Gone But Not Forgotten: Nick Petrow’s Cafe

June 6, 2024

Nick Petrow was 13 when he arrived at Ellis Island from his native Greece in 1895. He ended up in Minneapolis selling sweets and sundries from a fruit cart. Meanwhile, his four younger brothers settled in Fremont, NE. Less competition and better opportunity ultimately resulted in Nick relocating and joining his brothers. At that point, he and his brother John opened Petrow’s Fremont Candy Kitchen in 1903. The confectionery specialized in candy, fruit, pop and also sold sandwiches among other items. While Nick would relocate yet again in 1905, John continued to operate the restaurant, which had become a Fremont landmark for decades.

1931 Durham Museum photo of Nick Petrow’s Sunset Tea Room at 50th and Dodge.

In Omaha, Nick and his partner Michael Giannou opened a similar shop called the Crystal Candy Company at 16th and Capitol Avenue. In addition to candy, the store sold fruit, ice cream and soda. Their business empire expanded when they opened Candy-Land inside the Brandeis Building. He was ready to pivot to the restaurant business when he sold the candy stores and poured all of his resources into the Sunset Tea Room at 50th and Dodge. His timing was terrible as the ongoing Depression and a two-year effort to widen Dodge stranded his restaurant behind construction barricades. He sold the business by 1934 as his resources continued to dwindle.

The original Petrow’s Drive-In building at 59th and Center. This building was demolished in 1957 and replaced with the current building.

While it was a painful experience, Nick had experience at starting over. During the next decade he partnered in two other restaurants and in 1945, went into business for himself with a seasonal ice cream shack called the Igloo at 42nd and Leavenworth near his home. The business proved successful, resulting in Nick purchasing a former gas station at the corner of 60th and Center.

1958 issue of IDEAS magazine which shows the inside of Petrow’s new dining area.

In 1950 he converted the A-frame building into Petrow’s Drive-In, Ice Cream and Coffee Shop. Its iconic neon sign with its turning car wheels was successful in attracting motorists to his latest venture. This marked the beginning of the restaurant for which Petrow is most well known and remembered. His son, Chris, enlisted in the Navy and served in Japan. After being discharged, he was drafted by the Army for the Korean War. He left the military and returned home in 1952 to help his dad with the drive-in.

Inside Petrow’s. Date unknown. Photo courtesy of Sophia Petrow.

In 1957 Chris constructed Petrow’s Diner next to the drive-in and proceeded to tear down the drive-in to provide additional parking. Nick passed away a year later in 1958. In 1968 Chris added a large dining room allowing him to serve sit-down dinners, thereby completing Petrow’s transition from drive-in to diner to restaurant. The drive-in sign continued to sit outside greeting passersby until it caught on fire in 1975. Nick’s grandson, also named Nick, was the third generation of Petrows to operate the restaurant, starting in 1992 with his wife Michelle until they retired in 2019. During that time, he bought the neighboring Chinese restaurant so that he could demolish it and add even more parking.

2018 photo of Petrow’s prior to its closing.

Chris was named to the Nebraska Restaurant Hall of Fame in 2012 and passed away one year later. Over its 69-year run, Petrow’s was featured on the Food Network for its home-style meals and became an Omaha institution, winning multiple awards. It was named a Best of Omaha winner as recently as 2018. It was especially well known for its ice cream, which was handmade from a recipe that was over 115 years old. The clown sundae with vanilla and chocolate ice cream, marshmallow topping, Spanish peanuts, and an upside-down waffle cone was a customer favorite. The owners of Primo’s Modern Mexican restaurant in Council Bluffs bought the building in 2020 and opened their second location.