April 29, 2025 • 21 mins
I had a chance to sit down with Shelly Stokes and Will Stoke (yes, I gave them some jokes about the Stokes and Stoke show!) and talk about the Spaghetti Works in the Old Market and Ralston! Listen in and see how this Iconic restaurant in Omaha is still going strong!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, It's Lucy Chapman and thanks for coming back for more.
Here's more, and I've got two very special guests in
the studio. If you are a food et, and you
know I am, you're gonna love this show. I've got
Shelley Stokes with Spaghetti Works. Shelley, welcome, thank you. And
Will Stock, the general manager of the Ralston Spaghetti Works. Hello,
(00:23):
thanks both of you for being here today. We're gonna
talk about some food and we're going to talk about
Spaghetti Works. Let's start there. Spaghetti Works has been an
Omaha icon in the Old Market now for fifty years plus.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yes, we are.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
We celebrated fifty years last year. We've seen it all, weddings, grandparents,
We're on our I believe our fourth generation of people
that are coming in and visiting us.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
And the food has always been and still is the
most fabulous spaghetti in town. I can vouch for that.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Thank you. We appreciate that. Salad bar also has to
be mentioned.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
You know, I can't do it. I was going to say,
there are people all throughout the Omaha area that that
just that salad bar at Spaghetti Works is the best.
It's in the little train it's a train, right, it's
a truck.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
It's a truck.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Okay, yep, it was some kind of vehicle. So it's
in the little truck and it is so good. And
I think one of the reasons why it is so
good as you keep everything so cold.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
It is all on ice.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah, so we don't have refrigerated trucks because obviously these
are real model.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
It's model Tea and a model Yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
They have come refrigerated.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
They didn't come refrigerating back in those days, so they
had to convert those beds to stainless steel and add ice.
And we've done it that way for fifty years. We've
never refrigerated. It's always been on ice. So it's just
like a cooler full of ice.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
It's great. It's always cold.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
It hasn't changed much.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
A little bit. Uh Old Marcus got a little bigger.
Ralston moved across the street here about fifteen years ago.
I think it's been now. You know, the colors have
stayed the same, the trucks have been the same. Those
trucks have not changed. So yeah, I think we kind
of like it the way it is.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Well. And I was going to say you know, just
because you haven't changed is not a bad thing. There's
too much change sometimes and you get used to something
and you want that when you get there and it's
still there.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
It is and I think what little changes we've made
are very small. So when you come in, you still
see what you saw when you were a kid and
your parents brought you, or your grandparents brought you, whoever
brought you. I think you still see that, and that's
what is so special about it.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
When you are working things like the College World Series
or the Swim Trials, you probably saw a lot of
people from out of town.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
We do.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
We do a big portion of our traffic for our
Old Market location is out of town and visitors to
the area. For our Ralston location, it's much more the
locals in the Ralston area and they come out now
with all the work going on in Lavista Pavilion, we're
seeing a lot of traffic on that eighty fourth Street corridor.
So it's been really awesome for us.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
And Will will Stock, with the general manager of Ralston,
will tell me about that. You've got to have a
lot of regulars, then we do.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
There are people who are coming in there two to
three times a week, and it's nice to see familiar faces,
you know. It's kind of what keeps people like me
and the servers and they're going every day. It's nice
to see people you know and make connections with them
and be able to talk to them all the time,
you know, even about something simple about what's going on
in the world, or obviously some of our food. But
it's nice. It's nice to be able to see those
(03:23):
familiar faces all the time.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
When you get those regulars, they come in for the
same thing, right.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
They do they do.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
We have some servers that I've worked there for five,
ten plus years, and I mean, I mean some of
those people walk in and the server just has to
say are you getting your usual? Yeah? Of course, And
then I mean it's a two minute conversation and their
food's out, and people don't stray from what they like.
They're gonna get the same thing. And I mean our
recipes haven't changed since you know, they were first brought in,
so I mean they'll fridle. Their tasting now is the
(03:51):
same alfraidal they had back in the seventies and eighties
when they first tried it.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
So with the kind of staying with that idea about
the food. A lot of people are they get mad
this prices are going up so much. Can you pull
the curtain back a little bit and tell us what
it's like to be in the food industry, especially over
the last couple of years, and the way prices have
gone up. I know so many businesses try so hard
(04:17):
to keep those costs down. So how do you address that.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
We do the same thing. We're fighting it all the time.
And that's what when they talk about that, restaurants just
as an industry, have really really slim margins. So the
slightest increase. The problem you have is that to the
point of that wonderful salad bar, eggs because of bird
flu right now are out of scarce, and so we
have to keep hunting them down and finding them and
pricing them out and trying to keep because who wants
(04:43):
to go to the salad bar and not have hard
boiled eggs.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
May it sounds silly, this is true. Not a fan,
so see, and I think that's it.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
There's so many things on the salad bar that everybody's
a fan of or nobody's and so you have to
have everything there and it all has to stay the
same and to do that, yet it takes a lot
of pricing. We have some really good partners that help
us keep those costs down and help us find the
right purveyor to bring us what we need because it's
a tough struggle to keep. I think there are are
there seventeen things on the saladbar right.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Now, give or take, give or take it. Yeah, it
changes with the season sometimes.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
So to keep that many items on the salabar, plus
everything going on in the kitchen, then you've got Will
mentioned even the employees, and we have employees that have
been with us. I've got a few that have been
there fifteen twenty years, so they've worked in our restaurant
for that long. They enjoy being there and we love
having them. So they're part of what we do to
keep all this going. It's a lot of little balls
(05:36):
being juggled.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
And Will you mentioned you've got employees that have been
with you, and I'm sure you do too, Shelley, that
have been with you for multiple years. Do you think
that they kind of just watch this and know that eventually,
like everything does, it's going to even out at some
point and things are going to get a little bit
more Back to normal. Like with COVID, the businesses were
(05:59):
closing right and left all over the place, and you
guys stayed open, I mean when you could, when the
laws allowed. You guys were open and you wrote it out.
And we're so happy here in Omaha that so many
businesses were able to write it out. You have been
around since some of the old steakhouses that are virtually
(06:21):
all gone. Yes, So do you see some of the
of the effects of that still or is business kind
of getting back to pre twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
I think business is back to pre twenty twenty. I
think for the most part, we're all back there. I
think unfortunately, when costs went up, those never go back down.
It's like gas, it never seems to go back down
once it goes out. So we're dealing with the same thing.
So we'll you know, prices obviously will never go back,
but I think the sales and the people are back out.
We're seeing the same business. The best part about COVID
(06:54):
was actually we struggled with that salad bar, trying to
figure out how to make it work when people couldn't
touch things. So we actually had attendance that built salads
for people for a good six months so that we
could maintain that salad bar because we couldn't sell spaghetti
without the salad bar.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
No, and I'm glad that you did that because you
got to have the sound.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
It was a really fun time. It was It was
a really fun time.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I don't think it was well with.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Everything going on in the world. Not only did we
have to adapt what was changing in the world, we
had to adapt, you know, the whole restaurant and with
having the salad bar, adding that extra piece of having
someone build the salads, it was just another thing we
had to juggle. But we made it work and we
were able to make everyone happy, so at the end
of the day, it worked out.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
But actly, what do you love most about your job?
Speaker 4 (07:36):
Will people? I've always I love talking to people, and
I think what I like about my job is I
can walk up to any table and have a conversation
with them most most of the time, most people are
willing to talk to you, and we can talk about
the weather, we're going to talk about you know. I
have talked to some people who are, oh, I'm here
for my fortieth wedding anniversary or my thirty fifth wedding anniversary,
and I've been coming here, I proposed in this booth,
(07:57):
you know, things like that, and you can kind of
connect the customers on that and it's kind of it
feels nice to be a part and hear you know,
hear it from a personal level on their side and
what kind of impact Spaghetti Works has had. And I
think that's what I appreciate. You know, everyone has a job,
you know, to make money. But at the end of
the day, it's nice to have a job that I
actually enjoy and that you know, I can I can
(08:19):
be happy to work at. You know, not a lot
of people can go home and be like, oh, I
love my job. Most people go home and they're like, yes,
I'm off. I go home and like, well, I get
to go to work tomorrow. So at least have that
to look forward to, you know, like I really do
and enjoy my job and the people are because of it.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
So and Shelley, what do you think what's the most
what's the best thing about your job?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I would say the people I work with, all the way,
you know, service managers, it doesn't matter. And then I
think just the constant challenge of it. So just what
we talked about with COVID, and it's always trying to
move that pieces in the chess board to make sure
that everything stays the way it's supposed to stay. Spaghetti
Works can't change dramatically. We can't, you know, suddenly come
(09:00):
in and do stakes, and so you have to just
move it a little bit, but you can't move it
a lot. And so the challenge is always there to
make it what it was, but just a little bit
better sometimes or even just maintaining the same sometimes as
the challenge. And it's a game, and it's a lot
of fun, and I agree with Will. The job is
just a lot of fun. And then the people are
(09:20):
just really really awesome. And so you've got all of
those employees and the customers and it's there's so many
things about it. And I've been doing it for a
lot of years, so I really love it.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
What's the history of the Spaghetti Works is the first
location was that downtown.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
That was the Old Market. Yes, that was the first location.
It was actually a bar called the Orehouse, Okay, that
they converted into a restaurant. They had looked at a
couple other concepts. Rusty Harmson was the head of that
and kind of spearheaded that whole thing, so they opened it.
It has really been the exact same, except for it
(09:57):
was always spaghetti with I believe it was nine sauces
at the time, and they did a couple of specials
on the weekends. It's expanded now so we do have,
you know, our Alfredo mushroom bakes and our chicken parmesans
and eggplant parmesan all that stuff has now come into play.
But in the originally it was Spetty and I think
was nine sauces and a couple specials on the weekends
(10:18):
and that was it. And then here it's probably been
a good twenty years ago. We expanded that restaurant. Now
it's bigger than what it was. So just like the
old steakhouses, we are one of the few restaurants that
probably has that size of a footprint and that in
the Old market, that square footage is huge.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Oh yeah, you have a huge presence in the Old market.
One thing did change what happened to the gate. The gate,
a big gate that used to be in front when
you first walked up, big kind of odd shaped yep.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
The gate had to go away because it was obstructing
people from coming across the dog for the walk because
from Jackson Street up to Howard there's no sidewalks, so
the gate had to go away along with the train
car many years ago.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
If I remember back.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
That one way, yes, I was very said. The first
time I went down there and saw that it was gone,
I was I was inconsolable. I don't know why because
I was never in it, so it was just seeing
it will hollow. Has the you've been at this location
or well, Spaghetti Works has been at this location.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
For fifteen years in Ralston.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, and have you seen the neighborhoods change, the people
that are coming in? How do you see change happening
in your store?
Speaker 4 (11:28):
You know, the only change that I could really recognize
as new faces. We don't have as much tourism as
Old Market, of course, but we get a lot of
the high school teams, you know, we'll get basketball.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Teams and so important to a community.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
Super important. That's what keeps us going, That's what that's
what keeps us moving. But you know, we get that,
and we get the influence from hockey down at the
arena down on seventy second Street, and really that's the
biggest change we see is you know what, what is
the community having that is that is impacting us. A
big one is the Fourth of July parade down in Ralston.
That brings a lot for us. And then there's just
a lot of little things that happen that bring us change.
(12:05):
But that's really it. Besides that construction on seventy second,
as really eternal lot of people to eighty fourth, and
I think as as terrible as that construction has been,
I think that has done a lot for us, you know,
with people seeing us and then giving us a try
and now realizing, hey, you know, that's a place I
like to go. And I think we're we're getting those
people in and retaining a lot of those people, and
(12:25):
I think that's the biggest change we've really had now.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Shelley, I'm sure that you've seen this, and Will, I
bet you're starting to see this. You're starting to see
second and third generations of the same families that have
been coming in for years.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
We actually see that even sometimes with employees. So I've
had employees who parents have worked there before.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
So I love it.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
You get all kinds and Will's right. Actually, when we
moved Ralston across the street, we had people come in
wanting booths because that was where they had been engaged at.
They wanted to know if they could buy the booth.
Oh wow, I proposed in And so you're right, we
see all of that and then the tourist amazing for downtown.
The amount of tourism and whatnot that has been brought
(13:05):
in over the last I'm gonna give it the last
probably ten years or so, the gene Leahey Mal that
whole reconstruction has been incredible for downtown. So there's so
many things that have changed and we've just ridden along
with it. It's been absolutely amazing to watch this all
come about. And you know, to all of the things
in Ralston that have come around with the event Center,
(13:26):
Chi TD Meritrade, all of the baseball park, the arena,
all of that has played into what we see. So
now we see a whole new generation of people that
are coming in that we've never seen before.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Well, what's the one thing you want people to know
about Spaghetti Works?
Speaker 3 (13:42):
You know?
Speaker 4 (13:43):
I will say Shelley brought up a good point with
the price changes that are happening Eggs. I will say,
with everything that's gotten more expensive, Spaghetti Works has done
really good about making sure prices don't go too high.
I've noticed in my time prices have not gone up
that much in my six years of being with Spagetty
Work compared to some other restaurants. I think that that's
probably the biggest benefit, because, I mean, for people who
(14:05):
don't know, Spaghetti Work says all you can eat pasta.
You come in to any other places, all you can
eat food, you can't get that for thirteen fourteen.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Dollars, Oh no.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
And I think that's that's probably the biggest thing about
Spagetti Works is during all these difficult times that have
been going on and all these price increases, somehow Shelley
and all the other people have been able to keep
us at some lower prices for food, and we've been
able to keep those prices lower. And I think that's probably,
you know, one of the most important things about Spaghetti Works.
You can still come in and not you know, blow
(14:35):
your whole paycheck.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Ye.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
I don't know if you can find a meal anyplace,
one meal. This is it. This is all you get
for thirteen dollars, no much else. All you can do.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
I mean, think about fast food. You can't even find
that at a fast food restaurant. I mean, but you get,
you get to sit down, you get you get good service,
you get a self service salad bar with quite a
lot of selections. Yet garlic bread that's unlimited. You get
pasta that's unlimited. I don't know where you can find
that in Omaha.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
I don't either, But you know, I think part of
it is we've struggled and really fought hard to keep
the prices down. And part of that is because of
the families that we want to support. So like Monday's
where we do kids eat free, that's a big deal,
and so you have to keep all of the pricing
down so that these families can continue to come out.
Because even when you know when things happen in the economy,
(15:18):
people still want to go out and enjoy their family
and take some time and you can't afford to spend
that kind of money on it, so you go where
you can afford. That's what we That's what we've really
struggled with. It's trying to keep the pricing down to
a point that we still maintain the margins we need
to maintain just to stay in business, but we also
want to be sure that we're there for the families
that they can still come out, enjoy theirselves, have a
(15:40):
nice time. I think the last two weekends we've dealt
with prom and so again they're unlimited budgets, right right,
So we're there go too for something that's inexpensive. And yet,
like we said, salad, bar, bread, pasta, the whole work,
you get it all well.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
And along along with that, not only can you bring
your family. I mean we have both locations have party
rooms that can hold a lot of people, and even
even reserving our party rooms is still very affordable. A
lot of places you have to have some sort of
deposit or something. I mean, we don't require that. So
I think that's another big perk for people who are
having I mean we've had rehearsal dinners, we've had we
I don't know if you guys have seen an old market.
(16:17):
We've had weddings in our party room. We've had people
get married at at spaghetti works, We've had bridal showers.
I mean, we've had it all. And I think a
big part of that is because you know, we don't
have outrageous prices too, you know.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Right, we have been a part of not only the
families that come in. But speaking of the parties, it's
funny that we have been from start to finish. So
we've done baby showers to weddings, all the way through
to the end.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
And yeah, there's I just graduation ones.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Yes, we've had a few graduations, we've had a few
funerals leave, we have covered all the basis of.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Life at Spaghetti Works. We kind of see it.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
I mean like I've been watching with some of these people.
Had a graduation to make a reservation just a couple
of weeks ago, and you know, she told me, she goes.
We we we've brought him every year for his birthday,
and we just think it's right to come for graduation, Like, well,
that's exciting. We hope to see him at his wedding too,
you know.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Exactly to see you in here for that.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
So I'm sure Mom said not yet. Oh for sure,
it's not time.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Early. Let's talk about the food for just a minute.
The as I mentioned earlier, the steakhouses in Omaha that
were so original to the area. Tell me about the
food in Spaghetti Works. This is original to the Omaha area.
Mm hmm, it is? This is it? Recipes still from
fifty plus years ago.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
They are.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
They are the ones that come up all the time.
Of course, the Alfredo, the beer cheese. We've actually had
people request the beer cheese be sent to them. So
hard thing to do and not very easy, but we
have had it sent. Are you talking to me about?
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Well?
Speaker 4 (17:45):
I had, I had. I had actually about a year
I think it was about a year and a half ago.
A family that was visiting from Washington. They said, is
there any way you can put this in a can
and make it shelf stable so I can take it home.
They're like, They're like, I'm only here once a year,
and I would love to take some of that home, Like,
you know, I wish we could, but I don't know
how that'll hold in the place. But you know, I
mean we the beer cheese and Alfredo, I mean they've
been they've been consistent on that recipe and I mean
(18:06):
people come in, they know what it tastes like, so.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
I, well, no, I'm hungry. Yeah, So.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Egg plant parmesan, egg plant parmesan.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Yes, still there, okay, because that is my absolute favorite dish. Yes, anywhere,
and it's always good there. And you guys have us
out in front of Spaghetti Works every Christmas, yes, or
the oh, let me think, what is it called holiday
Holiday in the market?
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Holiday in the mark? Yeap, holiday lights. So we have
you out there every year. Usually we have some sort
of whatever the character of the year is. So I
think last year we had Barbie and Spider Man.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah, yeah, and then I think.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
We've had frozen princesses.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Every every Saturday after Thanksgiving is the lighting of the
downtown lights, and so we always have those characters that
are out there along with you.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Yeah, we get to giveaways. Could we just come in
for a minute, just warm up a little bit.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
We've warned everybody you've got to let them come in.
Those those frozen princesses don't like to be cold. That's
a really good thing.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
What what would you like to say? Well, what do
you want people to know about Spaghetti Works.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I think we've covered all the basis again. You've you've
got our food is great, our pricing is wonderful. We're
there for the families. If you've got a big group,
big family event, we can we take that. We have
a large party room that handles all of that.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
Not to mention catering. You know, I mean we do
caterings too. I don't think a lot of people know
about that. I mean we can win a k I didn't.
I mean we don't need much of notice. We've done
caterings on a twelve hour notice or less for over
one hundred people. I mean, which is something a lot
of people. You know, you can run into last minute
situations where you need to find food, and we can
do that for people too. That's also affordable.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
So was that the funeral ones?
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yes, yes, that is definitely towards the funerals. You don't
get a lot of notice for.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Those, right, We've done the graduations, but I didn't even
think about the catering. Yeah, we actually prepare big pans
of pasta with sauce and breadsticks and it all goes
out for a price and it's a great deal. It's
affordable and it's easy to serve.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
So can trust me? Bullying this much positive for yourself
would be a night could come?
Speaker 4 (20:11):
Could you imagine?
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Yeah, yeah, boiling enough just for myself and my husband
is a nightmaron. But exactly can't seem to get it right.
So I guess we're just gonna have to come down there. Well,
if you are all so hungry all this week. You
can win a twenty five dollars gift card on free
stuff after five two Spaghetti Works. So you can win
that gift card and take it right down to Spaghetti Works.
And if you haven't been there for a while, oh,
(20:33):
you are going to go right back to the last
time you were there, whether it was when you were
a kid or just in your twenties. Because it is
just an Omaha original and we love it and it's
not going anywhere.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Nope, We're here to stay.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
I'm grateful that we're here to stay. There's there's one
thing that is consistent in my life, and that's Spaghetti Works.
So I'm grateful for that.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
We should all have one thing consistent exactly exactly well.
Shelley Stokes of Spaghetti Work Old Market and Will Stock,
general manager of Ralston, thank you both so much for
being here today.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Thank you for having Thank you.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
It's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
M
Hi, It's Lucy Chapman and thanks for coming back for more.
Here's more, and I've got two very special guests in
the studio. If you are a food et, and you
know I am, you're gonna love this show. I've got
Shelley Stokes with Spaghetti Works. Shelley, welcome, thank you. And
Will Stock, the general manager of the Ralston Spaghetti Works. Hello,
(00:23):
thanks both of you for being here today. We're gonna
talk about some food and we're going to talk about
Spaghetti Works. Let's start there. Spaghetti Works has been an
Omaha icon in the Old Market now for fifty years plus.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yes, we are.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
We celebrated fifty years last year. We've seen it all, weddings, grandparents,
We're on our I believe our fourth generation of people
that are coming in and visiting us.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
And the food has always been and still is the
most fabulous spaghetti in town. I can vouch for that.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Thank you. We appreciate that. Salad bar also has to
be mentioned.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
You know, I can't do it. I was going to say,
there are people all throughout the Omaha area that that
just that salad bar at Spaghetti Works is the best.
It's in the little train it's a train, right, it's
a truck.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
It's a truck.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Okay, yep, it was some kind of vehicle. So it's
in the little truck and it is so good. And
I think one of the reasons why it is so
good as you keep everything so cold.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
It is all on ice.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah, so we don't have refrigerated trucks because obviously these
are real model.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
It's model Tea and a model Yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
They have come refrigerated.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
They didn't come refrigerating back in those days, so they
had to convert those beds to stainless steel and add ice.
And we've done it that way for fifty years. We've
never refrigerated. It's always been on ice. So it's just
like a cooler full of ice.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
It's great. It's always cold.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
It hasn't changed much.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
A little bit. Uh Old Marcus got a little bigger.
Ralston moved across the street here about fifteen years ago.
I think it's been now. You know, the colors have
stayed the same, the trucks have been the same. Those
trucks have not changed. So yeah, I think we kind
of like it the way it is.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Well. And I was going to say you know, just
because you haven't changed is not a bad thing. There's
too much change sometimes and you get used to something
and you want that when you get there and it's
still there.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
It is and I think what little changes we've made
are very small. So when you come in, you still
see what you saw when you were a kid and
your parents brought you, or your grandparents brought you, whoever
brought you. I think you still see that, and that's
what is so special about it.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
When you are working things like the College World Series
or the Swim Trials, you probably saw a lot of
people from out of town.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
We do.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
We do a big portion of our traffic for our
Old Market location is out of town and visitors to
the area. For our Ralston location, it's much more the
locals in the Ralston area and they come out now
with all the work going on in Lavista Pavilion, we're
seeing a lot of traffic on that eighty fourth Street corridor.
So it's been really awesome for us.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
And Will will Stock, with the general manager of Ralston,
will tell me about that. You've got to have a
lot of regulars, then we do.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
There are people who are coming in there two to
three times a week, and it's nice to see familiar faces,
you know. It's kind of what keeps people like me
and the servers and they're going every day. It's nice
to see people you know and make connections with them
and be able to talk to them all the time,
you know, even about something simple about what's going on
in the world, or obviously some of our food. But
it's nice. It's nice to be able to see those
(03:23):
familiar faces all the time.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
When you get those regulars, they come in for the
same thing, right.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
They do they do.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
We have some servers that I've worked there for five,
ten plus years, and I mean, I mean some of
those people walk in and the server just has to
say are you getting your usual? Yeah? Of course, And
then I mean it's a two minute conversation and their
food's out, and people don't stray from what they like.
They're gonna get the same thing. And I mean our
recipes haven't changed since you know, they were first brought in,
so I mean they'll fridle. Their tasting now is the
(03:51):
same alfraidal they had back in the seventies and eighties
when they first tried it.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
So with the kind of staying with that idea about
the food. A lot of people are they get mad
this prices are going up so much. Can you pull
the curtain back a little bit and tell us what
it's like to be in the food industry, especially over
the last couple of years, and the way prices have
gone up. I know so many businesses try so hard
(04:17):
to keep those costs down. So how do you address that.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
We do the same thing. We're fighting it all the time.
And that's what when they talk about that, restaurants just
as an industry, have really really slim margins. So the
slightest increase. The problem you have is that to the
point of that wonderful salad bar, eggs because of bird
flu right now are out of scarce, and so we
have to keep hunting them down and finding them and
pricing them out and trying to keep because who wants
(04:43):
to go to the salad bar and not have hard
boiled eggs.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
May it sounds silly, this is true. Not a fan,
so see, and I think that's it.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
There's so many things on the salad bar that everybody's
a fan of or nobody's and so you have to
have everything there and it all has to stay the
same and to do that, yet it takes a lot
of pricing. We have some really good partners that help
us keep those costs down and help us find the
right purveyor to bring us what we need because it's
a tough struggle to keep. I think there are are
there seventeen things on the saladbar right.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Now, give or take, give or take it. Yeah, it
changes with the season sometimes.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
So to keep that many items on the salabar, plus
everything going on in the kitchen, then you've got Will
mentioned even the employees, and we have employees that have
been with us. I've got a few that have been
there fifteen twenty years, so they've worked in our restaurant
for that long. They enjoy being there and we love
having them. So they're part of what we do to
keep all this going. It's a lot of little balls
(05:36):
being juggled.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
And Will you mentioned you've got employees that have been
with you, and I'm sure you do too, Shelley, that
have been with you for multiple years. Do you think
that they kind of just watch this and know that eventually,
like everything does, it's going to even out at some
point and things are going to get a little bit
more Back to normal. Like with COVID, the businesses were
(05:59):
closing right and left all over the place, and you
guys stayed open, I mean when you could, when the
laws allowed. You guys were open and you wrote it out.
And we're so happy here in Omaha that so many
businesses were able to write it out. You have been
around since some of the old steakhouses that are virtually
(06:21):
all gone. Yes, So do you see some of the
of the effects of that still or is business kind
of getting back to pre twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
I think business is back to pre twenty twenty. I
think for the most part, we're all back there. I
think unfortunately, when costs went up, those never go back down.
It's like gas, it never seems to go back down
once it goes out. So we're dealing with the same thing.
So we'll you know, prices obviously will never go back,
but I think the sales and the people are back out.
We're seeing the same business. The best part about COVID
(06:54):
was actually we struggled with that salad bar, trying to
figure out how to make it work when people couldn't
touch things. So we actually had attendance that built salads
for people for a good six months so that we
could maintain that salad bar because we couldn't sell spaghetti
without the salad bar.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
No, and I'm glad that you did that because you
got to have the sound.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
It was a really fun time. It was It was
a really fun time.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I don't think it was well with.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Everything going on in the world. Not only did we
have to adapt what was changing in the world, we
had to adapt, you know, the whole restaurant and with
having the salad bar, adding that extra piece of having
someone build the salads, it was just another thing we
had to juggle. But we made it work and we
were able to make everyone happy, so at the end
of the day, it worked out.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
But actly, what do you love most about your job?
Speaker 4 (07:36):
Will people? I've always I love talking to people, and
I think what I like about my job is I
can walk up to any table and have a conversation
with them most most of the time, most people are
willing to talk to you, and we can talk about
the weather, we're going to talk about you know. I
have talked to some people who are, oh, I'm here
for my fortieth wedding anniversary or my thirty fifth wedding anniversary,
and I've been coming here, I proposed in this booth,
(07:57):
you know, things like that, and you can kind of
connect the customers on that and it's kind of it
feels nice to be a part and hear you know,
hear it from a personal level on their side and
what kind of impact Spaghetti Works has had. And I
think that's what I appreciate. You know, everyone has a job,
you know, to make money. But at the end of
the day, it's nice to have a job that I
actually enjoy and that you know, I can I can
(08:19):
be happy to work at. You know, not a lot
of people can go home and be like, oh, I
love my job. Most people go home and they're like, yes,
I'm off. I go home and like, well, I get
to go to work tomorrow. So at least have that
to look forward to, you know, like I really do
and enjoy my job and the people are because of it.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
So and Shelley, what do you think what's the most
what's the best thing about your job?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I would say the people I work with, all the way,
you know, service managers, it doesn't matter. And then I
think just the constant challenge of it. So just what
we talked about with COVID, and it's always trying to
move that pieces in the chess board to make sure
that everything stays the way it's supposed to stay. Spaghetti
Works can't change dramatically. We can't, you know, suddenly come
(09:00):
in and do stakes, and so you have to just
move it a little bit, but you can't move it
a lot. And so the challenge is always there to
make it what it was, but just a little bit
better sometimes or even just maintaining the same sometimes as
the challenge. And it's a game, and it's a lot
of fun, and I agree with Will. The job is
just a lot of fun. And then the people are
(09:20):
just really really awesome. And so you've got all of
those employees and the customers and it's there's so many
things about it. And I've been doing it for a
lot of years, so I really love it.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
What's the history of the Spaghetti Works is the first
location was that downtown.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
That was the Old Market. Yes, that was the first location.
It was actually a bar called the Orehouse, Okay, that
they converted into a restaurant. They had looked at a
couple other concepts. Rusty Harmson was the head of that
and kind of spearheaded that whole thing, so they opened it.
It has really been the exact same, except for it
(09:57):
was always spaghetti with I believe it was nine sauces
at the time, and they did a couple of specials
on the weekends. It's expanded now so we do have,
you know, our Alfredo mushroom bakes and our chicken parmesans
and eggplant parmesan all that stuff has now come into play.
But in the originally it was Spetty and I think
was nine sauces and a couple specials on the weekends
(10:18):
and that was it. And then here it's probably been
a good twenty years ago. We expanded that restaurant. Now
it's bigger than what it was. So just like the
old steakhouses, we are one of the few restaurants that
probably has that size of a footprint and that in
the Old market, that square footage is huge.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Oh yeah, you have a huge presence in the Old market.
One thing did change what happened to the gate. The gate,
a big gate that used to be in front when
you first walked up, big kind of odd shaped yep.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
The gate had to go away because it was obstructing
people from coming across the dog for the walk because
from Jackson Street up to Howard there's no sidewalks, so
the gate had to go away along with the train
car many years ago.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
If I remember back.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
That one way, yes, I was very said. The first
time I went down there and saw that it was gone,
I was I was inconsolable. I don't know why because
I was never in it, so it was just seeing
it will hollow. Has the you've been at this location
or well, Spaghetti Works has been at this location.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
For fifteen years in Ralston.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, and have you seen the neighborhoods change, the people
that are coming in? How do you see change happening
in your store?
Speaker 4 (11:28):
You know, the only change that I could really recognize
as new faces. We don't have as much tourism as
Old Market, of course, but we get a lot of
the high school teams, you know, we'll get basketball.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Teams and so important to a community.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
Super important. That's what keeps us going, That's what that's
what keeps us moving. But you know, we get that,
and we get the influence from hockey down at the
arena down on seventy second Street, and really that's the
biggest change we see is you know what, what is
the community having that is that is impacting us. A
big one is the Fourth of July parade down in Ralston.
That brings a lot for us. And then there's just
a lot of little things that happen that bring us change.
(12:05):
But that's really it. Besides that construction on seventy second,
as really eternal lot of people to eighty fourth, and
I think as as terrible as that construction has been,
I think that has done a lot for us, you know,
with people seeing us and then giving us a try
and now realizing, hey, you know, that's a place I
like to go. And I think we're we're getting those
people in and retaining a lot of those people, and
(12:25):
I think that's the biggest change we've really had now.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Shelley, I'm sure that you've seen this, and Will, I
bet you're starting to see this. You're starting to see
second and third generations of the same families that have
been coming in for years.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
We actually see that even sometimes with employees. So I've
had employees who parents have worked there before.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
So I love it.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
You get all kinds and Will's right. Actually, when we
moved Ralston across the street, we had people come in
wanting booths because that was where they had been engaged at.
They wanted to know if they could buy the booth.
Oh wow, I proposed in And so you're right, we
see all of that and then the tourist amazing for downtown.
The amount of tourism and whatnot that has been brought
(13:05):
in over the last I'm gonna give it the last
probably ten years or so, the gene Leahey Mal that
whole reconstruction has been incredible for downtown. So there's so
many things that have changed and we've just ridden along
with it. It's been absolutely amazing to watch this all
come about. And you know, to all of the things
in Ralston that have come around with the event Center,
(13:26):
Chi TD Meritrade, all of the baseball park, the arena,
all of that has played into what we see. So
now we see a whole new generation of people that
are coming in that we've never seen before.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Well, what's the one thing you want people to know
about Spaghetti Works?
Speaker 3 (13:42):
You know?
Speaker 4 (13:43):
I will say Shelley brought up a good point with
the price changes that are happening Eggs. I will say,
with everything that's gotten more expensive, Spaghetti Works has done
really good about making sure prices don't go too high.
I've noticed in my time prices have not gone up
that much in my six years of being with Spagetty
Work compared to some other restaurants. I think that that's
probably the biggest benefit, because, I mean, for people who
(14:05):
don't know, Spaghetti Work says all you can eat pasta.
You come in to any other places, all you can
eat food, you can't get that for thirteen fourteen.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Dollars, Oh no.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
And I think that's that's probably the biggest thing about
Spagetti Works is during all these difficult times that have
been going on and all these price increases, somehow Shelley
and all the other people have been able to keep
us at some lower prices for food, and we've been
able to keep those prices lower. And I think that's probably,
you know, one of the most important things about Spaghetti Works.
You can still come in and not you know, blow
(14:35):
your whole paycheck.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Ye.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
I don't know if you can find a meal anyplace,
one meal. This is it. This is all you get
for thirteen dollars, no much else. All you can do.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
I mean, think about fast food. You can't even find
that at a fast food restaurant. I mean, but you get,
you get to sit down, you get you get good service,
you get a self service salad bar with quite a
lot of selections. Yet garlic bread that's unlimited. You get
pasta that's unlimited. I don't know where you can find
that in Omaha.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
I don't either, But you know, I think part of
it is we've struggled and really fought hard to keep
the prices down. And part of that is because of
the families that we want to support. So like Monday's
where we do kids eat free, that's a big deal,
and so you have to keep all of the pricing
down so that these families can continue to come out.
Because even when you know when things happen in the economy,
(15:18):
people still want to go out and enjoy their family
and take some time and you can't afford to spend
that kind of money on it, so you go where
you can afford. That's what we That's what we've really
struggled with. It's trying to keep the pricing down to
a point that we still maintain the margins we need
to maintain just to stay in business, but we also
want to be sure that we're there for the families
that they can still come out, enjoy theirselves, have a
(15:40):
nice time. I think the last two weekends we've dealt
with prom and so again they're unlimited budgets, right right,
So we're there go too for something that's inexpensive. And yet,
like we said, salad, bar, bread, pasta, the whole work,
you get it all well.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
And along along with that, not only can you bring
your family. I mean we have both locations have party
rooms that can hold a lot of people, and even
even reserving our party rooms is still very affordable. A
lot of places you have to have some sort of
deposit or something. I mean, we don't require that. So
I think that's another big perk for people who are
having I mean we've had rehearsal dinners, we've had we
I don't know if you guys have seen an old market.
(16:17):
We've had weddings in our party room. We've had people
get married at at spaghetti works, We've had bridal showers.
I mean, we've had it all. And I think a
big part of that is because you know, we don't
have outrageous prices too, you know.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Right, we have been a part of not only the
families that come in. But speaking of the parties, it's
funny that we have been from start to finish. So
we've done baby showers to weddings, all the way through
to the end.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
And yeah, there's I just graduation ones.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Yes, we've had a few graduations, we've had a few
funerals leave, we have covered all the basis of.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Life at Spaghetti Works. We kind of see it.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
I mean like I've been watching with some of these people.
Had a graduation to make a reservation just a couple
of weeks ago, and you know, she told me, she goes.
We we we've brought him every year for his birthday,
and we just think it's right to come for graduation, Like, well,
that's exciting. We hope to see him at his wedding too,
you know.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Exactly to see you in here for that.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
So I'm sure Mom said not yet. Oh for sure,
it's not time.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Early. Let's talk about the food for just a minute.
The as I mentioned earlier, the steakhouses in Omaha that
were so original to the area. Tell me about the
food in Spaghetti Works. This is original to the Omaha area.
Mm hmm, it is? This is it? Recipes still from
fifty plus years ago.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
They are.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
They are the ones that come up all the time.
Of course, the Alfredo, the beer cheese. We've actually had
people request the beer cheese be sent to them. So
hard thing to do and not very easy, but we
have had it sent. Are you talking to me about?
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Well?
Speaker 4 (17:45):
I had, I had. I had actually about a year
I think it was about a year and a half ago.
A family that was visiting from Washington. They said, is
there any way you can put this in a can
and make it shelf stable so I can take it home.
They're like, They're like, I'm only here once a year,
and I would love to take some of that home, Like,
you know, I wish we could, but I don't know
how that'll hold in the place. But you know, I
mean we the beer cheese and Alfredo, I mean they've
been they've been consistent on that recipe and I mean
(18:06):
people come in, they know what it tastes like, so.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
I, well, no, I'm hungry. Yeah, So.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Egg plant parmesan, egg plant parmesan.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Yes, still there, okay, because that is my absolute favorite dish. Yes, anywhere,
and it's always good there. And you guys have us
out in front of Spaghetti Works every Christmas, yes, or
the oh, let me think, what is it called holiday
Holiday in the market?
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Holiday in the mark? Yeap, holiday lights. So we have
you out there every year. Usually we have some sort
of whatever the character of the year is. So I
think last year we had Barbie and Spider Man.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah, yeah, and then I think.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
We've had frozen princesses.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Every every Saturday after Thanksgiving is the lighting of the
downtown lights, and so we always have those characters that
are out there along with you.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Yeah, we get to giveaways. Could we just come in
for a minute, just warm up a little bit.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
We've warned everybody you've got to let them come in.
Those those frozen princesses don't like to be cold. That's
a really good thing.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
What what would you like to say? Well, what do
you want people to know about Spaghetti Works.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I think we've covered all the basis again. You've you've
got our food is great, our pricing is wonderful. We're
there for the families. If you've got a big group,
big family event, we can we take that. We have
a large party room that handles all of that.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
Not to mention catering. You know, I mean we do
caterings too. I don't think a lot of people know
about that. I mean we can win a k I didn't.
I mean we don't need much of notice. We've done
caterings on a twelve hour notice or less for over
one hundred people. I mean, which is something a lot
of people. You know, you can run into last minute
situations where you need to find food, and we can
do that for people too. That's also affordable.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
So was that the funeral ones?
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yes, yes, that is definitely towards the funerals. You don't
get a lot of notice for.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Those, right, We've done the graduations, but I didn't even
think about the catering. Yeah, we actually prepare big pans
of pasta with sauce and breadsticks and it all goes
out for a price and it's a great deal. It's
affordable and it's easy to serve.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
So can trust me? Bullying this much positive for yourself
would be a night could come?
Speaker 4 (20:11):
Could you imagine?
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Yeah, yeah, boiling enough just for myself and my husband
is a nightmaron. But exactly can't seem to get it right.
So I guess we're just gonna have to come down there. Well,
if you are all so hungry all this week. You
can win a twenty five dollars gift card on free
stuff after five two Spaghetti Works. So you can win
that gift card and take it right down to Spaghetti Works.
And if you haven't been there for a while, oh,
(20:33):
you are going to go right back to the last
time you were there, whether it was when you were
a kid or just in your twenties. Because it is
just an Omaha original and we love it and it's
not going anywhere.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Nope, We're here to stay.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
I'm grateful that we're here to stay. There's there's one
thing that is consistent in my life, and that's Spaghetti Works.
So I'm grateful for that.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
We should all have one thing consistent exactly exactly well.
Shelley Stokes of Spaghetti Work Old Market and Will Stock,
general manager of Ralston, thank you both so much for
being here today.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Thank you for having Thank you.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
It's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
M
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