Published December 3, 2024 | Updated June 13, 2026

A hidden gem along Leavenworth Street was The Down Under Lounge. The bar opened more than four decades ago a couple of blocks west of its current location.

For 31 years, the DU operated at 3802 Leavenworth Street in the basement of the Fireside Restaurant. The space had been occupied by the Pirate’s Den, which shut down along with the restaurant in 1975. Bobby Goodwin was forced to move his bar after the building was sold to a developer in 2014 and bulldozed a couple of years later to make way for The Cosgrove Apartments. Despite the loss, the project added much-needed density along Leavenworth, particularly given the growing Med Center to the west.

John Nosal found the DU a new home just a couple of blocks east at 3530 Leavenworth Street in 2015. The rectangular brick building without windows dates back more than a century, when it was the Stockton Grocery. Its names and uses would change over the years, including Hannegan & Company grocery, R. C. Lucke Drug Company, Stewart Drug Store, Benson-Williams Williams Drug Company, and finally home to Birman Warrick’s blade sharpening business.

The coveted corner store on 35th Avenue and Leavenworth had its own 20-stall parking lot, unusual along this stretch of road, particularly after the city widened the road in 1982 and eliminated on-street parking. This caused many of the businesses in the area to close. By 2010, however, this building would find new life as the Side Door Lounge. The lounge opened by Steve Jamrozy was popular for its live music and art exhibits. Jamrozy was also the owner of the Flatiron Cafe, which had developed a reputation for being one of Omaha’s finest restaurants.

After Tyler J. Johnson took over the Side Door in 2013, he turned it into a boutique nightclub that showcased live performances including music, visual art, movies, psychic readings, poetry readings, and open mic nights. The concept never really took off in the way that Johnson expected, and he closed the business in 2015.

As the DU, the main floor of the small building offered a unique and intimate space to enjoy live music. With its interior walls painted black, the small space had a few rugs in front of the old Side Door Stage as well as high and low-top round cocktail tables and a dozen or so seats at the bar. It was easy to see why this friendly and accepting yet nondescript bar was a popular gathering spot for live music, karaoke, open mics, movies, and other events. The space also included an outdoor patio on the west side of the building and a basement speakeasy that held half of the original bar from the old location. In 2024, Omaha Magazine named it one of the best neighborhood bars.

The bar that Goodwin first opened in 1984 closed for good in 2026. Since then, the old building has been reinvented as the home to Coven. Owned by Noah and Katie Mock, who also operate Nite Owl and Fizzy’s Fountain & Liquors, the bar bills itself as the city’s first goth bar, describing itself as “The Home for Witches, Weirdos & Punks.”

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Sources

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• Omaha Magazine, Local Speak-Easies Harken to Olden Days, 2024
• Home – Coven Bar & Live Music