{"id":17478,"date":"2026-09-18T06:50:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T06:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/17478\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T06:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T06:50:23","slug":"discover-the-best-restaurants-in-kearney-ne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/17478\/","title":{"rendered":"Discover the Best Restaurants in Kearney, NE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Check out two of the best restaurants in Kearney, Nebraska: The Alley Rose and The Cellar Sports Bar & Grill.<\/p>\n

\"The\"The<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Cellar\n<\/p>\n

The Cellar Sports Bar & Grill <\/p>\n

If you are new to Kearney or just visiting, you\u2019ve probably discovered that the dining scene is worth exploring. The city has a little bit of everything, from barbecue and brewpubs to Indian and Italian, but many establishments have also become places residents associate with fun, relaxation and memories. Ahead, get to know two of the best restaurants in Kearney, NE \u2013 The Alley Rose and The Cellar Sports Bar & Grill.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Customer Favorites\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Shawn Engberg was only 19 when he opened the first iteration of his fine-dining restaurant in Battle Creek, Nebraska, a tiny town around 150 miles from Kearney.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe population was 1,005,\u201d Engberg says. \u201cAnd I think my family made up five of them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cooking came naturally to him. \u201cMy grandmother was a chef,\u201d Engberg says. \u201cWhile my brother was out on the farm, I was inside cooking. My mom worked at a small-town restaurant, and I started collecting menus when I was 13.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Engberg moved The Alley Rose to Kearney in 1991, and the restaurant has been going strong ever since. Located inside an early 1900s-era building, diners find a rustic lounge accented with recycled barn siding and antiques, while the dining room leans more formal, with oak tables, leather booths, and plenty of brass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Alley Rose also features a full soup and salad bar and daily lunch buffet, which includes sandwiches, hot entrees, vegetables, and a dessert bar. Thanks to the full bar, which includes a selection of local craft beers, diners can pair their food with just the right beverage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Engberg is proud of happy hour, where everything is half-price from 4 to 6 p.m., plus, there is a nice assortment of $5 offerings, including fried pickles and pot stickers. Prime rib is a customer favorite, as is the pork osso buco, almond-crusted salmon, and black and blue mussels with bacon, garlic, Roma tomatoes and Gorgonzola.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOrder extra bread with that right away,\u201d Engberg says. \u201cEverybody wants to soak up all the goodies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to great food, Engberg credits his team \u2013 some of whom have been with him for more than 30 years \u2013 for The Alley Rose\u2019s continued success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The\"The<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the Cellar\n<\/p>\n

Cellar\u2019s hand-sliced signature onion rings Beloved Classics\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The Cellar Lounge first began drawing a crowd in 1978, especially for its hot roast beef sandwiches served with mashed potatoes, brown gravy and hand-sliced \u201csecret spice\u201d onion rings accompanied by a delicious house-made tangy ranch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Awards came in: In 2011, it was named the Consumer\u2019s Choice for the Best Restaurant in Nebraska, while its Western Burger won the Nebraska Beef Council\u2019s Best Burger Contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Much to the dismay of Kearney\u2019s onion ring-loving residents, the doors of the popular restaurant abruptly closed in 2020. Fortunately, four local couples worked together to bring The Cellar \u2013 now The Cellar Sports Bar & Grill \u2013 back to life in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s restaurant offers a much different vibe. The old-style steakhouse booths and carpeting were replaced with an airy space, complete with large TVs, a spacious outdoor patio and a firepit, and decor that focuses on local sports, paying homage to kids playing for local high schools, the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. \u201cThis place meant so much to the community,\u201d says Matt Mortensen, one of the new owners. \u201cMy wife and I had our first date here, and people were really sad when it closed. There\u2019s just a lot of history here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The onion rings are back, of course, while the hot roast beef sandwich returns each week as a nostalgic Friday special.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople love that,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s delicious, but trust me, it\u2019s a big, big portion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also, make sure to check out the live music every Thursday evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Check out two of the best restaurants in Kearney, Nebraska: The Alley Rose and The Cellar Sports Bar & Grill. Courtesy of the Cellar The Cellar Sports Bar & Grill If you are new to Kearney or just visiting, you\u2019ve probably discovered that the dining scene is worth exploring. The city has a little bit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5184,5182,5180,5183,5181],"class_list":["post-17478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nebraska","tag-nebraska","tag-nebraska-dining","tag-nebraska-food","tag-nebraska-grocery-stores","tag-nebraska-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117290717930254918","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}