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The Victoria

GAZETTE

by Sue Orsen

         The blue dog showed up at the front door of the Victoria Bar and Grill back in 2008 and he's been there ever since.  Conceived on a transatlantic voyage, he was raised on brew and burgers and when he arrived at the Victoria Bar and Grill, he felt right to home.  As he spent more time hanging around the place, he came to think of it as his own.  Even the employees and the patrons came to calling it Vic's Bar and Grill.

         The real owners of Vic's Bar and Grill are Mike Meents and Brenda Hovander, a husband and wife team since 2003.  The place came to them when it was called Schmitty's Tavern but they never envisioned running it themselves. 

         "I had no experience with the food and  beverage business," said Brenda.  "I buy investment properties in the metro area.  My college degree is in architecture."

         "We were naive," said Mike.  "But I bartended to put myself through college so I guess you could say I came full circle.  I had just retired from Wells Fargo."

         To put it succinctly, Mike and Brenda got the bar back because the mortgage was not being paid.  "We talked about shutting it down," said Mike, "but Brenda said, ‘How hard can it be to run a bar?’  So we re-invented ourselves.  You have to re-invent yourself on a regular basis."

         Mike and Brenda live in Minnetonka but they're in Victoria practically every day.  They are hands-on managers as well as the owners.  Their staff at Vic's includes twelve part time employees.  "We have a fabulous staff," said Brenda.  "They are a tremendous team.  I can't say enough good things about them.”

***

         Mike was born to Ed and Connie Meents and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, where his dad worked for Minnegasco.  "The more successful he became, the further north we moved until we got to Minneapolis, which is the headquarters for Minnegasco," said Mike. 

         After graduation from Lincoln High School in 1966, Mike attended the University of South Dakota, located at Vermillion, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in History and his MBA in Finance.  His career centered on finance and commercial real estate.  "I financed commercial real estate like shopping centers, office buildings, and apartment buildings," he explained.

         Brenda was born to Philip and Davey Hovander of Hopkins.  Her parents were the owners of Hovander Foods, a landmark in Hopkins.  "My dad just died on April 30th," said Brenda, still emotional at the mention of it.  "My grandfather started Hovander Foods in 1894.  My dad died the day I left for my son's wedding in Romania.  It was not an easy situation."

         After graduation from Hopkins High School, Brenda attended Arizona State University, located in Tempe, and received her Bachelor's degree in Architecture.  "She was the first female ever to graduate from ASU in Architecture," Mike said. 

         Mike has two children, Matt and Claudia.  Brenda has two children, Lindsay and Blake.  "We call our children the United Nations," smiled Brenda.  "Blake married a girl from Romania, Lindsay married a man born in Turkey, Claudia married a Brit, and Matt married a girl from Perham, Minnesota."

         As for Mike and Brenda, they were married at Goodfellows Restaurant in downtown Minneapolis on February 22nd, 2003.  "We invited our children and nobody else," said Brenda.  "It was a surprise to everyone.”

 

Click here to continue Blue Dog.

 

July 2011