Darwin Hanssen, founder of DJ's Dugout, and Sunni Renner, general manager and partial owner of the West Omaha location, with the key layer of the Blazin' Pianos Event. Photo by Angie Zegers

Big screens, pianos, and fun at Dugout

By Matt VanEps
Assistant Scene Editor

With the Super Bowl only days away, every football fan is wondering the same thing: where to watch the game.
While parties in apartments and dorm rooms are OK, space is limited. When you are looking for the ultimate sports bar to indulge your adrenaline-surging fancy, check out DJ’s Dugout.

Upon walking into the bar at 25th Street in Bellevue, I was bombarded by a myriad of colors and sounds. The bar boasts about 35 televisions, with seven big screens, featuring sporting events, important and trivial, from across the country. The bar subscribes to every sports package imaginable and displays webcasts. It also offers wireless Internet.

Like most sports bars, DJ’s Dugout houses several pool tables, trivia games, arcade games and dartboards for those who want to get into the game without breaking a sweat.

The attention to detail obviously paid off because The Reader named DJ’s Dugout the best sports bar in Omaha for 2004.

“ It’s nice to get that recognition,” said Darwin Hanssen, founder of DJ’s Dugout.

According to Paul Urban, kitchen manager at the West Omaha location, DJ’s Dugout prides itself on staying one step ahead of the rest.

“ We just try to create a different atmosphere,” Urban said. “The bar scene is incredible.”

To separate DJ’s Dugout from the competition, Hanssen emphasized taking care of customers with superior food and drinks and cutting-edge satellite technology.

“ I don’t think anyone in town can match us,” Hanssen said.

The bigger location at 114th and Dodge streets is home to a new event called “Blazin’ Pianos.” This live, interactive, sing-along request show, the only one like it in Omaha, takes place Thursday through Saturday nights. Some of the best piano players from across the country, including New York City, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, take requests and play original novelty songs and hits from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. You can even embarrass your friends with a special birthday song.

Sunni Renner, general manager and partial owner of the West Omaha location, brought the concept here to Nebraska. She said she fell in love with the show while visiting Country Club Plaza in Kansas City 10 years ago. As with any new idea, Blazin’ Pianos went through growing pains at first, but it has become popular by word of mouth. DJ’s Dugout has done no advertising for the event, but Renner said the bar is packed each night.

“ We’re always tickled to have business,” Renner said.
Her advice is to get there plenty early to find a seat. The doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m.
DJ’s Dugout will host its Super Bowl party on Sunday, Feb. 6. Partnered with Miller of Omaha, the bar will be giving away a 35-inch television, along with T-shirts and other prizes. Everybody who enters the door has a chance to win, Renner said.

DJ’s Dugout started when Hanssen bought an old sports bar in Bellevue 12 years ago. With an affinity for all things sports, Hanssen began running the bar with his wife Joy and named it after their initials, D and J.

DJ’s Dugout has become the best through many years of experience and fine-tuning, Renner said. Both she and Hanssen had to become experts at figuring out the best way to obtain feeds from all over the country. Now they say they have become savvy, and they are proud to have the best, most sophisticated equipment in Nebraska, Renner said. The West Omaha location has the only digital satellite dish in Nebraska, and Hanssen has plans to expand with even more satellites, which means more access to more games. Some of the televisions in West Omaha have high definition, and that innovation will be making its way to Bellevue soon.

“I don’t have any clue how they do it,” Urban said. “They’re pretty magical.”