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Since 1959.
Bronco Billy Barnes opened Omaha’s first locally owned fast-food restaurant at 30th & Fort, then built it into one of America’s original burger franchises. Three generations later, the Barnes family still owns it, still runs it, and is growing it.
“In a fast food landscape littered with national chains, Bronco’s always struck me as a little peculiar.”
Patrick Wyman, local historian
So he went looking for where a restaurant with a lasso-slinging cowboy for a mascot came from. What he found is the story of Omaha’s first fast food, and of a family that never stopped cooking it fresh.
The history on this page is drawn from “History of Bronco’s” by Patrick Wyman, originally posted on the Omaha History Club’s Facebook page. The Barnes family is grateful for his time and dedication.
The ride so far
1921 to today
- 1921
William T. Barnes is born in Omaha
He served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945. Not long after his discharge he renovated the A&W Drive In just down the street from his childhood home.
- 1946
Preema Drive Inn, 16th & Binney
Bill’s first restaurant: an old-school drive-in where car hops brought chicken, shrimp, hot tamales, footlongs and, of course, hamburgers to your car. Four years later, a second Preema’s opened at Turner Boulevard and Farnam.
- 1959
Bronco’s opens at 30th & Fort
On a trip to Chicago, Bill had the idea for a fast-food restaurant with a cowboy theme, inspired by boyhood games of cowboys. He called it Bronco’s Self-Service Drive In, put a lasso-slinging cowboy on a bucking bronco up in neon, and became “Bronco Billy.”
It was Omaha’s first locally owned and operated fast-food restaurant, at a time when fast food was an entirely new idea.
Serv’urself and Save. An early Bronco’s sign and storefront. - 1962
45th & Leavenworth
Business was so good that a second Bronco’s opened three years later, with a neon sign and spinning lasso that became an icon of the neighborhood. It still stands today.
The Leavenworth Bronco’s, years ago. - 1964
Bellevue, 17th & Galvan Road
The herd grows south of the city.
- 1965
15¢ hamburgers. Good, better, best.
Bronco’s Drive-Ins advertised 15¢ hamburgers made from 100% ground beef from Central Market, at 30th & Fort, 46th & Leavenworth and 17th & Galvin Road. “Quality comes first at Bronco’s.”
Omaha World-Herald, October 17, 1965. - 1967
72nd & Pacific, and a new headquarters
A new store at 72nd & Pacific and a shiny headquarters at the Twin Towers, 30th & Douglas. As the chain grew, Bill started Bronco’s Franchise Inc. and franchised Bronco’s to owners across the country. Every new owner trained first in one of the original Omaha restaurants.
Bronco Billy Barnes and his wife. - 1974
120th & Pacific opens. Bronco Billy passes.
The West store opens at 120th & Pacific. That same year Bill passed away unexpectedly at 52, after complications from surgery. His wife Mary took the reins of the growing burger business.
- 1977
Mary & Tom
Mary married Tom Kelley, a local attorney, owner of Clancy’s Pub and an early Bronco’s investor. They ran the chain together until Tom passed in 1989. Downtown’s 19th & Harney store opened in 1978.
- 1992
Steven Barnes takes over
Bronco Billy’s son, who remembered the concrete being poured at the original location as a kid. In 2002 he opened Rock’N Bronco’s at 72nd & L.
- 2022
The neon gets its due
The historic Leavenworth sign got a hand-painted restoration from Wags Sign Company, painted around the neon tubing with no patterns. Out west, a new drive-thru sign went up at 120th & Pacific, and the game room got a replica of the Leavenworth sign.
The new West drive-thru sign going up, 2022. - Today
Third generation. Same standards.
Blake Barnes, Bronco Billy’s grandson, runs Bronco’s as general manager. Still family owned. Still fresh, never-frozen beef, chicken and pork. Still fries hand-cut from whole potatoes every day. In 2026 Omaha named Bronco’s Best of Omaha for Hamburger, French Fries and Fast Casual Food, and more than 450 fans entered the Battle of the Buns to build the All-American Burger.
The Bronco’s crew, 2026. - Next
Coming to your town
The plan: grow Bronco’s beyond Omaha through franchise and licensing partners who train in Omaha first, the way Bronco Billy did it. Proposed
Family owned
Three generations of Barnes.
Bronco Billy
William T. Barnes. Army veteran, drive-in man, founder. Opened 30th & Fort in 1959.
Steven
Took the reins in 1992 and carried Bronco’s into a new century.
Blake
General manager today, keeping the 1959 standards and thoughtfully evolving the menu.
The keeper of the standard
Henry Rice
A key figure at Bronco’s from the beginning. Henry’s commitment to the standards set in 1959 is a big reason a Bronco’s burger still tastes like a Bronco’s burger.
His favorite was his own creation, the Frankenburger: two Nebraska beef patties around a grilled Bronco’s frank. It’s still on the menu.
Order Henry’s FrankenburgerHome base
Omaha landmarks
Got a photo or a Bronco’s memory? We’d love to see it. Proposed: memory submission form