Pat Beimborn and Craig Galloway, owners of Los Banditos East and West restaurants, were honored as Outstanding Restaurateurs of the Year (OROY) at the Wisconsin Restaurant Association's Green Bay Chapter meeting on January 28 at the Rock Garden Supper Club.

Fellow members of the Green Bay Chapter named Beimborn and Galloway the OROY winners. The award is given based on success in business, dedication and service to the restaurant industry and community service. The Green Bay Chapter is made up of Shawano and Brown counties.

Veterans of the foodservice industry, Beimborn and Galloway have run Los Banditos as business partners for the past 23 years. Surprisingly, they did not know each other before becoming partners and opening what would become two very successful Mexican restaurants. Today the restaurants employ approximately 100 people.

Members of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, Beimborn and Galloway have been involved in the WRA's Annual Golf Outing, and promote the food service industry by supporting the WRA's Education Foundation and Political Action Committee.

Strong believers in community service, Beimborn and Galloway are involved with or support a multitude of organizations, including the American Cancer Society, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Green Bay's Olde Main Street Association, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the March of Dimes, The Red Cross, Special Olympics, Take Back the Night, the V.F.W., and the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A., among others. They have also sponsored a successful golf outing, proceeds from which were donated to families of children with cancer.

Over the years, Los Banditos restaurants have been voted "Best Mexican Restaurant," "Best Ethnic Restaurant" and "Best Margarita" in Green Bay according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and News Chronicle newspaper polls. The restaurant is also listed as a top Mexican-dining establishment in "The Very Best Restaurants and Where to Find Them." In 2002, N.E.W. Kids magazine named Los Banditos "Favorite Mexican Restaurant" in the Family Favorite Awards.

Pat Beimborn and his wife Diane live in Green Bay and have one child. Craig Galloway lives in Green Bay with his wife Linda and their two children.

WRA represents a broad range of more than 7,000 foodservice operations and is dedicated to promoting and improving the restaurant industry. For more information, please visit www.wirestaurant.org.

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