The Watering Hole

I don't know what to say here. I'm still in shock and kind of in mourning. I was back in Nebraska for a week and was meeting a friend for lunch, so of course, I suggested my favorite place in the world. This wound be the original Watering Hole on O Street. To my shock and dismay, it appears to be closed for good. In side it was still set up for business with ketchup bottles still on the tables, like a snapshot of days gone by. (Although a much better snapshot of days further gone by would be a couple decades earlier when the Watering Hole was a dive bar with th best wings around.) But I digress . . . . we checked Yelp and went to the closest of their new locations. Feels off somehow, but that's probably just me. Great service and the same awesome wing sauce that I crave every time I'm back in Nebraska (if only the sold bottles of the stuff). Definitely a "must stop" when in Lincoln, or even in a 200-mile radius.Sure could use a bottle of wing sauce right about now . . . . even though I'm fairly certain I've figured out the secret ingredient. ;-)

I go for the grilled wings. Not for the service or the ambiance. Although, I have never had terrible service. Get the grilled wings. They do take longer, but you won't find a better wing in my opinion. They are grilled, yum!!I miss the downtown location, but at least they still have east side.

Pre covid I went to the downtown location frequently as it was close to work. Food and service were great. I was excited when they opened the "East" location a few years ago. It was very similar to the downtown location. Even during Covid, they did great! However the last few times I've been to the East location have been terrible. Probably 3 times over the last 6 months. The nachos were a soggy mess of wadded up chips. The kids meal grilled cheese was 2 pieces of toast that they put cheese on. When we let the waitress know, she had it remade. Yet again, The cheese didn't melt and the bread was burnt on the INSIDE and out. I got the grilled wings the next time and they were soooo burnt. Now, get that grilling gives some char but all the wings were completely black. I should mention the service was not great either. Have to ask for plates for appetizers, ask for napkins (got none with the hot wings or nachos (separate visits) very limited beer options. 2 of the ones I chose from the chalkboard menu were out. Why not erase them then?! Then the check comes and I see they charge a credit card fee. Extra 3 bucks for nothing. I suggest avoiding this location, maybe the downtown one still cares.

The quality of food is very up and down. Beer selection is decent and makes overpriced bad food tolerable.

Watering hole review Probably one of the most disappointing and disrespectful experiences I have ever had at one of our local sports bar and grills. 7pm on a Saturday evening and wanted to take some friends and family out. We called ahead and asked about our party of 15 and they only said that we may have to sit separately because there were only 5 tables open (understandable). We get there and find two tables close together right away and there was enough space for all of us at those two tables. They were not busy in my opinion as there were more than 5 tables open and plenty of room. I sit down and immediately a server comes and tells me that they are not able to accommodate our party. The manager comes over and tells us that they are not going to serve us and that we needed to leave. Now we were being understanding and tried to give all options... two servers? Two checks? One check? Longer wait time? Limited menu? Separate seating? We did not care about doing whatever they needed to LET us eat and drink in their place of business. No matter what we suggested the "manager" was not having it and literally told us we had to leave. Many of my clients own similar establishments here in Lincoln and they could not believe we were being turned away with no regard. 6 kids and 9 adults who all were buying drinks and food, ready to tip well and prepared for wait times. We were being treated like they absolutely did not want our business and didn't care that we had to find another place or drive somewhere else. We all went to Riskys and got service right away, food, drinks, football, tipped great, bought the kitchen multiple rounds, and had a great time. Thanks Riskys!I will NEVER return to any of these locations and will definitely be making it known to the owner and the owners of other businesses in the city to steer clear of this place. Used to be one of my favorites, been a loyal customer for 15 years. Just absolutely appalling.

We love Warering Hole! Easy to order for our family of 4. We all love their boneless wings. The atmosphere is very kid friendly and while they might be busy at times they are very accommodating and their food never disappoints.

In from California for a few days! Wings are my allll time favorite! Ordered grilled mild bone in and let me tell you, the best!! Perfectly cooked! Abby our server was wonderful and very kind. She stayed on top of everything and made sure our drinks were always topped off. Next visit back I'll be sure to find myself here again!

Terrible establishment where only money matters. Extremely discriminatory and have no regard for anyone other than the owner who runs this business out of town. My daughter worked here and was constantly threatened and given ultimatums in regards to her children's health when sick (4) or a job. They think everyone is disposable and take no parts of consideration for employees or their families. Turn over rate is high. I was told over 6 people were fired within 3 months.Cooks don't wear gloves or hairnets.Food is mid & servers are rude, and only white servers. This place is trash. There wings are good, but the establishment and those running it are -10/10.I hope this company makes some changes. I'll continue to copy & paste this on social media in hopes of them constructing them into something better. Please see WEST location or brewskys.

Location looks like a local favorite restaurant, but everything else feels like a dive bar with high ceilings.I order garlic parmesan wings, menu says "homemade cheesy buttery garlic goodness" seemed more like a mayo-heavy cream-herb marinade. Garlic 5/10, butter 3/10, parm 2/10, mayo 7/10.

We decided to try this restaurant while visiting. The waiter was very scattered. He couldn't remember which sodas were which so he smelled them to see the flavor. It was very odd. The kitchen also made quite a few mistakes. They messed up plating and gave the wrong person a peanut butter burger. Luckily there were no allergies. We also had to ask for our dipping sauces a few times. We ended up getting double charged for them. They ran out of thousand island for the animal fries. When we asked about it that's when they told us they didn't have any more and asked if we wanted a different sauce. I said ranch. Which then I got charged for. The waiter seemed very apologetic but overall it was a very weird experience and being overcharged on top of that just showed the lack of organization on their part.