Grandmother’s restaurant is closed for business

Posted By: Veronica Ortega

vortega@klkntv.com

The doors are closed, the booths empty, and the bar is quiet. After 40 years Grandmother’s restaurant near 70th and A has shut its doors for the last time. Grandmother’s was founded in 1973 by Dean Rasmussen and former Nebraska Governor and U.S. Senator  Bob Kerrey.

The original restaurant in Omaha closed back in 2014 and now the Lincoln location has met the same fate. A few  days ago employees learned the sad news.

"We just assumed it was a regular meeting and the owner’s came in and just said they weren’t meeting the standards they expected anymore, and they were going to close," says former Kitchen Manager, Justin Taylor.

The general manager says it was a difficult decision to make. He says there isn’t any one reason the restaurant is closing, but they still haven’t been able to recover after the 2008 recession and the increasing popularity of fast food chains has made it difficult to stay in business.

"I really liked football Saturday. We’d really fill the place up and had a band come in and it was just crazy busy and it was fun, "says Justin Taylor.

Management says they’re going to do everything they can to relocate current employees to their other restaurant, Don and Millie’s, where gift cards can also be redeemed.

Employees say they’re going to miss the warm inviting atmosphere and the friendships they have made over the years. They say everyone was like family.

"I just wish everybody that worked there luck. I think we all really liked each other and it’s just sad to see it go," says Justin Taylor.   

The general manager says 90% of the remaining food is being donated to the Lincoln Food Bank, the People’s City Mission, and FoodNet Incorporated.