We have amazing customers, we really do. I know everyone says that, but we have people in here every day who have supported us from day one—and they’re still coming in.
Lisa Passinault – Morningstar Cafe
“My husband, Will, and I lived in Arizona with our kids, when things started to happen. He got laid off. My mom was sick. And that’s when we started thinking about moving back to the Midwest.
He always wanted to open a sports bar, but I was not so keen on the idea. I didn’t really have any intention of doing this, either: my training is in social work. It was my job in Arizona that brought us to Grand Haven, and then Will started looking for places to open a restaurant. He had been working in a breakfast restaurant in Arizona, where he kind of got the breakfast bug, and then we found this place.
They had been closed for maybe a year or so before we got interested in it. It was a risky idea, and no one recommended opening a restaurant. There wasn’t anyone that said, ‘What a great idea!’ and that was kind of daunting, but we did it anyway, and this will be our 28th year.
Even though I’m running a restaurant, I do social work every day of my life. In social work, I learned a systems approach: how one system builds on another, and to make a successful place, all systems have to function and work together. So I think that has, and it’s kind of my personality. I just, I like people to be happy and get along, and I love serving great food, you know?
“We have amazing customers, we really do. I know everyone says that, but we have people in here every day who have supported us from day one—and they’re still coming in. It’s nice to see little babies grow up to work for me, and it’s fun to hear people say things like, ‘Whenever my kids come back from college, this is the first place they want to come.’ That’s a huge compliment, for sure.”
