I’m Steve….also known as “Pappy”…..I’d love to say I have no worldly idea why some people call me Pappy, but that would be untrue…..It may have something to do with the fact that I own (along with my wife, Michelle) Pappy’s Grill & Pub…..I owned and operated a restaurant about 25 years ago…….Man, I swore I’d never have anything more to do with a restaurant……well, of course…….other than looking at the menu and ordering food.

Yep, I was knee-deep into the restaurant business from 1980-85……. Five long years, which felt more like 15, from 1980 to 1985. I left a cushy banking job…….I was an up-and-coming, young whipper-snapper kid……..for a huge national banking conglomerate. But, I guess cushy doesn’t mean happy.

Anyway, I had moved to Minneapolis from New York City a few years earlier. Being raised on pizza, and, well, being a snobby, you-don’t know-nuttin-if-you-ain’t from New York, “New Yawka”, I was shocked, saddened and pretty damn annoyed that I couldn’t find a slice of pizza ANYWHERE in Minneapolis! One guy pointed me toward the local bowling alley where they had “pieces” of frozen pizza turning in circles in a plastic heating unit…… Just asking Midwesterners where I could get a slice drew strange looks…….and even stranger responses……”a piece of pizza?…….why would you want a piece of pizza?”…..”A SLICE, I said, A SLICE OF PIZZA…..NOT A PIECE!!!!” I tried to explain that there’s a pizza place on almost every block in New York, but they did not know what a “block” was……. Hell, they thought those pizza places were something they saw only in the movies!! Well, I figured the only way I was going to get any pizza, especially good pizza, was to open my own damn pizza place. So, I opened “A Slice of New York”…Get it??..Catchy, huh?? Yep, got it done with the help of another young whipper-snapper banker buddy…….my partner.

It was a booming success from the day we opened.

“The Slice” sat about 60 customers and was located on a busy downtown commercial street. During the day it was all business people…..bankers, insurance people, real estate professionals, office workers……but at night, the world as we knew it changed for the worse……..we had to deal with the dredges of society…..pimps, hookers, dealers and related low-lifes. Every night proved to be another confrontation, always heated, often physical…. instigated by some drug-infested, liquor-challenged, deadbeats……… some of the most pathetic excuses for members of the human race. We even had a button near the cash register which flipped on a red light in my office indicating a “DB (Deadbeat) Alert”.

I had a partner who sometimes proved to be barely one step above the troublemakers who were making our night-life so difficult. We were open from 6:00 am until after the bars closed at 1:30 am every day. One can only imagine the quality of life that existed on “The Avenue” after the bars closed. It was nothing short of a psychotic existence ……..working 75-80 hour weeks with a partner who had more problems than the nut case-customers we had to deal with nightly.

Well, just before losing my mind, I sold out to my partner in 1985……and in spite of the somewhat negative experience….swore I’d try the restaurant business again some day……. The next time without a partner.

Cut to the year 2005…….my wife, Michelle (my partner whether I wanted one or not!!) and I, had talked about buying a small local pub… …we thought it would be fun. Our Realtor told us about Stan & Lou’s………Stan & who???, I asked?. I had never heard of the place. So, I scoped it out for a few days, had some lunch, dinner. Our Realtor set up a meeting with two of the nicest guys I had met in years….that would be Stan and Lou by the way!!. Michelle was far more enthusiastic than I at first about the place. I kept thinking……too many hours……too much staff…….too big a menu…… I whined!! Michelle’s enthusiasm began to rub off on me. I considered what Stan and Lou had accomplished in this small building on Messanie and I got more and more excited. Besides, my next employment move could very well have been back into banking. Hey, I’m not knocking bankers……some of my best friends are bankers!!

We loved Stan & Lou and what they had done….the customers were great and, well, we made them an offer……. and I think they liked Michelle and me…….because they accepted the offer. We set a closing date…….closed the deal and took ownership on June 17, 2005.

Since then, it’s been a virtual cornucopia of changes, updates and excitement. We kept the essence of the place untouched. Although we’ve added appetizers and some other dishes, the food on the menu today is essentially unchanged. Our customers like what we have and Michelle and I are feel strongly that they should continue to have it.

The name change to Pappy’s was not something we planned….but felt it necessary to help us create our own identity. The origin of the name is not important, but we wanted to develop a name that felt at home and not “corporate” in any way.

Based on our success, Pappy’s has been accepted by the citizens of St. Joe and we hope to continue providing the fun and food necessary to keep you interested……thanks for being there!!