Fair Deal Cafe was a historically significant

diner A diner is a small, inexpensive restaurant found across the United States, as well as in Canada and parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a com ...

for the African American community in

North Omaha North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 (Iowa-Nebraska), Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River a ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. Once known as the "Black City Hall", Fair Deal was located at North 24th & Burdette in the

Near North Omaha The Near North Side of Omaha, Nebraska is the neighborhood immediately north of downtown. It forms the nucleus of the city's African-American community, and its name is often synonymous with the entire North Omaha area. It is bordered by Cuming St ...

neighborhood from 1954 - 2003.

History

Opened in 1954, the original Fair Deal Cafe is reputed for playing a major role in the history of North Omaha. A variety of politicians and community leaders gathered there throughout the years, and as a social and cultural hub for almost 50 years in the second half of the 20th century there was no parallel in the community. The cafe was called Omaha's "Black City Hall" because "people from all over came and local people had meetings there to discuss politics and run campaigns running for major offices at the state level as well as the national level." Senators and governors came to the cafe. Leaders including

Ernie Chambers Ernest William Chambers (born July 10, 1937) is an American politician and civil rights activist who represented North Omaha's 11th District in the Nebraska State Legislature from 1971 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2021. He could not run in 2 ...

Brenda Council Brenda J. Council (born 1953 or 1954) is a politician and a disbarred labor lawyer from North Omaha, Nebraska. She represented the 11th District in the Nebraska State Legislature from 2009 to 2013, succeeding longtime state senator Ernie Chambe ...

, Ben Gray, Gene Haynes, and others met there to discuss the important issues facing the city. Celebrities including

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

, and

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...

came there, too. Famous for serving

chitlins Chitterlings (), sometimes spelled chitlins or chittlins, are the small intestines of domestic animals. They are usually made from pigs' intestines. They may also be filled with a forcemeat to make sausage.''Oxford English Dictionary'', 1st editi ...

and candied

sweet potatoes The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young sho ...

, the Fair Deal Cafe has

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

fixtures, including the lunch counter, stools, and ceiling fans, as well as a tin ceiling. The cafe was located near the St. Martin de Porres Center, which was home to the De Porres Club, an anti-

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

organization active in Omaha from the 1940s into the 1970s. In the early 1990s the cafe was owned by a man named Charlie Hall, and was reputed to be Omaha's only

soul food Soul food is an ethnic cuisine traditionally prepared and eaten by African Americans, originating in the Southern United States.Soul Food originated with the foods that were given to enslaved Black people by their white owners on Souther ...

restaurant during that period. After changing owners, Fair Deal closed in 2003. The cafe building was bought by the Omaha Economic Development Corporation in 2008."News: THE FAIR DEAL CAFE"
OEDC. Retrieved October 26, 2012.

Redevelopment

In Summer 2011, the local Empowerment Network announced a $1.43 billion North Omaha Village Revitalization Plan approved by the

City of Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

. As part of the plan, a redeveloped Fair Deal Cafe will become the showcase of the new "Fair Deal Urban District". The district, which is generally bounded by North 24th, 26th, Blondo and Burdette Streets, will contain several elements. They include a proposed art campus for the Union for Contemporary Arts, and a 40-unit apartment complex for senior citizens and five single family homes at 25th Street near Patrick Avenue. Details of the site of the $12.2 million redevelopment work were announced in September 2012 at a ground-breaking ceremony that drew about 50 city, neighborhood and business leaders. Officials said that the urban district was the first tangible sign of a larger vision to be carried out over decades and would require billions of dollars in private and public investment. On December 10, 2015, the building was demolished by Omaha Economic Development Corporation to make room for Fair Deal Marketplace which opened in December 2016. Terri Sanders, with the Omaha Economic Development Corporation, said, “The North Omaha area is considered a food desert. We've not had a grocery store here in over 40 years so there will be a fresh food market, a Fair Deal Village Café restaurant. There will be an outside eating area and there will be room for at least 12 microbusinesses.” The new Fair Deal Cafe, LLC modernized and reopened in December 2016 is owned and operated by Jon Nielle Allen and is located slightly South of the original cafe at 2118 North 24th Street, Suite 101. The Cafe features salvaged nostalgia and soul food menu favorites. The cafe is part of the Fair Deal Village MarketPlace, a structure built out of shipping containers.

References

{{coord, 41, 16, 44.5, N, 95, 56, 50.2, W, type:landmark_region:US_dim:20, display=title Diners in the United States Buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska Restaurants in Omaha, Nebraska Landmarks in North Omaha, Nebraska History of Omaha, Nebraska African-American history in Omaha, Nebraska Soul food restaurants in the United States 1954 establishments in Nebraska Restaurants established in 1954

History

Redevelopment

See also

References