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Anyway, it was the beginning of the disco era, may that rot in hell forever, so this was a disco kind of joint. Whether or not it’s true, it makes for a great story. It was run by this group out of Kansas City that were reportedly the mob. Now, in 1972, it’s in its declining years. The Brothers Lounge at 38 th & Leavenworth is also a Firmature creation). The people who ran the Chinese restaurant went on to start Chu’s Chop Suey House (formerly located at 6455 Center St), and the people that ran the Japanese restaurant went on to start Mt Fuji on 72 nd & Blondo, and the guy that ran the mainline restaurant was Ernie Firmature (NOTE: Ernie passed away on November 9 th of last year at age 85), and he went on to start The Gas Lamp (formerly at 30 th & Leavenworth Streets) and several other wonderful restaurants (including longtime Regency fixture, The Sidewalk Café. They had a really good Japanese restaurant, a really good mainline restaurant, and a good Chinese restaurant all in one place. Back in the day, if you wanted to go out, that was the place to go. PG: That was at the old Prom Townhouse (7000 Dodge St), where Office Max is now (the building was destroyed by the 1975 tornado – its wooden arches, the only structural element left standing, were incorporated into the interior framework of the Pink Poodle restaurant in Crescent, IA). One of our managers moved over to The Observatory and I kind of followed him over there.įSM: And where was The Observatory located? So I left there and went to The Observatory.
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The owner was a bit of a bounder and a cad, and it eventually came to no good. It had oysters on the half-shell, it had peel & eat shrimp, and yards, half-yards, and feet of beer.
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At that time, the Oar House was Dixieland jazz (According to the Preston Love autobiography A Thousand Honey Creeks Later, Count Basie and his band played at the Oar House). And she said, “Why don’t you come and work at the Oar House? I’m waiting tables, etc.”, and I said “Why not?” So I went down and I applied, and I got a job tending bar. A friend of mine was working at the Oar House, where the Spaghetti Works is now (corner of 11 th & Howard in the Old Market). So I wanted a car and a girlfriend, and to support both of those concepts, I needed a job.
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Technically you couldn’t have a car your freshman year. Pat Gobel: My sophomore year of college at Creighton in the early seventies, I wanted to bring my car to campus. Pat was kind enough to sit down for an interview recently.įood & Spirits Magazine: Pat, you have an impressive resume. Pat’s history in the Omaha bar and restaurant scene and his path to the Dell is a long, colorful and fascinating one that weaves its way through a number of marquee establishments, which themselves formed part of the early foundation on which today’s bar & restaurant culture is built. But what about a longer look back, say twenty or thirty years, or even longer? What would this reveal about how we got to where we are today? How might one trace a thread of Omaha restaurant and bar lineage from the present back that far, and what insights might be gained in the process?įortunately, one such time capsule exists in the person of Pat Gobel, long-time proprietor of the Dundee Dell. It’s relatively easy to take a quick mental tally of the significant and exciting changes that have taken place over the past several years. Today’s bars and restaurants, and the customers that frequent them, bring fragments of the culture and the establishments of bygone days with them into the present. Those interested in dining or enjoying cocktails out in Omaha pursue these interests within a bar and restaurant environment that is in a state of constant evolution.