Ball Park Cafe: A family restaurant

"Come for the garlic fries, stay for the Twins game" could be considered the unofficial motto of the Ball Park Cafe at the Minnesota State Fair, where the seven television sets surrounding its shaded courtyard are always turned on during game time. If the score is close, "the tables are all filled and people really hunker down," said co-owner Dave Theisen. ¶ That's exactly the atmosphere Dave and his brother, Dan, wanted to create when they opened the Ball Park Cafe on Underwood, between Carnes and Dan Patch Avenues, in 1999. As kids, they had worked for their father, Igy, who owned Lendway's Restaurant on University Avenue in St. Paul (now closed), another place where the Twins game was always on and the bar's shuttle bus would routinely run customers over to the Metrodome.

Now their father is the official "fix-it guy" for their Ball Park Cafe. Family members and friends are part of the success of the concession, which has a staff of about 50 part-time employees, including the children of Dave and his wife, Colleen (Brett, 22; Kelsey, 19, and Connor, 16), and Dan's wife, Gina (their son Will is only a year old, but his day will come). Nieces and nephews, friends and even a few former customers from Lendway's also work there.

A deeper relationship

Dan, who is 12 years younger than his brother, got to know his nieces and nephews throughout more than a decade working with them at the Ball Park Cafe. Together they cooked up the cafe's signature garlic fries (they went through eight tons of French fries last year), and its burgers, brat burgers on pretzel buns and rotisserie chicken dinner -- and kept the customers happy.

"I've seen Dave's kids grow up working in this booth. It's been a great opportunity to work with them," he said.

Sharon Theisen, mother to the brothers, has watched over the grandkids during fair shifts when the kids were younger. Now with a 1-year-old back in the family, she'll be at it again.

A collaborative effort

The two brothers claim they have definitely found their groove when it comes to running a food business at the fair. They attribute their work compatibility to their personalities, which vary considerably. And, not so incidentally, because they've aged well together. "We work better together now that we're older," said Dan.

Dave handles staff scheduling and inventory, Dan spends a lot of his time working in the kitchen, but both routinely jump in wherever needed.

In the early years, they were worried about keeping up with the crowds, then 200-plus customers daily at the bar.

So worried, in fact, that neither slept for the first five days of the fair until Colleen intervened and sent them both home.

"She told me I couldn't come back until the next night," said Dave with a laugh.

The sense of community among fair vendors is a big plus, said Dave, recalling the way people pitched in to help each other out when severe storms hit the fairgrounds several years ago, just days before the start of the fair.

"That's really one of the things I love about being out here every year. It's like one big family," said Dan.

The brothers are hoping for a streak of good weather for the fair, much like last year, which Dave said can really make or break business.

"When it's too hot, people don't eat and drink as much. If it's raining, they'll hang in for a while, but then they get to the point where they've had enough," he said.

And if the Twins are on a winning streak, that's even better for business. "The last six years, they've done pretty well when we've been out here," said Dan.

Julie Pfitzinger is a freelance writer in West St. Paul. Have an idea for the Your Family page?E-mail us at tellus@startribune.com with "Your Family" in the subject line.