About

The name Othello’s has been on His­toric Cam­pus Cor­ner for over 40 years, but it was not until 1973 that Patsy Benso opened what is now the lit­tle restau­rant that could, or as we like to say, “Othello’s on Cam­pus Corner.”

Patsy sold the restau­rant to Chris­tine and Howard Klubeck in 1997. The Klubeck’s brought their own unique style to the restau­rant by adding color to the walls, perch­ing angels above the bar, and replac­ing some of the lesser known clut­ter with bet­ter known clut­ter, like the print of Ruth Orkin’s “An Amer­i­can Girl in Italy.” It’s purely coin­ci­dence that the sub­ject of the photo resem­bles an Othello’s server on a busy Fri­day night.

Mas­ter Chef Andy Gmeiner part­nered with the Klubeck’s from 2002 to 2004. Andy brought fire and new favorites to the Othello’s menu. He is respon­si­ble for the addi­tion of the grill in the kitchen and our hand-cut steaks. Andy also intro­duced the Marsala and Chicken Flo­ren­tine, dishes that nei­ther Othello’s nor our guests could live without.

The Morgan’s bought Othello’s in August 2007. Jen­nifer Mor­gan was known in her past life sim­ply by her maiden name, Burgell (or Burge, or Burdy). She worked in and out of these walls for over 10 years. Othello’s has been such a huge part of Jennifer’s life that she even met her hus­band here, and many of her clos­est friends. She con­sid­ers most of the reg­u­lars, like The Nietos, The Bish­ops, The Guidices, and The Cullisons to be fam­ily. They remem­ber when she was “just” a waitress.

Jen­nifer has wit­nessed and been a part of many changes at Othello’s. One of the newest addi­tions to the inte­rior is The Wed­ding Wall. We know, some of the pic­tures are crooked, but just think of your grandma’s house. We also know some of the cou­ples are no longer cou­ples, but it’s not what they are now that mat­ters most. It’s what they were and how they felt on such a momen­tous day as their wed­ding day. We hope as you pass by The Wed­ding Wall you feel the good vibes, too.

Jen­nifer has also added a cou­ple of new expe­ri­ences to Othello’s resume. She has a bur­geon­ing cater­ing busi­ness that includes birth­day par­ties, rehearsal din­ners, wed­ding recep­tions, ban­quets, or just lunch brought to your office. Jen­nifer is well equipped to take on your cater­ing needs. She has also hosted a few very suc­cess­ful wine din­ners at Othello’s and doesn’t plan on cork­ing them any­time soon. Sign up on our email list to receive infor­ma­tion on upcom­ing events.

Othello’s has always been known for hav­ing live music. Jen­nifer has part­nered with Char­lie Rayl and Julie Frost of JFR Pro­duc­tions to bring in our live acts on the week­ends. Othello’s has never sounded so good!

Through all of these changes, our reg­u­lars have stayed true. Marc still has his spot at the end of bar with a cold one wait­ing before he walks in the door. The John­son Fam­ily still has din­ner with us every Fri­day night. The Levines still fre­quent The Truth Booth a few times a week. Mr. and Mrs. Young have trained dozens of bar­tenders on how to make a per­fect dry gin mar­tini. Need­less to say, they have endured a lot and we thank them for their patience and patronage.

We also want to thank our var­ied other guests. We may not know you by name, but you’re very impor­tant to us. Your expe­ri­ence at Othello’s is val­ued and we’re work­ing very hard every day to make it bet­ter. Some things never change, though, and part of the charm of Othello’s is being a lit­tle “out of whack,” but as one of our most cher­ished patrons, Judy Hag­glund, would say, “Get over it.” So, sit, drink, eat, enjoy and con­sider your­self part of our family.

From the owner Jen­nifer Mor­gan: spe­cial thanks to Darin Mor­gan, Dr. Pamela Kim­brough, Cindy Mor­gan, Nicole Scott, Audra Kreger, Andrew Boyd, Judy Hag­glund, Sil­ver Fox Heat and Air, Sysco, Mar­garet Wehrle, Glaziers, Repub­lic, John­nie Sylvia of Banfi Vint­ners, Susan Potts from Occa­sions, Jen­nifer and Steve Berry, Tom Cooper at First Amer­i­can Bank, Ted Blod­gett at Gray Blod­gett and Com­pany, Sherry and Howard Burgell, Stephanie Ohara the Pres­i­dent of Nor­man Junior League and neigh­bor, Laura and Marc McGuire, and lastly Eve and Bill Pat­ter­son for our con­tin­ued sup­port and suc­cess!!! With­out all of you, Othello’s would not exist today!