This article originally appeared in Omaha Magazine.
Nestled inside the Visitors Center on the historic Boys Town campus is the Overlook Café, an eatery serving classic café food like breakfast combos, patty melts, salads, and cold sandwiches at prices that are intentionally kept low.
The café is open to the public for breakfast and lunch during the week, with the exception of Fridays, which are reserved for employees and the Boys Town Citizenship Ceremony, a special event during which the new youth of Boys Town become citizens.
Following the ceremony, the new citizens are served burgers or grilled cheese and are then treated to ice cream to welcome them to the community. "It's a major event," said Tom Lynch, director of Community Programs for Boys Town. "They're becoming citizens of the village of Boys Town, so it's a major event for the kids."
"Normally, it's hosted by our executive director, our Father here on campus," said Chelsea Trofholz, director of food services for Boys Town." The speaker tells those in attendance about some of the history of Boys Town and then leads the children through an oath. The new citizens are then given a chance to speak and each receives a commemorative certificate.
It's easy to see how Overlook Café is more than simply a place to eat. It's also where youth experience transformative moments that will help form who they eventually become.
The Overlook Café also hosts alumni conventions. "On alumni years, the café is filled with people who come back, some who are in their eighties to recent graduates, and they all have memories of eating in there because eating at Boys Town is an important thing," said Lynch.
"Feeding the boys and girls is a top priority and they always remember the food growing up," he added.
It's interesting how a café that isn't necessarily well-known is such a hub for memories. "It's just part of Boys Town being part of the community in that we encourage people to come visit us and learn about our history," Lynch said. "It's a place for everyone to come together, and it's a very special place on campus."
"I didn't realize Boys Town had a café until I started working here," Trofholz admitted. "Since then, I've spent a lot of time over there, and they have a great staff who are always very friendly, so I enjoy going over there and seeing the public."
Outside the confines of the ceremonies, Overlook Café's most popular menu item is their charbroiled burger. Trofholz's personal favorite is the Western Burger with BBQ sauce, bacon, and cheese, while Lynch goes for the the Chicken Salad. "They do something called the Chicken Salad Healthy Plate, which is a good, healthy lunch," he said.
Boys Town media relations specialist Jordan Weinandt said, "I also like the burgers, but my favorite is one of the specials where they do mashed potatoes and gravy and corn and country-fried steak."
The café has seasonal and soup specials every week, and plenty of breakfast specials. Trofholz said there is also a full salad bar and a variety of grab-and-go options.
The Overlook Café is a meeting place for many regular customers, some of whom simply enjoy gathering there to have a meal with friends, and some employees from nearby companies who use the café as a meeting place. "It's sort of a central location for the city of Omaha, where our café is located," Trofholz said. "They like to come over and meet." Despite its enthusiastic community, however, employees are the café's number one clientele group, said Trofholz.
The Overlook Café opened in 1949 and was named after the original property where Boys Town now stands. "Father Flanagan purchased Overlook Farm in 1921, and that's the original name for our property," Lynch revealed. "The café was branded a number of things over the years, and at our last branding, they wanted to call it the Overlook Café in honor of our history."
Lynch also said that the Visitors Center was once a place where buses could pull up and drop off guests. "They had a waiting room, they had the café, and it had a counter just like you'd see at a bus stop back in the day," he said. "Gradually, over the decades, we remodeled it and changed its purposes to fit the needs of Boys Town as our needs have evolved."
A visit to Overlook Café can also include some sightseeing around the campus. Lynch suggested that the Hall of History shouldn't be missed. Weinandt agreed. "I highly recommend everyone tour the Hall of History. It's just so informative, and I learn something new every time I go into it."
"I would agree with the Hall of History for a visit because it has so much information on Boys Town," Trofholz averred. She said the next stop should be the café to enjoy some "low-cost, delicious food." The menu prices are intentionally kept low, she said. For example, customers can order a BLT for less than $6, or an egg salad sandwich for less than $5. Kids meals for those under the age of 12 feature an entrée, fries, fountain drink, and treat and cost a reasonable $5.49.
Making a day of a visit to Boys Town can be planned out beforehand with the Visit Boys Town app, Lynch said. He suggested visitors consider checking out the Hall of History, the Flanagan Home, the gift shop, and then the café. "Then they can take the afternoon and tour the campus, but it's really up to them because they get to make their own tour," he said.
Boys Town is rich in history and offers both guided and self-guided tours. The Overlook Café is merely one of the many stops that can be made while visiting. Where else can you see the world's largest ball of stamps (which weighs 600 pounds and has over 4.5 million stamps), eat at a café that has meant so much to so many people, and marvel at a story that was told in an Academy Award-winning movie back in the 1930s?
Boys Town has been serving youth for a century, and the Overlook Café has been serving food for around 75 years under different names, but the mission has always been the same: to offer healing and hope to those who need it. Often that is through professional counseling and guidance, but it can also arrive via a burger and ice cream at the end of a citizenship ceremony, welcoming youth to their new community.
Sometimes, it even comes in the form of providing the community with tasty, affordable food in a friendly environment. The Overlook Café is a hidden gem in a historic place that has strived to positively impact families for a century.
To learn more, visit boystown.org/about/visit/attractions#overlook-cafe.
