Lisa’s Radial Cafe

This place is good for a solid breakfast/​brunch. They are PACKED on the weekend so be prepared for that. Regardless, they never rush you and the service is always wonderful. A classic old school diner feel. I’d go everyday if I could.

To me this place was the epitome of a greasy spoon/​diner kind of restaurant. It looks a little beat up and well loved inside, but definitely clean. I enjoyed a waffle combo (egg, 2 slices of bacon, belgian waffle) and I loved all 3 components. The waffle was delicious, and the bacon was thick cut and perfectly cooked. My husband did and egg meal with biscuits and gravy– he wasn’t crazy about the gravy, but thought the rest of his meal was delicious. Our server was friendly, attentive, and checked in a perfect number of times. If I lived in Omaha, I’d be back for certain.

What a delightful breakfast! Service was impeccable, food was fantastic. Couldn’t ask for more from a reasonably priced breakfast/​brunch joint. Would recommend the «Big Country» or the corn beef hash. Will absolutely return again.

Came to Omaha to visit some friends and happened to get in here twice for bfast. WELL WORTH every penny (*very good prices, btw). Service was great, timing was perfect and food was exactly what your looking for when you think of ‘diner bfast’. Recommend to anyone who can afford the chance to stop in.

It’s just as awesome as everyone says. The food is delicious! Just be prepared to wait and bring cash.

Great portion size for a great price. Cash only is a bit of a surprise but there is an atm on site.

Definitely a local diner where Lisa knows by name a good number of the customers and there is often running banter between them.
The diner in the morning is dimly lit and has a sleepy feel about it. Not overly large, 10 seats at the counter and 19 or so small tables. She is the only one waiting tables, but seems to keep up pretty well.
Specials are posted on a small blackboard as you enter next to the bar stools where you can sit at the counter and eat.
I tried the Double Berry French Toast Special with sausage. Good sized portion. Overall a pretty decent taste
The food was good, but as I watched the cook process orders, it does not come out very fast. So if you are in a rush, you might want to reconsider. Otherwise, a pretty decent experience that I will repeat in the future when on this side of town.
Oh and don’t forget, this is a CASH only establishment. So no complaints that they don’t take debit or credit cards. There is an ATM in the back area near the restrooms if you forget.

Delicious… Cheap… And huge portions! I had the veggie omelette and my husband had the Titanic. Usually my husband is still hungry after breakfast but he did not even finish it! We are visiting from Denver and this was a great find!

During a weekend trip to Omaha, Lisa’s was recommended to us by our hotel. We took the walk down to find it was closing early for a special event but decided to check it out for breakfast the next morning. After a 20 – 30 minute wait (it was a Saturday morning after all), we got a nice little table by the window. The waitress was very good and we enjoyed the view. I ordered the Turkey Cranberry Cream Cheese sandwich with a side pancake and he ordered the Pork Carnitas Skillet with a single side of stuffed french toast. We were both really looking forward to our order and were happy but were not thinking «this is the best place ever». He wished the hash browns were cooked a little more and the pork was bland, but very much enjoyed the stuffed french toast. He was wishing he had just had an order of that, and he’s not much of a sweets person. My sandwich was pretty ordinary and the croissant was on the greasy, came from Costco variety. The turkey was simple processed turkey, where as I was looking forward to the real deal. I could have used a lot more cranberry and a lot less cream cheese too. It just wasn’t balanced and very little bland. The pancake was good but also had an odd grill taste to it.
PROS
~ a-​ok food but nothing to write home about
~ great coffee and free while you wait
~ comfortable seating with big windows
~ waiting area in the back, be it a storage area with odd decorations and dirty feeling
~ great wait staff that seemed on the ball and enjoy their jobs
~ very reasonable pricing
CONS
~ could use a deep clean but not gross
~ as mentioned in the review, odd grill flavor to the pancake
~ CASH ONLY. .but plenty of warning and an ATM in the back room

Great place! My partner had the giant plate of biscuits and gravy. I had the carnitas on top of hasbrowns with green chiles and cheese topped with gravy and eggs over medium. OMG! It was to-​die-​for! Great server and service. Way crowded but lots of fun! We are not from Omaha and discovered by accident on the way to Mass down the street. GREAT!

The wait was 30 – 40 minutes… Then it actually was 1:20. There was free coffee while we waited. The food was good but it took another 30 minutes to get our food after we ordered. The pancakes were large and fluffy and the skillets were flavorful. Id say 4.5 stars for the food, 2 for the wait.

A friend and I were here for lunch on the Saturday of the Cathedral Flower Show. While there were a number of folks ahead of us waiting for tables, the turnover was quite fast and we were seated in a short time. My friend opted for the eggs Benedict and found the poached eggs to be perfect, and the Hollandaise tasty and rich. I had the chicken-​fried steak lunch which came with choice of soup or salad, choice of potato, and a biscuit. The meat was tasty and tender, the country gravy was rich and tasty… not too peppery, but it had a pleasant tang. The meal was perfect and served quickly and efficiently. Prices are quite moderate for the quality and quantity of food. This is a place to head back to soon!

Lisa’s is a place you’d want to go on a weekend and relish the tasty food…
The place is cute and has a waiting area with hot coffee!
I had the turkey cranberry sauce sandwich which was delicious.

Was told this was «the» place, it’s on a few lists of great places in Omaha. Sadly I am disappointed. As with many «great» places I really don’t think it lives up to all the hype.
I ordered a skillet with chicken and a pancake. The skillet really didn’t have any flavor, was pretty bland, I had to resort to heavy amounts of salt, pepper and hot sauce to get any type of flavor. Hashbrowns seemed under cooked, chicken need some sort of seasoning. I love skillets for breakfast this one I will skip. The pancakes was edible, nothing remarkable. They are listed as «killer pancakes» that either due to their size or what they do to you dreams of a good breakfast.
The prices are ok, that’s the only reason for two stars, that and the staff was good. Also probably leads to the abnormally long, well that and the size. There is an ATM on site in case you forget it’s cash only.
All in all this place can be skipped and you’ll be ok.

It has been over a year since my last visit. Food was still outstanding. The place was busy and I was not given the option to be seated at a table. The bar seating was crowded, elbow to elbow. The servers were constantly moving around behind the bar filling coffee pots, dropping things which prevented me from really relaxing and enjoying the breakfast experience. The staff was friendly, service was outstanding and the food was delivered to me fast (under 10 minutes). I will visit again, next time I will wait for an open table verses sitting at the bar.

So I came In here for breakfast on a Thursday and it was busy. I got seated right away and the food was out in 10 minutes. The ham steak was thick and juicy and the bacon was so crispy. This place was pretty Damn good.

I went here for brunch on a Sunday around 11:30. As expected, there was a 40 minute wait. In addition to a bench outside, they have a small, air conditioned waiting room in the back with free coffee and plenty of seating. Even at a peak brunch time (and 100 degree heat outside) we had no problem finding a seat in their waiting room while we waited. When our table was ready the hostess called our name and showed us to a table. The restaurant is small and old-​fashioned with simple décor and the service is efficient and friendly.
Upon perusing the menu, I didn’t find any of the combinations that caught my eye, so I decided to make my own. I ordered one piece of stuffed French toast (strawberry, but I think it changes), a half order of the biscuits and gravy (two biscuits covered in gravy), and a side of hash browns.
We waited about 20 minutes for our food (pretty standard). The stuffed French toast was my favorite (my husband tried it and said it was the best French toast he had ever had). It was filled with strawberry cream and topped with whipped cream and powdered sugar. The biscuits and gravy were also very good. The hash browns were just alright.
This is a great breakfast spot and the prices are very reasonable. It is pretty far from where we live, so I don’t know that I would go back unless I was in the area. It is cash only, but they have an ATM in the waiting room. Parking is street parking and gets crowded on the weekends.

Cash Only. ATM Inside.
We were looking for breakfast food just before most places open for lunch and a quick search for a local diner pointed us here. Parking is NOT NEXT DOOR. There’s a sign on the door of the restaurant and if I hadn’t paid attention we would have been towed. Parking is across the street, not hard to do.
Service was very friendly and quick. The environment was quirky and homey. This is definitely someplace you go after a crazy night out or on a near daily basis to get some bacon and eggs before heading off to work. A diverse crowd from all walks of life. I like it.
The food was standard breakfast/​lunch diner fare, but everything was very nicely done without being greasy, burnt, or over buttered. We didn’t order anything beyond eggs, bacon, toast and coffee… so I can’t get too detailed about the specialties.
Definitely recommended.

Lisa’s Radical Café was recommended to me by a friend that attended Creighton. You will also see Lisa’s as a top search result when you Google ‘Best Breakfast in Omaha’.
Food: I ordered the Skillet with green peppers, bacon and scrambled eggs. The hash browns are covered in delicious cheese and every bite tastes better than the one before. The Wheat Berry toast was surprisingly good and perfectly buttered. The Skillet is deceiving large and I could only eat about ¼ of it. I would consider splitting it next time.
My dad ordered The Float (I think that is what it is called) and he LOVED it. I managed to steal a bite of the biscuit and it was delicious! The biscuit was perfectly fluffy and felt like I was eating an amazing cloud of breakfast joy.
Service: The service was scarce. I couldn’t even tell you what our waitress looked like because I barely saw her the entire time. It took awhile to get coffee when we first were seated and even longer to get a waitress to take our order. But, she did bring us the food which was amazing so that kinda made up for it.
Atmosphere: It feels like a local breakfast joint that hasn’t been updated in years. It was a bit dark inside, but larger than I realized.
Location: We were staying in the heart of Omaha so had to drive about 8 minutes to get here. There is street parking only during the week, but we found a spot pretty quick.
Overall: I give Lisa’s Radical Café a low 4. The food was great, but the service and atmosphere were a bit lacking.

There’s nothin better than a home cooked breakfast on a lazy Sunday morning, but breakfast at Lisa’s is a close 2^nd.
As an undergrad at Creighton, I was a frequent flyer here on Sunday mornings after a weekend of general debauchery. There is nothing fancy about Lisa’s but that is what makes it so great. The staff is down to earth, friendly and genuine and the food is comfort food and always hits the spot. Although I no longer live in Omaha, was here recently and it was just as good. I got the stuffed French toast and cleaned my plate… that usually doesn’t happen to me, so I’ll let that speak for itself. Expect to wait on a sunday morning and remember to bring cash (otherwise there is an ATM there) but it is definitely worth it to enjoy breakfast here.