Little Italy maps out a bigger future

Historically home to Omaha’s Italian population Little Italy is in the throes of a growth spurt that’s forcing an iconic metro business to make some changes.

Little Italy is outlined by Pacific Street to the north, Center Street to the south, South 10th Street on the west and the Missouri river to the east. It’s an area rich in history.

Nancy Calinger has lived there for most of her life. Her parents, like most area Italians at the time, moved there to make a home.

She said, “My parents came from Italy in 1931 and they rented a house across the street right behind you for 17 years and they paid $11 a month, wow. Well what they don’t realize is my dad made 10 cents a day.”

Little Italy is growing. New restaurants, new apartments, a new Blue Barn Theater - and there’s more to come.

Orsi’s Italian Bakery and Pizzeria have been part of the neighborhood for decades. Now there are plans for growth.

The bakery’s Jim Hall said, “We need to have sit-down because we have so many people just walk down here from these close apartments, townhomes and condos. They don’t even have to drive.”

Hall is drawing up blueprints to expand, to add seating for 25 to 30 people. Right now if you want to eat there they have to make special arrangements.

“We have our own little fold-out tables with the church pews here so we try to help that way. We have paper plates, napkins and we pop out the table and help them sit down.”

Not only will the expansion help Orsi’s keep up with the neighborhood, it will also help them with out of town guests.

“We have a lot of visitors that are one day visitors from Des Moines, Kansas City but they come in and turn around and walk out because we don’t have seating.”

The Orsi expansion is still in the planning stage. There’s no timetable yet on when we will be able to stop by, sit down and order a pizza.