Tracker Pixel for Entry

Minnesota Lakes Area Features Great Eateries

All About Food | June 14th, 2023

By Rick Gion

rickgion@gmail.com

The clever new tourism campaign slogan for Minnesota’s Otter Tail County is “find your inner otter.” Well, that otter better be hungry.

In addition to nearly 1,000 lakes, Otter Tail County is home to many great bars, cafes and restaurants. It’s fun to take a day trip and visit different establishments there. Yes, you could do a Zorbaz tour, and that would be zuper, but there’s definitely more to explore.

Located just north of the Silent Lakes on county Highway 41, Blackboard features casual fine dining. The restaurant is unique and operates in an old school house.

The menu at Blackboard features souped-up local favorites and craft cocktails. I mostly think of Blackboard as a supper spot, but they’ve recently announced a lunch menu for Saturdays and Sundays.

During warmer months, there is seating on the back patio. Most of the patio is screened in, so those pesky skeeters won’t make a meal out of you.

The food and drinks served at Blackboard would also be at home at a restaurant in Downtown Fargo. The eatery has had a number of big name chefs from the metro area grace the kitchen there. That skill, creativity and unique atmosphere make Blackboard a special place in the lakes area.

I next need to profess my love for Taqueria Chavez in Pelican Rapids. It’s just off of Highway 59 as you come into town. For quick-dining Mexican food, it’s just as good as any in Fargo-Moorhead. It’s actually better than most here. I make it a point to stop at Taqueria Chavez on my way to Maplewood State Park, or on my way home from a day of fishing, or with any excuse I can come up with.

My favorite plates at Taqueria Chavez include the birria tacos, chicken sopes, tacos al pastor, and the tortas. Those sandwiches are as large as my head. And, be sure to order a Jarritos soda pop with your meal.

Taqueria Escobar is another Mexican restaurant right down the road and is located in downtown Pelican Rapids. It’s also quite good, but does not take the top spot for best Mexican food in that town.

A short drive to the south, the big city of Fergus Falls features a great brunch restaurant called TOAST. It’s seriously good and is a crowd favorite of the Fargo-Moorhead Eats Facebook group. TOAST is self-described as “Scandinavian fusion.” I’d describe it as just plain delicious.

TOAST features many items with, well, a thick piece of toast, but also offers tasty omelets, Swedish pancakes and waffles. The plates at TOAST include fresh ingredients and look like works of art. Don’t forget - they also serve great coffee. It’s the jolt you need if you next go for a hike at Glendalough State Park near Battle Lake - that’s a subtle hint.

Speaking of coffee, TOAST uses beans from Stumbeano’s, which is a coffee roaster located in Fergus Falls. Very close to Stumbeano’s is Falls Baking Company, which specializes in making artisan breads. And, if you don’t know, TC Chocolate or now Sted Chocolate, is located in Fergus. There are also two good Mexican restaurants in Fergus, and who can forget Mabel Murphy’s and the Viking Cafe? The food scene in Fergus Falls is impressive for a community with a population of around 14,000.

Just so you know, the same folks that run TOAST also operate Union Avenue Bar & Eatery. It’s actually right next door. Union Avenue was a brew and pizza pub a few years ago, but the mission has changed a bit. It’s no longer a brewery, and the new version features handmade pasta dishes and woodfired gourmet pizzas. The bartenders there make excellent craft cocktails, too.

Just northeast of Vergas, Minn., on County Highway 4, is Spanky’s Stone Hearth. It’s probably one of the last lakes area supper club-type restaurants left in the area. It’s a classic in that sense, but the menu there keeps up with a lot of the latest food and wine trends. The menu features fish, steak and chops, but also includes items with a big city flair.

Spanky’s overlooks Rose Lake and the view is scenic. The drive there from the metro is also scenic once you hit Lake Lida on Highway 4.

That sums up a quick food tour of Minnesota’s Otter Tail County. However, I also wrote this column for sentimental reasons so you’ll have to read on a bit more here.

When I was really young, my grandparents owned a small place on Lake Lida. I spent a lot of hot summer days in Otter Tail County. The jingle of the old Pelican Rapids TV ad from the 1980s will forever be stuck in my head - “Pelican Rapids sure can make you feel at home.” It still does, actually.

During that early time of my life, I remember going to cafes in Pelican Rapids after church and to the Pelican Supper Club just off of Otter Tail County Highway 4 sometimes for dinner. All of those places are now closed, but the good memories are still there.

There are new memories to make, and I’m looking forward to trying out additional eateries in Minnesota lakes country this summer. My inner otter is hungry for more.

YOU SHOULD KNOW

Blackboard is just north of the Silent Lakes on Otter Tail County Highway 41

Taqueria Chavez is just off of Minnesota Highway 59 on the north end of Pelican Rapids, Minn.

TOAST,116 South Union Avenue in downtown Fergus Falls, Minn.

Spanky’s Stone Hearth is northeast of Vergas, Minn., on Otter Tail County Highway 4

____________________

Rick Gion administers a Facebook group called “Fargo-Moorhead Eats” that’s dedicated to the area’s great cooks and cuisine. The page now has nearly 20,000 followers. Check it out, join, and feel free to post items about your local culinary adventures and home cooking. And, while you’re at it, also join the Instagram page!

Recently in:

By Maddie Robinson  maddierobi.mr@gmail.comIn order to get affordable child care for her son, Paulina Erbele has to drive from her work in Gackle,…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comphoto by Logan MacraeAnyone who lives in the Fargo-Moorhead area knows that its yearly weather is a sequence of…

Saturday, December 2, 20231st seating: 3:30pm, 2nd seating: 6pmSons of Norway, 722 2nd Ave N, FargoCelebrate the holidays with a four-course plated sit-down dinner and hosted by the one and only Frode Tilden. “If you love…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comRemember the legacy of the NPL.Last Saturday I had the opportunity to attend the annual meeting and dinner hosted by the Dakota Resource Council in Bismarck. I came in feeling a little defeated,…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comHow Many of Napoleon’s Hats Will Save Planet Earth for Homo Sapiens?Before I get into this week’s subject of why we need to double the number of college majors in English and Humanities if we…

We are looking for 55-gallon plastic food grade barrels, do you have ideas or connections?We use these barrels to teach our resilient yard workshop series including Make Your Own Rain Barrel and Make Your Own Compost Tumbler. If…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.comThe temperatures have dropped and so have the leaves in the Upper Midwest. That means it's now the holiday season. Part of the joy of this special season for me is eating. But first things first.…

Dropkick Murphys Put Music to the Words of Woody GuthrieBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comPhoto by Dave StaubleWith the release of 2022’s “This Machine Still Kills Fascists” and 2023’s “Okemah Rising.” The Dropkick…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com“Saltburn,” the highly anticipated follow-up to “Promising Young Woman” – which earned Oscar gold for Best Original Screenplay – doesn’t quite equal the bite and sting of…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comA trio of Burleigh County artists are making their mark in Wing, North Dakota, to promote local foods and are quite literally painting the town, or at least the newly acquired Wing City Government…

By Eric Dallmanericd@hpr1.comWe recently watched “The PROM” at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, and it was an experience that left a lasting impact on us. The story, a heartwarming yet familiar one, follows a group of Broadway stars…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…

JANUARY 19, 1967– MARCH 8, 2023 Brittney Leigh Goodman, 56, of Fargo, N.D., passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 8, 2023. Brittney was born January 19, 1967, to Ruth Wilson Pollock and Donald Ray Goodman, in Hardinsburg,…

By Faye Seidlerfayeseidler@gmail.com On the first day of the month I ask people to thank a journalist they know or someone who contributes to papers in some meaningful way. When I grew up, my best friend's father was a journalist…