Alex Ohly

Michael Patterson owns three of Oxford, Ohio’s favorite restaurants- Patterson’s Café, Paesanos Pasta House and Cru Wine Bar. Yet many may not know who Michael Patterson is and the story behind some of the best restaurants in Oxford.

Patterson's Map

Patterson moved his family from Princeton, New Jersey to Cincinnati, Ohio to work for Clear Channel Communications. After quickly learning that this was not the path he intended, Patterson up and moved his family to Oxford, Ohio and purchased what was known as the “Uptown Café” in November 2003, where Morning Sun Café is now located.

The Uptown Café started out as a bakery and breakfast place. This was a place that held only about 25 seats at the time. In 2008, Patterson moved the business to Stewart Square where it is located now and named it “Patterson’s Café.” Here, they went from 25 seats to over 90 seats. The business flourished and is still known to many as “the best breakfast in town.”

“No one does breakfast like Patterson’s does. Why else would people wait over an hour every weekend morning to have it?” senior Alexa Kentfield said. “This restaurant is what I will miss most when I graduate.”

Patterson agreed that Patterson’s Café has been the key to his success. “I think in a college town, you need to put together a product that lures college students in. You need to get them to participate. We clearly have that at Patterson’s,” he said.

In November 2003, Patterson decided to open Paesanos Pasta House, located on South Campus Avenue. Patterson said there was a struggle for a good Italian restaurant in town.

“We started out with three partners at Paesanos. I said to these guys I’ve got a new idea for a restaurant. So, 11 months later, we opened up Paesanos.”

Patterson said that Patterson’s and Paesanos bring in the same type of crowd, and said that 80% of his customers come from the university-students, professors, staff, and parents. He prides his success on location and consistency.

“We’re consistent, we take care of the food, and we are very particular about how we do things. We also have the parking that High Street can’t offer,” Patterson said.

In October 2013, Patterson decided to open Cru Wine Bar, right next to Patterson’s Café in Stewart Square. The location contributed greatly to the decision to open the wine bar, because of the ability to extend the liquor license and kitchen between the two facilities. Patterson also shared that his love for wine was a reason he decided to open Cru. “I like wine, I drink too much wine,” he said.

Cru Wine Bar has not been the most successful to the college crowd that Patterson had hoped. He had the intention of creating an upper-scale feel that he does not believe is resonating with the college students.

“I’m not doing dollar Natty Lights and Jager Bombs. But that’s not the atmosphere I want to create,” he said.

Yet, Cru does bring in its own type of crowd. Patterson said many people like to come in for a casual drink after work, or have used Cru as a date night spot.

The wine bar scene is not lost on all college students. Senior Allison Groner said, “I enjoy Cru. It’s different than everything else that Oxford has to offer on High Street, which is a nice change for me and my group of friends.”

Patterson is content with the types of restaurants he owns and does not have plans of opening another. The customers he currently has is the gratification he was looking for.

“Running three is enough,” he said. “I don’t want to be a bar owner. I offer three different concepts that I think people enjoy. Sometimes I even see people at all three places in one day.”

Patterson also knows that he wants to covet the only free time he has. Owning three restaurants in a college town is a 7 days a week job with long hours.

“I get up by 4 a.m. every day and don’t return home until around 11 p.m. I’m trying to start getting out earlier to be home with my family.”

Along with being in charge of three successful businesses, Patterson has a family and has three children under the age of 15. When asked what a perfect day would entail if he didn’t have to work, he said “I would be sitting at a beach, eating a bagel and reading the NY times.”