Sam Amenta’s Romeo’s Mexican Food & Pizza

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Sam Amenta’s Romeo’s Mexican Food & Pizza

Category: Restaurants, Bars, & Local Business

Tags: 2026_Revisited, Casa de Reyes, Dianne Amenta, Romeo’s Mexican Food and Pizza, Salvatore Amenta, Sam Amenta

Published December 26, 2023 | Updated November 4, 2026

December 26, 2023

Some people may think that a restaurant specializing in both tacos and pizza is unusual. Those people likely have never been to Romeo’s Mexican Food and Pizza. It was always a popular stop in my family when I was growing up, so I wanted to find out how it came to be.

The story of Romeo’s starts with Salvatore (Sam) Amenta, an immigrant from Carlentini, Sicily. Sam never intended to open a Mexican restaurant. In fact, when he purchased Casa de Reyes at 72nd and Harrison Street in 1974, his plan was to convert it into a pizzeria. Both his desire to build the business slowly and the popularity of the Mexican dishes delayed those plans. He finally realized his dream of opening a pizzeria in 1976.

When Sam opened the new restaurant at 90th and Blondo, he brought the recipes from Casa de Reyes with him, but from the beginning, his focus was on pizza. At first, he named it Romeo’s Pizza.

December 2023 Omaha Exploration photo of the Bellevue Romeo’s location.

Alongside his wife, Dianne Amenta, the family-run business expanded the 90th and Blondo location in 1981 by taking over the adjacent bay that was occupied by Camelot Florists in the Camelot Village strip mall. This expansion increased seating from 100 to 145.

With the Mexican dishes continuing to outsell the pizza in 1983, Sam leaned into it. That’s when it took the name we recognize today: Romeo’s Mexican Food and Pizza, a place where you could get either cuisine under one roof. “The customers really let us know that’s what they wanted,” Dianne told the Omaha World-Herald in 1989. To honor its roots as a Mexican restaurant, it even calls its number one combo meal the Casa de Reyes Special.

From there, the restaurant continued to grow, adding locations at 146th and W. Center Road, 29th and Farnam, and 96th and L Street. By 1987, Romeo’s had seven locations, including branches in Council Bluffs and Des Moines.

December 2023 Omaha Exploration photo of the room with a soapbox car that features both Romeo’s and Casa de Reyes restaurant names.

The ability to order both was ideal for diners who wanted something other than Mexican food and might have gone elsewhere otherwise. The restaurant’s most popular item is the fried soft shell taco, though most of its Mexican dishes, including enchiladas, burritos, sanchos, tostadas, nachos, and tacos, all share similar core ingredients.

Beef and Bean Sancho smothered in cheese sauce and beef soft shell taco from Romeo’s Mexican Food and Pizza.

Continuing to serve the dishes from Casa de Reyes alongside its pizza turned out to be the key to the longevity of Sam’s restaurant. Today, Romeo’s operates four locations across the metro area. While its Mexican fare leans more Tex-Mex than traditional, it has earned accolades from both Omaha Magazine and The Reader.

While Sam passed away earlier this year, the “Nacho Typical Restaurant” that has served Omaha-area families for more than 50 years lives on.

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