4 minute read
From This Valley
from Mankato Magazine
Still Missing Michael’s
Occasionally, folks I run into ask me to write about the great old Mankato restaurants – the Colony Club’s vanished luxury at the north edge of town, the Holiday House in Kasota (I can never forget the vast hors d’ouvres spread, and as a kid, wondering in which of the many rooms our family would be seated). There was, of course, the Century Club on the North Mankato riverbank before the new bridge took it out. They had the famed Monte Cristo sandwich and scrumptious clam chowder, plus great music: Jim McGuire held forth regularly, and once the great Willie Dixon, composer of “Hoochie Coochie Man” and other classics, played there. My brother tells me Willie, from Chicago, said our town was the coldest place he’d ever played. The legendary restaurant I think most qualified to reminisce about (does one need qualifications to reminisce?) is Michael’s, in the old fire house at Second and Walnut, which now houses the Mankato Foundation. It’s a good bet to say I would be a different person today if it were not for Michael’s. (I’ll offer one reason in a bit.) The late Jay Pappas of the famed family that owned the legendary original Michael’s in downtown Rochester had come to Mankato in the ‘60s to open a restaurant. Soon Mankato’s Michael’s would gather all strata of locals, from successful businessmen to women’s groups to poor students like I was. This miraculous melting pot was divided into three spaces: the formal dining room, with its gold and red brocaded wallpaper and linen tablecloths; the Red Boot Saloon, with its brass rail bar and Lowell Schreyer leading Michael’s Minstrels in toe-tapping Dixieland tunes; and the Walnut Room (now Tandem Bagels), with its comfy booths and warm acoustics. It was ideal for music, and Jay brought in good local musicians, popular regional acts like Frank Hall, and even national acts like Chad Mitchell, and yes, Jackson Browne. (In the March 2010 issue, I wrote about the legend of Jay firing the up-and-coming superstar after just one night because the only person who came in to hear him was Dan Duffy, who had a nice conversation with Browne while he was changing guitar strings.) Besides great food and welcoming atmosphere, part of Michael’s formula was the waitresses: longtime professionals such as bustling, smiling Millie, who qualified as everyone’s favorite aunt. There were also the engaging young college women financing their educations. In fact, I married one of them (does that help qualify me to write this? It did change my life!). Suffice it to say, for many folks, next to their own homes, Michael’s was the place in town where they most wanted to spend time.
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Alas, all good things must end. Worn by the grind
(you can’t farm out the work if you own the restaurant), Jay sold Michael’s in 1978. (He would open the popular Maggies near the University in 1982, then close it in 2006; son Flip and his wife, Layla, now run PappaGeorge, continuing the legacy.) Then in 1979, Michael’s changed hands again, bought by Dan and Ann Bartel, a couple who had met working for Paul Pappas in the family’s restaurants in Rochester. Dan and Ann wanted to own their own restaurant, and while they renamed it D’Annies, they kept most of the formula that had made Michael’s special. Unfortunately, they financed their purchase during a time of inflation and very high interest rates. As former Free Press columnist Tim DeMarce related in a poignant column in December 1981, the Bartels’ variable rate on their loan had soared to 20%. (Take that, ye who cringe at anything approaching 5%.) As DeMarce wrote in that column, the bills kept piling up, and “… a gathering darkness … settled over the place, and drove the dreamers and the laughter out.” The Bartels decided to close the restaurant. In late August 1981, employees and close friends gathered on a Sunday to order off the menu one last time and sample the Red Boot Saloon’s finest – Demarce says one person called it “a hell of a party.” On Dec. 15, 1981, auctioneers came in to sell all the furnishings and equipment. The historic building was converted into a law office (although the Walnut Room would continue as a music venue for a couple decades as Susan’s, then the Sugar Room).
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You may know, the "Best Of" issue is coming in July. If you have a thought, we’ll create a new category for this year’s “Steinie” awards: favorite all-time local restaurant. Send brief comments to pete@ktoe.com.
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EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES.
Your birthday is a great reminder to celebrate good health by scheduling a mammogram. Our physicians and the American Cancer Society recommend women have an annual breast screening beginning at age 40. Call 507-479-5081 to schedule an appointment.
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