The Blackstone Meatball

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

The Blackstone Meatball

3910 Hearney Street, Omaha, NE

Where we went:

Tonight we went down to Omaha’s historic Blackstone District to try what one might consider one of the more unique restaurants in Omaha, the Blackstone Meatball. At Meatball, your main dish is, well, your meatball! Everything else is a side. This may not sound like much, but there are plenty of meaty balls to choose from! This was an interesting location for us as Eric isn’t really a fan of meatballs. He doesn’t really have a good reason, he’s just averse to meat in ball form (insert dirty joke here). But for the sake of this blog, and to get out of his comfort zone, he decided to finally let Kyle burst his ball cherry.

What we Eat:

To get everyone in the mood, and to ease Eric into his ball adventure, they started with some fried mozzarella cheese balls. For the main courses, Kyle had the Baked Ziti, two meatballs of his choice on a bed of Ziti pasta with melted mozzarella cheese. Kyle chose the Classic Beef and the Mushroom and White Bean, as his meatballs of choice. Eric chose to go all out and Meatball Flight that features all five types of meatballs. The Classic Beef (with Pomodoro sauce) and Mushroom (with Pesto sauce) that Kyle was enjoying, as well as the Romesco Pork (with Spicy Pork Ragu sauce), Provincial Chicken (featuring Garlic Alfredo sauce) and day daily special meatball which was the Lamb Ball (with Tzatziki sauce) . He washed down his dinner with a Concorde cocktail because he just had to see what violette liqueur was all about.

The Food:

OMG ERIC LOVES BALLS! Seriously, they were so good! The fried mozzarella balls were a tad small, but the breading had a perfect consistency and the italian herbs sprinkled on top were great. Eric was also impressed with how varied each of the balls in his flight were. Ironically, his favorite ball was the non meat option, the Mushroom and White Bean Ball, due to it’s almost potatoey texture and the bit of spiciness it had. His very close runner up ball was the Romesco Pork, also due to the smoky, and spicy flavor it had. In fact, the only Ball Eric didn’t really care for was the traditional Beef one. It was alright, but it just wasn’t as interesting as the other options to him.

Kyle, on the other hand, enjoyed his meal, but overall wasn’t very impressed. It was good, just not as stand out delicious as he was expecting.

The Atmosphere:

Meatball has a modern vibe in a historic old Blackstone building. Modern round lighting (that Eric pointed out looked like a bunch of meatballs hanging from the ceiling!) mixed with exposed rafter ceilings and an open kitchen gave the building a unique charm. The glass garage doors on the north face of the building allows for a unique blend of indoor and outdoor dining when the weather is nice, as you get to look out over the Blackstone district while you dine.

Due to Omaha’s hilly geography, Meatball is both a ground level and second floor establishment. If you enter from Hearney street, you feel like you are on the main floor of a one story building. However, if you enter from the Farnam street entrance, you immediately have to climb a set of stairs to reach the restaurant on the second floor. Ground Floor Guitar, a Guitar store and studio occupy the first floor on the building.

The Service:

The service at Meatball was excellent. We were seated right away, our food came out fast and our waitress checked on us multiple times throughout the meal. However, there was a water boy walking around that was a little too enthusiastic to make sure our water glasses were full. It felt almost as if he would fill up our glasses after just one or two sips. This isn't really a complaint, we just found it funny and even commented it on it during the meal.

In the End:

The Blackstone Meatball is a great location, right in the heart of Omaha’s up and coming Blackstone neighborhood, located between Midtown and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The streets in Blackstone are lined with trendy bars and shops. The one issue with the area is parking. Blackstone does have a parking lot you can access from Howard street, but it only has about 6 parking spaces. So if you are planning an evening in Blackstone, be prepared to do a little hunting for street parking. But if you can manage a few block walk, and aren’t afraid of Balls, Meatball is a unique dinner location.

BONUS:

Although Meatball has a nice little desert menu (It was painful for Eric to turn away from Fried Cookie Dough AND Bread Pudding), we knew there was as special treat waiting for us. Coneflower Creamery, a handmade ice cream parlor sits right next door to Meatball. Coneflower is so popular that there is usually a line right out the door. However, we got lucky and ended our meal at Meatball just in time to not have to wait in line. That being said, the line quickly snaked down the street as we were trying to decide what to order, so be prepared to wait.

But the wait is definitely worth it! Coneflower has a wide variety of flavors. While there are a few classics, most of the flavors were very unique. Eric enjoyed a large three scoop cup of Blackstone Butterbrickle (their signature flavor), Tart Cherry Crumble, and Cookies and Cream, and he enjoyed all three flavors immensely, especially the signature Butterbrickle. Kyle, however, got a small two scoop cub, but sadly doesn’t remember what he got, but he knows it was delicious!