The anniversary: A tale of two restaurants
By Mike Mitchelson

Two restaurants, one young, one old, both notable for success in what has become uncertain economic times, and each celebrating anniversaries. Jax Café in Northeast Minneapolis, celebrating its 75th year, has endured these economic hiccups before, and is approaching the months ahead with a cagey veteran’s attitude.

Sarna’s Classic Grill in Columbia Heights quickly established itself as the local gathering place, and also attracted destination diners with its classic American fare. Last month, it celebrated its first year in business, and its owners look ahead to build on its success.

THE INSTITUTION

If you haven’t wandered into Jax Café in Northeast Minneapolis in a while—or, if you never have—it’s a dramatic experience. While Manny’s, Capital Grille, Morton’s and the sparkling new r. Norman’s downtown have grabbed the attention, they’ve done so with nostalgic design elements of old-school steakhouses—like Jax.

The step from the University Avenue sidewalk, in the heart of what was the bluest of blue-collar Minneapolis neighborhoods, through the entrance into the original Jax bar room, represents the shortest distance to a downtown Chicago restaurant.

Spacious and lined with dark wood, a bar stretching half the length of the room, high, tinned ceilings glowingly illuminated by domed chandeliers—it’s the image one conjures when thinking about a steakhouse, except at Jax, it doesn’t feel like the decor was a decision made by a consultant, rather, the pieces are standard construction materials from the early decades of the 20th century. And, to a large degree, they are. The impressive bar area was the original Jax Bar, which opened in 1933.

“A lot of restaurants advertise nostalgia,” said Jax owner Bill Kozlak, the third generation of the Kozlak family to operate the restaurant (Bill’s grandparents, Joe and Gertrude Kozlak, purchased the bar in 1943. His parents, Bill Sr. and Kathy, operated the restaurant until 2001). “We’re not nostalgia. It is what it is.”
Kozlak also owns Kozy’s in the Galleria shopping mall in Edina, which opened in 2005 with a similar menu.

But Jax is the mothership. The institution. Seventy-five years. Yet there’s nothing musty about the old restaurant—it’s meticulously maintained. “We’re continuing to put money back in the business,” Kozlak said. “Buy equipment when you need it—don’t put it off. When something breaks, it’s fixed. …You have to take care of your own shop, and invest in building improvements.”

It’s a lesson he learned from watching and listening to two generations of Kozlak’s. “My mom and dad were non-stop in the business,” Kozlak said, but managed to juggle it with six kids. “Even with Sundays off, the conversation was always about restaurants.”

When he worked at Jax, his father started him as a busboy before moving up to other duties. “He had me changing light bulbs before he let me count any money,” Kozlak said.

Kozlak attended St. John’s University, not knowing whether he’d work in the family business or not. “I wanted to leave options open,” he said. But, he took a bartending job during his sophomore year, and later had an internship at the Radisson in St. Cloud. He also branched out from the industry at mortgage and printing companies. After he graduated, he took a management position with Host International at the airport before joining his parents at Jax in 1992. He eventually purchased the restaurant from his parents in 2001.

Traditional, but adaptable

Much can change in a neighborhood during 75 years, and Northeast Minneapolis has had its share of ups and downs. Currently, it’s enjoying a resurgence as young couples buy up older homes and invest in the neighborhoods. Jax has adapted to survive. It was originally a neighborhood bar and steakhouse. It expanded over time with additional dining rooms and a now infamous patio and trout stream, becoming a destination restaurant. “Banquets are such a big part of the business now,” Kozlak said. But now, with younger residents, the bar is becoming a neighborhood hangout again.

“We have a lot of things to offer, but sometimes makes it hard to answer when someone asks, ‘What is Jax?’ But we stick to basics. Like our slogan, ‘We serve steaks, not trends.’”

There’s been a little trending, however. With lobster a traditional menu item in classic steakhouses, seafood is one avenue to expand the menu—scallops, trout and salmon—while swapping out some of the old items, like chicken Kiev. (But for those old-time regulars, chicken Kiev remains on the early bird menu.)

Specials are more elaborate, adapting to the average diner’s increasingly sophisticated palate. But, fundamentally, Jax stays true to its roots. “Generally, when a diner comes into Jax, they know what they’re going for,” Kozlak said. “We have to be careful about what expectations are. We won’t put a wasabi-encrusted anything on the menu.”

Jax’s “biggest overhaul” has been the wine program. Kozlak said his father told him when he was about to graduate college that there “was a wine future in the business,” and that’s where he focused his attention. The result is a “pretty elaborate, but simple wine list,” he said. “We’re high-end, but very reasonable.”
But, Kozlak said, it’s the service people always comment on. “When people come here, they know they will be treated right—it’s casual, friendly, and they won’t be intimidated.”

In addition to the numerous economic downturns in the nation’s and state’s history, (not to mention World War II), Jax has adapted to legislative shifts in recent decades aimed at the hospitality industry.

Of course, there’s the state’s recent smoking ban, but other events have changed dining and drinking through the years, including increased drunk driving enforcement, culminating in the recent .08 blood-alcohol limit. Most significant, Kozlak said, was legislation to reduce the amount a company could write off a “business meal.” In 1986, legislation allowed businesses to write off only 80 percent of a meal’s cost, rather than 100 percent. The deduction was again reduced to 50 percent in 1993.

That law, coupled with changing health attitudes and work demands, have significantly altered lunch business. “People might be working out at lunch now, or e-mailing clients,” Kozlak said. “And, downtown workers have so many food court and skyway options.”

Kozlak isn’t complaining. Jax adapts. With revelers more cautious about drinking and driving, more half-bottles of wine were sold at the restaurant on New Year’s Eve than any previous.

And while the smoking ban stung, many business owners understood it was the future, Kozlak said. Jax created a bar menu to draw a new crowd. “We didn’t have that for 20 years,” he said. “The smoking ban hurt our bar business, but it’s coming back with the younger, neighborhood person coming in.”

Also regenerating the neighborhood vibe is the success of other new (compared to Jax) local bars and restaurants, such as the Modern Café and Erté a few blocks away. “It gets people moving in the neighborhood again,” he said.

While the economic news appears dim, it plays to Jax’s advantage. “We’ve weathered this several times, and we’re still out there,” Kozlak said. “The one thing that saves us is people are less willing to risk a new place to spend $200,” he said. “They know that things are going to be right here. Jax is an institution, a landmark, and we’re proud of that.”

THE UPSTART

Where there is age, there is youth. Sarna’s Classic Grill in Columbia Heights last month celebrated its one-year anniversary after a “very, very good first year, maybe a smidge better than expected,” said Jimmy Sarna, who co-owns and operates the restaurant with his brother, David, and father, Jim.

Jimmy is in the convenience store business, and he and the Sarna family wanted to open a restaurant on Central Avenue. Jimmy is a matter-of-fact kind of guy. Why a restaurant in Northeast? “Because I’ve lived in Northeast Minneapolis my whole life, and I like to eat,” he said.

The Central Avenue deal fell through, however, and the city of Columbia Heights—bordering Northeast—approached the Sarnas about opening a restaurant in the midst of new housing development. They purchased the land, built the restaurant, and opened on March 6, 2007.

A large bar in the center of the restaurant is flanked by two dining areas, and an open-style kitchen is in view from wherever a diner sits. The interior is both rustic and modern; it’s comfortable with plenty of windows for natural lighting during the day, and a large patio with a fire pit for the warm-weather months. The menu is broad with American fare—burgers and pot pies to steak and pastas.

“The restaurants I like to visit serve this food,” Sarna said. “I like Champp’s back in the day for its menu and consistency, but we didn’t want a sport’s bar—we have a few TVs, but that’s it. We’re a blue-collar place. People wear shorts here in the summer. … We knew the area here would not support fine dining. You’d be busy on your two days but dead the others.”

With no restaurant experience, the Sarnas surrounded themselves by people who did—those who were in second-chair positions at other restaurants and eager to prove themselves in a new place. With their new chef and GM and their Sysco rep developed their menu.

Sarna said the restaurant business “is more work than I thought,” but common sense from the family’s other businesses and personal experience often prevails. “Cleanliness. Good service. Good food. If you have the first two, a customer might give you another chance if you have an off night on the latter. But you’ve got to have all three to succeed.”

Success in restaurants depends on watching numbers closely, but even moreso for a new place. “Costs went up 7 to 8 percent last year,” Sarna said. “And will probably go up another 4 percent this year. But everyone is feeling that, and you have to be more creative with your dishes. I’d guess you’re going to see a lot more pastas on the menu in a lot of places—fortunately we’re getting into that season where it works well.”

Sarna’s also keeps a regular event schedule, and opens part of the floor for dancing Thursday through Saturday. “We try to do different things, even if the economy were doing well,” Sarna said. “People get bored with the same ol’ thing.”
The restaurant is a neighborhood place, to be sure, attracting its list of regulars, but its attracting diners from as far as Edina and Blaine, Sarna said. “We get repeat business because of our quality and quantity—we give good value. We hit different parts with the menu. You can come in and spend $25 a head or $10 and be happy.”

Given the success of the first year, another restaurant isn’t out of the question—“We’re not opposed to anything; a good deal is a good deal,” Sarna said.

But there’s no rush. The one restaurant, for now, is plenty interesting, he said. “I wake up everyday, go to work, see what happens. It is what it is.”

Jax Café
612-789-7297
http://www.jaxcafe.com/

Sarna’s Classic Grill
763-789-3939
http://sarnas-classic-grill.com/