Review By J1 Reporter CeCe Behounek

In the heart of the Haymarket in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska, there’s a retro, yet ambient restaurant named HopCat. 90’s music plays softly in the background and looking up, you see the elevated ceiling with rolling stone covers are painted and lowered.

Originated in Michigan in 2008, there are now 17 restaurants across eight states in the United States. One of them is in Lincoln, Nebraska and open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (which is the location my family and I went to), and their menu consists of mainly American cuisine, and they’re mostly known for their cosmik fries, seasoned and crispy fries that are served with melted cheese.

With multiple different sections of the menu like shareables, soups and salads, burgers, sandwiches and more, their prices range anywhere from $10 to $20 which is perfect for any college student up the block who wants to walk a few blocks for a bite to eat for game day, a girls night out with their closest friends, or an energizing family dinner.

The menu includes vegetarian and vegan options for anyone who needs either of the two. Not only do they offer these options but they also value sustainability, as said on their website Hotcat.com: “We’re dedicated to reducing our environmental footprint and enhancing the world we inhabit.” The reason this is so important is because as people, we need to be thinking about what we consume and put into our bodies every day to sustain our own health and the health of the people around us, and we should also consider before eating out.

Since it is located in the Haymarket in Lincoln, parking gets hectic on the weekends and most of the time you do have to pay for a spot- but Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday nights are the best if you don’t want to worry about parking and you can usually get into a table right away. When my family and I went on Monday night for my sister’s birthday, there were maybe four other people there to eat. The service was attentive, kind and quick.

To start, my family got the “space curds” off of the shareables menu, which were delicious square cheese curds that melt in your mouth and dipped in aioli sauce- everyone loved them. One of their claims is that they only serve drafted alcoholic beverages- but there are also “mock tails”- and I got what they call a “tropicola,” which was basically a dirty soda- a Coca Cola infused with creamer and tropic juices like lime juice.

It was refreshing and perfect with my meal- the buffalo mac and cheese. The Buffalo Mac is basically just mac and cheese with boneless buffalo wings scattered throughout the dish. The charred yet rich flavor of the two mixes were perfect. I also had a side of their cosmik fries which were perfectly seasoned and crisped as they describe it on the menu.

Overall, I give Hopcat a 4.5 out of 5 stars, and the reason it’s not a full 5 stars is just because of parking, especially for college students and if you’re there with family it might be hard to coordinate parking, but it’s better to come in one vehicle if that is possible. Although I did not give it a full five out of five stars, I did really enjoy my experience there and I will be going again the next time I’m in Lincoln visiting my sister.