Santa Clarita resident and long-time contributor to the community, Greg Morin, is set to retire after 50 years in the restaurant and foodservice business, most recently spending the last five years as the General Manager of Presto Pasta in Valencia. 

Since 1972, shortly after the opening of Six Flags Magic Mountain, Morin has been one of the beloved friendly faces in the Santa Clarita Valley, according to Presto Pasta officials.  

“After many years, Morin is ready to move into a semi-retirement phase, leaving behind the hustle and bustle of restaurant management at Presto Pasta in Valencia,” read a Monday statement from the restaurant. 

Morin spent 45 years rising through the ranks of Marie Callender, starting off as a cook when he was 15. He hit a small speed bump when he was demoted to dishwasher, but spent the following years flying through the ranks and earning promotion after promotion. Morin did management stints for Marie Callender in Northridge, Ventura, and finally Valencia, bringing him to Santa Clarita. 

After Marie Callender was sold to Ramada Inn in 1986, the owner also sold Morin the Valencia franchise location. Morin managed the Valencia franchise as General Partner until 2007, when he began to manage Marie Callender’s Camarillo, officials said.  

With 10 years between Valencia and Camarillo, Morin then moved on to help open and manage Valencia’s Presto Pasta in 2017 for co-owners Jeff and Ken Schuberg.

Presto Pasta is “everything Morin loves about the business, being a community-oriented, family-owned, and growing business with a creative idea and high-quality food,” officials said.
Morin loves the fast-casual service style of Presto Pasta, saying it is like “a piece of cake” compared to his days at Marie Callender. 

Morin’s ties with the Schuberg family go way back to Morin’s days in Marie Callender where he worked with Jeff and Ken’s uncle. Saying yes to helping the Schubergs open a new restaurant was an easy decision for him. 

Morin has loved seeing the familiar faces of Santa Clarita come through Presto Pasta, including some old coworkers and employees from back in his Marie Callender days, he said. Morin even now works at Presto Pasta with the son of a former employee at the Marie Callender’s location he managed for many years. 

Morin has become a seasoned professional in the restaurant business, observing all the ways it has changed over the years. He has witnessed the transformation of the business, people’s expectations, and what is required of restaurants these days, including how to successfully adapt and embrace these changes.

“While many restaurants despise review sites like Yelp, at Presto Pasta, they pay close attention to every single review they get, as they can glean valuable input  and feedback that they wouldn’t otherwise receive,”  read the official statement. 

Half a century after Morin’s journey began at Marie Callender as a kitchen boy, followed by his time in the restaurant management business, Morin is ready to move into semi-retirement.

While he will miss the free food, Morin says what he will miss most is the hiring, training, and watching the growth of young employees just stepping into the workforce. While he will no longer be able to shepherd the younglings into being equipped professionals, Morin looks forward to retirement and running into them later in life.

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