Omaha Restaurant Guide

I grew up in Chicago and in my 20 years in Omaha found this to be the best authentic Italian restaurant. The sauce is red and sweet like it should be the pasta is homemade and the homemade Italian salad dressing is outstanding. Here is a clue always order the cheese filled ravioli or manicotti. Most of the other local eateries use a bitter dark brown tomato sauce for pasta and also chili. La Sole Mio's doesn't drain all the water from the pasta before they add the sauce and plate it, and anyone that thinks Vivace's is the best wouldn't know good authentic Italian food if it bit them in the ass!

FANTASTIC for first dates!! The guys LOVE the prices and LOVE you for suggesting Malara's!
The food is excellent! A MUST TRY!

Malara's is Omaha's most classic Italian restaurant. My family is local Italian from South Omaha and literally everyone I know that is Italian in Omaha loves Malara's and would vouch for "best in Omaha". It's authentic in every way. Traditional wine based homemade salad dressing, egg in the lasagna, and the motz sticks are the best.

People who review and do not give the food 5 stars should go to Spaghetti Works for Italian if they think the sauce is "too sweet" or "thin". Hello.. that's Italian marinara. Duh.

There are only two places in Omaha that rock for Italian and they are Malara's and Le Sole Mio. Period.

All others are Americanized crap.

I love when someone reviews and Italian restaurant and says "we had 2 beers". You're drinking beer at Malara's? Enough said. You're an idiot. Certainly not a food critic.

My boyfriend took me to Malara's for a nice dinner after church. I did not like it. I love eating out at different places but this place was not my favorite. I just had pasta with meatballs. The texture and flavor of the meatballs was not like anything I've ever had. I don't know what kind of meat they use but I did not care for it. I didn't really like the flavor of the sauce either. I did like the staff and environment and even the neighborhood.

I am a friend of the Malara family and can tell you that this is authentic Italian food. The owners are originally from Italy and just about everything on the menu is homemade. If you haven't tried this restaurant, you are missing out.

Excellent everyday Italian food, friendly and efficient service, great daily specials and very reasonable prices. Not fancy food, but homemade and very good. Their portions are generous, but you can get a half-order if your appetite or budget's not as big. And the atmosphere's nice, too. We love this place and eat here often!!

Malara's is one of my favorite restaurants in town. The trick to enjoying your experience is not ordering anything fancy - stick to the homemade pasta, that's the whole point in making the trip. After trying a number of different combinations, I've gotten to the point where I have a monthly craving for their past with brascioli (sp?), a type of bacon-stuffed meatball. It's essentially a small meatloaf on top of their homemade pasta, and it's to die for!

My husband and I absolutely love Malara's and take our baby there often to dine. Nothing fancy, but the prices can't be beat and the food is awesome. Always love the downhome, friendly feel of the place too. I'm usually a more adventurous eater, but I always get the homemade spaghetti and meatballs because it really hits the spot. Get the full dinner to bring home leftovers.

It seemed like everything in this restaurant was homemade and delicious! The sauce, salad dressing, ravioli, spaghetti, tiramusu, and much more!!! Outstanding restaurant!

Some of the reviews for Malara's express how great the food is and how the sauce is amazing. Being relatively new to NE, I followed similar suggestions made by some aquaintances. I was sorely disappointed.

First off, the conception of "Italian" in Omaha is only remotely based on Italian food. The sauce is over-processed, far too sweet, and has the consistency of spaghetti-o sauce. The noodles, while apparently made fresh, were overcooked. the dishes are stereotypical american-italian, and poorly executed. the Tiramisu that is "to die for" is frozen, and not made in house (which is not uncommon).

Malara's is the same formulaic, kitschy, bland, unoriginal, regionless, and very NOT Italian Omaha-Italian Restaurant.

If you like places like Spaghetti Works down town, Fazoli's, or Mister C's, you will think Malara's is amazing. If you like honest-to-goodness Italian cuisine, you will be sorely disappointed.

If you want good Italian I would suggest Vivace in the Old Market or Spezia on S 72nd. Otherwise you'll save some $$$ by going to Fazoli's.

I ate here with my real estate office from Bellevue. It was one of the best Italian meals that I have ever had. Everything is homemade right down to the herbs grown in the garden. The portions are very generous and the tiramisu is to die for. The prices are very moderate for the quality of food and service.

I really enjoyed this restraunt. The food is very good, with a little different taste then your ordigairy Italian. It has a sweeter taste than most Italian restraunt you might go to. The family that owns the restraunt take pride in what they have. The owner will come around and ask how your meal is. If there is a problem she is quick to fix it and make it right. The rolls are to die for I am not sure if they make them on site or order them in, bit they are excellent. Great value! Great restraunt if your wanting to spend under $40.00.

We thought we had found a jewel in Nebraska Dining. I have traveled all over the US and have eaten at many different restaurant. My wife and I found this restaurant on this site, it sounded good so we figured we would give it a try.

First impression was outstanding. The outside looks like a house converted to a restaurant. Inside was a delightful suprise of a cozy well decorated and visually pleasing interior.

We ordered calamari as a starter. It was ok, but not what I would of expected since I have had calamari at many other places in the US. It was ok but not great by any means.

My wife ordered the lasagne. She liked the sauce and large portion but the meat was terrible. The meat tasted like it was microwaved. It was very disapointing.

I had the Meat Ravioli with Meat Balls. I didn't care for the sauce (too tangy and too thin). Again the meat was terrible. I agreed with my wife that the meat tasted like it was microwaved. I was extremly unpleased with the taste.

As a last ditch effort to try and save the experience we ordered a vinilla cream puff. It literally had no taste. The pastry was dry and the vinilla cream center had no taste.

We paid $33 (included 2 beers) for everything which we felt would have been a great price if the food would have been at least adequate. However, since neither of us liked the food in the least we decided not to return.

If you try this place I hope your experience is better than ours was. We really thought we might have found something only to leave in disappointment.

food is awesome!! i love this place. i recommend for everyone!!

My wife and I just moved to Omaha. Friends told me to try this place. The food was outstanding. The best sauce I believe I have ever had. Casual experience with wonderful food.