Stella's Bar & Grill, the 90-year-old Bellevue burger institution that's been in the same family for generations, says it's still fighting to reopen after a fire caused smoke damage and a small amount of structural damage to the building back in February. The owners gave a fresh update this week, insisting the restaurant remains present even as repairs drag on and the financial and emotional toll mounts.
“We are still here,” the owners said in their update, as reported by KETV. They described the restaurant as still working, rebuilding, and determined to see its next chapter through, with plans to eventually welcome customers back home to the Galvin Road location. The station reports the family feels a tremendous responsibility to their extended family, loyal employees, and the legacy of Aunt Stella herself.
The fire broke out in February, and according to the station's report, it compromised the structural integrity of the building and left the interior damaged by smoke exposure. The blaze forced Stella's to close until further notice, upending operations at a restaurant that has anchored Bellevue's Galvin Road corridor for decades. A fire broke out specifically in the basement on February 11, 2026, causing heavy damage, after a delivery driver noticed smoke and alerted emergency responders, according to iHeart.
A Family Legacy Dating Back to 1936
Stella's traces its roots to 1936, when founder Estelle “Stella” Francois, a daughter of Belgian immigrants, opened a small home tavern called Francois & Sullivan before relocating to the Galvin Road site in 1949, according to Omaha Exploration. The February fire wasn't even the building's first brush with disaster — in 1976, a then-71-year-old Stella Francois famously climbed onto the roof herself to help put out a blaze, per the same outlet.
After Stella Francois died in 1985, her son Al Sullivan Jr. ran the restaurant for 33 years before retiring in 2007, when leadership passed to current family owners including Stephanie Francois, Omaha Exploration notes. That nine-decade chain of ownership is part of why the recovery effort carries such weight for the family behind it, and why, per the station's report, the owners describe the rebuilding process as taking a village.
Pop-Up Kept the Burgers Flowing During Rebuild
While structural repairs continue, Stella's launched a temporary pop-up in March inside the Bellevue Eagles Club at 209 W. Mission Avenue to keep serving its menu, according to the Omaha World-Herald. The arrangement let the business keep its regulars fed even as the Galvin Road building sat closed.
Stella's has been popular with local residents and airmen stationed at nearby Offutt Air Force Base, per Omaha Exploration. The restaurant is also known for serving its burgers on paper napkins, according to the Nebraska Beef Council.
A Burger Reputation — and a Brutal Food Challenge
Stella's culinary reputation extends well beyond Bellevue. The Nebraska Beef Council crowned it the state's official “Nebraska's Best Burger” in 2012, and it has been voted Omaha's Best Burger for 16 consecutive years, per the council's own recognition. That reputation is part of what's made the restaurant's closure sting so widely across the metro.
Then there's the Stellanator, the restaurant's signature food challenge requiring participants to eat six burger patties, six fried eggs, six slices of cheese, 12 bacon strips, fried onions, jalapenos, peanut butter, lettuce, tomato, pickles, a bun, and fries within 45 minutes, according to Stella's own description of the challenge. Competitive eater Molly Schuyler set the record in April 2014, finishing in just 3 minutes and 40 seconds. Through July 2024, only 47 of 744 challengers — fewer than 7 percent — had ever successfully finished it, per the Flatwater Free Press.
Owners Thank the Community, Refuse to Quit
In their update, the owners thanked everyone who has helped the restaurant recover, whether through labor, encouragement, patience, prayers, purchases, messages, or simple check-ins, KETV reported. They said the recovery has been difficult both financially and emotionally, but insisted they refuse to give up on the restaurant's future.
For now, the exact timeline for finishing structural repairs on the Galvin Road building remains unclear, and the family's message is less about a reopening date than about resolve. As the owners put it in their statement to the station, the effort to bring Stella's back truly takes a village — one Bellevue and the greater Omaha area appear ready to keep showing up for.
