Most customers who came to Pauline’s Restaurant in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood could spot the cute photo of 4-year-old Pauline Messier on the menu.
The lucky ones met the grown-up Pauline in person.
For the 14 years since Pauline’s opened, the ever-smiling Mrs. Messier and her husband, Ron, have greeted guests at their cozy breakfast cafe to make them feel at home. The friendly atmosphere, along with their famous five-egg omelets, helped make Pauline’s one of the city’s most popular breakfast spots.
“The restaurant was a shared vision, but Pauline wanted everything to be basic, fresh and wholesome,” her husband said. “It was my idea to put her picture on the menu because I thought she always managed to keep that childlike smile.”
Mrs. Messier, 73, who left a career in banking to start the popular restaurant with her husband, died of breast cancer Wednesday, Oct. 13, in her Chicago home, said her husband.
Pauline Panerali was born across the street from where her restaurant would one day open. She attended St. Gregory the Great Catholic High School and Loyola University. After earning her degree, she entered the banking industry, working in the trust department of First National Bank.
In 1971, while volunteering at the Alano Club, she met Ron Messier, who had recently begun working there as a manager. Messier was a recovering alcoholic who had begun getting his life and career back on track. They began dating and married in 1981.
The couple started thinking about opening a restaurant in the 1990s. Messier had some restaurant experience from his summer jobs in the Catskills. The daring Mrs. Messier dipped into her retirement fund to start their dream.
Originally, they decided to name the restaurant Monty’s after one of their beagles. But Ron Messier had a different idea and didn’t tell his wife until just a few days before they opened. He brought her to the restaurant and unveiled the sign that read “Pauline’s.”
“She was really happy,” he said.
While Mrs. Messier was battling cancer, the restaurant was undergoing a $70,000 renovation. Messier said he hopes to keep the restaurant open to honor his wife’s memory.
Mrs. Messier is also survived by her brother, Daniel Panerali.
Services were held.
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