cheesesteak melt an 8 out of 10 (high praise!). Shaved ribeye comes topped with a truffle-spiked four-cheese sauce, provolone cheese, roasted cremini mushrooms and an onion jam, all on a big slab of sourdough. I gotta say, it looked delicious.

We had mixed results with the tacos. While the grilled shrimp was good, and there were plenty of fresh toppings, the tortillas were cold instead of warmed, as were the chips. The corn salsa and elote crema on top of the dish are tasty, but details like temperature matter, and here, the dish fell short.

We ran into temperature issues one more time, but with cocktails. I ordered the local old fashioned, made with a rotating, locally made whiskey. The drink itself tasted good, but the temperature was off: it arrived lukewarm. Matthew’s whiskey sour also arrived warm. With a decently sized cocktail menu, and plenty of folks we saw ordering from it, this probably needs to be refined some.

Better was the spicy, saucy buffalo cauliflower, from the appetizer menu. House made buffalo sauce packs plenty of zing, and I liked the half-melted blue cheese crumbles tucked here and there throughout the cast iron skillet the dish is served in. A celery slaw could have used some dressing, but the ranch made up for it, cooling the heat of the spicy vegetable.

Both nights we visited, the dining room was packed. One night we sat at the bustling bar; another, in the four-seasons patio that will fully open this week as soon as the weather warms. The evening we visited, it was chilly, and noisy, in that covered patio area, but I suspect it’ll be more pleasant once the windows are rolled up. Service is friendly, though a bit harried, and when we sat in the patio area, drinks were sporadic and food came out at an uneven pace. At the bar, things ran like a top. This makes sense at a new restaurant, and I wasn’t surprised  given the size of 30hop’s dining room. Kyker confirmed that business has been brisk so far.

For the most part, it feels like the team at 30hop knows what they’re doing in this, their fifth location. (The other four are in Iowa and Missouri.) 

It’s a happening, casual dining room that’s a bit higher end than a sports bar, but still comfortable. To me, it fits in line with spots like Lincoln’s Hopcat and Omaha’s Let it Fly, but with a menu that has more unusual, well-executed food that I’d return for, whether I cared about that game on television or not.

This story was originally published by Flatwater Free Press, an independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories in Nebraska that matter. Read the article at: https://flatwaterfreepress.org/the-sbh-review-at-buzzy-new-omaha-bar-and...