Tracking the latest openings on Lincoln restaurant scene

Local restaurants seem to have weathered the coronavirus pandemic and the improving economy pretty well.

According to local real estate agent Robin Eschliman, 2022 was one of the best years for Lincoln restaurants in the past decade.

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Eschliman recorded 37 new Lincoln restaurant openings or new locations for existing restaurants, compared to 27 closures. According to her research, that was the most openings since 2013 and the largest gap between openings and closings since 2016.

“It’s been a pretty good year, which has surprised us,” said Eschliman, president of Eschliman Commercial Real Estate and co-host of the radio show Grow Lincoln.

Another surprise, she said, was that about 70% of the restaurants that opened last year were local operations. In recent years, that number has been closer to 50-50 or even tended toward national chains.

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The positive momentum appears to have carried over into 2023, with several restaurants either opening new locations or planning to open soon. Here is a list of some of them:

* Naughty Buddha Burger Bar, an Omaha-based restaurant specializing in vegetarian and vegan fare, opened a Lincoln location on January 15 at 330 S. 21st St., adjacent to The Mill Coffee & Tea in the Telegraph District.

* Another restaurant chain in Omaha is planning a location in Lincoln. Ika San Ramen and Izakaya, which as its name suggests is a restaurant specializing in ramen noodles, plans to open a location in the SouthPointe Pavilions. An opening date has not yet been announced for the chain, which has four locations in the Omaha area, but it filed an application for a liquor license last month.

* SoulFull Cocina, a food truck serving grilled food and hot dogs, has announced plans to open at the former Boxcar BBQ area on Havelock Ave. 6105 to open a stationary location.

*Per recent building permits, Sonic is planning a new drive-in restaurant at 1540 NW 50th Street adjacent to the new Lincoln Northwest High School and Little Caesar’s is planning a new location at 4630 Bair Ave near 33rd and of Superior Street.

* Hy-Vee recently began work on adding two more Lincoln Choice burgers at its stores at 84th Street and Holdrege Street, and 40th Street and Old Cheney Road.

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Eschliman said Lincoln hasn’t seen much expansion of national restaurant chains in recent years, but that trend may be changing.

“We’re tending to see more national chains opening in the market than we’ve seen in the last year or two,” she said.

Eschliman only tracks restaurants that serve meals (like breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner) at least twice a day, so their stats don’t count cafes, ice cream parlors, and the like.

If you include these companies, the numbers look even better.

Two regional coffee chains, 7 Brew and Ziggi’s Coffee, have opened branches in Lincoln in recent months, and both plan to expand further.

7 Brew opened its first Nebraska location at 56th Street and O Street in December and has already applied to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Department for a second location near 56th Street and Nebraska 2.

Ziggi’s opened a location near 70th Street and Pine Lake Road in January.

A number of other coffee shops have recently opened additional locations in Lincoln, including Harbor Coffeehouse, and Dunkin’ Donuts is planning an additional location at 29th and O Streets.

Another restaurant that is expanding is 402 Creamery. The ice cream shop plans to open two new locations this spring, one in the Telegraph District and the other in the Fallbrook development in northwest Lincoln.

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Reach the author at 402-473-2647 or [email protected].

On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.

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