Dante Pizzeria – Omaha Nebraska

During our visit to Omaha in June, David II and Amy were both working so Laurie and I had our grandsons to ourselves.  Amy had mentioned a pizzeria that she really liked…and since the boys like pizza and we can’t find really good pizza in East Tennessee, our choice for lunch was a no-brainer!  

This is Dante Pizzeria in Omaha.  It’s located in a maze of stores and roadways in a major outdoor shopping and dining center.  This pizzeria was founded by a local who went to culinary school and then worked for a number of upscale restaurants around the country before he fulfilled his dream of opening his own place.

This is a view of the open kitchen area at Dante Pizzeria.  Note the big brick oven and the pizza ‘paddles’ to the left of the photo. 

Dante’s website states that this restaurant is “Omaha’s first restaurant specializing in authentic wood-fired Neapolitan pizza and rustic Italian cuisine featuring ingredient-driven dishes with fresh produce from local farmers.”

The casual setting definitely has an industrial look to it.  I should have checked out that portrait of the Queen on the back wall.  It’s not Queen Elizabeth but I don’t recognize just who it might be…

Laurie really liked these wine bottle light fixtures… Very decorative and imaginative! 

Dante Pizzeria is more than a pizzeria.  It is definitely an upscale dining experience.  The menu is imaginative.  They list out their producer partners from Nebraska and Iowa.  There are plenty of wine choices as well as craft beers.  The menus aren’t huge and I’m picky with too many dislikes. (That drives my better half batty!) Still, other than the pizzas, I saw 3 appetizers, a couple of pasta offerings and a ‘grinder’ on the luncheon menu that I would like to order…

We like adding a bit of heat…and cheese to our pizzas.  Fresh grated parmesan, crushed red peppers and hot oil designed for drizzling on the pizzas were available on the table.

David III, our 15 year old grandson, ordered the Sausage Pizza.  It was made with garlic, fennel sausage, tomato sauce and mozzarella.  He had no trouble devouring the entire pizza while barely coming up for air!  He really liked his pizza…

I ordered the Diavolo Pizza.  This pizza included slices of link sausage, soppressata, Calabrian chilies, garlic and mozzarella.  It was spicy and it was excellent!  It was definitely one of the best pizzas I’ve ever eaten…

The crust was perfect and all of the ingredients popped.  It was an avalanche for my taste buds!

Nana, (aka Laurie) decided to go with a white pizza.  She chose the Bianco, which was made with papa’s sausage, olives, chili, garlic, basil and mozzarella.  She said that it was one of the best pizzas she’d ever had!

Emmett Lee, who is 12, still has a limited palate.  He loves cheese though!  Unfortunately for me, there wasn’t a cheese pizza on the luncheon menu.  So we had to order his pizza from the dinner menu.  This is the Quatro Fromaggi pizza.  Toppings included house ricotta, gorgonzola dolce, grana padano and mozzarella.  He didn’t leave anything behind except the crusts!

Laurie, (Nana), wanted to capture a photo of the three boys with our selection of pizzas. Unfortunately she caught us with our mouths full whereas she hadn't even had a chance to take a bite out of hers!  Note the size of our pizzas...

As previously stated, the pizzas were excellent!  Our waiter was very good too.  The downside was the cost.  This is not your neighborhood pizzeria, that’s for sure and the prices reflect that fact.  Our luncheon pizzas were $12.00 each and Emmett Lee’s dinner pizza (same size as ours) cost $17.00?!  Laurie and I probably should have shared a pizza but they were so good we’re glad we didn’t.  Would we return to Dante Pizzeria despite the cost?  Absolutely!  We just wish that we had a pizzeria of this quality somewhere near our home in East Tennessee.  We’d make a monthly pilgrimage if that were the case…

It was a pleasure spoiling our grandsons and ourselves!  Dante Pizzeria is located at16901 Wright Plaza in Omaha Nebraska.  Phone: 402-932-3078.  Website: http://www.dantepizzeria.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a slice of top notch pizza!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave