Piccolo's waitress Ellen Augustine (front center) pictured with Warren Buffett (back center) and Piccolo's former owners Dee Graves (right) and Donna Sheehan (left) in 2011. Courtesy of Ellen Augustine

Augustine says she has waited on Buffett dozens of times — more than a hundred perhaps — since he first started coming to Piccolo's (in May 2005, according to the restaurant's former general manager, Scott Sheehan). And Buffett would frequently bring along Gates, who is a close friend to the legendary investor. "Mr. Buffett is always himself," says Augustine, who has a full-time day job teaching economics to sophomores at Omaha South High School. "I've waited on him with big head honchos of GE, Bill Gates, Alex Rodriguez, Ben Stein and he acts pretty much the same exact way as he does when I wait on him and his family. "He's always excited," she explains. "Every time I've seen him, I've never heard a complaint; I've never seen a bad look on his face. It's just like he has this natural high all the time." Several years ago, Ryan Basye, a Nebraska real estate agent captured one such lunch in a selfie — it shows Buffett and Gates eating at Piccolo's in the background.

Selfie of Omaha resident Ryan Basye with billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates at Piccolo Pete's. Courtesy of Ryan Basye

"I live in Omaha so you see him around town," Basye tells CNBC Make It."We were just so close that I decided to do it. We weren't going to bother them or anything." At Piccolo's, Buffett usually did most of the talking while Gates did most of the eating, Augustine jokes. "[Buffett] never ate much," she says. "I've never seen him finish his plate. He'd kind of pick at it, but he likes to talk. So if you're talking, you're not chewing." Buffett liked to order veal with no gravy and a side of lemon, or chicken parmesan for lunch, or chicken noodle soup, she recalls. He was also fond of the T-bone and fillets of steak. Most meals came with a Cherry Coke to drink, though "For a short time he did a Diet Coke with lime, but that didn't last," says Augustine. And there was often a root beer float for dessert. Unlike Buffett's nibbling, "Bill Gates would clean his plate: a large T-bone, baked potatoes, side of spaghetti and drink the really large root beer float," Augustine laughs. "Mr. Buffett would tease him, 'You know you want a second, just order it!'"

The billionaire pals would stop by Piccolo's together at least twice a year, she says, often after playing in a nearby bridge tournament (a card game of which both Gates and Buffett are avid fans). Buffett, who lives in Omaha, came much more frequently with a variety of guests. Piccolo's was an institution in Omaha for 81 years, according to the Omaha World-Herald. It was run by sisters Donna Piccolo Sheehan and Dee Piccolo Graves, relatives of the original founder, Joseph Piccolo. He first came to Omaha from Italy in 1909. The restaurant's famous sign is inspired by a photograph of Joseph's son Anthony.