A short history of one small bakery on South Tenth Street, told the way the family tells it themselves.
Anton Holzapfel came to Omaha from Hungary as a young man — a trained baker who arrived with little more than his craft and a family recipe for kolache dough.
The bakery he built at 1708 South Tenth traces back to 1912 — the same address the shop keeps today. He started small, with a handful of breads and a case of kolaches, in the heart of what South Omaha still calls Little Bohemia.
The family remembers him for two things: his baking, and a willingness to feed anyone who came up short at the counter.
Over the years the bakery passed down through the family. A daughter grew up working the counter and learned to bake the kolaches; in time she married into the Olsen name, and the shop’s sign changed to match — same recipes, same address.
Each generation has added a little and changed as little as possible — a pastry here, a loaf there — while keeping the recipes that built the place. Four generations on, the same family still runs the shop, and the kolache dough is still made the way it always has been.
We bake fresh each morning and sell until the case is empty. The kolaches still come out the way they always have — a little uneven on top, the apricot a little tart, the dough a little sweeter than you’d expect. Some things shouldn’t be improved on.
A Hungarian immigrant opens the bakery on South Tenth Street — the same address it keeps today — with breads and a case of kolaches.
The founder’s daughter grows up in the shop, learns the kolaches, and keeps the bakery running.
Through marriage the family name becomes Olsen. Same recipes, same address, a new name over the door.
A new generation takes over, adds a pastry or two, and changes as little as possible.
The fourth generation runs the shop now, still baking fresh each morning until the case is empty.
More than a century on Tenth Street. Kolaches, donuts, and breads, baked fresh until sold out. Call for today’s hours.