Don and George Pappas share some of Michaels' favorites at The Waters

Sep. 5—ROCHESTER — Although it closed 10 years ago, one of the most popular restaurants in Rochester will always be remembered fondly by residents of The Waters on Mayowood Senior Living Community.

Residents there had a chance to share some of Michaels' and Hubble House's classic foods on Thursday afternoon.

One of Michaels' former cooks, Joe Brennan works as their chef, and a former chef at the Hubble House, David Leino, works as their culinary director. Thanks to their connection, the owners of both restaurants, Don and George Pappas, came to The Waters on Mayowood on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024 to talk to the residents and reminisce about their time in the food industry.

"A lot of the residents, it just invokes a lot of memories when you think of it like, many of them worked in town and would maybe go to some of these, lunch, dinner events or birthdays," said Marni Harris, the active life director at The Waters on Mayowood Senior Living Community. "We're just reminiscing about how a long time ago, they used to have at Michaels, a little birthday cake and many of them will go to Papa George's. It's just those connections."

Dozens of residents gathered to enjoy a talk from the Pappas brothers where they talked about their family's legacy in the southeastern Minnesota restaurant industry. The Pappases were approached by Leino to come and talk to these residents and it came as a bit of a surprise.

"A lot of our residents were longtime patrons of Michaels restaurant, as well as a lot of them still go to the Hubble House," said Thom Hartmann, the dining room manager at The Waters on Mayowood Senior Living Community. "Marnie, as our active life manager, still does some bus trips out to Hubble House, and they're really well attended. So this is something, just listening to resident feedback, that came up in one of our chef meetings that we had with the residents."

They talked to a few different groups before the residents were invited to a social happy hour, during which they served onion rings reminiscent of Michaels and still served at Hubble House. They also served a chicken salad sandwich with ham, pineapple and Swiss cheese that was made famous by their uncle George for the Michaels restaurant.

After social hour, residents were invited to enjoy dinner with menu items from the old Michaels menu and the Hubble House. This also gave Don and George an opportunity to talk to residents and catch up with familiar faces, something Don was especially looking forward to.

"All the customers, to me. became my friends," Don said. "I tried to befriend just about anybody who came in the door and tried to make sure to say hi to everybody and goodbye."

Seeing all of his customers is something that Don has severely missed in the last three years. He was excited to recognize some friendly faces in the crowds and made sure to catch up with his old friends.

For residents, this was a chance for them to enjoy nostalgic food. Harold Dison is a resident at The Waters on Mayowood Senior Living Community and a longterm Rochester citizen. He remembers going to Michaels every Friday when it was open. He really enjoyed having Don and George stop by because it was nostalgic for him. The food tasted familiar and the talk brought back a lot of memories for him.

"Both of us just appreciate so much the community support of Michaels and the Hubble House and the memories that they still have," George said. "We wish you could give them more."