Grace Pizza and Shakes Holds Court—with a Verdict of Darn Good Pizza

Grace Pizza and Shakes opened in October 2024 in the historic Sarpy County Courthouse, built in 1875. It later became a bank and then an auto repair shop. According to business partner Joe Gomez, legend has it a man tried to burn the courthouse down in its early years—presumably to avoid a court date to face drunk-and-disorderly charges. So it’s ironic that—along with pizza—the building now serves up excellent cocktails.

The restaurant originated with owner Adrian Hembree, who first opened Grazia, an Italian fine-dining restaurant in Pearland, Tex. Later, he and his partners leaned into a more approachable, comfort-driven concept that would evolve into Grace Pizza and Shakes.

When it came time to convert the space into the restaurant, great care was taken to preserve as much of the building’s historic structure as possible: the exposed brick walls, the wood ceiling and the steel bridge truss overhead are all pieces that survived the historic fire. All but two windows are from the original construction, although the owners recognize that will change by necessity over time.

Evan Cleveland, a Bellevue West graduate, is the general manager. After working a few different jobs, he landed in the restaurant industry at Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen in Omaha. He spent three years there, eventually moving into a front-of-house role. Around that time, he reconnected with Gomez—a longtime family friend who coached him years earlier at Team Factory, a youth basketball program near Papillion. Eight months later, Gomez hired Cleveland and had him visit Grace Pizza and Shakes locations in Florida and Texas to get a feel for the concept. He learned the restaurant’s style and philosophy and helped open the Texas location.

Papillion became the next location, and Cleveland was on his way back to Nebraska. “I drove 14 hours straight in the biggest U-Haul you can rent—no stops—loaded with all the restaurant equipment,” he recalled.

The decor complements the building’s natural character and history, blending 19th-century architecture with modern style. Tall arched windows bring in daylight and accentuate the height of the room. A patterned tile backsplash gives the bar a contemporary touch. Pendant lights float overhead, casting a warm glow over dark wood tables that are spaced for comfort but close enough for conversation. It feels modern and lived-in, despite opening just over a year ago as if custom-made for Papillion’s historic downtown.

Our tour of the menu included cocktails, two appetizers, two pizzas and a pasta dish. For cocktails, we journeyed into the seasonal fall menu with the Banana Nut Old Fashioned and Cherry Bomb. We were able to get a preview of the new winter cocktail menu with a Tini Bit Frosty and Abominable Snowbeast. The appetizers were Wagyu beef meatballs and whipped honey ricotta. For pizzas, we had the heat wave and spicy Hawaiian. For pasta, we tried the “Mike and Jen.” While the shakes looked tantalizing, we were so full, we practically burst just looking at them. Rest assured, we’ll be back to try them in the near future.

The Banana Nut Old Fashioned is made with bourbon, banana vanilla simple syrup, walnut liqueur and Angostura bitters. The ratio of ingredients is well balanced, with a wonderful nutty, banana profile. It’s a touch more sweet than bitter—my preference—and there’s a gentle heat from the bourbon on the finish.

The Cherry Bomb is brown butter washed Amaretto and bourbon, sour mix, egg whites and spiced cherry simple syrup. The almond amaretto profile pairs perfectly with the pronounced cherry notes. It’s sweet and tart, with just a touch of sourness. As a lover of cherry, it easily satisfied my boozy sweet tooth.

The Wagyu beef meatballs come with spicy marinara, whipped ricotta and basil. The meatballs carry a savory spice blend, not overmixed—meaty and tender. The whipped ricotta has a tinge of heat from spice and fresh herbaceousness from the basil. The marinara is deeply rich and flavorful, as if Nonna’s been cooking it all day. All together, the meatballs, marinara and ricotta are an unbeatable combination.

The whipped honey ricotta is made with hot honey, garlic basil, crushed red pepper and extra virgin olive oil, and comes with toasted bread. The toast is generously buttered along with a drizzle of hot honey. The whipped ricotta has a lovely punch of garlic. It’s rich, creamy and spreads well on toast. It reminds me of an appetizer from an old Italian chain, Cucina Cucina—a warm goat cheese mixed with roasted garlic and olive oil on toasted pita. Jennifer and I have been longing to find something similar on a menu—and though it doesn’t have the punchy goat cheese profile, it’s pretty close.

The pizza dough is made fresh in-house, fermented over three days. The crust is gently charred with crispy edges that give way to perfectly spongy bread. Dough and sauce are the foundation of any great pizza. The technique for the dough here feels neo-Neapolitan even if it’s not cooked in a wood-fire oven.

The heat wave is topped with spicy marinara sauce, mozzarella, Calabrian chilis, Calabrese salami, Italian sausage and drizzled with hot honey. This is a spicy pie, one that might even make your nose run. If you love some extra heat, this pizza is for you. The chilis, spicy marinara and Calabrese salami blend together well.

The spicy Hawaiian is topped with pizza sauce, mozzarella, applewood smoked bacon, pineapple and jalapeños. This topping mix goes beyond a traditional Hawaiian pizza. The smoky, salty flavor from the bacon pairs with the sweet pineapple and hot honey drizzle. The jalapeño kicks the heat to a moderately high spice level—a great combination with the sweet and savory nature of this pie.

To those who say it’s inappropriate to put fruit on a pizza, I ask you to bear in mind that tomato sauce is basically a fruit smoothie. At the end of the day, top the pizza how you like and enjoy it as you will. For those of us who fully embrace fruit on our pie, the spicy Hawaiian is an excellent concept.

Mike and Jen consists of bow tie pasta, grilled chicken, garlic, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, capers and Romano cream sauce. The pasta came al dente, soaking up the Romano cream sauce. The capers add a salty, zesty vibrancy. Upon first bite, I thought the sauce could benefit from more salt. While that may be true, the salt from other ingredients make up for it. As it is, the sauce is creamy and cheesy and makes sense with everything else on the plate. The chicken carries its own savory, well-seasoned salty notes. Combined, it’s a wonderful, complete bite.

Tini Bit Frosty is white chocolate liqueur, vanilla vodka, crème de cacao, crème de menthe and half and half. If you like peppermint and chocolate combinations like I do—especially around Christmas time—this will get you in the festive mood. It’s creamy, chocolaty and peppermint forward—in all the right ways.

Abominable Snowbeast is cinnamon vanilla whiskey blended with apple cider, bitters and simple syrup. This cocktail will warm you from the inside-out—from the warmth of whiskey to the sweet apple, it is well rounded and edges more bitter than sweet but just slightly. The hints of mulling spice from the cider rounds the profile. It’s like a warm, boozy apple pie in a glass.

Going forward, Cleveland said they want to add seasonal specials to the regular menu with dishes that reflect the community. Pizza will always be the brand’s core, but seasonal soups make sense in Nebraska because, as Cleveland puts it, “it gets cold, people want soup and they want to be warm.”

Future plans include a possible location in west Omaha. The team is still deciding which of their concepts makes the most sense for Omaha market expansion.

“I think what we’re leaning toward is more of a fine-dining type style, because it’s harder to find that out west,” Cleveland said. “We could do this concept again. You never know what could happen in the next two years.”

Grace Pizza and Shakes feels like it belongs in downtown Papillion, an area that takes pride in its history and historic buildings. The courthouse has been restored and reimagined as a modern pizzeria, serving pizza pie, pasta and cocktails in a building that keeps part of its story handwritten in brick, timber and steel.

If there were still a judge’s bench inside Grace’s walls, I’d imagine a platter of slices—steaming with melted cheese and spicy toppings—served as evidence in the case at hand. The gavel banged and the verdict read: guilty of flavor. A welcome judgment in this small part of town deserving of a good pizzeria.