The Anniversary Issue

Any business can burst on the scene and make a successful run for a while, but it takes loyalty and innovation to last when the buzz dies down. In foodservice, from the fine-dining restaurant to the corner bar and grill, consistent quality—from the ambiance to the menu—is critical. And a bit of luck, of course.

But there is something to be said for creating your own luck, which the restaurants FSN is featuring in this issue have done. Years—or decades—in business isn’t just luck.

Take the 5-8 Club, for example, which is currently celebrating 80 years. Then there’s Yarusso-Bros. in St. Paul celebrating 75 years. And who can forget Jax Café in Minneapolis at 75 (featured in the April 2008 issue of FSN), Mancini’s in St. Paul celebrating 60 years, and Val’s Rapid Serv in St. Cloud at 50. And those latter four are still in the original family’s hands. On the youthful end of the spectrum is Rice Paper, celebrating five years of success in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis (see the Chef’s Dish story below), and Pittsburgh Blue, capping a great first year in Maple Grove.

These are just Twin Cities names off the top of our heads here at FSN. There are many other notables across the state, and it’s our honor to list but a few. Every year, of course, is an anniversary. This will be an annual feature, so don’t hesitate to contact us with more great stories.

Listings compiled by FSN Editor Mike Mitchelson and Danielle McFarland.


30 Years: Dino’s-The Greek Place
It’s quite a journey from county fair booth to successful restaurant chain, but it’s been a good one for Dino Adamidis, founder of Dino’s-The Greek Place. Thirty years ago, Adamidis introduced Minnesota to the gyro, one of the traditional foods from his native Greece, at the Steele County Fair in Owatonna. He later got a booth in the Minnesota State Fair, and was soon persuaded to open a restaurant. “Everybody was telling me, Dino, you gotta open a restaurant, because we can’t just have the sandwiches once a year,” he said.

Money to do so, of course, was an issue, and Adamidis, already working two jobs during the winter months and the fair booths in summer to support a growing family, wasn’t sure where he’d find it.

The Bandana Square developers helped out, however. Anxious to have a restaurant in the St. Paul development, they built the space for Adamidis to open his first Dino’s in the early 1980s. They opened a second, free-standing location on Snelling and Larpenteur avenues, moving the first location in Bandana Square to West St. Paul. “We’ve always operated a couple stores at a time,” Adamidis said.

They slowly built the business, and added a franchise operation about seven years ago. The chain now has seven restaurants, three of them franchised.

The specialty of Dino’s is, of course, the gyro. Now a recognizable food, Adamidis said its introduction to the Minnesota palette required some education. “People would ask, ‘What the heck is that?’” he said. And the word “gyro” doesn’t refer to the item itself, but a cooking method. “It’s the way the meat is cooked, by ‘gyro,’ or ‘go around,’” he explained. The meat is, basically, a meatloaf of blended ground beef, lamb and seasonings, set upright on a skewer and cooked in that gyro method. “You only cook what you’re going to serve, so every time (you’re carving) fresh (cooked) meat.”

As the company expanded, so did the menu, with a variety of Greek salads, chicken dishes, kebobs and felafal. And they’ve also entered the retail sector with salad dressings and seasonings. But operating multiple units doesn’t mean changing the basics of restaurant operation. “Be with the restaurant,” Adamidis said. “Work the restaurant. Work with your customers, and promote your restaurants in the streets and inside your own place.”

Two of Adamidis’ three children, Alysia and Jason, are working in the family business, and are absorbing that message. “They are working side-by-side, and they are taking over the business,” he said.

Which means they will be overseeing the measured expansion of Dino’s, which, Adamidis said, would continue in Minnesota and possibly Iowa and Wisconsin. “Little by little, something close to here,” he said, while keeping in mind any national opportunities. “You have to push yourself. OK, you have a good concept, let’s move it on, let’s let America know about this concept.”


80 Years: The 5-8 Club, Minneapolis
The 5-8 Club on Cedar Street in Minneapolis is celebrating its 80th anniversary. Eighty years. Originally opened as a speakeasy in 1928, the 5-8 long ago established itself as a neighborhood hangout, and along the way developed a reputation for great hamburgers—notably the Juicy Lucy, a burger stuffed with cheese, which is also one side of the “Who was first” with cheese-stuffed burger debate between Matt’s Bar’s “Jucy Lucy” aficionados.

The 5-8 Club’s current owners have kept the original Club as its been known for decades. That includes from-scratch cooking—something the restaurant has done for so long they never thought to brag about it. Everything—from thinly slicing the onions for the mound of deep-fried onion straws to the cream cheese-stuffed olives for the Bloody Mary’s are done at the restaurant.

The owners have also brought some 5-8 hospitality to two more communities: Maplewood in 2002 and Champlin in 2004. The Maplewood location has a considerable history of its own, said Jill Skogheim, the business manager for the 5-8 owners, Food Services Inc. The location opened as the Rainbow Inn in the 1930s, and progressed through various incarnations before becoming the 5-8 Tavern & Grill. Part of establishing the 5-8 in the new community is to “emphasize the history and acknowledge the businesses that were at that location before we were there,” Skogheim said.

The Maplewood and Champlin locations with their larger kitchens gave an opportunity to expand the menu to offer broasted chicken and other comfort food entrees. Other community-specific activities include Tuesday kids meals at the 5-8 Grill & Bar in Champlin, and, in Maplewood, the 5-8 Tavern & Grill contributes to school athletic teams and student groups. It’s all part becoming interwoven into the neighborhood, as the original 5-8 Club did in Minneapolis.

The 5-8 Club kicked off 80 days worth of celebrating their anniversary in September, with events at all three locations. Will there be more 5-8s to celebrate anniversaries in the future? “We stay aware of opportunities, but we are really content with what we have,” Skogheim said. “We don’t want to be a chain, so we don’t want to overdo the 5-8 concept in the Twin Cities.”

The 5-8 Club
5800 Cedar Ave. S.
Minneapolis
612-823-5858
www.5-8club.com/


15 Years: Maria’s Café, Minneapolis
Maria’s Café owner and chef Maria Hoyos has been a part of the Twin Cities dining scene for 15 years. She opened Maria’s Breakfast Club in 1993 at 56th and Lyndale, but began looking for a better location, and let her lease expire. She reopened as Maria’s Café on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis in 1999. But there were a few years where Hoyos was on her own, hunting for that new location, cooking private catering events working at country clubs and keeping her name alive. Which worked, because when she reopened at her new location serving her Columbian/South American-influenced fare, the accolades from critics and regulars picked up where they left off.

Maria’s is most famous for breakfast, of course, in particular the corn pancakes. But the regulars are there for everything else on the menu—which is one reason she doesn’t change any of it. “I always keep the same menu,” she said. “Everything sells, so I can say, ‘No, we can’t take this out.’”

Which isn’t to say that there aren’t rotating specials on the menu, such as a meal of sautéed plantains, black beans, eggs and arepa—a corn-based flatbread—but Hoyos is loyal to her regulars. “We have customers come in for the same thing all the time, and they come from far away, and they say, ‘I like this, and I can eat it here,’” she said. “So I think that’s what keeps us in business. The food is always consistent, I make a very big deal about that with my cook—we have a recipe book everybody has to follow, so there are no changes in the food.”

The café serves breakfast and lunch. Hoyos served dinner for a few years at the new location, but stopped for lack of traffic. But with the recent revitalization of the area and new residential development, Hoyos is considering putting it back on the menu, however. “Maybe next year the neighborhood will be ready for a restaurant open at night,” she said, which would bring opportunity to bring in more of the food she loves. “We will be doing more South American and Columbian foods if we reopen at night,” she said. “The flavors are different, it makes us very unique.”

Maria’s Café
1113 East Franklin Avenue
Minnapolis
612-870-9842


75 Years: Yarusso Bros. Italian Restaurant, St. Paul
With the end of Prohibition came Yarusso’s—at least officially. Francesco Yarusso lined up with other restaurateurs and bar owners in St. Paul to purchase a liquor license as soon as Prohibition legislation was overturned, said Annette Yarusso, who is married to Michael Yarusso, who co-owns the restaurant with brother Frederick. “It was a restaurant always, but the only record we have is a sheet of paper with his signature on it for when we (officially) started,” Annette said. That date makes it the seventh oldest family-owned Italian restaurant in the country.

“We’re in the same building, have the same recipe, and a lot of the same customers,” Annette said, laughing. “At one time we counted and we had a eighth-generation customer. People grew up on Yarusso’s. We’re very traditional American-Italian.”

It’s that last point Annette emphasized. Unlike newer Italian restaurants focusing on the food of a region of Italy, Yarusso’s is decidedly New World. “We’re American Italian—you don’t find meatballs in Italy,” she said. “We’re known for our red sauce—or gravy, the ol’ gravy—a great red sauce.”

It’s that red sauce that’s the foundation for their most popular meal: the old-school spaghetti and meatballs. “And the baked mostaciolli is our big one for new people that come in,” Annette said.
The secret to that red sauce? It remains a secret—the only ones who know the recipe are Frederick, Michael and the cook, Mike “Mad Dog,” who’s been with the restaurant for 30 years, Annette said. “I don’t even know it. And I’m even married to the family.”

Like the red sauce, the restaurant itself hasn’t changed much in its 75 years, aside from the periodic fresh coat of paint. Although the family expanded the building a bit, allowing for banquet space and adding some real estate to their parking lot.

And the secret to lasting 75 years: family.

Michael and Frederick are Francesco’s grandchildren, making them third-generation owners. Their children, Tony and Michelle, also work in the restaurant. “It’s all about family,” Annette said. “We’re not like a corporate restaurant. You’ll always see one of us here.”

Yarusso Bros. Italian Restaurant
635 Payne Avenue
St. Paul
651-776-4848
www.yarussos.com


1 Year: Pittsburgh Blue
Pittsburgh Blue passed its first anniversary in September, and proved Parasole Restaurant Holding’s site research was correct: Maple Grove wanted an upscale steakhouse. The restaurant’s location near the convergence of freeways 494 and 94 at the Arbor Lakes mall also draws diners from surrounding suburbs, said Kip Clayton, Parasole’s vice president of business development.

The steakhouse offers a menu similar to its power-dining, expense-account sister steakhouse, Manny’s, at less jaw-dropping prices and a more casual environment. The same dry-aged steaks attract Manny’s regulars that don’t want to make the drive to downtown Minneapolis, Clayton said. “But we’re happy to do that because you lose (business) to a sister restaurant.”

Private dining has never been a big part of Parasole’s restaurant planning, but at Pittsburgh Blue it was given thought with a 40-seat private dining room—it’s paid off. Major corporations, such as General Mills and Cargill, and local small businesses reserve the space for entertaining or group dining, Clayton said. “That represents a real upside—if you’re relatively quiet on a Tuesday night, but you have a room of 40 people in your private dining area, and often times they spill over into the bar.”

Another positive was adapting to the reeling economy and consumer belt-tightening. “It was never planned when we opened, but we introduced $8.95 Sunday supper, and that was a wild success,” Clayton said. “It’s a pot roast or chicken dinner, and it introduced a whole new customer to Pittsburgh Blue.”

So successful, it’s running Sunday through Thursday. The restaurant is also introducing a list of “Ten Wines for Ten Bucks,” another value-dining option. “Given what’s going on in the economy, people want to go out and…don’t want to spend $40,” Clayton said. “We want to make sure not only do we offer a great experience, but we want to make sure we offer value, which is a little out of character for what we do.”

The restaurant was designed with expansion in mind, but Parasole is a cautious beast, and isn’t planning more locations in the near future. “There have been a couple things that came up and we passed them, just because we didn’t feel like they had the neighborhood dynamics that you get at Arbor Lakes,” Clayton said.

Pittsburgh Blue
11900 Main Street North
Maple Grove
763-420-7390
www.pittsburghbluesteak.com


50 Years: Val’s Rapid Serv
Simplicity and speed are the keys to success for Val’s Rapid Serv, one of the few independent, quick-serve restaurants in existence. Its burgers and fries have been a mainstay in St. Cloud for 50 years. It’s not just a quick-serve burger, however. Val’s has cultivated fierce loyalty—testimonials abound in Internet reviews, and the restaurant earned praises this summer from Star Tribune food critic Rick Nelson.

Also unique to the restaurant are its ordering kiosks, where customers can tap in their customized orders. The software designed by Val’s owner (and cook) Dave Henning. “Without the touch-screen kiosk I would have been out of business 10 years ago,” he said.

Sales volume is the key to remaining profitable in the dorm-room-sized, take-out only restaurant, and keep his vendors, well, vending to him. “That’s as simple as the game is,” he said.

Henning added two more kiosks this summer, for six total, and added magnetic-swipe readers for credit cards—burger aficionados are in and out the door in minutes.

Adding card-readers is a big decision for a small operation, Henning said, because an average of 33 cents are removed from his bottom line with each swipe. “When you averaging 60 to 70 swipes a day, it adds up in a hurry,” he said. “The larger restaurants are more service oriented, and it’s easier to pass that cost on. But our average orders are $8 or $9, you’re talking a big expense.”

But you’ve got to adapt to consumer demand to remain in business, he added. “Three years ago it was one out of 100 that would ask if we take plastic, and today its 50 percent,” he said. “If a customer comes to you and says, ‘I want to buy your product, can I pay this way,’ how many times can you afford to say no?”

Val’s is also enduring seemingly endless bridge construction within the city—the Veteran’s bridge last year, and the main Highway 23/DeSoto bridge this year and next. Both projects have impacted the traffic flow in and out of the restaurant’s parking lot, and knocked Henning’s lunch business down 15 percent. “But, we’re holding our own,” he said. “That’s life. We’ve been here for 50 years: you’re not going to get rid of us that damn easy. We have that good strong customer base, and we have longevity on our side.”

Val’s Rapid Serv
628 E. St. Germain St.
St. Cloud
320-251-5775


Still more notables!

73 Years: The Lexington
Pat and Veronica McLean opened The Lexington in October of 1935 shortly after the repeal of prohibition. The restaurant has changed hands in ownership twice since then, most recently acquired 10 years ago by Tom Scallen, an attorney, who also owns of the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. One of The Lexington’s managers, Steven Englund, attributes “absolute consistency” to the long lasting success of the restaurant. “We have items on our menu that have been there for over 60 years and have not changed, he said. “For instance, our walleye almandine—always fresh walleye, never frozen, breaded, baked, served with a tartar sauce. …Our food isn’t that fancy, for lack of a better word, but it will be the best…The steaks are grilled to perfection.”

The Lexington’s consistency earned it a nod in last month’s issue of Gourmet: “The Lex” was included in the magazines restaurant list “Time’s Tables,” dedicated to timeless restaurants across the country, each founded pre-1941. “Couples have had their rehearsal dinners here, and then enjoyed their 50th anniversaries in the very same room,” Englund said.

The Lexington
1096 Grand Ave, St. Paul
651-222-5878
www.the-lexington.com


60 Years: Mancini’s Char House & Lounge
Nick Mancini returned from fighting in WWII with some money saved. In 1948, a beer-only, 3.2 joint was for sale on West Seventh Street in St. Paul. Nick and his brother mortgaged the family home to buy the bar, and with humble beginnings from Mom cooking specialty Italian dishes, Mancini’s eventually expanded into a supper club lounge with a steak concept in 1959. Nick Mancini was always a fan of the Rat Pack Era, which, in 1986, influenced the addition of a Vegas Lounge reminiscent of the mid-1960s to early ’70s, with plush, deep-red booths and showroom. Nick’s hospitality became legendary, and his golden motto for running a restaurant was simple: “His advertising budget was all about giving back to the customer,” said Pat Mancini, Nick’s son, who, with his brother John, now operates the restaurant and carry on all the traditions. “He wasn’t big on advertising or spending dollars on things that didn’t directly affect the diners. He would literally go buy bottles of wine and hand them out to customers… things like that.”

Mancini’s steaks and relish trays are also legendary, in particular its signature aged 13 ounce New York strip loin that sears perfectly over their grill.

Mancini’s Char House and Lounge
531 West Seventh Street
St. Paul
651-224-7345


50 Years: David Fong’s
In 1958, David and Helen Fong opened a Chinese carryout in a strip mall located in the faint township of Bloomington. It took only eight years for Fong’s Chow Mein to outgrow its spot, and in 1966, the couple reopened four blocks away as the full service David Fong’s. The Fongs have since expanded their restaurant business to three locations around the Twin Cities, but the original David Fong’s remains a long-standing food feature in Bloomington.

David Fong’s
9329 Lyndale Ave S.
Bloomington
952-888-9294
www.davidfongs.com


47 Years: Eli’s Food & Cocktails
Eli Saliterman was looking at business investments for his friend, Max Winter, who was an entrepreneur and sports enthusiast. Saliterman learned of a bar for sale on 12 & Hennepin. Winter was too busy bringing a professional football team franchise to Minneapolis, so Saliterman bought the bar himself. In 1961, Eli’s Bar opened the same year the Vikings played their first season. In 1991, a pool table was removed from Eli’s, and a kitchen opened in its place. Since then, Eli’s has been known for their rotating food specials board featuring a new soup, appetizer, salad, sandwich, and entrée every week, and was named Best Neighborhood Bar 2006-2007 by Citysearch, Minneapolis.

Eli’s Food & Cocktails
1225 Hennepin Ave.
Minneapolis
612-332-9997
www.elisfoodandcocktails.com


27 Years: Sparky’s Café
Jack Sparks bought a pizza joint in Anoka just in time for corporate chains like Domino’s Pizza to move into town and compete for his business. In order to survive, Sparks changed his restaurant concept to American fare, and Sparky’s took off as an old time diner. Breakfast is served at Sparky’s every day starting at 5 a.m. Sparks himself can usually be found in the kitchen cooking pancakes that smother the plate they’re served on. Cheeseburgers are a favorite for lunch and dinner and are served with a drink and choice of French fries, salad, or soup.

Sparky’s Café
8077 Viking Blvd.
Anoka
763-241-0403


23 Years: Lucia’s Restaurant & Wine Bar
It’s been a long run for Lucia’s, opening on Valentines Day, 1985. Nominated three times for a James Beard Foundation Award-Best Chef in the Midwest, Chef/Owner, Lucia Watson does not disappoint with her innovative seasonal menus, securing her restaurant as an Uptown Neighborhood favorite mainstay.

Lucia’s Restaurant & Wine Bar
1432 West 31st Street
Minneapolis
612-825-1572
www.lucias.com


12 Years: Crossroads Delicatessen
Kevin and Scott Hill, co-owners and operators of Kosher-style Crossroads Deli, have a combined 67 years in the restaurant business. Kevin says their insight to the success of the restaurant biz is: “Good food, good service, good consistency, and baby it—you’ve got to be there a lot.” Often compared to the Lincoln Del, which closed in 2000, Crossroads offers a traditional full deli and dinner service, including beer and wine. The deli is known for brother “Scott’s Famous Strawberry Chicken Salad” and claims the best matzo ball soup in the Twin Cities—secret ingredient disclosed as “Scott’s TLC.”

Crossroads Deli
2795 Hedberg Drive,
Minnetonka
952-546-6595
www.crossroadsdelicatessen.com/


6 Years: Heartland
Chef Lenny Russo opened Heartland in 2002 with his wife, Mega Hoehn. Heartland’s Midwestern regional cuisine uses ingredients supplied only by local, family farmers, and the seasonal menu changes daily with product availability. For his efforts at Heartland (and his hiatus as the opening chef for Cue at the Guthrie Theater), Russo was named “Restaurateur of the Year” by Mpls-St.Paul Magazine in 2007, and this year was a semi-finalist for the Best Chef-Midwest James Beard Award.

Russo’s seasoned advice for restaurant survival starts with a quick turn-around from concept to opening: “It’s a race to get open, you have to negotiate the proper lease, and not get in over your head,” he said. “We have very low debt. We watch our overhead very carefully. Your business has to be managed every single day because our margins are just razor thin in the restaurant business. There are so many ways to lose money and so few ways to make it that you have to be at the top of your game every single day. But the biggest thing is: go in with a sound business plan, in a neighborhood that relates to your demographic that will support your kind of operation.”

Heartland
1806 Saint Clair Ave., St. Paul
www.heartlandrestaurant.com
651-699-3536

—Mike Mitchelson