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We give you an insiders' guide to restaurants in Minnesota lake country, from nachos to filet mignon.

The Bar Harbor on Gull Lake started as a casino in 1938.

In summer, the crowds pour into the Brainerd Lakes, the Minnesota vacation land that's been stomping grounds for millionaires and middle managers alike since the loggers finished up and headed west.

What's it known for? Lakes, of course. And golf.

It's not so known for its restaurants, but that may be because only locals know the best places.

When you're a vacationer, it's hard to find good places to eat. After a busy day on the lake, you'd settle for a burger and a beer — but why not grilled lamb chops Provencal or duck breast with red currant demi-glace?

Luckily for you, the locals now are letting you in on their secrets. It turns out that this popular lakes area has top chefs who could work anywhere but choose to live where others can only vacation — go figure.

Sample sushi in a Prairie-style dining room or lounge in a glittering martini bar; these aren't your grandparents' restaurants. But if you'd rather have walleye or a steak at a 1920s log roadhouse, you can do that, too.

And patios? We know all the good ones.

Here's our irreverent guide to dining in the heart of the Brainerd Lakes, from the city to Nisswa.

For restaurants north of Nisswa, see Dining up north: Pequot to Crosslake and Dining up north: Longville to Walker.

For more about bicycling, golfing and sightseeing in the area, see our other Brainerd Lakes stories.

Brainerd-Baxter

In spite of being the center of population, the Brainerd-Baxter area is not the center of fine dining.

The Washington Street and Minnesota 371 strips are peppered with the usual assortment of fast food, franchised and chain restaurants. The ethnic offerings include El Tequila (218-454-0618) and Pancho and Lefty’s Mexican (218-829-0489), as well as the very nice China Garden Buffet.

For multi-napkin favorites, there is Buffalo Wild Wings and Famous Dave’s in a strip mall. There is also the sporty Grizzly’s Grill featuring fire-grilled options along with a pretty typical casual menu (218-822-3877).

Prairie Bay (218-824-6444) is tucked awkwardly behind the Comfort Inn on the Minnesota 371 strip in Baxter, Brainerd's low-profile twin.

The building has admirers and detractors. The former think it is a beautiful example of a Frank Lloyd Wright-style Prairie design, and the latter think it's a Perkins with attitude.

At the Grand View restaurants, a chef prepares a plate of walleye.

That aside, the star is chef Matt Annand, who once was the local wunderkind and now is an established pro who consistently turns out well-crafted, cutting-edge offerings.

Pick your trend: sushi, tapas, braised pork belly or beef short ribs, duck confit, pizzas and pastas, stuffed sandwiches and burgers, even fish and chips and a quirky tuna-noodle casserole. It’s all there.

The bar and beverage service seems to be a bit of an afterthought, and the parking-lot views take away some of the cachet of the dining experience, but consistent food quality, pretty good service and edgy lunch offerings put Prairie Bay near the top of our list.

A couple of reports have mentioned inconsistency, which may be a result of chef Annand spreading himself across multiple venues (a food truck, bistro and catering). Check the website for frequent special events.

Black Bear Lodge and Saloon (218-828-8400), also on 371 north, features an award-winning log building with a roomy bar on one side, dining room on the other and a prime rib/private dining loft above.

The menu holds no surprises, the service is pleasant, and the bar can be fun during events and on game days. It’s worth a trip to check out the building.

A little farther north, Baxter’s Bar & Grill at Arrowwood Lodge at Brainerd Lakes (218-822-5634) has a diverse menu for locals as well as hotel guests.

In that same neighborhood, occupying the former Famous Dave’s BBQ location, is The Boulder Tap House, which is the definitive All-American Sports Bar. It’s all about wings (20 different kinds), burgers (even more), tap beer (42 that we counted), and TVs (at least 30).

The staff seems upbeat and well-trained, and the locals began swarming in shortly after its summer 2013 opening.

On Washington Street near downtown Brainerd, Northwest Pizza Boardwalk Bread and Bagel (218-825-5000) is worth a mention. It’s a great deli-style place to pop in for a good sandwich on home-baked bread, along with soup or pizza. In 2012, new owners have brought new energy to an already nice lunch option.

Gull Lake

The road around Gull Lake is shaped like the letter “d,” with the straight side being Minnesota 371 and the circle being County Road 77, which loops around the west side of the lake before returning.

The south side of the loop is where you will find the massive Madden’s and Cragun’s resorts. If you like the golf-course scene (see Golfing the Brainerd Lakes), both the Madden’s Classic and Cragun’s Legacy courses have pretty nifty restaurants for daylight dining.

All the way around on the west side of the lake is the place localswill recognize as Kelly’s. Or maybe they won’t. After a couple ofshifts in ownership, Kelly’s is now Jake’s City Grille, an affiliate of the eponymous group of Twin Cities suburban restaurants.

The Jacob brothers, Rob and Tony, are part-time Gull residents who have brought big-city styling and professionalism to this woodsy setting.

The place is spotless and features a dynamite outdoor patio for balmy summer evenings. The menu is diverse-casual, with Asian, Southwestern, Greek, Italian and north-woods (phew!) influences, and the staff is very well-trained. We loved the rosemary roast chicken.

The former Quarterdeck resort on the northwest side of Gull lake has been renovated and now is the LakeShore Lodge. Its new Getaway Summer Bistro on Gull is managed by Prairie Bay veterans Shane Rhuby and Derek Hyatt.

At Freddy's Grill, the patio overlooks The Pines golf course.

Swinging back to the east on the north side of Gull, you will find the venerable Sherwood Forest Tavern (218-963-6155).

It reopened in May 2012 as a pub, with the owners of the Blarney Pub & Grill in Minneapolis moving their team to the north woods. It's a low-energy sort of place, with a nice woodsy patio and a familiar menu.

Another new version of an old favorite is Cowboy’s Restaurant (218-963-6200), occupying the former Matty’s location on the north side of the road. Krista Knudsen, a former Matty’s manager, and her husband, Kevin, a current Zorbaz manager, are the new proprietors.

They have made some minor changes to the building, and they will have to work to reconstruct the magic that was Matty’s.

A bit further east and back on the water is Bar Harbor Supper Club (218-963-2568). Perched on the shore of Gull Lake Narrows, this institution is half Gull Lake summer resident hangout, and half charcoalfine-dining option.

It started as a casino in 1938 and put in a kitchen when gaming was shut down in 1946. The latest version of Bar Harbor was built in 2004, with a nautical theme and summer patio to complement beautiful lakeside views.

New ownership and a costly renovation in 2012 has dramatically upgraded the whole package. If you liked Bar Harbor before, you will love it now.

With steady business year-round, the staff is made up of seasoned dining-room veterans, along with a new and well-trained staff of eager beavers.

Chef P. J. Severson (formerly of Sherwood Forest) is in charge of the spacious new kitchen and has built an interesting yet familiar menu. Our favorite on a recent visit was the bistro steak, which is a classic steak frites with some updates.

There's usually entertainment on summer weekends. If you’re a wine aficionado, you'll enjoy the wine cellar, where you can stash your own bottles or choose from their nice selection.

Almost across the channel from Bar Harbor is Zorbaz pizza and Mexican restaurant (218-963-4790). Zorbaz has a string of lakeside eateries throughout Minnesota, each with local partners who oversee operations.

The food is the traditional burrito-pizza-nacho fare served amid a visual explosion of design elements. There is a roomy patio for lakeside dining and two levels inside to separate the families from the later night crowd. Managing partner Lee Johnson is one of the nicest people in the industry, and that carries through to his staff.

Just up the road is Lost Lake Lodge (218-963-2681), which has been a foodie favorite for many years, establishing a vaunted reputation under previous owners Tim, Cindy and K.C. Moore.

Lost Lake may not be your every-night choice for dinner (unless you are staying there, with dinner included). With an ever-changing fixed-price menu and choices limited to three, four or five courses, it tends to lend itself to special occasions.

The choices are varied, with offerings from bison to boar and gravlax to walleye, and a nice wine selection to accompany your meal choices.

The bread is baked from flour ground in the in-house grist mill and herbs grown in a kitchen garden, so there are plenty of unique touches. Save room for the made-from-scratch desserts.

Like many chef-driven restaurants, the service doesn’t quite reach those same heights, but with a good meal in a lovely room, it really doesn’t have to.

Before reaching 371 on the northeastern leg of 77, you will pass Grand View Lodge on the south and the Pines golf course on the north. Freddy’s Grill at The Pines is a nice lunch-on-the patio place.

On the south, in an unlikely location below the Grand View Conference Center, is Cru (218-963-8756), the latest in a stable of dining options at the resort.

Just north of Brainerd, Iven's on the Bay overlooks North Long Lake.

Cru has a clubby feel, with deep wood accents and a length-of-the-room wine cave. The wines are visible through a glass wall, and your server will be happy to take you on a tour of the temperature-controlled room.

The bad news is that Cru's menu is very limited, with half a dozen offerings in three categories. The good news is that each menu item is a gem, and whether you opt for a grilled romaine salad and small plate of firecracker shrimp, or a large plate, such as the chile-rubbed ribeye, you will be pleased.

The pricing seems very attractive in this setting, but the portions are not large, so you should think about a multi-course experience.

Service can be decent, unless you see your server heading to the wine cave with a large table of guests. The management team seem to watch for the inevitable lapses and is quick to fill in.

Cru reminds us of the 502 at the Chase in Walker, but with better food, and a better room (if you don’t count the lake outside the window of the Chase).

Back on the straight leg of the letter “d” (Minnesota 371), on the southeast side of Gull Lake, is Ernie’s on Gull (218-829-8913). If you find yourself looking for a decent lunch in a perfect lakeside setting, this is your spot.

Near a dead end off Gull Dam Road, Ernie’s has patio seating that is almost on top of the lake, with 10-mile views across the water.

Despite recent changes in the kitchen, there's no reason to expect significant changes in a reasonably sophisticated menu.

Continuing north on 371 is another of our Gull Lake favorites, Iven’s on the Bay (218-829-9872). Overlooking North Long Lake, the current edition of Iven’s was built in 2006 after a February fire totaled the original structure.

In Nisswa, Rafferty's serves pizza on a tree-shaded patio.

The rebuild boasts a flashy martini bar, comfortable dining room and downstairs private dining, all with lake views. Iven was a fish guy, and that was his menu emphasis, but with a change in ownership and a new chef, Tim Anderson, the menu has expanded, and the result is more cutting-edge.

Chef Anderson caught on with John Dayton’s crew, including über-chef Stephen Pyles at top-rated Routh Street Café and Baby Routh in Dallas, and then followed Dayton when he repeated the theme at Goodfellows and Tejas in Minneapolis.

After other metro top jobs, Anderson made a lifestyle decision to ply his talents in the lake country, and the results are terrific.

Walleye remains the star on the menu, but chef specials and theme dinners add to the interest. Iven’s is a consistent award-winner for its wine selections

There are a couple of stinker table locations perched precariously in server paths, so make sure you call for a reservation. And the dining-room management team can be a little crabby, so plan to bring your own fun and enjoy the food.

Nisswa

Nisswa may be the shopping hub of the Gull Lake area, but that doesn’t extend to dining.

Ganley’s is the local breakfast and lunch place, Rafferty’s (218-963-3023) is a top-notch pizza option (along with locations in Crosslake and Brainerd), and the Pickle Factory (known locally as “The Pickle”) is the municipal liquor outlet and local watering hole.

Trip Tips: Dining in Brainerd-Nisswa lakes country

Where to go: In addition to the restaurants listed here, there are dozens of bars with food, so find one with vehicles in the lot that match yours.

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When to go: Most of these restaurants aredramatically seasonal, so the hours, days of operation and reservationpolicies fluctuate. Call before going, or pick up a local “shopper” or weekly newspaper in thearea for the latest updates.

What to wear: Any restaurant in this area isgoing to be casual dress, although there are a few where jeans andT-shirts might be uncomfortable.

Last updated on May 5, 2018

Pike Point Resort is located two miles west of Tenstrike, MN. The first cabin was built in 1923 and was the only resort on Gull Lake for 13 years. Hi and Ada Richardson came from Seattle WA. on June 22, 1922 and remember crawling on their stomachs through the hazel brush and trees just to get a glimpse of the lake. The native Americans at the time called the lake ‘Big Medicine’ because they felt it was good for their health to camp in the summer beside the clear lake.

Every year thereafter they added another new cabin until there was eight. In 1939 they built the lodge that is used today as one of the rental cottages. The Richardson’s cut and planed the lumber themselves for the buildings and the furniture which is used in some of the cabins and the original lodge cabin today along with the modern lodge built some years later. Meals were served at the lodge for as many as 75 guests at one time. Ada and Hi often served the Rotary Club of Bemidji a complete dinner with fresh lemon pie
for 50 cents a plate.

Cabins rented for $ 3 a day which included 3 meals a day and a boat. Minnows were 10 cents a dozen and boat rental was 50 cents a day. Fishing was fabulous in those days as it is today as well.

The Richardson’s would row across the lake to visit their in-laws and pick up a mess of fish . On the way back they would catch enough for their supper The lake was stocked from the Red Lake Hatchery and the Bemidji Hatchery….20 cans were put into the lake each year.

The Richardson’s had their own garden, chickens and cows. Ada canned fruits and vegetables for the farmers she served. Cloth linens were used at the dinner tables and water had to be carried from the lake for washing and cleaning. Food and ice were lowered in o a box in the ground to keep cold until the lodge was built. Then an icebox was built in the lodge for the cold storage. The guests would get down on their knees to get their milk and meats out of the box in the ground.

Mr. Richardson died in 1943 and she remarried Galen Lapp in 1952 and they continued to operate the resort cabins but did not serve meals any longer as she had in the past. The camp was full each year with the cabins having the atmosphere of the ‘good old days’.

Ada and Galen Lapp recalled using the detachable row boat motor by Evinrude. That is what they were called back then. The motor was actually purchased for the resort from the Gibbons Store in Bemidji in the early 1920’s for about $50. Twenty-flat bottom row boats, hand made of pine by Richardson were used at that time.

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Guests always wondered how this tiny 4’11” woman could possibly accomplish all the things she had done during the 50 years she owned the resort and still retain her pep and quick step.

The resort changed hands two other times between 1973 and 1979 until it was purchased by Ron and Joan Yearling. They had their work cut out for them with cabins needing work and updating. They loved the atmosphere of the log style cabins and the lakeshore of 950’ was definitely a reason to own this resort. The Yearlings raised 5 children in the home on the property and continued each year to greet new people coming in and to this day there are some that have been coming to the resort for over 40 years in this year of their first year coming into the resort business they had one reservation to start their summer.

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The newer lodge had been originally built down at the shoreline of the lake. The Yearlings seen that this was not the best place for the lodge and had it physically lifted up the hill and placed on a foundation where it sits today. They created a large kitchen in the lodge and updated bathroom. The log lodge still maintains the original furniture and a magnificent lake rock fireplace. Joan and Ron also had a restaurant in the lodge for their guests to enjoy and it didn’t take long for the word to get out what great cooks they
were and they were serving meals 3 times a day plus running the resort operation. It was just a few years ago that they closed down the restaurant so that they could focus on the great people coming to the resort and their needs.

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January 29, 2010, after Ron’s passing away a couple years earlier, Joan sold the resort to Scott and Sue Springer. Scott and Sue are excited about this great adventure and direction in their lives that God has given them. They are living in the remodeled original home site on the property. They will be waiting for all those wonderful people to arrive for their first season of owning Pike Point Resort and making memories for the years to come. They are planning many updates and building of cabins after purchasing the resort. Fishing, friendships, fun and hunting to the criteria should make
for a great first year.