Bekah Clark

During my trips home to Omaha, I always go out with my friend Rhonda and her two daughters.  Rhonda and I go way back to my Panera Bread bagel-slinging days, and she’s become one of my best friends.  Tonight she introduced me to two newer Omaha establishments. 

The first one was Maria Bonita, a little 50-seat Mexican restaurant on Missouri Avenue in South Omaha.  The place is owned by a mother-daughter (Miriam and Itzel) duo who I used to work with a few years ago (also during my bagel-slinging days).  While I’ll admit that I’m slightly biased toward toward the two of them, I think most would agree that Maria Bonita is absolutely fabulous.  I had the Tri-Color Enchiladas, and omigod!  — so good.  I’m not generally an enchilada person, but these were fantastic. 

Miriam and Itzel have done a fantastic job setting it up.  The decor is different than I’ve come to expect from a Mexican restaurant.  They’ve traded the traditional Mexican red and green decor for a brighter (and girlier) color palette that really suits the place.  And the mural on the outside of the building is a nice change of pace for an area where older, gray buildings are the more common sight. 

 

The second place that Rhonda introduced me to tonight was Chocolaterie Stam at Shadow Lake Towne Center in Papillion.  Stam’s chocolate originated in 1817 in Amsterdam, Holland and journeyed across the Atlantic to the U.S. with one of the founder’s sons. 

Stam’s U.S. locations are mainly in the midwest (four in Iowa, one in Minnesota, one in Nebraska and one in North Carolina), which I find a little surprising considering the shop is something I’d expect to find in New York City, not in the midst of cornfields - but hey, I’m not complaining.

I grabbed a latte and a dark chocolate covered apricot and a corn-on-the-cob shaped nutty chocolate awesomeness wrapped in white chocolate to enjoy in the store with Rhonda and the girls. 

 

I also grabbed a couple of boxes of the goodies to take back home to St. Louis with me…the jury is still out on whether or not I’ll share them with others.