It’s a Go: Nettie’s Restaurant to Rebuild

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Is Nettie’s going to reopen?

In Bellevue’s restaurant scene, it has been one of the most frequently asked questions these past few months. After a fire in December burned the local, family-owned business to the ground, many were hopeful that Nettie’s would rebuild, while others thought they had their last meal at the popular Bellevue / South Omaha restaurant.

So, are they?

“Yes,” said Nettie’s co-owner Mike Boyles. “We are going to rebuild with plans to hopefully open later this year.”

Boyles’s answer will no doubt be very well received by foodies all over Bellevue and the Omaha-Metro. He is meeting with an architect on Friday to go over more design features of the new restaurant, but there were a few things he was able to talk about. The restaurant seating capacity will be roughly the same as it was in the original Nettie’s. The bar seating area will be a little larger with an additional TV. They are considering adding tap beer with a few Mexican brands as well as domestic. The restrooms will be larger and they will be adding a family/handicapped restroom. They are also hoping to asphalt the back of the parking lot, behind the restaurant.

“We hope to generally look like a traditional restaurant with a family-owned type of feel. We definitely won’t be anything particularly fancy because of financial constraints. We appreciate all of the support the community has shown us. For those still interested in helping, we do still have a donor account with Wells Fargo banks. Anyone can go to any Wells Fargo and ask to donate to the Nettie’s donor account,” Boyles said.

Boyles mentioned that the Nettie’s Family is working on securing a TIF loan and possible CDBG funding to help finance the new building. The opening date of the new restaurant largely depends on how long each of those endeavors takes.

Boyles and his wife, Kathy, attended the April meeting of the Bellevue Planning Commission. “As part of the process of moving towards rebuilding, we need to have the zoning changed to allow the rebuilding of our restaurant. I don’t know exactly what changed over the nearly 36 years that we have owned the property, but that is needed now.”

The original Nettie’s restaurant sits on land that is zoned ML (Light Manufacturing). At the meeting, the Boyles formally requested that the zoning of their property be changed to BGH (Heavy General Business) to be in line with current city zoning regulations. The request was approved by the Commission and will go before the Bellevue City Council later this month.

When asked if he had a message for Nettie’s customers, Boyles responded, “We really, really miss you! You weren’t just people coming to our restaurant. You were our lives!  For 35 1/2 years we devoted our lives to our restaurant. Virtually all of our friends we met thru the restaurant. We had customers that came in from all over. Plattsmouth, Missouri Valley, Council Bluffs, Glenwood, Bennington, Lincoln, and all over Omaha and Bellevue – nearly every week, some multiple times a week. We watched families grow up with once  young kids coming in with their parents, now bringing in their own kids. We miss our life, our friends, our customers. We want our life back!”

Boyles ended our conversation by sharing, “We very much hope things come together with a new Nettie’s to continue serving the public while providing good jobs. I call my wife ‘Nettie’s Kathy’.  Kathy and Don were the faces of Nettie’s for over 35 years!  Everywhere we go, every time she goes shopping, people know her and come up to her, wishing us well.  She couldn’t go hardly anywhere the first month after the fire because it hurt too much to talk about it!  We cannot wait to get back to work and see all of you once again!”