The Best Wings and Family Sports Bars in Omaha

Big game's on tonight, the kids want to watch too, and somebody in the back seat is already asking about wings. This is a thing Omaha does well. We're a sports town wall to wall, Creighton hoops, the College World Series every June, Huskers Saturdays that shut down half the metro. And there's a whole crop of bars built to catch all of it without making you leave the seven-year-old at home. Here's where to go.

Start with the one that's basically built for this. Buffalo Wings & Rings over on L Street near 120th is a proper wing house first and a sports bar second, which is the right order. Bone-in, boneless, a wall of sauces from mild honey BBQ up to the stuff that makes you sweat, and every game on somewhere you can see it. It's brighter and cleaner than your average dive, high-tops and booths both, and nobody blinks at a booster seat. There's a real kids' menu too, so the little one gets mac and cheese while you work through a dozen hot.

For the true neighborhood pick, Varsity Sports Cafe & Roman Coin Pizza is the Omaha institution. Been around forever, multiple spots around the metro, and it pulls double duty, sports bar on one side, legit Roman Coin pizza on the other. The habanero wings have a following, and the Italian nachos are a thing you order once and then always. Screens everywhere, an outdoor patio when the weather cooperates, and it's the kind of easygoing room where a table of kids and a table of guys watching the game coexist just fine. Good honest value, which matters when you're feeding a crew.

If you're out west, Tanner's Bar & Grill is the go-to, with locations up near 156th and Maple, out on West Center, and over on 119th. Their thing is fresh jumbo wings, fried and then charred golden with your choice of sauce, and the char is what sets them apart. Walls of TVs, big booths, a menu deep enough that the picky eater and the wing hound both leave happy. It's a solid family sports bar without any pretense, the sort of place you end up at more than you planned to.

Want the flashy new-school version? Let It Fly bills itself as Omaha's first elevated sports bar, and downtown it means two floors, two bars, and a fifty-foot LED screen you can basically see from the street. There's a West location too, out past 168th. Crispy wings in flavors like hot honey and lemon pepper, loaded tin-can nachos, burgers and pizza for the kids. Go early on a game day if you're bringing the family, because the later it gets the more it tilts toward grown-up night out. But for an afternoon Husker game with the crew, the big screens are a genuine kick for the kids. It also lands on our most family-friendly restaurants guide for exactly that reason.

A quick honest note, because we don't pretend around here. If you're an Omaha old-timer looking for Old Chicago and its taproom wings, the metro locations have all closed, the Cass Street spot and the rest, only the Lincoln one's still going. And a couple of the flashier downtown sports-and-wings spots skew adults-only in the evening, so this list stuck to the ones that genuinely welcome a stroller and a kids' menu. No sense sending you somewhere that'll seat you next to a bachelor party.

Here's the tip that saves your night. Game days are the whole point of these places, which means game days are also when they fill up. College World Series stretch in June, any Husker home Saturday, Creighton in March, and you're looking at a wait if you roll in at kickoff. Two fixes. Get there a solid half hour before the game starts and grab a booth while it's calm. Or, if you've got littles who can't sit through overtime, go for a late-lunch wing run on a weekday when the place is quiet, the sauces are just as good and nobody's fighting for a table. And always ask for extra napkins up front. Wings and a four-year-old are a messy combination, and you'll thank me.

That's the wing-and-game map. Dedicated wing house, neighborhood pizza-and-sports combo, west-side family standby, or the big-screen new kid. Pick your game, round up the crew, and go. If you're building the rest of the day around it, our best pizza in Omaha guide and our best burgers list cover the nights the wings aren't calling.

Hours shift around the sports calendar and the patios are seasonal, so peek before you drive out. Then go catch the game.

Check out all their menus:

Buffalo Wings & Rings Menu→ Varsity Sports Cafe & Roman Coin Pizza Menu→ Tanner's Bar & Grill Menu→ Let It Fly Menu→