After 10 years, Lakes On 1st is changing owner but the Bode clan that started the business are staying on to help. Mike Bode, founder of the restaurant sold owner of Lakes On 1st to Brandon Roiger. Roiger will officially take over the business on May 1. From left to right, Mike Bode, Chelsey Stevensen and Lois Bode.

NEW ULM – For over 10 years, Lakes on 1st has been owned and operated by the Bode family. Starting Friday, the Bode clan will continue to work at the restaurant, but with a new owner, Brandon Roiger.

“It’s a little bittersweet, but it is a good feeling too,” said Mike Bode, the founder and owner of the restaurant for the last 10 years. “[Roiger] is going to take care of it. He’s not changing the name and I’ll still be helping him.”

Mike Bode said he has no plans to fully retire. He still wants to help work at the diner he began in 2015.

“I always wanted to be a cook,” Mike Bode said.

Before opening the diner, he had always enjoyed helping people cook ahead of big events like graduations. He had been working at 3M when the opportunity came up to buy a building on 1st N. Street and he took the opportunity to follow his dream of cooking.

From the beginning, it was a family operation. Mike Bode’s wife, Lois, and his daughter, Chelsey Stevensen, have worked at Lake’s on 1st since day one and will also continue to work in the diner, even with the change in ownership.

Stevensen said her son, Laken Stevensen – for whom the restaurant is named – has also worked in the restaurant as a dishwasher.

Chelsey Stevensen said even though Roiger will take over ownership, he has given the Bode family reassurances that they will always be part of the restaurant.

She said that earlier this week, she began working on the May schedule, but stopped, unsure if she should keep doing it. She was told to continue working as usual.

“The idea is to keep it running like a family restaurant,” Stevensen said.

Though Brandon Roiger will be the new owner, his wife, Melissa Roiger has been a longtime employee of Lakes on 1st. She was one of the first employees at the restaurant.

“Melissa knows everything about my restaurant,” Mike Bode said. “That will be really handy for Brandon.”

Looking back on his time running the business, Mike Bode said one of the biggest changes he made to the restaurant was the schedule. When Lakes on 1st opened, the diner was operated seven days a week and even had a dinner shift. On Friday and Saturday, they offered steak, shrimp and pork chop.

“It was like a steakhouse in the evening,” Chelsey Stevensen said.

However, it became harder to keep up that schedule and Lakes on 1st turned into a breakfast and lunch place. The menu has changed over the decades, with certain items coming and going.

Stevensen said the sandwiches have stayed consistent, but some of the appetizers have been swapped out.

Mike Bode said the weekend shifts are busiest, but Monday’s are also busy for burger night.

Lakes on 1st is closed on Tuesday as it was their slowest day. The Bodes used Tuesday for additional prep-time for the rest of the week. Mike Bode is generally at the restaurant seven days a week, but he has no complaints about the work schedule. He loves the job.

“It gives you a good feeling when someone comes in and comes back as a repeat customer,” he said. With the regulars, Bode typically knows what they want before they order.

“It is super fun to see the number of people referred to us from other establishments when they are out shopping,” Stevensen said. “All the festivals bring tons of people into New Ulm.”

In the decade since the diner opened, the most challenging time was during the COVID pandemic, when everything had to shutdown in the spring of 2020.

Lakes on 1st was able to make it through the pandemic by offering delivery. Bode said some family and friends stepped in as delivery people, bringing food directly to customers. During this time, they never charged for delivery, just the cost of the meal.

“They were all friends of my parents, of our family, of ours who were willing to step up,” Stevensen said.

Mike Bode said with COVID behind them, they no longer offer delivery, but will occasionally deliver to the staff of local restaurants and bars. Mike Bode said there is a lot of camaraderie with the other downtown businesses.

“We work together,” he said. “You have to work together to keep a small town business going.”

He said when Lakes runs out of something, other businesses have been happy to help. The assistance goes both ways.

Bode said he recently ordered some extra coleslaw for Joni’s Restaurant because their supply truck was not coming in later in the week.

The Bodes said the most challenging part of running the restaurant was staffing, but said for the last six years it has not been a problem. They have a solid team of employees that will remain with the diner.

Stevensen said the employees all share a chat group, so if one of them can’t work a shift, someone else is quick to pick it up.

“There is a lot of teamwork here,” Stevensen said.

Mike Bode said the best part of the business is the people, both those he has worked with and those who come into it.

“I’ve made a lot of good friends over the year,” he said.

The good news he will not have to say goodbye to any of these friends since he still plans to work at the restaurant, stepping in to help where needed.

Asked about their favorite memories of running the restaurant, Lois Bode said she would never forget the County Fairs. Lakes on 1st has typically provided catering for the bands playing at the fairgrounds.

A signed Sawyer Brown poster hangs on the wall near the kitchen. Stevensen said Sawyer Brown actually promoted Lakes on 1st during their show.

Stevensen said one of her favorite moments was when, early on, her grandfather Willard Bode came in for breakfast. At that time, she and her dad were working behind the counter, but her son Laken was also there.

“Four generations eating breakfast together,” she said. “That’s a core memory of all four of us.”