Omaha Exploration

More than a decade before the Caniglia brothers opened Omaha’s first pizzeria, Grace Caniglia, the oldest of six, opened her restaurant, Piccolo Pete’s, with her husband. It would become a favorite of the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett.

The daughter of Charles and Giovanna Caniglia, Grace was born in Omaha’s Little Italy neighborhood where her father operated a bakery that her brothers ultimately turned into the city’s first pizzeria that later evolved into a steakhouse.

Like Grace, Tony Piccolo was the son of an immigrant who had come to Omaha from Carlentini and settled in Little Italy. His father, Joe, worked as a stone mason after coming to this country in 1909. He eventually opened a grocery store in the old neighborhood at 714 Pierce Street. By 1924 Joe purchased an old blacksmith shop at 2202 S. 20th Street and opened a bar. Later he added a one-story addition to the south side of the building where he operated a grocery store and soup kitchen.

During the Great Depression, Joe was unable to sell the building at 20th and Dorcas so he instead turned it over to his son, Tony. Tony and Grace married a year later and opened a nightclub called Piccolo Pete’s in 1934. By that time, prohibition had just ended after 13 long years and Americans were thirsty. To fulfill their vision, they would add another one-story addition to the north side of the building.

Interestingly, none of its owners were piccolo players. The inspiration for the name of their new enterprise was a popular song at the time. They added a beer garden out back which at the time was referred to as the most beautiful beer garden in the city. The new club provided their patrons with the opportunity to eat, drink and dance the night away. It quickly became “the” club in South Omaha. Joe even began referring to his original grocery store back in Little Italy as Piccolo Pete’s, which had since become his nickname. He operated the original store until the mid-1940s.

Tony converted the nightclub into a full-fledged restaurant in 1937 at which point they began offering steak along with traditional Italian dishes. As the couple were busy raising their family upstairs in addition to running a popular restaurant, Grace’s brothers were busy converting their father’s bakery into Omaha’s first pizzeria in 1946. The Caniglia family was full of entrepreneurs as her brothers would eventually follow Grace’s lead and go on to open restaurants of their own including Venice Inn and Mister C’s. Joe passed away in 1956 before he could see his other son, Sammy, open a restaurant of his own in Millard in 1962. Sammy would eventually move his business and convert it into Piccolo’s Bar.

By the 1960s the owners remodeled Piccolo Pete’s but continued to bring in a band to play on Saturdays to allow customers to dance under the giant disco ball. As the times changed, the dance floor went away in 1970 in order to make even more room for seating at the restaurant. By this time its iconic neon sign of a piccolo player had been installed.

Piccolo’s remained a family-owned business after son Anthony Jr. took over. He had experience in the restaurant business having first worked for his grandfather and uncles at Caniglia’s Pizzeria. Junior would eventually turn the restaurant over to his sisters Donna Sheehan and Dee Graves. The restaurant was well established by this time and earned its place among the city’s most popular old-school Italian steakhouses. Like many restaurants at the time, the steaks were cut on premises, tenderized, seasoned and grilled. While its most popular dish was its prime rib, they also offered chicken parmigiana, spaghetti, lasagna, ravioli and mostaccioli.

The addition to the west side of the building where I suspect the beer garden was once located was added in 1985. By this time the restaurant had nearly 9,000 square feet and enough seating for over 400. Anthony continued to remain active in the business until he passed away in 2000, as did Grace, who worked as a cashier and bar server while living in the second-floor apartment until passing away in 2008. While Gorat’s tended to get most of the publicity, Warren Buffett was also a big fan of Piccolo’s. He took a number of high-profile people to the restaurant including Alex Rodriguez and Bill Gates among others. He was even known to take college students who arrived in town for a Q&A with the “Oracle of Omaha” to Piccolo’s. He said that it reminded him of a neighborhood tavern where the people were friendly, the food was great and the prices were good. In fact, it was the low prices that really set Piccolo’s apart from its competition.

The increased exposure that came along with being a favorite of one of the richest men in the world allowed it to remain open. It was even featured on Travel Channel’s Food Wars in 2010 where Piccolo’s faced off with the Caniglia’s Venice Inn. Eventually business slowed as competition from other restaurants increased. That ultimately led to the closing of the restaurant in 2015. Despite its closure, the building still stands and is the home to Royalty Hall.

Grace Piccolo, the only daughter of six Caniglia children that opened restaurants in the city was the first to open in 1934 and the last to close in 2015.

This is the second of a multi-part series in which we explore some of the Caniglia family’s restaurants including the Original Caniglia’s (1920), Caniglia’s Piccolo Pete’s (1934); Mister C’s (1953); and Venice Inn (1957).

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