Sauced came to be when chef Michelle “Chelle” Alfaro was looking to raise funds for her son to go on a mission trip. After exhausting all her fundraising options, she turned to salsa. And made $700 on her first day.
That eventually led to a discussion with Hy-Vee that landed her salsa on the shelves at 13 of their stores (and became my go-to salsa when it was offered). It also meant that she needed to find a commercial kitchen to meet the demand, which she found in Louisville, Neb. Alfaro started doing pop-up offerings with burgers, chicken sandwiches and wings. Eventually, Sauced by Alfaro launched on Cinco de Mayo 2021. She moved to downtown Papillion one year later.
“I knew I could make my sauces homemade, so we started off doing burgers, wings and chicken sandwiches and things like that when we first started in Louisville,” Alfaro said. “I really had to come up with what my niche was going to be. We did a lot of menu-changing in year one here in Papillion as we kind of fine-tuned what our establishment was going to be and chicken sandwiches were hands down the people’s favorite. So, we just stuck to what we were good at here.”
Chipotle honey chicken sandwich
The chicken sandwiches are made to order, with hand-breaded chicken that’s fresh and never frozen. The shrimp tacos are made the same way. They even take their fries seriously, making them fresh with each order to keep a high level of consistency, ensuring they’re hot when you get them.
Sauced isn’t a traditional sit-down restaurant. There’s some indoor seating and very adequate outdoor seating in the back. During my visits, countless people were walking in and picking up to-go orders.
Sauced by Alfaro inside seating
It isn’t uncommon for a customer to order their food in-person, take a table number and walk it next door to Twisted Vine, where Sauced will deliver the order to their table. Camaraderie is alive and well in downtown Papillion.
I tried to make a good dent in the menu, but merely scratched the surface. There’s so much left I’m dying to try. In any event, let’s go ahead and jump into the menu.
I need to address what’s become the Sauced signature sauce. The bang bang sauce is slightly creamy, sweet and moderately spicy. It’s at once tangy, savory and sweet. It has a complexity of flavors that expertly elevates any menu offering.
“I wanted a sauce that was a little bit sweet with a little heat,” Alfaro said. “I just kept working with it until I got the consistency where I really got the boldness and sweetness I was looking for. I haven’t found anything that I can put it on where it doesn’t taste good.”
For starters, they offer crispy cauliflower, dirty curdies and crispy dill pickle spears.
Crispy cauliflower
The crispy cauliflower, which are fried cauliflower florets drizzled with Thai sweet chili sauce, signature bang bang sauce and a roasted pepper aioli. They’re topped with green scallions, purple house slaw and black sesame seeds. The combination of all three sauces adds a nice arrangement of flavors. The cauliflower is perfectly fried and insanely delicious. The purple slaw helps take away some of the guilt and adds a welcome, refreshing element.
The dirty curdies are little nuggets of fried, breaded Wisconsin cheese-curd goodness. You can choose from any available sauce. I went with the bang bang sauce and it elevated the crunchy melted cheese fantastically.
Dirty curdies
The crispy dill pickle spears were fried to perfection, with dill mixed into the batter. The batter clung to the pickles and made for a wonderful bite as well as a great delivery system for the house-made ranch and the extra honey siracha sauce I ordered.
I tried three of the many chicken sandwiches on the menu, and before I get into them, I want to discuss the chicken. Each sandwich gets two generously sized chicken tenders fried and crisped exquisitely. The outside is crispy and crunchy, while the inside is moist, tender and juicy. The tenders on all the chicken sandwiches I tried were superb.
Nashville hot chicken sandwich
Let’s start with the Nashville hot chicken sandwich – sure to please any spicy chicken sandwich fan. It’s simple, yet delectable. The two tenders are sauced with Alfaro’s house-made Nashville hot sauce and generously drizzled with hot honey aioli, topped with pickles and placed on a brioche bun. This sandwich has a wonderful, sweet heat; the creaminess of the aioli keeps the heat from going off the rails, but just barely. And that’s just what we want in a spicy chicken sandwich.
Next, we have the chipotle honey chicken sandwich bringing the same level of slightly sweet heat with more of a smokiness from the chipotle. The tenders are sauced with Alfaro’s chipotle honey mixure and topped with a house-made chipotle aioli. Below the tenders are crisp cucumbers and fresh purple onion. Dill pickles are above. The sandwich has a great blend of smoky heat with a touch of sweetness. It’s also exactly what we want in a spicy chicken sandwich.
From the weekly special, I had to try the Ceasar chicken sandwich. While it’s not a regular menu item – and by the time you read this it’ll be off the special’s menu – Alfaro assured me she does bring it back from time to time. It’s a simple sandwich, but really packs a tangy, creamy profile of flavor. The tenders are topped with house-made Ceasar dressing. Below the tenders is shredded lettuce that’s been tossed with the dressing. Creamy, tangy and crunchy. We’re at three-for-three in chicken sandwich excellence.
Sauced doesn’t just nail the chicken sandwich. They also have single-serve tacos and a couple of beef sandwiches that shouldn’t be ignored.
Bang bang shrimp tacos
The bang bang shrimp tacos come with three giant shrimp breaded and fried in a puffy taco shell. Below the shrimp is bang bang slaw. The bang bang sauce is also drizzled on top of the taco along with fresh scallions and black sesame seeds. The shrimp were a beautiful glistening white in the middle, tender and perfect. It’s a wonderful shrimp taco.
Sauced by Alfaro Guiness & Swiss
The first of the beef sandwiches Jennifer and I tried were the Guinness and Swiss. This is a French dip with Alfaro’s spin. Scrumptiously tender shaved roast beef with melted Swiss, sauteed onions and a French onion aioli sit inside a warmed, soft hoagie roll. Guinness brilliantly elevates the au jus. It’s a heavy beer yet it doesn’t overtake the au jus, instead bringing a subtle addition to the flavor profile. The sandwich is incredible by itself but goes to a whole new level when dipped in the au jus. This is easily one of my new favorite French dips.
Asian cheesesteak sandwich
Finally, we have the Asian cheesesteak. This is a hoagie packed with shaved ribeye that’s been seasoned with an Asian-inspired sauce, topped with bang bang slaw, green scallions and a generous topping of bang bang sauce. Three cheeses make this an inspired take on the traditional cheesesteak. The shaved ribeye is fantastically tender. The bang bang sauce goes with everything. If you’re a fan of a good cheesesteak, and gosh darn it even if you’re not, I encourage you to break from tradition and give this a go. I’d be shocked if it doesn’t become a new favorite.
Alfaro has a master’s degree, but it isn’t in the culinary arts. In fact, she has no formal culinary training. After Covid, when the future of many restaurants was in question, she had the opportunity to get a government position with attractive benefits.
Alfaro instead opted to be a server at a restaurant, and it wasn’t long before she was a manager. That gave her a feel for the inner workings of a restaurant and what it takes to build a team.
“Never in my life did I ever imagine that I would be owning a restaurant, but I was always, always interested in and into food,” Alfaro recalled. “I remember at a young age, my dad could cook like crazy, and I just remember eating his food and kind of being taken aback by how good it was.
“We should just open up a restaurant and call it Sauced so people can be like, ‘let’s go get sauced for dinner,’ because I used to cook with a lot of booze,” Alfredo said of a conversation with her husband.
Chicken Ceasar sandwich
Alfaro has perfected her sauces and has enjoyed a good measure of success. She’s on several best restaurant lists in Omaha, is the Omaha Magazine Best Chef for 2024 and will be seen on the Food Network in 2025.
So, does Sauced by Alfaro have the best chicken sandwich in Omaha?
I realize that’s a subjective question. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll need to try and resist the urge to stop in as I pass through downtown Papillion, be it lunchtime, dinnertime or whenever. But as my ongoing battle with my waistline can attest, my willpower isn’t that strong.
So, yeah, in my opinion, not only does Sauced by Alfaro have the best chicken sandwich in Omaha, they have several.
