Big Fred’s Pizza Garden & Lounge

Service is hit or miss here, but food is worth it. Pizza and pasta taste like nothing else in town. Always able to be seated almost immediately, even if the place is jammed. It’s been in Omaha this long for a reason. I would eat almost anything if it was covered in their marinara sauce.

Two stars only because the combination pizza was good. The service was terrible. Salads without silverware, we had to get our own. Beers that sat on the counter until we went and got them. A mixed drink that took a long time to get, by himself, and he never got his water, until he went and got that himself. Based on the service alone I would not go back.

Absolutely awful. My husband and I gave it a try because we had moved to the area and had heard good things. It was busy and loud, don’t go here if you hate screaming kids. Service was mediocre but I attributed it more to it being busy, our waitress was courteous but obviously overwhelmed. The food, however, was disgusting. I ordered the spaghetti with mushrooms and my husband ordered a bacon cheeseburger. My order came with a salad which came out first. It was a general nondescript salad with iceberg lettuce but it was drenched in dressing. I’m not sure what they used but it tasted as though they had dumped a glass of salt water over it. I took one bite and pushed it aside. My spaghetti was equally disgusting, the mushrooms were canned and slimy and the sauce was the worst I’ve ever tasted. My husband said his burger wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t good either. The weirdest thing was that they used Canadian bacon on it rather than the normal crispy bacon you would normally expect. I didn’t eat and the leftovers I took home, simply being polite, went directly in the trash. It could be their pizza is better but our experience was so bad I won’t go back. There are far better restaurants in the area, give this one a miss.

An old school Omaha staple. Big Fred’s has been around forever, serving up pizza and beer to the masses. A group of seven of us stopped out recently to put back some pizza. We started out with some mozzarella sticks to share. Nothing special, but good lord they are the biggest things you have ever seen. They were the size of giant pickles, lol. A number of pizzas rounded out the meal. My daughter and I split a large, with bacon and buffalo chicken on my half. I like their pizza. Not my favorite in town, the crust is a little doughy, but there is always an abundance of cheese and toppings. The service was friendly, but a bit Jekyll and Hyde. I never did receive the water to go along with my beer, and we had to ask for things like plates and napkins. On the other hand, they had recently just updated their menu, so the kitchen put Canadian Bacon on my pizza instead of regular bacon. I told our waitress that it was no big deal, but without asking she took the entire pizza off our bill, and had the kitchen make us a small bacon and buffalo chicken pie to take home. That is is pretty rare nowadays and was a nice surprise. Pizza leftovers for days! Overall, this place is down to earth and basic. Pizza, beer, and cocktails served up at a no frills, blue collar joint.

Lunch with friends at Big Fred’s today. They picked the destination. Previous pizza experiences there were not my favorite so I opted for a prime-​rib sandwich with side salad. The salad was generous for a lunch side, fresh and with a good Italian house dressing. The prime rib sandwich au jus was also very good. 3 ½ stars would be my bottom line. At first I was going to round down on general principles and past experience, but based solely on today’s meal will round up.

The place has been around for years and the locals either love it or hate it. Gave it a try. The pizza was fair. The shell was overloaded with sauce which really distracts from the overall flavor of the pizza. Maybe some retooling is in order. Okay at best but would pass on a second visit.

This place has been around forever which I know is stated in several other reviews, but it really hasn’t changed at all over the years. We used to go every Sunday after church but now that the family has grown up and we all have our own lives we do not go very much at all. I haven’t eaten inside for a few years but last time I did it was the same as I remembered! We sometimes get take out and bring it to my grandmas because it is her favorite. A lot of the time I will get chicken strips or a cheeseburger instead of eat the pizza because it’s not my favorite. Today I did eat the pizza, we got half pepperoni and half hamburger and onion. It was ok just like I remember, I’ve had better but other people seem to think it’s so good! So it’s worth giving a try for your self! We got take out today, we ordered it to be ready about 12:10, we got there about 12 and it was ready when we arrived. We asked for paper plates to go and ketchup for the side of fries we ordered. They were out of ketchup and the paper plates they gave us were about the size of an infants hand, seriously. Overall it was pretty good and a nice change from our regular take out we get, even though I did have to use 2 plates.

I have to say, Fred’s has gone way downhill. I don’t get there as often as when I, lived 3 blocks away, but the, last 3 times have been dismal. Tonight the pizza was awful. Barely any sauce, and dry as a bone. The crust was over done and there was no taste. And this was a combo, with everything on it. The salad was ok, but the cheese bread was stale and under cooked. Since Fred has been gone, the standards have slid down to the bottom. It’s Sortino’s pizza for my favorite now. It’s really too bad.

I’ve been going to Big Fred’s for over 40 years. I was there Saturday night and the pizza was HORRIBLE. When the waitress asked how we liked our pizza we told her it sucked and asked if they had changed the recipe. She said that they had changed the sauce. Apparently word is getting around as the place was only half full on a Saturday night. I will NEVER go back!

Big Fred would be disappointed. When Little Caesars has more meat on their pizza it’s a problem. Three staff agreed I had received a cheese pizza instead of pepperoni until one exceptionally rude crew member was able to find one or two pieces of pepperoni in the middle of the pizza. She explained that sometimes it doesn’t get spread around very well. There were maybe 6 pieces on the entire pizza which is more than $ 20 and she seemed to believe this was great quality. The service and quality has continued to decline. Have to cross this off our list of places to eat moving forward…

It’s been there forever, and it shows — they have meal preparation down to a science. I always make sure to stop by here when in Omaha if I can help it!

We had a delicious Pizza and fettuccine on and incredibly busy night. We found it by driving by and decided to stop in because it looked like a great little mom-​and-​pop joint, not a huge corporate pizza place. Although the parking lot is that a wicked slant, something we’re not used to in Colorado. We have a very enjoyable evening and a great dinner. The waitstaff was extremely pleasant, and our waitress was very friendly and efficient. I would definitely go back.

Big Fred’s is really an Omaha classic! When I want yummy food in a comfy environment I have to have Big Fred’s!

I have been on a quest for the best pizza since moving here and heard a lot about this place. Highly recommended and an Omaha institution from what I was told. Service was fine and they were really busy so u guess people like this place. We ordered the pizza and I’m sorry, but exactly what type of pizza is this? New York? Nope. Chicago? Nope. Gross? Yes. Crust, soggy, sauce bland and talk about cheese overload! We couldn’t eat it. Maybe the other good is better and people have their own taste– bit we will not be back.

I haven’t been to Big Fred’s for over a decade, so when friends invited me to join them this evening I jumped on the offer, especially considering all the negative comments I had been reading recently, so my inner critic was on high alert.
For a Tuesday evening the place had a decent draw of patrons. I arrived last, but our wait asked me within moments what I wanted to drink. I was told of two non-​pizza dishes I should try and the first was the Prime Rib Sandwich, which I ordered medium rare. Moments later we were told they were out of Prime Rib, but one of my friends changed his order so I could try it out, and he ordered the second suggestion, the Pasta Mostaccioli with the breaded Pork Tenderloin Cutlets. And of course a Hamburger/​Pepperoni Pizza was in the works.
I have to say that my sandwich was absolutely great, a huge portion of Prime Rib, much bigger than expected, with garlic toast and Au Jus, with a side of Onion Rings. I would go back again just for this, cooked perfectly, and even at ½ thickness, with each bite it was tender enough to eat as a sandwich.
I tried my friend’s pizza and it was better than I had been hearing/​reading. The sauce was well prepared, but with my small piece I wasn’t able to discern what they used, thin crust, but not well supported its ingredients, crisp, but not chewy. I also got a little of the pasta, which again, in a small dose, I couldn’t really judge it well, but well enough to want to try it on for myself. One negative though had to be the onion rings. The breading was a disappointment, it was almost like a plastic covering, very dry, and not pleasant to even look at.
I never noticed any problems with our wait staff, they were attentive to our tables, everyone received refills, or new bottles whenever they needed.
OK, so here is my one complaint… their beer selection sucks, I mean it was depressing. I couldn’t even make myself to order any of them. They did have a decent wine selection from what I remember, but come on guys… I know you are a sports bar and that means dudes come in for session swill like Michelob Amberbock, but can you at least have one craft beer? If they did, I would be back next week.

I’ve always heard good things about Big Fred’s so I was really excited to finally try their pizza, but I was extremely disappointed. The pizza was just alright. Nothing special whatsoever. We ordered a pepperoni and sausage pizza and ended up getting a hamburger pizza. What the what?! The crust was crunchy and flavorless, so I didn’t even bother finishing it. Hamburger pizza is one of my least favorite pizzas so maybe I’m a little biased on that part, but maybe if I got what I actually ordered it would’ve been a different story, but nope. I would’ve honestly rather had two Totino’s party pizzas for ¹⁄₈^th the price and be 100% more satisfied.
Of course I could’ve sent it back and had them make me the right pizza, but on top of the under-​average pizza was the horrible horrible service. It wasn’t even busy when we got there for a late lunch around 1:30, but the service was extremely slow. It took 25 mins just to get onion rings out for our appetizer (those were pretty good though) and we had to ask our waitress multiple times for refills on our drinks and napkins for the table. When our pizza finally arrived…50 minutes later, we even had to ask for plates!
Bleh, don’t even bother unless you enjoy being ignored and annoyed with less than average food.

Their pizza is what I call «homemade style» in that it’s not NY Style or Chicago Style, but is that style that seems to be unique to privately-​owned pizza places serving up their family’s recipe. Pizza is square cut. Crust is tasty. Not too thick, but not thin crust either. Sauce is good. Toppings are standard. They give the option for mozzarella or romano cheese. I usually tell them to mix them. Overall, very tasty pizza. Similar in style to Mama’s Pizza.
Onion rings are very good. They could use some salt, but I suppose that’s on the table if you want it. They’re battered instead of breaded and that’s how I prefer them.
They have a double-​crust pizza they call the «Goodie Roonie Pizza» which my wife loves, but I cannot stand. For me it’s just too one-​dimensional. It’s like someone dumped a ridiculous amount of hamburger or sausage into a pizza crust and called it good. YMMV.
They’re privately-​owned, so you’re not going to get national chain prices in here. You’re going to pay a little more because they pay a little more for their ingredients (economies of scale, people). So, don’t expect Pizza Hut or Dominos prices.
There can be a crazy wait to be seated on busy nights and their parking lot gets pretty full too.
This pizzeria is certainly popular with the older crowd. A decent chunk of the diners are the over-​50 crowd. They’re probably coming here out of habit and for nostalgia.
They’re in the process of doing some renovations and are supposed to begin offering draft beer (it’s been bottles only up until now).

I can’t recommend this place. We got two pizzas and it cost $ 56. I could’ve gotten 11 Little Caesar’s pizzas for that price.
The one good thing was the green olive pizza. Had never had that on a pizza before and it was really good. But, again, you could make your own green olive pizzas for ¹⁄₁₀ the price.

We met some close friends here for a casual Sunday night dinner!
The restaurant was very busy, but we were greeted right away by a very friendly and efficient waitress!
We ordered a hamburger pizza with mozzarella and Romano cheese to share! It arrived hot to our table in a very reasonable length of time!
I liked the thin crust! It was a good average pizza!
My tea, HL’s soda & our friends glasses of water were constantly refilled!
This is a very family friendly pizza place with great service! Our friends said they always get consistent pizzas too!

I imagine Big Fred’s in the fall on a Saturday is a little more lively than on mother’s day in May. But it does say a lot about a pizza joint that it was actually pretty busy. Several families chose Fred’s to celebrate their mothers.
We ordered the go to half pepperoni and green olive and half hamburger and Canadian bacon. The small pizza is cut in normal fashion anything larger is cut into squares. My brother and his son ordered a medium meat lovers. It was huge and cut into squares. They use a lot of toppings and even more cheese. The crust was thin but not crispy. The sauce was very good. My only complaint was that they brown the hamburger first and then add the crumbled cooked meat to the pizza before cooking. This has a tendency to dry out the hamburger and make the pizza a little greasy.
We will definitely be back if we are in Omaha in the fall. The buffalo wings looked amazing and there is nothing more fun than watching the Huskers lose in a bar full of Nebraska fans.