Noli's Pizzeria is shutting down both of its Omaha locations for good. The pizzeria announced Saturday evening that it's closing its longtime Blackstone restaurant along with its Aksarben location, ending a run that had already weathered a rough stretch of construction-related struggles.
The announcement came in a Facebook post from Noli's Pizzeria, which said it's shutting both restaurants for good, according to WOWT. The post promised employees would be taken care of and said customers would be kept informed if another Noli's door ever opens somewhere else.
A Temporary Closure That Foreshadowed Trouble
This isn't the first time Noli's Blackstone location shut its doors this year. Back in September, the restaurant closed for a few days after a cooler broke down, with owner Joel Marsh calling it the latest in a string of problems tied to Omaha Streetcar construction in the neighborhood, per the station's report. Noli's Aksarben location kept running on its normal business hours the entire time Blackstone was closed.
Marsh has pointed to two years of declining sales during the streetcar project and the financial losses that piled up as a result, the same report notes. Those struggles weren't new complaints — the restaurant's situation had been documented for months by multiple outlets covering the construction's toll on Blackstone's business corridor.
Mounting Losses Along the Construction Corridor
Marsh told 3 News Now that sales had fallen substantially while food, labor and operating costs kept climbing, making it difficult to pay employees and keep the doors open. The figures tied to that financial strain have varied by report and reporting period. In December, Marsh told WOWT that construction impacts had cost the Blackstone business $200,000 in revenue over the previous year and a half, while a separate 3 News Now report cited more than $300,000 in lost revenue at that location. The Beatrice Daily Sun separately reported Marsh saying streetcar construction had cost Noli's Pizzeria overall about $500,000 in revenue since the work began.
Noli's wasn't the only business feeling the squeeze. Coneflower Creamery, located near Noli's, also experienced reduced foot traffic during construction, according to the December WOWT report.
Nine Years in Blackstone
How long Noli's had called Blackstone home was described in terms of nine years. WOWT reported that Marsh said the business had run for nine years without such problems before Omaha Streetcar construction arrived and the issues began. A separate 3 News Now report stated that Noli's Blackstone had operated for nine years.
Brief Hope During a Construction Pause
There had been signs of relief earlier this year. In January, Marsh said customers were returning to Noli's during a temporary pause in streetcar construction, according to the Blackstone District. That report described the pause as a welcome break after months of disruption that had hurt Blackstone restaurants broadly. Noli's had also already trimmed its footprint once before, closing its Regency location inside Blue Sky Bar & Patio in February while keeping its Aksarben and Blackstone spots open, per Grow Omaha.
When Blackstone reopened after its September closure, owner Joel Marsh announced the reopening on Facebook, according to the Journal Star. The restaurant initially limited its hours to evenings as it got back on its feet, the paper reported at the time. Now, both of Noli's Omaha locations are closing for good, leaving the future of the pizzeria's New York-style slices in the city uncertain.
