Published December 6, 2024 | Updated May 9, 2026

John Tierre Miller left Omaha when he was just 11 years old. Those years left a lasting impression, due in large part to one man: his grandfather, John Goodwin.

After Miller left Omaha, he moved to Houston with his mother before earning a tennis scholarship to Jackson State University. After graduating with a degree in business in 2000, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who helped improve his North Omaha community while also helping others find work.

Miller remained in Mississippi after graduating from Jackson State. In Jackson, he started his own business as his grandfather had. Among his ventures were a t-shirt company called Block Wear, a barbershop, and a beauty salon. During that time, he worked as a promoter for local acts and even found time to start a takeout restaurant named Norma Ruth’s. Named for his grandmother, it was popular for its chef-driven food. That experience convinced him to dedicate himself to the restaurant business. At that point, he sold all of his other businesses and the plaza that housed them.

In 2015, he purchased the old Crystal Palace in downtown Jackson’s Farish Street Historic District. Once considered one of the most vibrant Black communities in the South, the area had fallen into disrepair in the wake of integration that caused white families to flee for the suburbs. The Crystal Palace seemed the perfect place to launch his new restaurant, Johnny T’s Bistro & Blues. Johnny T was a nickname given to him by his grandfather, but he also developed it into a character: a legendary blues player who arrived in a Cadillac, turned up the energy in the room, and by morning was gone, leaving behind only a guitar signed “Johnny T.” It fit perfectly, as this was the same place where the likes of Redd Foxx, Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Count Basie once performed.

The soft-spoken Miller’s passion for design, music, fine food, and drinks culminated in the restaurant, which quickly became one of Jackson’s hottest venues. Soon celebrities including Morgan Freeman, Steve Harvey, and Deion Sanders, who called it his favorite restaurant, patronized his establishment. Miller’s efforts, as well as others’, are helping transform the Farish Street Historic District.

Driven by his desire to revitalize historically Black neighborhoods, Miller returned to Omaha with the goal of doing something similar here. To that end, he bought a historic brick building at 3825 North 30th Street in the Bedford Place neighborhood. Established in 1885 after the Belt Line Railroad tracks were laid, Bedford Place was a working-class suburb away from downtown but with access to Omaha’s historic streetcar system. As was the case in Jackson, North Omaha suffered enormously from white flight, which caused the area to fall into disrepair.

The building was strategically located near Adams Park, the Malcolm X Memorial, Bud Crawford’s B & B Academy, and Omaha’s oldest Black-owned restaurant, Time Out Take Out. Its longtime owner, Steve Mercer, was even close friends with Goodwin. The building itself started as a neighborhood grocery after it was built in 1906. It later became a bar after Prohibition, and maybe even before that. It went by the names Green’s Tavern, Spaulding Lounge, and more recently the short-lived Soulful Lounge.

It wasn’t until after his grandfather passed away in 2018 that Miller decided to open a second location in his hometown, the place where he spent those formative years with him. In an interview with Omaha Magazine, he said, “What we want to do here is set the bar. We felt like North Omaha deserves something on this level.” His plans also called for the opening of a soul food restaurant called Norma Ruth’s in Omaha.

Norma Ruth Goodwin passed away in June 2022, the same year he opened the doors to Johnny T’s Bar & Blues, a cigar lounge that serves up modern cocktails. In addition to a DJ and heated patio, it has a food truck that provides food service to the bar. Johnny T’s food truck was transported from Jackson. After arriving in Omaha, chef Glenn Wheeler helped get it started. The two met during the pandemic after Wheeler saw Miller on a livestream and sent a private message that started the collaboration.

Like he did with his original location, Miller commissioned Menace & Resa Studios to paint a mural on the side of his establishment shining a light on North Omaha icons: Buddy Miles, Malcolm X, Bob Gibson, and Bud Crawford. And then there’s John Goodwin, Miller’s grandfather, whose image now graces the neighborhood where it all started.

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Sources

• Omaha World-Herald archive
• Omaha Magazine, John Tierre Miller Wants To Help Revitalize Omaha, 2022
• https://northomahahistory.com/2021/02/01/history-of-the-bedford-place-neighborhood/
• https://voyagekc.com/interview/exploring-life-business-with-john-tierre-of-johnny-ts-bistro-blues/
• John Tierre | JFP Mobile | Jackson, Mississippi