MILWAUKEE — Rick Grubanowitch usually starts his days the same way. He comes into Cudahy's Pancake House when they open at 7 a.m., sits in the same stool, and orders the same thing.
"It is uno, uno. One egg, one piece of bacon," Grubanowitch said. "That's what I have every morning with them, and they know it."
He always sits next to his friend Dennis 'Big D' Besler, drinking coffee and having a good conversation.
Next week, his routine will be flipped. Starting on Monday, the owners of the pancake house, Ricky Moreno and Alicia Aguilar-Gomez, won't be running the restaurant.
After running the popular breakfast spot for a decade, they'll be selling to another owner. They hope selling will free up time for them to focus more on their family life.
"It was a dream," Moreno told TMJ4. " As soon as I got to the United States, I wanted to do my own business. Twenty-two years later, I made it."
For the community, it's about more than the delicious food. Just ask Big D.
Watch: Customers enjoy the last few days as Cudahy's Pancake House changes ownership
"A couple of years ago me my wife and came down with COVID," Besler recalled. "So we stopped coming in. They called up and said, 'Why are you not coming in?' 'Well, we got COVID can't leave the house.' They brought food right over to the house and left it right on the porch."
Besler wasn't the only one. During the pandemic, they gave out hundreds of meals to people in the community. That action earned them the key to the City of St. Francis.
Besler and Grubanowitch said anyone who comes in the door is treated as family, which is what makes the transition so difficult.
For those who love food, Moreno says the recipes and the cook will remain the same. The regulars hope they don't lose the most important part—the family-style atmosphere the restaurant brings.
"It's not our customers," Aguilar-Gomez said. "It's our family."
Moreno and Aguilar-Gomez's last day is Sunday, March 30. The new owners hope to open the restaurant seven days a week.
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