Dudley's: Pizza & Tavern

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Dudley’s Pizza and Tavern

2110 S. 67th Street, Omaha, NE

Where we went:

Tonight we wanted something familiar, so we chose a pizza place in nearby Aksarben Village that we have both been to many times before, Dudley’s Pizza and Tavern. Dudley’s has been around for a few years, but is still a relatively recent addition to the Omaha food scene.

What we Eat:

We chose to get personal sized pizzas here so we could each get something different. Eric chose the hardy COMBOmaha Pizza, which featured ground beef, italian sausage, mushrooms, red onions, banana peppers on their in house red sauce. Eric substituted red peppers for banana. Kyle, after having such a great Margarita Pizza at La Casa a few weeks ago (see that blog for details), decided to try Dudley’s Margarita Pizza too. We both were extremely hungry so we also ordered an appetizer of cheese bread. Eric topped his meal off with Orange Julius vodka drink.

Eric and Kyle actually had a discussion about the Pizza crusts we were going to chose. Dudley’s offers both their standard crust and flat crust on all their pizzas. Kyle loves dough, so the standard is fine, but Eric pointed out that the last time we were there, the pizza felt like it had far more crust then it did pizza toppings. So while Kyle went with the standard crust, Eric chose the flat crust.

The Food:

We always love the food at Dudley’s and tonight was no different. The cheese bread was, which was a new menu item for us, was quite surprising. We assumed it would be cheese bread sticks, or a cheese covered toasted bread. It turned out to be, basically, a small cheese calzone! It was extremely good, and large enough that we could have ordered it as a meal itself. Eric loved his pizza, he normally avoids sausage on pizza, but he felt it was really good on this one, which is actually making him doubt my sausage aversion for future pizzas. Kyle, however, wasn’t exactly impressed with the margarita pizza. It was good, there is no doubt about that, but for some reason the flavor wasn’t as rich as the one at La Casa. Dudley's must have changed how they make their crust, because Kyle’s crust was thicker, but not nearly as thick as previous times he has been. Eric, on the other hand, really enjoyed his thin crust.

Eric’s also loved his drink, and ordered a second, this time a Pink Jolly, which featured many fruit flavored liqueurs. In the past Eric and Kyle also got their delicious cookies for dessert, but we were so full on pizza and cheese bread, we chose to skip dessert this time around.

The Atmosphere:

We chose to sit in Dudley’s dining room..The other side of the restaurant is a sports bar, with countless VERY big screen TV’s showing sports. The Bar is extremely large for a pizza place, and is a late night destination for many. The Bar side also has arcade games to entertain the patrons. There is even outside seating next to the bar that fills up quickly.

Eric went to Dudley’s for his birthday one year and there was a live band performing in the bar, we don’t know if that is still a regular event they feature or not, but if so, its an added bonus for those looking for good food and some night life.

The one downside to Dudley’s is, it is located directly under Genesis Health Club, a large gym on the second floor of the building. So a frequent occurrence during your dining experience will be large thuds from weights being dropped directly overhead. It can be distracting at times, especially if you forget the gym is up there. We aren’t sure how prevalent those noises are on the bar side, there is more talking and television noise in the bar side then the dining room.

The Service:

The service was just as good as it always was on Dudley’s. We were seated fast, thought we were early so there weren’t many other people there yet, and our food came out fast and fresh. The only hiccup was that Eric ordered a second drink and it never came. The waiter apologize for that and admitted it was a mistake on his end and didn’t charge us for the drink! This didn’t spoil the evening or anything, mistakes happen.

In the End:

We always enjoy Dudley’s Pizza and Tavern. The food is always very good, the staff are always friendly. Dudley’s location is perfect, Aksarben Village, a new shopping and dining destination in the heart of Omaha, where the old Aksarben Horse racing tracks use to be, is perfectly located for almost all of Omaha to reach. Dudley’s is also located right next to the Aksarben Theater, so it is a perfect stop for dinner before you catch a movie, and to grab a drink after it's over. Parking may initially seem like a bit of a struggle in Aksarben, as most of the street parking always seems to be full. But there are three large parking garages around, two that are public 24/7, and one that belongs to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska’s Corporate Headquarters, but opens free to the public after 4:00pm.