Omaha Exploration

Gerald “Jerry” Foster was born in Falls City in 1940. He moved to Omaha and opened one of Omaha’s oldest steakhouses in 1978. From the time that he was a boy, he always said that if he ever owned a restaurant, he would name it Jerico’s. He did exactly that when he opened his “prime and wine” establishment in Richland Park Plaza at 11732 West Dodge Rd. It offered “an open kitchen concept, lovely decor” targeted at business professionals and families alike. During its grand opening they offered complimentary half-liter of house wine with the purchase of two meals or a full liter with four. 

Jerry used a top of the line prime rib oven which slowly cooked it and then held it until it reached the desired degree of redness. This along with the quality of its beef helped Jerico’s earn its reputation for having some of the best prime rib in town. It was also one of the few restaurants to serve lamb chops. Despite its success, Jerry sold the business in 1989 and returned home where he found work as a communication salesman. He passed away just five years later at just 54 years old. 

Born in Illinois, Chuck DiDonato started his career as a meat cutter for Kroger. He learned a lot about quality meat during his 30 year career in the meat and grocery business. He landed in Omaha after becoming the director of meat operations for Hinky Dinky. From there he took over Jerico’s when Jerry retired. At the time he said that its founder didn’t expect the restaurant aspect of his bar to sell much food. As a result, he built an open kitchen which extended into the dining room so that he could turn it into a dance floor if needed. Instead, Jerry ended up with a pretty good prime rib and sandwich restaurant to complement the bar. 

Chuck expanded the menu from 14 or 15 items to around 80. He upgraded the quality of the meat which was good before but became top-notch. With business being slow in 2007 due to construction occurring at 114th and West Dodge Rd, he took the opportunity to do an extensive remodel. Chuck would go on to operate Jerico’s for the next 25 years. He was just as passionate about the friendly neighborhood restaurant that he described as being cozy and comfortable and just a bit romantic as he was the meat. 

Described as being larger than life, Chuck turned one of Omaha’s most popular steakhouses into a shrine to his beloved Huskers football team. He began collecting sports memorabilia in 1980 which includes pictures of Tom Osborne and golf balls signed by Gary Player and Chi Chi Rodriguez. Chuck owned the restaurant until his death in 2014 at the age of 72. During that time, he did it all from bookkeeping to marketing, staffing and hosting.  

Jerico’s is proof that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Despite sitting in a strip mall beneath the West Dodge Expressway, it offers an old school vibe with its dim lighting, white linen covering the tables, leather chairs and walls that are separated by brick arches. The bar runs along the back.

According to Chuck, Jericho’s mission was to serve the finest selection of beer, pork, chicken and seafood paired with the best service around. While it offers filet mignon, strip, porterhouse, sirloin, its prime rib is the star of the show and widely regarded as being the best in town. At 46 it is the sixth oldest steakhouse that is still operating in Omaha. I’ve written about the other six in previous articles: 

Johnny’s Cafe (1922), Gorat’s (1944), Cascio’s (1946), The Drover (1968), Brother Sebatian’s (1977) and Jerico’s (1978). You can read about all six on my page.

Content written by Omaha Exploration. Feel free to leave a comment or a suggestion. Until then, keep exploring!

Bonus pics

Subscribe

Follow me on

• Facebook
• Instagram

Omaha Exploration, 2024. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links can be used, if full and clear credit is given to Omaha Exploration with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.