OMAHA — In an alleyway behind Omaha’s Blackstone entertainment corridor is an obscured entrance to a speakeasy bar whose sibling owners wanted its name to serve as a tribute to their dad.

There’s no exterior signage, but a mini barber pole offers the first hint of the father’s longtime trade and that of many others who in years past cut hair in the family-owned building near 40th and Farnam Streets.

Once inside, a burst of nostalgia greets “Barber Shop Blackstone” patrons: an old-school barber chair, black-and-white photos of different haircuts, a cocktail menu with drinks such as “Scotch and Scissors” and “Classic Cut Old Fashioned.”

“It’s essentially a tribute to our dad and some of his Italian barber friends,” said co-owner Mike DiGiacomo, a former Omaha TV pro who called barbering a “huge profession back in the day” for the immigrant community.

Barber Board Is Steamed

When it comes to the actual operation, though, he said he and his brother and sister have been “unequivocal” in marketing the place as a bar. 

Still, the whole set up has a little known state agency charged with regulating actual barbers, hair shops and schools all steamed up. The Nebraska Board of Barber Examiners cites a state law that prohibits use of the “barber shop” title — as well as the familiar red, white and blue barber pole — unless the entity has a state-issued barber license.

The board has threatened civil and criminal action against the bar for violating the Barber Act and its trademark, and even suggested an alternative name for the DiGiacomos’ tavern: Bar-Bar.

On Tuesday, the dispute landed in court, with the DiGiacomos flipping the script and filing a lawsuit alleging that the state law violates their First Amendment rights by “restricting lawful, non-misleading commercial speech.” 

The siblings said the Barber Shop basement speakeasy does not provide barbering services and is “clearly a bar with a barber shop theme.”

“Ridiculous,” is how DiGiacomo summed up the board’s stance. “I never thought in a million years that a Board of Barber Examiners would have a problem with us.”

The DiGiacomos’ Social Holdings LLC is represented by the University of Nebraska College of Law’s First Amendment Clinic, which stepped in with free legal services as the bar owners were about to throw in the towel — not wanting to invest perhaps $150,000 to wage a legal defense.

Attorney Daniel Gutman, director of the clinic, said he and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln law students found the case absurdly fascinating. They contend that impending enforcement of the state statute violates the Barber Shop Blackstone’s constitutional rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. 

“It’s the height of government overreach,” said Gutman. “And certainly a cause that is in line with the clinic and the values of the First Amendment clinic. … It’s provided our students an opportunity to really dig into the intersection between private business and speech and government regulation.”

Terminate The Controversy

The legal team seeks a ruling from the U.S. District Court in Omaha to “terminate the controversy.”

It asks for a declaration that the use of “barber shop” in the trade name and a barber pole as a marketing prop are valid under commercial speech rights and that the Barber Act is unconstitutional as applied to the DiGiacomos’ business.

The lawsuit seeks to restrain the barber board and its agents from interfering in those uses and also seeks attorney fees.

Named as defendants are Tara Sterns, Joseph Scoville and Courtney Daubendiek in their official capacities as members of the Board of Barber Examiners. Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers also is listed as a defendant. 

Hilgers’ office said it had no comment to offer. The barber board did not respond Tuesday to a reporter’s request for comment.

However, the lawsuit, along with communication between the board and the bar owners shed light on the dust-up:

The building in which the basement bar is located, 3910 Farnam St., was owned by the DiGiacomo parents, Don and Linda, since 1977. Don had operated his hair-cutting and salon business there for more than 30 years and had been in the profession nearly 50 years, since he was age 18.

As children, the DiGiacomo siblings spent formative time there, helping their folks sweep up hair and clean. They listened to countless customer and barber stories. Mike DiGiacomo said his dad, now deceased, retired around 2004 and leased building space to others who carried on the profession in the building for another decade or so.

Several years ago, siblings Mike, Dominic and Jaclyn Oltmans bought the building from their parents. It’s a part of the still-growing Blackstone commercial district. The main level is Blackstone Social, and initially the siblings converted the basement space to an Italian speakeasy called Osteria Segreto, which means “hidden tavern” in Italian. 

Early in 2025, the siblings changed the branding to pay homage to Don DiGiacomo and other barbers.

“The bar, like the speakeasy, is intentionally discreet,” says the lawsuit.

Every Drink Tells A Story

Advertising on social media welcomes patrons to “The Barber Shop, where every drink tells a story” and where “carefully curated cocktails and whiskeys are crafted to take you on a journey of taste and aroma.”

Soon after the rebrand, the DiGiacomos started to receive letters from the Board of Barber Examiners alleging violations of state law. An April 15 letter said the board had recently become aware of the establishment. 

“It has come to our attention that this business markets itself using the barber shop title, barber poles and images of barber poles,” said the letter from director Kenneth Allen. He asked the owners to amend their business practices and said the board was prepared to pursue formal legal action.

DiGiacomo, in an April 24 response, asked for a discussion. He said that while his ownership group intended to comply with the law, it thought the statutes may be “overly broad or outdated when applied to businesses like theirs that never intend to be a barber shop.”

“We are a cocktail bar — not a personal grooming establishment — and no reasonable person would expect to get a haircut or shave from our staff,” DiGiacomo’s letter said. 

He said he believed the law was intended to protect public health and safety by ensuring that only licensed individuals offer barbering services. “This bar was inspired by the spirit of the barbershop, not the services.”

He told Allen that the bar was supported by many licensed barbers who view its concept as an homage, not a threat. On certain nights, he said, barbers and hair stylists get discounts on drinks. 

In a June 24 letter, Allen reminded DiGiacomo of his legal obligations and added that state law says “a business engages in a deceptive trade practice when it causes a likelihood of misunderstanding as to its certification by another.”

“We reiterate that violations of the Barber Act carry both civil and criminal consequences,” Allen’s letter said. “Litigation can be an expensive and time-consuming process.”

Admiring An Industry

DiGiacomo said at that time, his siblings were prepared to make changes to comply with the board’s demands, including changing the barber pole colors to black and white. He said the board suggested the alternative name.

A Feb. 6 email from Allen sought an update. DiGiacomo did not respond, instead filing the lawsuit.

Gutman said commercial speech and how companies advertise and express themselves through marketing and names is an underlitigated area of law, perhaps due to expense.

He and DiGiacomo said they’re not aiming at the barber board itself, but the law that governs it.

“Our concept is a nod to our family and other fellow barbers,” DiGiacomo said. “There is nothing for the board to regulate or protect here — only a thematic tribute to an industry we admire.”

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/02/18/blowup-over-omaha-bars-barber-themed-name-and-decor-has-landed-in-court/