Published December 31, 2024 | Updated May 10, 2026

The small bar around the corner from the Harte Block on 50th and Underwood Avenue in Dundee seems like it’s been there forever.

While the building dates back to 1912, Dundee Cork & Bottle, somewhat surprisingly, only dates back to 1997. Its original tenant was a barbershop run by John Pestal Sr., a native of Czechoslovakia. Trained at home as a barber, he first established his business in Little Bohemia before moving west to Dundee. After fighting in World War I, he opened Underwood Barbershop in 1923. Located at 5013 Underwood Avenue, it was next door to Buffett and Sons Grocery.

While the building dates back to 1912, Dundee Cork & Bottle, somewhat surprisingly, only dates back to 1997. Its original tenant was a barbershop run by John Pestal Sr., a native of Czechoslovakia. Trained at home as a barber, he first established his business in Little Bohemia before moving west to Dundee. After fighting in World War I, he opened Underwood Barbershop in 1923. Located at 5013 Underwood Avenue, it was next door to Buffett and Sons Grocery.

Before joining his father in the family business, John Jr. worked as an errand boy for the Buffett Grocery Store when he was a kid and even shoveled snow with Ernest’s grandson, Warren. The younger Pestal was a talented athlete who often played pickup games in the empty lots in the neighborhood before going on to letter in four different sports. Trophies within his shop served as a reminder of his skill in basketball, soccer and bowling. The accolades didn’t stop there. He was a champion pole vaulter and, remarkably, a 12-time state checkers champion.

Junior worked in sales and construction before being drafted to fight in the Korean War. When he returned in 1951, he went to Nebraska Barber College and joined his father side-by-side in the barbershop in 1954. By that point, the shop had moved around the corner to its current location at 614 N. 50th Street.

The younger Pestal suffered the tragic loss of his own son in 1967 when the boy was just 14 years old. To help move past the tragedy, he formed a youth soccer team called the Hillside Kickers. Competitive soccer had been dormant in Omaha since before World War II, and he had worked to revive it since 1955. It paid off, and in 1968 he became the director of Omaha’s youth league, Crossroads Little League Soccer.

After his father retired and passed away in 1987, Pestal dutifully continued to operate the family business. A well-earned reputation allowed him to work solely on word-of-mouth rather than advertise. He never took appointments or even owned a telephone during the last 10 years he operated the shop.

Inside, the small shop was decorated with Nebraska Cornhusker memorabilia alongside shelves of trophies he had won as a younger man. Despite his increasing age, he continued to play checkers competitively and kept winning into his 80s. At times his house even served as the site of the state tournament.

After Pestal Jr. hung up his shears in 1997, it allowed an opening for Dundee Cork & Bottle to open in the longtime barbershop. It was in this building that Charles Kline and Laurie Smejkal set up shop alongside Dundee Cigar & Tobacco Shop. The building had two separate entrances at the time. Kline had previously opened SG Roi Tobacconist and Havana Garage in the Old Market, Rathskeller in midtown, and bought The Nifty Bar in Benson.

This quaint little building, the longtime home of Pestal’s barbershop, continues to contribute to the fabric of Dundee. Now in the form of drinkers rather than cuts.

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