Food & Beer
let's eat!
By Dan Greenwood
southern mn style Jay and Layla Pappas are the owners of Pappageorge's Restaurant.
Pappa knows best
W
Jay and Layla Pappas have developed a loyal clientele from scratch
hen Jay and Layla Pappas opened Pappageorge’s Restaurant and Bar nearly 13 years ago, they already had a following of devoted customers. That’s because Jay Pappas – who has been working in the restaurant industry since he was 15 years old – and his father used to run Maggie’s Restaurant and
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Bar, a former Mankato staple that developed a reputation for simple, high-quality, classic full-service dining. The couple actually met there, and when they sold Maggie’s in 2005, Jay Pappas began delivering packages for FedEx and Layla Pappas sold advertising for Clear Channel. But their hearts remained in the restaurant business.
“We just weren’t in love with our careers,” Layla Pappas said. When the building at 1028 N. Riverfront Drive became available, they put together a business plan, got a loan and named the restaurant Pappageorge’s in honor of Jay Pappas’s great-grandfather, who emigrated from Greece to the U.S. in 1902 and was the first in the family to open a restaurant
