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Mettler's noting 120 years in business
Mike Lagerquist, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
5 min read
Oct. 1—A downtown Mankato business legacy has quietly transferred from fourth- to fifth-generation ownership, though even longtime customers probably barely noticed.
Mettler's Bar and Restaurant has been a family operation since it was brought to life by Frank Mettler in 1900. And the transfer from the next generation of ownership didn't bring in any new faces.
Nor did it change what has brought customers into Mettler's for decades: hot beef commercial sandwiches and dancers.
"It goes through all the generations," said Mike "Moose" Maes, who has handed ownership over to his son, Daniel. "Frank and my grandpa, my dad and (his brother) Bob were together for a while, and then myself. I bought the bar from my dad (Fritz)."
That was about 20 years ago, he said, going through the generational Rolodex to try to determine the actual date. Working at Mettler's is a tradition that starts early in the Maes family, from the time the boys can wash dishes and bring up glasses, it seems.
There are plenty of hours in the day, so the young boys and young ladies don't always overlap. Though when asked for stories from his youth, Moose opted to plead the Fifth.
"I've been on the payroll since I was 12," said Moose's son Daniel. "Same with (brother) Mikey. We started washing dishes back in the day at $4.25 an hour."
Moose said his current role is to come in as needed. Daniel was more generous, calling him an adviser. Either way, Mettler's is in his blood, and it's become the family's life blood.
Although Moose's memory for dates may be fuzzy, he suggested local historian Gary Pettis to provide a sort of Ancestry.com recount of the Mettler's bar legacy.
Martin and Macklin Mettler immigrated to the U.S. before the Civil War, Pettis reported, eventually finding their way to farming near Eagle Lake. One of their youngest boys was Frank Mettler, born in Minnesota in 1869, who married Mary Lease from St. Clair in 1889.
"Mary was the daughter of German-born John Lease, who ran a saloon and grocery store in Madelia for three years before moving to Mankato, where he owned a liquor establishment on Second Street for over two decades," Pettis wrote.
After a few years away from Mankato, Frank and Mary returned and in 1900 Frank purchased the Bavaria Saloon. Within a few years, he relocated his saloon business to the 100 block of South Front Street, where Mettler's Bar and Restaurant still stands today.
Frank's daughter, Florence, married Emil Maes, Moose's grandfather. That brought together the Mettler and Maes families into what could be the longest-running family business in Mankato.
Florence and Emil had a son, Rene Maes, who was affectionately known as "Fritz," but who lent his name to Mr. Rene's, the longtime location of catered events on South Front Street.
Through the years, the family had to maneuver through local and national saloon regulations, from a limited number of local liquor licenses to Prohibition. In 1914, for example, Frank and two other saloon keepers were summoned before the Mankato City Council on charges they remained open on Sundays, against local regulations.
"At the meeting, a petition with 400 signatures supporting these saloon keepers argued that their punishment was sufficient and (liquor license) revocation was excessive," Pettis reported.
Then as now — long before strippers took the stage in the 1960s — the real draw for Mettler's was the hot beef commercial sandwiches. Some other things have come and gone through the years.
"Throughout the years, it was just the hot beefs. You know, the hot beef sandwich on the plate," Moose said. The name "commercial" came from the fact that it was a working man's lunch — especially railroad workers. Everything on one plate, though at first, it was served on paper, he said. "And that was basically the gist of the whole thing. Prohibition and then the hot beefs. And then Vikings training camp and we brought the dancers in in 1966."
They say the beef comes from whichever source can provide them the quality they seek. While salt and pepper make up the base for the cooking process, further details are kept within the family. "Some of this and some of that," is all Moose will say.
Taystee Bread would provide 15-20 loaves of rye bread a week, another flavor that's distinctive to the Mettler's hot beef. It's always been raw onions, not fried, horseradish, ketchup and beer mustard made on site. The beer mustard surprised even Daniel.
"I never knew that," he said.
"It was always a little secret that we did stuff like that," Moose added.
Mettler's survived urban renewal in the 1970s, which changed the face of the neighborhood, but also made expansion possible. And the downtown Mankato Mall brought workers who made Mettler's their lunchtime destination.
As had been done earlier, curtains were put up to hide the Marian Anderson paintings on the walls of the dance club that were deemed too adult for young eyes. That's when Mr. Rene's was born, bringing a bit of the Las Vegas atmosphere to downtown.
"We always welcome everybody that wants to have a good time," Daniel Maes said. "That's all we care about. You want to have fun, please come in."
The next generation of the Maes family is learning the trade. Mikey Maes has three kids, ages 16, 14 and 12, Daniel said. And his kids are 10 and 8.
"If someone wants to, by all means, take over the business," Daniel said. "Then we go on generation six and we keep going from there."
More could be said, but the history of Mettler's is still being written.
