Edward Alderman’s Bar

April 7, 2024

Once, Leavenworth Street was the mecca of dive bars. Most of the bars have closed over the years and in their place, new cocktail lounges have replaced them. Few of those dives still exist, but Alderman’s is one such place.

Today, Alderman’s Bar is among Omaha’s most iconic dive bars. Started by Edward Alderman, the son of a farmer who was born in Kansas before the turn of the 20th century. Once described as “one of the promising young men of the community,” Edward worked at the Farmers Union Cooperative grocery store in Centralia, Kansas. After marrying Lenora Graner in 1916, the couple moved to the nearby village of Vermillion. After being drafted into service during World War I, he returned home and took over the Granger Store that his father had operated in Glasco and continued to run it until 1934.

Photo of the one-time Granger Store that Edward Alderman operated while living in Glasco, KS.

Following his divorce from Lenora, Edward married Troy Butler in 1937, at which point they relocated to Omaha and opened Alderman’s Market at 3216 Leavenworth Street in what had been Quality Market, which sold fruits, vegetables, and beer. At some point over the years, the market turned into a full-fledged bar named Alderman’s Shack, which is said to have had a dirt floor.

1952 Durham photo looking west from 31st and Leavenworth. I suspect Alderman’s Bar is visible on the right but it’s quite blurry given the distance.

By the time he listed his bar for sale in 1949, it was called Alderman’s Tavern. Unable to find a buyer that met his terms, Edward continued to operate the bar until his death in 1957, after which his wife Troy took over for a time. It remained in the Alderman family until the early 2000s as their daughter Michelle (Mickey), referred to as the “Queen of Leavenworth,” and her husband Jack took ownership. In 1969, the Aldermans bulldozed the original building that sat closer to Leavenworth and replaced it with the current building, which is set back further allowing for ample parking.

2026 OE photo of Alderman’s Bar at 3216 Leavenworth Street.

More recently, the bar has been a popular destination for the Leavenworth Bar Crawl, not to mention St. Patrick’s Day celebrations when it opens at 6 AM. The neighborhood dive is also known for karaoke, which occurs from Thursday through Saturday. When its current owner, Mark McClellan, took over, he wanted to pay tribute to the old-school corner bars he grew up in. Mark got his start in the bar business working at his father’s bar, Candlelight Lounge. He covered nearly every inch of the place with memorabilia that he started collecting when he was 12 years old. The collector started with beer cans and moved on to signs and clocks.

2022 OE photo of St. Patrick’s Day at Alderman’s Pub.

Alderman’s stands out among its peers on Leavenworth Street for its sense of humor and its personality. This is clear from the many slogans behind the bar, not to mention the sign out front, which changes frequently. Earlier this year it read “Ruining Your New Year’s Resolution Since 1937.” In addition to pool tables, dart boards, and a jukebox, the bar has a patio named Omazone that was added to the west of the building in 2015.

April 2024 photo of the OmaZone patio at Alderman’s Bar. Courtesy of Omaha World-Herald.

While I doubt that Ed would recognize the bar today, Alderman’s is about as old school as you’re going to find these days. It can best be summed up by its owner, who said in an Omaha World-Herald interview, “We’re not about 320 TVs. I’m not about 64 beers on tap. We don’t make craft cocktails.”

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