Latest news with #Nupa
Business Journals
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Maple Grove's Arbor Lakes Nupa Mediterranean Grill restaurant
After 16 years of success in Rochester, Nupa Mediterranean Grill is trying its luck in Maple Grove. Story Highlights Nupa Mediterranean Grill opens third location in Maple Grove. Restaurant has been in Rochester for 16 years. Nupa's menu features classic Mediterranean dishes made in-house. A Mediterranean restaurant is making its Twin Cities debut in Maple Grove 16 years after building a name for itself in Rochester, Minnesota. Nupa Mediterranean Grill is set to open next week at 11850 Elm Creek Blvd., suite 104 near the Village at Arbor Lakes shopping center. It's the restaurant's third location, building on two spots in Rochester that opened in 2009 and 2012, according to the Rochester Post Bulletin. 'We are finally coming to the Twin Cities metro! This has always been a dream of ours and we are beyond excited to serve you some of Rochester's best!' the restaurant wrote on Facebook in February. Nupa will be sharing a newly constructed building with a Starbucks location just off Hemlock Lane North. The team has been working on the project for eight months, co-owner Theodore Paizis told the City Council this week. The council gave the restaurant approval to sell wine and 3.2% beer. Nupa's online menu features classic Mediterranean fare: gyros and other pita sandwiches, hummus and spicy feta, Greek salad, meat plates, and desserts like baklava and tiramisu. All of the restaurant's sauces, dressings, soups and breadings are made in-house. The falafel is also handmade and the fries are fresh cut, according to a post from Nupa. The area has been home to a ton of restaurant activity recently. Nupa will share a parking lot with Grackle, a scratch American restaurant that took over the former Wahlburger's restaurant location when it opened late last year. At Rojo Mexican Grill, just across Elm Creek Boulevard, the once-venerated chain Chi-Chi's is planning its comeback ahead of a national revival. Also nearby, Northern Taphouse is taking over a former Red Lobster building. Further west, Maple Grove got its first Korean barbecue and hot pot joint with the recent opening of KPot Korean BBQ & Hot Pot.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICE agents arrest workers in parking lot, Rochester restaurant says
The Brief ICE agents arrested two employees on Wednesday, Nupa restaurant said in a social media post. The arrests prompted the restaurant to close indefinitely. The arrests triggered a protest in downtown Rochester on Thursday. ROCHESTER, Minn. (FOX 9) - Nupa Mediterranean Grill in Rochester shut down one of its two locations on Wednesday after it said federal agents arrested two of its employees in the parking lot. The backstory In a post on Facebook, Nupa Mediterranean Grill said, in part: "Unfortunately, we had two brothers working that may have been working under false documentation. From our understanding, ICE never asked for any documentation and arrested them in the parking lot." The arrests spawned a protest involving a couple dozen people in downtown Rochester on Thursday morning. It is unclear how long the restaurant will remain closed. It said in a social media post that the brothers worked a lot of hours, and they did not have anyone to replace them. What they're saying COPAL MN, a nonprofit organization that helps Latine families, organized the rally. It said the arrests have ignited a sense of unease in the immigrant community. "They are receiving calls from the community, saying that ICE is present in some places in Rochester," said David Perdomo, a community organizer who planned the rally. "There is a feeling of fear in our community – fear of being detained or someone that they love being detained and left alone…." Big picture view The Trump administration has launched large-scale deportations of undocumented immigrants nationwide. It is unclear how many arrests have been made since President Donald Trump took office. In January, officials said agents averaged nearly 800 arrests per day. The owner of the restaurant could not be reached for comment. ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
CBS News
14-02-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
ICE detainments shake Rochester restaurant and larger community
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Federal immigration officials are in Minnesota this week and WCCO has learned of at least two men who were detained in Rochester. Ted Paizis, the owner of the restaurant Nupa, says Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials detained two of his cooks in Nupa's parking lot when they arrived at work Wednesday morning. The restaurant was closed Thursday, with only the second location open. "You lose a couple employees, it really affects the operation," Paizis said. "They became part of our family, and they're going to be missed. It's saddening it happened this way." He says the cooks are brothers who may have been working under false documentation. "They were working, paying their taxes, paid Social Security, Medicare," Paizis said. "No criminal records that we know of." In response to the detainments, and all immigration enforcement activities in the city, protesters braved subzero wind chills downtown. "We're gathering to make sure that ICE knows they're not welcome here and Rochester's a place of love and support," said Ryan Perez of COPAL Minnesota, a nonprofit dedicated to helping Latino communities. One of the protesters, Pablo Sgaki, was a U.S. citizen born in Mexico. "I myself, as an immigrant before, knows what it's like to live in fear sometimes," he said. "America is immigrants. Look at our forefathers. We were founded based on an immigrant foundation." Perez and other protest organizers are working to get in contact with the detained Nupa employees to support them. "It's a very sad and frustrating thing, and it's a time for action," he said. Rochester police say they were made aware of ICE operations in the city but did not assist. Paizis says between the rally and social media comments, the support from the community has been remarkable during what he says is a time of mourning for the Nupa family. Rochester Mayor Kim Norton told WCCO the detainments are "hard to swallow." She says many of the city's immigrants have lived and worked there for years without so much as a parking ticket.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Yahoo
Rochester restaurant closes temporarily after ICE detains two of its workers
An alleged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on Feb. 12 has left a Rochester restaurant temporarily shuttered. Nupá, a Greek restaurant with two locations in Rochester, wrote on social media that two brothers who worked in the restaurant and "accounted for many of our man hours" were detained during a Wednesday morning raid in the restaurant's parking lot. The update from Nupá speculates that the brothers "may have been working under false documentation," but alleges that ICE did not ask for any documentation before making the arrest. Representatives for ICE did not respond to a request for comment. Rochester Police Department spokesperson Amanda Grayson tells Bring Me The News that the RPD is aware of ICE raids taking place in the city but that the department is not involved in the operations. The restaurant has temporarily closed its location on Civic Center Drive as it "navigate[s] staffing issues." Responses to the post were largely supportive, with patrons asking how they could help the restaurant and detained community members. However, the restaurant posted a follow-up comment asking commenters to refrain from negative replies. "Whether you approve or not of what and how things went down today, we are mourning the loss of Nupa family and the devastating impact it has on our small business," Nupá wrote. "BE KIND! To us, our employees and each other. Hate is not bred here on our page." Nupá did not respond to a request for further comment.
