Sometimes, a new restaurant opens in an up-and-coming neighborhood and it just feels so remarkably right.
Know Good is far from the first time I’ve seen this happen, but it is the latest example of what is resonating with diners right now: a well-thought-out, affordably priced neighborhood spot. This one serves a tight menu of coffee, baked goods and creative sandwiches on homemade bagels. It opened in July, and a few months later there’s often a line stretching out the door.
Owner Katina Talley knows how to do this. She also runs two locations of Sweet Magnolia’s bakery, now beloved by many Omahans, including yours truly. She also conceptualized the latest food menu at Little Bohemia’s Archetype Coffee.
Talley told me she made the decision to expand into a spot off 35th and Center streets tucked between Field Club and Hanscom Park “in a split second.”
The breakfast spot had already been established in the neighborhood after Sunnyside on Center operated there, then closed in the fall of 2024.
“Pretty much all of my development is completely on feel. When I walk into a restaurant, what is going to catch my eye?” she said. “What am I going to be excited about eating for breakfast and lunch?”
It’s an approach that appears to have paid off, if those lines are any indication.
Talley said after she bought Sweet Magnolia’s in 2016, opened a second location in Millwork Commons in 2022 and took over the kitchen at Archetype in 2023, she started to think about bagels. They weren’t on the menu at the two existing bakeries, and she didn’t have much experience making from-scratch bagels.
The menu is small enough that during my two visits, one for lunch and another at weekend brunch, we tried most of it.
We snarfed three of the sandwiches, all served on the house-made bagels. The Mordain, another local appreciation of Anthony Bourdain and his love for mortadella, pairs the cured meat with burrata cheese, pistachio pesto, arugula and a tomato vinaigrette. My dining partner paired his with an egg for an extra $2. It is sloppy and saucy, and he thought the portion was especially generous for the price tag. The jalapeno cheddar bagel, he said, brought a good amount of spice to the equation.
The Karla is loaded with hickory-smoked ham that gets a quick sear on the flat top, havarti cheese, arugula and a honey dijon sauce. It features a sweet-savory-spiciness I really enjoyed. I got it on a rosemary salt bagel, which had a nice crunch from the crisped herbs and Maldon flakes.
Talley told me later that the sandwich is named after her best friend’s late mother, and is an homage to her Hawaiian ham sliders. Several of the sandwiches are named after friends.
The Basic Blake is another study in sweet and savory, with house sausage, havarti cheese and maple butter, with the option to add an egg. My husband is a solid sausage egg and cheese guy, so he added the egg. I can tell when he really likes something, because I didn’t even get a bite. Suffice to say, it’s a good one.
Coffee, with beans roasted locally at Archetype, is good across the board — enough so that I got an iced vanilla latte to go after my interview with Talley ended. The initial one I had during lunch was good enough to bring me back for a second. Made with espresso, creamy oat milk and a house vanilla syrup, it is hard to argue with.
Both of my dining partners enjoyed the brewed coffee and an Americano. I had a hot cappuccino, which was excellent, too. Most of us know by now that Archetype is one of the best coffee shops in the city, but Know Good’s staff is keeping it at that level.
On a Sunday morning, we returned for brunch. Though the line seemed long, it moved speedily, and though there were no seats available when we arrived, they turned over quickly.
I wanted to try a couple of non-bagel items, so went for the pesto toast and the clubhouse toastie. The pesto toast is a simple but flavorful combination of whipped ricotta, pistachio pesto and a runny egg topped with Calabrian chili flakes and flaky salt. I really loved this flavor combination, and the soft cheese, nutty pesto and hot pepper worked well together.
My one complaint, simple but problematic: the toast wasn’t toasted enough. Under the load of toppings, it couldn’t hold up. Next time, I’ll ask for a bit more of a char.
The Clubhouse toastie is one of the most creative breakfast menu items I’ve encountered in a while, with a combination of flavors that don’t seem to go together on paper. Talley told me later it is one of the lower sellers on the list. But don’t avoid it. This one works well.
On a menu full of gluten, I loved the clever move of using a crispy hash brown patty in place of bread. It gets topped with a dollop of pimento cheese, sliced bacon and (hear me out) a sweet Asian chili sauce. This odd combination really did it for me: salty, sweet and savory, with a variety of textures, all held together by that crispy bite of potato.
It’s a breakfast experience new to me after tens of thousands of breakfasts.
The pastry case at the shop has become a spot for Talley to experiment with items she doesn’t serve at Sweet Mag’s. Here you can find her original scone recipe, a sweet corn coffee cake and a different version of cinnamon rolls made with a brioche dough.
Talley moved to Hanscom Park in 2020, and said since then, she has tried hard to become a part of the community, joining the neighborhood association. Now, she said, she’s getting to know her neighbors who are becoming regulars at Know Good.
“I grew up in a small town, and it reminds me of that kind of community feel,” she said.
The Center Street crowd has certainly caught on. I predict many more neighborhoods will be in on this cozy little spot sooner rather than later.
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