The SBH Review: At Omaha’s Flora Cafe, family recipes bring flavor, and memories, to brunch

Some meals I’ve eaten in the past live rent free in my mind. They’re memories of the fanciest meals I’ve ever had, or local delicacies I sampled while traveling, or the time I ate a reindeer pizza in Norway. 

And meals from home that feel like home. 

One such dish lodged in my memory: The marvelous chilaquiles that chef Rene Orduña long prepared at Dixie Quicks, where I was a Sunday brunch regular for years. 

I could go on about Dixie Quicks (I wrote about it here and here, if you’re curious.) But let’s focus on Rene’s chilaquiles: crisp tortilla chips, ladles of green sauce, plenty of cheese and two perfectly poached eggs. It’s a beloved Mexican brunch dish, a textural wonder of soft, crisp and creamy layered with flavor, spice and, in the dearly departed Rene’s case, plenty of love. 

It stood alone — until I had brunch a few weeks ago at the Flora Cafe. 

That Old Market restaurant that opened in July serves up chilaquiles similar to the ones in my memory, and that feels pretty special. And I discovered that this small, family-owned Mexican spot at 10th and Farnam had several more standout brunch dishes, plus a nice dinner menu.

I got my plate of chilaquiles topped with half red sauce and half green; the green is significantly spicier than the red, but a mound of soft scrambled eggs helped cool things down. The dish is made with warm, crisp fried corn tortilla chips and finished with onion, avocado, cilantro, crema and crumbly queso fresco cheese, plus a side of Mexican rice and refried beans. 

It’s hearty, spicy, warming and satisfying with that textural mix I love: crunchy and creamy, spicy and cool. It’s a dish I know I’ll be returning for — and one you should try if you haven’t. 

Mother and daughter Araseli and Caylee Murillo own the restaurant, which is named after Caylee’s grandmother. The owners were not available for an interview before my deadline, but have said online that two of their most popular dishes are among those I tried: chilaquiles and birria tacos. (More on those shortly.)

On a recent Sunday morning, half of our party of four devoured chilaquiles. But the other two weren’t left out — we also all enjoyed the other entrees. 

The huevo-wich is essentially a breakfast torta, made with crisp-soft telara bread stuffed with two eggs cooked to order, refried beans, tomato, smashed avocado, onion, chipotle crema and the choice of protein; Matthew went with “campechano,” Spanish for “mixed,” that often signifies a dish made with more than one meat. Here it signifies a flavorful combination of chorizo and steak. Seasonings shine in this sandwich, which is smoky and a bit spicy and served with a side of crisp home fries.

The huevos con chorizo is not much to look at — a sort of brownish meat-and-egg scramble — but it’s as tasty as the rest, with plenty of spice and flavor and a pleasant texture. It comes served with a basket of tortillas wrapped prettily inside an embroidered napkin featuring the restaurant’s logo and the words “Abuelita’s food and love.” It’s a sweet touch.

I’d be remiss not to mention the coffee, which one of my friends (boldly) pronounced as one of the best cups in Omaha. My vanilla latte was great: balanced and milky, with the right amount of sweetness. The coffee, too, has a hint of sweet cinnamon. We all loved the decorative stoneware mugs.

The restaurant is busy for weekend brunch: On one busy Old Market Sunday, our friends waited an hour. The day we visited for brunch, our wait was a manageable 25 minutes.

The dining room is two levels, with a second floor overlooking the first and big arched windows that face the newly renovated downtown Gene Leahy Mall. Service is friendly and timely, and both times we had no complaints. The crowd is diverse, old and young, Latino and all the rest of us, everyone fizzing with caffeinated brunch excitement.

And it’s easy to be excited: We’re right next to the refurbished park, eating good, affordable food in a fun atmosphere. It’s the kind of restaurant, with family recipes and hearty Mexican food, I think Orduña might have liked, too.

Breakfast entrees run $15 to $17. At dinner, a street taco is just $5, and three birria tacos are $15.

On a weekday night, we found a smaller dinner crowd, but the service and food quality were just the same. The restaurant has a liquor license, and the Cadillac margarita is oversized, with your choice of salt, tajin or sugar on the rim. Our server offered a solid recommendation: Try it with reposado tequila, she said, and it was good, with the right amount of sweetness.

The restaurant serves both flour and corn chips, warm, for free, along with a thin, red salsa that’s tasty, fresh and mild. 

I liked the birria tacos, which come three to a serving with consomme for dipping. With a crisp exterior and a meaty, savory filling, they’re worth the trip downtown. The green sauce hits again in the chicken green enchiladas, a large serving that includes a side of beans and rice. They’re spicy, with well-seasoned, tender chicken and a heavy drizzle of cooling crema and plenty of crumbled cheese. 

The early popularity of brunch at Flora Cafe speaks to the lack of breakfast places in a neighborhood that used to be chockablock with choices for eggs and sides. And while this, of course, isn’t Dixie Quicks, it’s a fine new chapter in the Old Market, one I think many more folks will enjoy if they’re downtowners, like me, or visitors looking to make their own food memories.