Star City Blog / Food

Bread&Cup: Celebrating Three Years of Simple Food and Drink

By Alexis Abel

Since 2007, bread&cup has nurtured Lincoln diners with its simple food and drink. The restaurant celebrates its 3rd anniversary on August 6, and will commemorate the occasion with a week-long celebration and a few tweaks to its nearly perfect formula.

I had the pleasure of joining chef and owner Kevin Shinn on a Saturday Farmer’s Market walk to discuss the evolution of bread&cup and where it will be heading during its third year.

Shinn, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife Karen, wasn’t always a chef.  Before he sang the praises of local food, Shinn was a campus pastor for 15 years. In 2007, he and Karen combined their years of experience in the hospitality industry to open bread&cup. They sought to create an environment that felt like home, a place to inspire conversation.

Amigos Marks 30th Anniversary with Big 30 Sweepstakes

Amigos is proud to announce it is celebrating 30 years in business during the month of June. Founded by Roger and Janice Moore, the first Amigos opened on June 17, 1980 at 5500 O Street in Lincoln. From that day forward, the mission of Amigos has been to serve fresh, quality food in a friendly way. 

From day one, Amigos has offered table delivery services and free salsa bars, while specializing in serving homemade spicy sauce, Ranch dressing, and food prepared with freshly made ingredients. Amigos was one of the first companies in the area to offer tuition reimbursement opportunities to employees. Over the years, Amigos has expanded services by adding a breakfast menu and co-branding with Winchells’ Donuts (2002), Kings Classic (2003), and Kopeli Coffee (2007).

Review: Balee 1, A Vietnamese Sandwich Shop

By Alexis Abel

Take heed, Subway and Jimmy John’s: Lincoln’s latest sandwich shop, Balee 1, makes your stodgy subs seem bland and pedestrian in comparison. Open just a few months, Balee 1 specializes in the Bánh mì sandwich. Bánh mì is a product of French colonialism, a perfect fusion of classic French fare, like pate and baguette, with Vietnamese flavors of cilantro, chile and pickled vegetables.

Bánh mì are sold at other Vietnamese restaurants in Lincoln, but Balee 1 offers several different versions of the sandwich. The menu is continually evolving, with new items appearing just weeks apart on two recent visits. Balee 1 also serves fresh spring rolls with dipping sauce, pork sausage and Vietnamese desserts.

Review: thé Cup

By Cory Kibler and Alexis Abel

thé Cup is a small, charming café and bakery at 643 S. 25th Street.  It’s somewhat hidden from the crowd, residing in the red-bricked Bottler's Building near the Arts & Humanities Focus School and Lincoln High School. Conveniently, there are two bike trails that practically take you to the restaurant's doorstep -- one along the Capital Parkway and the other runs along the east side of the spillway.

The café is open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m.-4 p.m., and on Saturday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. thé Cup (which means “tea cup” in French) specializes in fair-trade coffees and teas and organic baked goods. 

Vegetarian Series Review: Grateful Bread

By Cory Kibler

As you may have guessed from the name, Grateful Bread (located at 1625 South 17th Street) is a laid back and exceptionally quirky restaurant.  You might even go so far as to say that it is “hippie-friendly,” and that label would somehow be simultaneously accurate and totally uninformative of Grateful Bread’s unique charm. 

Yes, it’s a space with strange colorful decorations, and yes, they only accept cash, but the dishes transcend any sort of label you might wish to peg to them.

Sips n' Subs

by Alanna Hoffman
Published January 29, 2009

When Jeremy and Nicole Kruse took over Sips N’ Subs four years ago, they both had experience working in corporate restaurants.  “People would ask me what I recommend and I couldn’t recommend anything,” said Nicole.  Tired of providing low quality, over-processed food to people, Jeremy and Nicole set out with a simple goal, “We want the food people buy to be the same we would eat,” said Nicole. 

Sips n’ Subs is located at 33rd and B Street.  It's across from the bike shop, and next store to Wagner’s grocery.  The soups are made from scratch using simple, fresh ingredients that are classically American.