The two-story building at 2620 N. Main St. went up in 1897. It was empty for more than two years after Bella Vita Ristorante closed in 2023. As of October it has a restaurant on its ground floor again. The person who reopened it is the same owner who has been pouring wine a block up the street since 2022. While national names cluster near 180th and Maple, the latest growth on Main Street is coming from someone already doing business on the block.
Grow Omaha reported on October 11 that La Vita Nuova, an Italian-inspired restaurant, is open in the former Bella Vita space. It's run by the owners of Main Street Cellar.
A Building That Sat Dark Through Two Summers
When the project was announced in December 2025, KMTV reported that the old Bella Vita building had been vacant for more than two years. Chuck Olson, who owns Main Street Cellar, was renovating it and keeping the original structure.
Olson told KMTV why he took it on. "It's keeping the small town feel that Elkhorn's always had and the families who have been big supporters of Elkhorn. You know they're the ones that have built downtown," he said.
The plan was never one restaurant. The renovation split the building into two separate restaurants, each with its own kitchen. A neighborhood Italian place takes the ground floor, and a chef's tasting-menu room is planned for the second floor. The paperwork filed with the City of Omaha for the liquor license names CODO78 LLC as the licensee and Charles Olson as its sole owner.
What's on the Ground Floor Now
In its March 2026 business plan, filed with the city, the company described La Vita Nuova as a neighborhood Italian restaurant with menus that change by season, classic pastas, and wood-oven pizzas. It also said ingredients would come from regional growers. Grow Omaha's opening report likewise mentions locally sourced ingredients and homemade dishes.
The menu on the restaurant's website shows a wide price range for one dining room. You can keep a weeknight dinner simple or go all out:
| Dish | Price on posted menu |
|---|---|
| La Vita pizza | $19 |
| Calabrese pizza | $21 |
| Tagliatelle carbonara | $25 |
| Pan-roasted barramundi | $31 |
| Wagyu tagliata | $44 |
The menu is seasonal by design, so treat these as prices from the current posted menu. They may not hold all year.
The La Vita Nuova site says it serves lunch and dinner, and its booking link goes to Resy. There, reservation times run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for dinner. Those are booking times, not posted hours, and the restaurant's site doesn't list a full weekly schedule yet. If you're planning a Monday or a late night, check before you go.
The Name and the Calendar Both Shifted
The restaurant that opened isn't quite the one announced last winter. In December 2025, both KMTV and Grow Omaha's first brief called it "La Vida Nova" and expected it to open in May 2026. KMTV translated the name as "The New Life."
By the March 2026 liquor license application, the spelling had become La Vita Nuova and the target had moved to June 20, 2026. Then the Grow Omaha opening report arrived on October 11. None of the sources pins down the first night of service. What's confirmed is that the restaurant is open now and that a public celebration is on the calendar.
The Greater Omaha Chamber lists the grand opening and ribbon cutting for Thursday, October 15, 2026, from 4 to 5 p.m. at 2620 N. Main St.
Upstairs, Alta 1897 Is Still Coming
The second floor has a name now. In December, KMTV described it as an unnamed fine-dining restaurant with a chef's tasting menu, expected a couple of months after the downstairs opened. The city filing later named it Alta 1897, after the year the building went up. The plan describes it as an intimate, chef-curated, multi-course tasting-menu restaurant built around seasonal ingredients.
That plan had Alta following La Vita Nuova in summer 2026. Summer has come and gone. The Alta website has an email signup but no opening date, chef, menu price, or reservation system yet. Upstairs remains a work in progress, and the signup is the official way to hear first.
One Owner, One Block of Main Street
Olson's businesses explain the shape of this project. Main Street Cellar calls itself a boutique wine bar offering tastings and events, and its Olde Towne Elkhorn directory listing mentions a rooftop patio overlooking Olde Towne. It sits at 2714 N. Main St., and the city application says it has been operating since 2022.
The business plan says it outright. Its stated vision is for the new building to "become the dining anchor of Olde Towne Elkhorn, driving foot traffic for neighboring businesses." Main Street Cellar was the starting point, a dinner restaurant is the next step, and a special-occasion room upstairs is meant to complete the set. All of it sits within a block.
That foot traffic only helps if the neighbors are open when diners walk out. Here's how the posted hours line up for three nearby stops, according to each business's own site:
| Stop | Address | Monday | Tue–Wed | Thursday | Fri–Sat | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Street Cellar | 2714 N. Main St. | 1–8 p.m. | 1–9 p.m. | 1–11 p.m. | 1–11 p.m. | 1–7 p.m. |
| Coneflower Creamery | 2625 N. Main St. | Closed | Noon–10 p.m. | Noon–10 p.m. | Noon–10 p.m. | 11 a.m.–8 p.m. |
| Jukes Ale Works | 20560 Elkhorn Dr. | Closed | 4–9 p.m. | 11 a.m.–9 p.m. | 11 a.m.–10 p.m. | 11 a.m.–9 p.m. |
Here's how that plays out. From Tuesday through Saturday, a 7 p.m. dinner reservation at La Vita Nuova can end with ice cream from Coneflower Creamery until 10 p.m. On Thursday through Saturday, there's time for a glass at Main Street Cellar until 11. Sunday is the shortest night on the block. Main Street Cellar closes at 7, Coneflower at 8, and Jukes Ale Works at 9.
The Last Monday Night Market on the Calendar
Mondays work differently in Olde Towne, and that matters this month. The Monday Night Market lists its final 2026 date as Monday, October 26, from 5 to 8 p.m. The organizer describes local handmade goods, food trucks, music, and family activities. Its contact page gives the location as 20466 Ohio Street. The site doesn't call October 26 the season finale, but no later date appears on the 2026 schedule, which ran April through October.
On that Monday, Coneflower Creamery and Jukes Ale Works are both closed on their posted schedules. Main Street Cellar is open until 8, which lines up with the market's last hour. If La Vita Nuova's Resy calendar shows Monday dinner times, a market stroll followed by dinner at 2620 N. Main St. makes a full evening without leaving the block.
What's Growing a Few Miles Away
Up the road, Elkhorn's growth has a different source. Grow Omaha reported on October 9 that Jersey Mike's had a building permit for a sub shop at 17807 Manderson Street, near 180th and West Maple. On October 3, it reported that The Tox had proposed its first Nebraska studio at 16909 Burke Street, just south of Village Pointe. Neither report gave an opening date.
In July, a WOWT story on the 180th and Maple business cluster quoted Smoothie King franchisee Theresa Hoang. "There's so much growth. There's new businesses all the time," she said. WOWT also reported that Douglas County is studying a possible third lane in each direction on West Maple from Elkhorn to I-680.
Both kinds of growth are happening at once in Elkhorn. Out on the arterials, the new arrivals are national brands with permits and proposals. On Main Street, the newest restaurant is one local wine bar owner's second address, and the third, Alta 1897, is still to come upstairs.
Fitting two restaurants with separate kitchens into an 1897 building while keeping its original structure takes careful planning. Working out what a property can become is the kind of detail I spend my days on with owner-builders and families. If you're curious about Olde Towne's older buildings or what's being built around Elkhorn, I'm always happy to talk it through over a slice from that wood oven. Reach out to Melissa Ruff and let's start the conversation.
