Izzy's Pizza (24 & Howard) + Bus

[nebugeater]

There is a food truck now located in Vegas that has announced that they are relocating to Omaha in Mid June. Been following them on Facebook since I stumbled on this when they posted the announcement. The Facebook posts make them look like a great addition Family ties to the Omaha area are a major part of the relocation.


https://www.izzyspizzabus.com/?fbclid=I ... O-LmGTGGvw

[omahahawk]

Looks good. Hopefully, we'll be able to catch them in the food truck section of the new GLM.

[nebugeater]

Here is a review / story as they are wrapping up things in Vegas


https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertain ... s-2586248/

[Brad]

The food looked great on TV Tonight!

[nebugeater]

The food looked great on TV Tonight!

Have you had their pizza yet. Not the cheapest around but it is near the top of my list. Have had it a number of times when they are at the Bearded Brewer and it is amazing what they are making out of a food truck.

[Brad]

The food looked great on TV Tonight!

Have you had their pizza yet. Not the cheapest around but it is near the top of my list. Have had it a number of times when they are at the Bearded Brewer and it is amazing what they are making out of a food truck.

Not yet, but I do like the Detroit style pizza at Backlot.

[nebugeater]

The food looked great on TV Tonight!

Have you had their pizza yet. Not the cheapest around but it is near the top of my list. Have had it a number of times when they are at the Bearded Brewer and it is amazing what they are making out of a food truck.

Not yet, but I do like the Detroit style pizza at Backlot.

Have had both, IMO if you like Backlot you will love Izzy's

[Coyote]

[Brad]

Adding a brick and mortar location - 522 S 24TH Street

2023 isn't over yet, got a little secret for ya. Let's add to the list of "Yea that happened". Let's go ahead and open a little pizza shop shall we??

We signed a lease back in October and we are super stoked about it. Growth this year has been fun and challenging, but I think you all proved we have something to offer here in Omaha. So let's keep that going and growing shall we?!?
Izzy's Pizza opening MAY 2024 - Omaha, NE.
522 S 24TH Street. (24th and Howard across from the Flats on Howard).

Our new shop currently houses @feliusomaha, but they've grown and are upgrading as well and we loved their space. We will be super close to the downtown area, will have new menu items, plenty of parking and even a beer garden on our private patio out back.

Yep, the bus will still be a thing too. We love the places we go with the bus, and will absolutely be keeping those on the schedule. So now you're gonna have 2 places to find us in 2024!

You showed us major love in 2023. I love that we've made Omaha our home, pretty amazing place to make pizza for good people. We are pretty excited for this next phase, never even really thought this would be a thing. Thank you so much for the support and we promise to always try to make you the best food we can make. I cannot wait to open these doors for you all.

Cheers! Happy New Year everyone!

[skinzfan23]

That is great to see, haven’t tried it yet but it looks and sounds amazing

[Louie]

Thats the location of the cat cafe and a groomer.

[Brad]

Thats the location of the cat cafe and a groomer.

Yep, in my quote above says they are upgrading too.

[Athomsfere]

This is awesome.

I got to try their pizza last summer, and was really impressed. It's sort of weird, but in a great way (honey on Pizza?!)

[Brad]

They are also opening a location at 120 & Center inside the new prehistoric put.

[Louie]

That sign sure looks weirdly spaced. "Historic PU".

[swgiust]

Wish them well, but this is a big step for a business that just opened their first spot.

[Brad]

Doesn't sound good...

That was a rough week. Glad they're not all like that one!

Come help a local business stay alive next week. Literally any of them, not just us. If you don't, we all go away. And locals make the best food, so yea.

We're family owned and operated like many places here in beautiful Omaha. Our kids and our families rely on you. Don't let it become all corporate chains, that's no fun at all. Then we gotta work for them, and you know if you know how much that sucks.

Thanks to those who support us and we hope to make you some delicious pizza next week.

[NEDodger]

Doesn't sound good...

That was a rough week. Glad they're not all like that one!

Come help a local business stay alive next week. Literally any of them, not just us. If you don't, we all go away. And locals make the best food, so yea.

We're family owned and operated like many places here in beautiful Omaha. Our kids and our families rely on you. Don't let it become all corporate chains, that's no fun at all. Then we gotta work for them, and you know if you know how much that sucks.

Thanks to those who support us and we hope to make you some delicious pizza next week.

I've been to this brick and mortar once. Bit of an odd location and very, very few tables. Pizza is amazing, though.

[nebugeater]

LOVE his pizza. Only had it from the truck. IMO stupid location when there are so many other options.

It is a real turn-off to me when an owner goes to social media and complains about customer support. Much more, and he is going all "Muchachos," and that didn't end well. I would guess for every customer that responds by showing up, there is one or more that stays away. Also, the sorry for me effect will only last short term.

Again, Gret pizza, not a low cost option but that is OK since it is a great product. Got to know your market and location and maybe at the price point it is not the best location esp with little to no seating for getting a lot of repeat customers often enough that the food truck can get by moving around.

[skinzfan23]

I don't know how to feel. Overall, I think the owner is genuine, but this isn't the first post like this either. I have been wanting to try them, but very limited hours seem odd to me. They closed on 4pm on a Saturday during football season? Seems to me like that may be a prime time for pizza sales. I know that the Husker game can affect things, but they closed early on a Saturday and aren't open again until Wednesday, that seems odd.

[Ben]

I don't know how to feel. Overall, I think the owner is genuine, but this isn't the first post like this either. I have been wanting to try them, but very limited hours seem odd to me. They closed on 4pm on a Saturday during football season? Seems to me like that may be a prime time for pizza sales. I know that the Husker game can affect things, but they closed early on a Saturday and aren't open again until Wednesday, that seems odd.

Evening Husker games are notoriously tough on restaurant Saturday dinner crowds. If they delivered, I could see a jump in Pizza sales, but being takeout only (and not really competing with the Dominos/Papa Johns crowd on pricing to feed a big group), I could see why business was slow, and the decision was made....

[skinzfan23]

Evening Husker games are notoriously tough on restaurant Saturday dinner crowds. If they delivered, I could see a jump in Pizza sales, but being takeout only (and not really competing with the Dominos/Papa Johns crowd on pricing to feed a big group), I could see why business was slow, and the decision was made....

That makes sense. I did see some people commenting with that same message to them. Others have mentioned, that even though the food is great, there are many that have tighter budgets right now and since the pizza only feeds 2 and costs $20-25 it may not be possible for some to order often if they are feeding more.

[Brad]

Not trying to pile on, I do want to see these people succeed. But I do agree somewhat with a couple of the points below.

LOVE his pizza. Only had it from the truck. IMO stupid location when there are so many other options.

Overall, I'm not sure I would call the location stupid. Its probably the perfect spot for some restaurant or even a second location for the Izzy's at some point. But I feel like every time I saw the Bus, it was somewhere in Southwest Omaha. So to me it seemed odd to open in east Omaha after having great success mostly out west for 2 years. Correct me if I am wrong, but I just didn't see them downtown much.

I have been wanting to try them, but very limited hours seem odd to me. They closed on 4pm on a Saturday during football season? Seems to me like that may be a prime time for pizza sales.

Sounds like Food Truck hours... I have always felt like food trucks could get away with different hours, different schedules and other things. But for whatever reason, once they go brick and mortar, its like they need to play by different rules. If the food truck doesn't want to service on a Saturday night, no big deal, nobody cares or notices, but if a brick and mortar isn't open, people start questioning it. Is that right? I don't know, but it seems like that's the way it is.

Again, nothing against these people, I want them to succeed.

[skinzfan23]

Yes, I absolutely want them to succeed as well!

[nebugeater]

Not trying to pile on, I do want to see these people succeed. But I do agree somewhat with a couple of the points below.

LOVE his pizza. Only had it from the truck. IMO stupid location when there are so many other options.

Overall, I'm not sure I would call the location stupid. Its probably the perfect spot for some restaurant or even a second location for the Izzy's at some point. But I feel like every time I saw the Bus, it was somewhere in Southwest Omaha. So to me it seemed odd to open in east Omaha after having great success mostly out west for 2 years. Correct me if I am wrong, but I just didn't see them downtown much.

I have been wanting to try them, but very limited hours seem odd to me. They closed on 4pm on a Saturday during football season? Seems to me like that may be a prime time for pizza sales.

Sounds like Food Truck hours... I have always felt like food trucks could get away with different hours, different schedules and other things. But for whatever reason, once they go brick and mortar, its like they need to play by different rules. If the food truck doesn't want to service on a Saturday night, no big deal, nobody cares or notices, but if a brick and mortar isn't open, people start questioning it. Is that right? I don't know, but it seems like that's the way it is.

Again, nothing against these people, I want them to succeed.

Let me expand on the location. It is not the point on the map. There is little seating for anyone who wants to eat in. They do not deliver. Parking is far from great for someone to pop in and out and get a takeout order.

You are also correct in your point that they did not open a storefront. They had been with their truck. I can see that working both ways, too, but don't alienate your core that you have built on with the truck, especially since the track gets out less now. I believe I read that they are parking it until after the first of the year to get the second B&M open and running. Hope that is a good decision and they don't walk away from what got them to where they are to find that version 2.0 and 3.0 are not what they expect.

[skinzfan23]

From the posts I have read, they are planning on having the 2nd location up and running by Nov.

[nebport5]

Not trying to pile on, I do want to see these people succeed. But I do agree somewhat with a couple of the points below.

LOVE his pizza. Only had it from the truck. IMO stupid location when there are so many other options.

Overall, I'm not sure I would call the location stupid. Its probably the perfect spot for some restaurant or even a second location for the Izzy's at some point. But I feel like every time I saw the Bus, it was somewhere in Southwest Omaha. So to me it seemed odd to open in east Omaha after having great success mostly out west for 2 years. Correct me if I am wrong, but I just didn't see them downtown much.

I have been wanting to try them, but very limited hours seem odd to me. They closed on 4pm on a Saturday during football season? Seems to me like that may be a prime time for pizza sales.

Sounds like Food Truck hours... I have always felt like food trucks could get away with different hours, different schedules and other things. But for whatever reason, once they go brick and mortar, its like they need to play by different rules. If the food truck doesn't want to service on a Saturday night, no big deal, nobody cares or notices, but if a brick and mortar isn't open, people start questioning it. Is that right? I don't know, but it seems like that's the way it is.

Again, nothing against these people, I want them to succeed.

All good points.

Much of September is notoriously slow in the food and beverage industry and particularly the first half of the month. Overall this doesn't sound like a good business model. Limited(to eccentric)hours at a brick and mortar location with little foot traffic and oh yeah, there's good chance they may run out of product when business is good. It not enough to put out a good product without having all your ducks in a row. They're already opening a second location when the first is clearly struggling? There's also a lack of advertising(social media is not enough), their website is poorly designed(doesn't even mention new location), lack of delivery options(door dash, etc) and catering is a work in progress.

Essentially they opened a brick and mortar food truck. I imagine they got a deal on rent for an "up and coming" location...that likely won't be great for a few more years. I don't think the 120th & Center location is stellar either(3 hair salons and eclectic retail in a dilapidated shopping center) though still it's upgrade based upon residential proximities.

I've never eaten their pizza(not particularly a Detroit style fan) but like many here, I'm all about supporting local independent food establishments. In that spirit, I'll make a point to try their grandma style. I hope the best for them as well but would anyone be shocked if this location doesn't last 6 months or even the end of the year?

[omaha79]

I'm seeing multiple restaurants jumping on the train saying they are struggling. Caniglias a mano, mas chingon both joined the list today in sharing Izzy's post saying they are struggling too.

we are probably about to hit a next wave of closures and things like that after the ripple effects of post Covid lockdown inflations. And, before anyone says "Covid has been over for 3 years", some of this stuff was always going to play out over 3-5 years after 2021.

everything costs too much. nothing that can really be done with gas at $3+ a gallon and groceries costing more. It's hard to justify spending $60+ for 2 people (more for families) to go to a sit down restaurant. You really can't leave the house for a night out without spending $50-$100 anymore and people are just prioritizing.

The fall is a slowdown period of people going to restaurants compared to summer anyway as kids back in school and their activities taking precedence. I think most parents, if eating out, are going to fast food after practices, not sit down. it only gets worse in the winter for restaurants. bars actually can get better in winter as nothing else to do

and a fair amount of people are afraid of layoffs right now in multiple industries. could also be hitting the desire to go out and spend money. I'd also imagine that most people are tapped out post summer after all their revelry and spending on vacations, etc.

[nativeomahan]

Omaha Restaurant Week starts this Friday. Dozens of restaurants have stepped up to offer specially priced menus that appeal to about every budget. It would be nice to see the locals support these restaurants, virtually all of them locally owned.
https://www.visitomaha.com/restaurantweek/

[nebport5]

Grow Omaha is reporting Izzy's has cancelled plans for the second location.

[swgiust]

This is a smart move. Small businesses that expand very often fail. And it often closes both locations.

[nebugeater]

If you haven't seen this, here is what Izzy's Posted on their Facebook on Sunday


Happy Sunday! NEWS TIME:
I already know some of your reactions to this. I'm just gonna say it. We have decided to pull out of our next location at Prehistoric Putt. We've spent almost a year planning, and trying to figure it all out. Even had that sign put up. In the end, it became clear we wouldn't be able to really serve YOU barely at all, our loyal amazing customers. It would have been such a demand inside the venue itself, we couldn't have turned on our online orders or used our pickup window really, and I really want to focus on our customers. There's no point in having our name up there if we can't get you pizza more often.
There's a bright side here! This means we are going to hire a couple more good people, and keep taking our amazing Pizza Bus out to serve the people of West Omaha and beyond! As said, my goal is serving you awesome pizza. We feel this is the best way to do that on our own terms, how we want. It's gotten us this far, let's keep it rolling. I can invest into some Bus upkeep and we can start booking events again. We can use online ordering and keep pairing up with great local businesses who have helped us so much.
Now I know, this was a question we got daily and some of you are bummed. But I would have had to tell you no on the orders anyhow, so this is for the best, trust me. Better to do it now than in 6 months and have to deal with fall out at that point. No hard feelings to anyone, we all tried but it's not the perfect fit for us and luckily we all realized it now. Time to move forward and keep rocking the pizza game the way we know how.
Stay tuned for updates as we figure out working the bus back into rotation. It needs a little love but we will bring it out super soon I promise. I'm excited, I have 200 reasons I love this decision but I won't bore you with that novel. Just know, all I care about is feeding awesome people some awesome pizza. This is the best way for us to do that.
Our current shop will have more consistent hours, we "might" do some door dashin' (might), and you'll see the bus back out (including this weds!). We're not going anywhere except back to our roots.
See ya later this week. Enjoy your Sunday!

[djc311]

This is a smart move. Small businesses that expand very often fail. And it often closes both locations.

I agree... been there, done that myself. And it didn't work unfortunately!

However, I bet the putt putt dino place isn't thrilled. It seemed like that place was moving along at a pretty steady rate for some time, but now it appears to be held up for some reason.

I'm sure this doesn't help - maybe they can toss in Amazing Pizza Machine's pizza! (LOL) Which is actually a spin on Valentino's, TBH.

[skinzfan23]

I still haven't been to Izzy's but it is on my list to try, but I would like to comment how many times he posts on social media with incorrect information about public things.

Right now, he is venting about the streetcar and asking where all the restaurant tax dollars that they pay are going. First off, the restaurant tax has never been and isn't going to be used to fund the streetcar line. As all of us on here know, its being funded with increased property values within the streetcar line and using TIF to pay for it.

If you just do a quick Google search, you can find that the restaurant tax was established to address the police and fire pension shortfalls the city had. The revenue has been a lot more than originally anticipated but is still used towards the city's general fund.

As a restaurant owner, he is able to add that line item on the customer's bill (which every restaurant I have seen does) so it doesn't cost him anything. Its a tax being paid by the people dining out.

I just wish that they would research facts before always using hearsay to talk about topics.

[nebport5]

I still haven't been to Izzy's but it is on my list to try, but I would like to comment how many times he posts on social media with incorrect information about public things.

Right now, he is venting about the streetcar and asking where all the restaurant tax dollars that they pay are going. First off, the restaurant tax has never been and isn't going to be used to fund the streetcar line. As all of us on here know, its being funded with increased property values within the streetcar line and using TIF to pay for it.

If you just do a quick Google search, you can find that the restaurant tax was established to address the police and fire pension shortfalls the city had. The revenue has been a lot more than originally anticipated but is still used towards the city's general fund.

As a restaurant owner, he is able to add that line item on the customer's bill (which every restaurant I have seen does) so it doesn't cost him anything. Its a tax being paid by the people dining out.

I just wish that they would research facts before always using hearsay to talk about topics.

Yes, and while there are no doubt growing pains with the streetcar his off the beaten path location is exactly the type of business to benefit from the proximity to the future route.

[Omaha Cowboy]

I still haven't been to Izzy's but it is on my list to try

Speaking purely from a product standpoint. I’ve had Izzy’s twice now..the pizza is legit. Excellent Detroit style..

Definitely worth it to give the product a try IMO…

Ciao..LiO…Peace