Rising to the occasion: Rochester restaurants serve up thousands of free kids' meals
When Gov. Tim Walz announced Minnesota’s schools would close in response to the Covid-19 pandemic nearly three weeks ago, the minds of Natalie and Sid Victoria, the couple in charge of Victoria’s Ristorante and Wine Bar, went to one place.
“Our first thought was, ‘where are the kids going to eat?’,” said Natalie.
The answer has proven to be a mix of many options. Rochester Public Schools has continued its lunch program at various schools across the district, distributing thousands of meals to students in the past weeks, and local restaurant owners have stepped up to the plate for families that can’t utilize the school’s offerings.
After seeing a friend on social media successfully pull off a free meal program, the Victorias thought: what’s stopping us?
“My husband and I were in the car, and we thought it would be such a great idea for us to do — pasta travels easy, it’s a go-to for kids, and we have a lot of it,” said Natalie. “We threw it out there, and it went viral.”
Victoria’s announced their free meal program in a Facebook post (which garnered over 2,500 shares) on March 15, which brought an influx of families to their doorstep. In the three weeks since the order went into effect, the restaurant estimates between 2,500 and 3,000 free meals have gone into the arms of Rochester kids and their families.
“We just want to make sure we connect with as many hungry bellies as possible,” Natalie said. “That’s our mission, and it’s given us a sense of purpose, 100 percent.”
Inspiring Others
One of the hundreds of thousands of people who saw Victoria’s original Facebook post was Erin Nystrom, one of four people on the team that owns and operates Rochester’s two Potbelly Sandwich Shop franchises. She says the success of Victoria’s free meal program directly inspired her and the rest of the Rochester Potbelly team to start one of their own — and after a quick phone call to corporate, they were given the green light.
“This just seemed like a natural step for us to take,” said Nystrom. “To see what Victoria’s was doing, so generously, it was inspiring. That’s what good work does. It’s infectious.”
Nystrom says over 200 meals have been given out so far at Potbelly’s north location in the 41st Street NW shopping center. The people that have shown up, she says, have been extremely grateful.
“We had a mom pull up with a car full of kids, and she told us she was battling cancer,” Nystrom said. “She said, ‘this means so much to us. Thank you so much,’ and what we didn’t want to do was look at anyone with a raised eyebrow. It’s no questions asked. That was just a genuine endorsement of appreciation.”
Rochester’s business community rallied around both operations, with dozens of people offering their time, money and supplies to keep the operations going. Nystrom said a customer left a $200 check to keep the program funded. Both women said Shorewood Senior Campus donated milk to their programs — Victoria said they received hundreds of pints from the senior living center.
“It’s lovely that people are thinking of us,” said Nystrom. “That’s what it’s all about.”
While neither Victoria nor Nystrom said their restaurants were under immediate threat of closure, both said they foresee tough times in the weeks ahead without an open seating area (both restaurants still offer curbside pickup for paying customers). They also agree on something else - their respective programs won’t stop until the pressing need dies down.
“The mission for us, truly, is to be people-first,” Nystrom said. “We want to be a lever for good. That’s our bread and butter.”
Victoria said she and her team are just doing what they know how to do best: feed the people.
“We want to help people get through this, and really, it’s getting our mind off of things going on in our world,” Victoria said. “Everyone’s got their own fear of this - yours might be different than mine, but everyone has it. Making meals takes that fear off our shoulders for a little bit, and hopefully we’re doing the same thing for someone else.”
Victoria’s and Potbelly aren’t the only restaurants providing free meals to children; here’s a quick rundown of other Rochester restaurants paying it forward. If your restaurant has a similar program and isn’t listed, let us know and we’ll add you.
Newt’s offers free mac and cheese, and their sister operation City Market offers free PB&Js for any hungry kid.
John Hardy’s BBQ has three different meals available for free (mac and cheese, corn dogs, chicken nuggets) — be sure to call ahead. (Limit three per family/day.)
True Smoke BBQ changes up their free kid’s meal offering by the day — check their Facebook for daily offerings. Kids up to 17 years old can get a free meal.
Ask for a manager at Grand Rounds Brewing Company, and they’ll make sure to get your child a free meal.
Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.
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