Louie Marcuzzo’s Burger Lust

Updated: February 26, 2025 Despite being relatively new especially among some of Omaha’s other old school restaurants, the story of Louie M’s dates back nearly a century. That’s when Louie’s grandmother, Josephine Caniglia, opened the famed Italian Gardens in Omaha’s Little Italy neighborhood. Both Josephine and her husband, Luigi Marcuzzo, had emigrated to the United…

Patrick Wyman

March 23, 2024

5–7 minutes

1718 Vinton Street, Breakfast Joint, Cafe, Favorite Theater, Fritz Mueller, Italian Gardens, John Marcuzzo, Johny’s Lunch Room, Josephine Caniglia, Josephine Marcuzzo, Louie M’s Burger Luist, Louie Marcuzzo, Louis Marcuzzo, Luigi Marcuzzo, Midway Cafe, Omaha Exploration, Vinton Historic District

March 23, 2024

Updated: February 26, 2025

Despite being relatively new especially among some of Omaha’s other old school restaurants, the story of Louie M’s dates back nearly a century. That’s when Louie’s grandmother, Josephine Caniglia, opened the famed Italian Gardens in Omaha’s Little Italy neighborhood.

The former Italian Gardens at 1228 S 6th St in Little Italy. After it closed it became Cafe de Paris. Today it is a catering business.

Both Josephine and her husband, Luigi Marcuzzo, had emigrated to the United States from Sicily and married in 1904. Luigi, it seems, had difficulty finding work and ended up in the coal mines in Pennsylvania for a time before returning home to Omaha. He passed away at the age of just 44 years old. Josephine, meanwhile, was left to raise the children herself. In order to put food into mouths and clothes on backs, she worked as a janitor and even turned to bootlegging when that wasn’t enough. Undeterred, Josephine even represented herself in court after being arrested.

1955 photo looking west from 16th and Vinton. Midway Cafe (current day Louie M’s) is two blocks away on the right. Courtesy of Omaha World-Herald.

Once prohibition was finally repealed, she pivoted to opening her own restaurant in 1934. Just prior to the official opening, her restaurant, Italian Gardens at 6th Street and Poppleton Avenue, was bombed. To my knowledge, the bomber has never been identified though there was some speculation that it was a competitor. While the incident delayed the opening of the restaurant which was primarily run by her sons, it proved popular and remained open in Little Italy for decades. It would later become Cafe de Paris.

The outside of Louie M’s Burger Lust along Vinton St. It had been the home to the Midway Cafe for decades and the Favorite Theater before that.

After helping her run Italian Gardens, her son, John, opened a restaurant of his own called Johnny’s Lunch Room at 1016 S 10th Street. His restaurant was popular with the breakfast and lunch crowd who worked at the nearby rail yard. John’s son, Louie, grew up in the restaurant business often spending his time at either the Italian Gardens or Johnny’s. After graduating college and serving in the Marine Corp, he was determined to follow a different path.

Mosaic tile that once identified the building as the Favorite Theater.

Louie would go on to work in engineering support, restaurant supply manufacturing and clothing before opening his catering business in 1980. He opened in a once thriving business and entertainment district just south and west of downtown along Vinton. The area developed in the 1890’s and was settled primarily by German immigrants. Located at 1718 Vinton Street, Louie M’s Catering operated out of a building that was built by one of those immigrants, Fritz Mueller. Built in 1890, the building had been the home to the Favorite Theater. Before closing in 1915, the neighborhood movie house showed silent movies. Look for the word “Favorite” on the mosaic tile as you enter the restaurant. After that it served as the Midway Cafe.

Looking inside Louie M’s Burger Lust. It’s virtually unchanged from the time it was home to Midway Cafe. Photo courtesy of Bobby Y via Yelp.

Louie started by supplying food to area daycare’s. He only began utilizing the vacant diner portion of the building in order to have coffee with his friends. From there it became an ad-hoc breakfast spot and finally a full-fledged diner after word spread of the tasty food coming out of his kitchen. That marked the beginning of Louie M’s Burger Lust.

The archway that leads to the new room inside Louie M’s. Photo courtesy of Cheryl Lynn via Google.

Inside it looked very similar to the way it had when the Midway Cafe opened fifty years earlier. It has three pine booths along the wall, tables in the middle and eight bar stools along the lunch counter. It also features tin ceilings, large skylight allowing for ample natural light and its original old wood floors. The walls feature an array of interesting, vintage decor including an advertisement of its days as a movie theater, old movie posters, newspaper clippings and an autographed photo of Rocky Marciano. The popularity of the restaurant resulted in an expansion in 1989 when the second room was added which you enter through a brick archway. Louie would go on to open a second location along 24th for a time and even experimented with dinner service.

Looking up at the skylight inside Louie M’s, booths from the Midway Cafe and old floors. Photo courtesy of Eliza H via Yelp.

Today the restaurant serves both breakfast and lunch. While it is well known for its extensive menu of hand-pattied ½ pound burgers, many will claim its breakfast offerings are just as good if not better. The home-style food coming out of the kitchen has garnered lots of loyal customers not to mention accolades. The Reader magazine recently named it among the best breakfast and burger joints in town.

Louie M’s like the neighborhood surrounding it has come a long way. Other buildings in the thriving business district are largely occupied and run by Latino entrepreneurs which is a reflection of the larger neighborhood. To his credit Louie helped play a pivotal role in the revitalization of an area that remains a melting pot and is home to Supermercado, International Bakery, Drips and many other small businesses and art galleries alongside Burger Lust.

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