 |
|
History
|
Y Steak House History
It was Christmas Eve 1945 when Elmer Young, his wife Eva and daughter Gail drove into Minneapolis, in their 1932 green Buick, en route from Florida to their home territory of Park Rapids. Elmer was drafted at the age of 33 to serve his country in the U.S. army and was stationed in Florida. His assignment was chief chef at Camp Blanding, a position that he took great pride in.
One of Elmer’s very best friends was his brother-in-law, Clarence Egan and it was to their home that the Young’s returned. Eva and Elmer had both grown up in Green Valley where their parents had farmed. They had operated a business in Wolf Lake prior to the war, so it was natural to want to return to the area. As a home coming gift, Clarence and his wife Ethel, gave the property on which the “Y” Steak House now stands to Elmer and Eva. The following spring, the land was cleared (by hand mostly) and ground broken for the new restaurant business, one of the very first in the community. Most building supplies were extremely difficult to come by.
Opening day was July 4, 1946. Elmer traveled to all neighboring towns to buy the steaks and other foods, as they also were scarce and difficult to find. Elmer was in the kitchen with his chef’s hat on. Eva looked so pretty in her new white waitress uniform. Lila Kyllonen, Elmer’s little sister, and Auntie Edna was there to help in the dining room. Uncle Hugo was doing his best to peel potatoes and cut French fries, one potato at a time. No amount of preparation would have been enough because the people came from miles around, willing to stand in line for a table. It must have been 90 degrees and the dishes were stacked up floor to ceiling.
Pop and coffee were $.05 cents, French fries were $.15, Hamburgers $.25, Vegetable hamburger $.35, ¼ chicken dinner $1.25, Menus were typed.
Business operations improved and continued to be a family affair. Grandma Young helped out making toast, scraping off burnt portions, more often than not, due to a faulty, and very slow toaster. Niece Vera Niemila helped in the kitchen; in addition to room and board, she earned $7.00/week. A nephew, Buddy Kyllonen was also a kitchen general helper. By age 8, Gail was responsible for peeling potatoes and washing dishes. A son, A. Timothy was born to Eva and Elmer in 1948. By age 12, Gail was getting a feeling for waitressing for which she assumed full responsibility the following year. With relief in the dining room, Eva moved to the kitchen to assist Elmer, ultimately becoming first cook. Elmer took over the salad preparation and designed the individual relish tray salad that has always been the steak house’s signature feature. Annually, Elmer canned hundreds of quarts of dill pickles, sweet pickles, banana peppers (with green tomatoes), pickled beets and relish. These, along with a crisp wedge of lettuce and fresh vegetables, combined to create a salad that drew rave reviews from the patrons. In addition, all salad dressings, tartar and bar-b-que sauces were home made from secret exclusive recipes.
Tim, at age five, was assigned the job of peeling potatoes. Before he was allowed to go swimming or fishing, the daily task had to be completed. He would learn to recruit pals Larry McStotts, Dennis Cheney and Dick Callen, with the allure of pop or ice cream, to expedite the job. Working his way up to bus boy/dishwasher in 1956, and salad preparation in 1958. Tim began his career as a waiter in 1959 at age eleven.
Elmer passed away in 1969. Tim, although attending college, returned each summer to help “mom”. Upon completing college in 1972, he returned home for good. A year later he took the helm and oversaw the major remodeling and expansion.
In 1977 Tim married Teresa Ripley and three years later, Peter Timothy was born. “Pete” has now worked at the Steak House for ten years and is taking over much of the managerial responsibilities.
To this day, we pride ourselves in our unique salad, our homemade dressings and sauces, our special batters & breading and the fact that our steaks are well aged, never frozen, and hand cut and trimmed each day. |
|
|
