Let’s Eat

By Dana Melius

Swiss & Madison is the newest kid on on Mankato's culinary block.

Family tradition keeps Charley’s alive and well

One year into her Swiss & Madison restaurant career, Nicole Wood believes it fits nicely into the Mankato eatery scene.

While it’s a far cry from the bustling San Diego landscape in which Wood spent over a decade following her high school days at Mankato Loyola (2006), it’s home. Born and raised in Mankato, she grew up watching father Charles Sadaka turn Charley’s into a Madison Avenue fixture.

Sadaka, a Lebanese immigrant to the U.S. in 1973, opened Charley’s in 1987. But his death to cancer in 2015 at age 61 tossed the restaurant into a difficult transitional period. The COVID pandemic temporarily closed the business; Sadaka’s son Pierre, who had taken over operations, defied state orders briefly and reopened the restaurant, then closed Charley’s again and its future was up in the air.

Enter Wood, 34, with a desire to continue her father’s legacy. She opted for a name change to Swiss & Madison, citing a San Diego tradition in which restaurants named their businesses after their street location.

But just weeks before a planned Swiss & Madison opening, vandals struck and caused some $40,000 in damages and loss on July 19, 2021. Entering through the roof, the burglars took TVs, computers and other products.

And Wood wondered how to move on. “It was horrible. It was heartbreaking,” she said.

At the time, Wood thought it would take months again to rebuild. But a September 2021 opening put Swiss & Madison on the Madison Avenue landscape. And Wood, along with brother Charles “C.J.” Sadaka Jr., solidified the restaurant’s place in the Mankato business scene.

C.J. mans the kitchen. He previously was head sous chef at the acclaimed Butcher & the Boar restaurant in downtown Minneapolis before moving on to open a new Butcher & the Boar in Charleston, South Carolina, staying there for three years.

“Let me put some steaks on,” C.J. said during a recent visit to the Swiss & Madison kitchen, as the flames soared

Nicole Wood, who runs Swiss & Madison, said the name comes from a San Diego tradition of naming restaurants after their street location.

high from the wood-fired grill and seared the steaks. He moves around the kitchen like a master.

Uncle Tony Sadaka continues to be a part of the operation, mingling with guests and flashing a big smile. He encouraged his niece during the business’ uncertainty following the burglary and vandalism to keep moving forward.

“I told her, what sucks is when we lost Charley,” Tony said at the time. “This you can rebuild and reopen.”

Wood also appreciates the support she and family have received from the Mankato community, particularly after the break-in that delayed the Swiss & Madison opening.

“The people who come in here have been so understanding and so supportive,” she says. “I just love being around the people.”

Wood credits her brother’s kitchen expertise and specialty with highend meats for the restaurant’s firstyear success. It’s allowed the family to slowly build its hours and menu through their first year of operation.

“We’re just a different kind of restaurant,” Wood says. “I don’t try to compete with the fast-food restaurants. I just can’t.”

But, Wood adds, “his burger blows everything else out of the water,” using ground filet.

One major change since the days of Wood’s father and his Charley’s restaurant has been the need to change the menu often. It’s a necessity in today’s industry, Wood said.

“When we started, we started with a very small menu,’ she said. “Since we’ve grown our kitchen staff, we’ve also grown our menu. And we change it often. My dad hardly ever changed his menu.”

While Wood, like other restaurant operators, has struggled at times with supply-side issues and staff shortages, she credits a flexible collegiate staff in the front of the house.

“Kitchen business is a hard life,” Wood says. “But the MSU students (as servers) have been great. I feel lucky to have them.”

And Wood also thinks she is fortunate to have a chance to be back in her hometown and in the industry she grew up in and around.

“It’s in your blood,” Wood says. “It’s a difficult business, but I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Swiss & Madison

Where: 920 Madison Ave., Mankato What they’re known for: meats, ambience and a great burger When: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tues.-Thurs.; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Closed Sun.-Mon.