I was in Brainerd for a Farm to Kids Roadshow - with my Renewing the Countryside hat on connecting…read morefarmers to schools for local food sourcing. So I thought I'd check in on one of my favorite chefs Matt Annand (featured in the MN Homegrown cookbook) and sadly Prairie Bay is closed. But he's now running the show at Notch*8. He's still bringing the good stuff - elevated but recognizable supper-club style wedge salad, tender brisket on focaccia with an onion soup jus that was so satisfying. (Literally- I could make a post about the jus) The show stopper? This off menu (but I'm told it could become a regular) desert has no name as of yet - but I'll give you my take... Zabaione takes a trip to the lakes region and cosplays as a roasted marshmallow - falls in love with the local berries and settles down in a house with a view. Make sense? The zabaione had a perfect balance/consistency- but the brûlée at the end was brilliant. I was here "out of season" for local fruit but I know Matt is committed to local sourcing - so an excellent dish will only get better with "in season" fruit. (I'd love to have seen a kernza flour + hazelnut cookie on top - but that may be gilding the lily) great job crew!

We stopped at Notch 8 to check it out. We sat at the bar and Ryan waited on us. We ordered the…read moreDumplings, which were fabulous. Also we ordered the Ahi Tuna Asian Bowl, another delicious meal. I do have to say that Ryan made our experience perfect, he was very helpful with the specials and service! He is a gem!

I just had my daughter's wedding here this past week end. What a FANTASTIC venue!…read moreThis was a perfect place to have her DYI celebration. We were able to create an event that was totally personal. THANK YOU BACK SHED!

From the owner: Introducing... The BackShed!…read more We wanted to bring something bigger & better to Royalton for all of your events, and we are doing just that! We purchased the old Smieja Implement in Royalton and are in the process of transforming the "BackShed" (a 40' x 105' pole shed) into a beautiful venue for all your party needs! We are planning to be open in April, 2023! Contact us by email (thebackshed@yahoo.com) or telephone (320-247-5109) with questions and bookings!

Great What…read moreI was here for 2 nights for work and this spot was great. There was a gym though small, it had the basics. The breakfast also was good for what it was. Environment Off a major road. There are only a couple of floors. The breakfast area was fairly big Niceness of the staff No complains. I was able to get what I needed. Dollar Decently priced Yes I would stay here again yes

We spent the evening at the water park for a birthday party. My family was ready to leave, so we…read moredecided to shower and get changed. Signs were being used to hold both locker room doors open, but there wasn't anyone there saying they were out of use! Because of this, we decided it was okay to use the locker rooms along with the other guests. ​My son and I went to the men's room and had no issues, but my wife and our 5-year-old were not so fortunate. Staff members came in and told them they needed to leave the locker room while they were already in the shower. They made my wife and daughter feel like they had no time to get dressed or even finish washing off the soap. ​They tried to finish, but another staff member started yelling at them, saying they needed to get out immediately. They felt obligated to leave the locker room wearing nothing but their towels. No one told them they could stay to get dressed; they were just told to get out. ​They had to go out into the swimming area and try to use the family area, but it was already occupied. A kind father offered to check the men's locker room--where my son and I were still getting ready--to see if they could finish there. That is when I found out they had kicked my wife and daughter out with nothing but towels on. ​I helped my wife and daughter finish getting dressed, then went to express my concerns about how they handled the situation. I asked to speak to a manager, but one of the staff members threatened to call the police and told me to get out immediately!

We had our wedding ceremony and reception here (Sept 2014) and it was AMAZING. We got married on…read morethe lawn between the barn and the lake, afterwards our guests headed inside for drinks and dinner. We ended our night playing yard games outside and making s'mores around a fire. It was a great time! Larson's Barn has a beautiful dance floor that we used for our first dance. Kathy is very easy to work with, even when we got there late to set-up the day before. There was a frost warning the day before the wedding and Kathy was sure to cover all of the flower beds. The next day although jack frost had come through all of the plants and flowers looked great. Since our entire group was from out of the area we also rented the small cabin and the under the barn apartment for the weekend. It was great for all of the bridesmaids and groomsman to be onsite, less stressful for everyone. We even had a hairstylist come out to the barn to do the girls hair. Everything was very convenient for being in the country of MN.

So many frustrations for my sister's wedding..breakers blowing causing us to have to plug some food…read morein on the stage and other places, no clear place for guests to pay for camping, no handicapped access ( so make sure all your guests can climb sever steep stairs), among other things. This biggest frustration was my sister paid a pretty hefty price for this place for the weekend and we couldn't get in until noon the day the wedding...why you ask, because they were showing it to another couple after we spent the entire day before decorating it for my sister's big day...I would not recommend this place to anyone

What a lovely new business!! We heard this place opened from a family member and had to try it out…read more There is a machine that dispenses wine, operated by a chip card, which charges you based on how many ounces you drink. It's such a nice business model that allows for sampling without waiting for a server each time you want something new. The charcuterie was the best we've had anywhere in town. Everything from Marconi almonds to spicy jam to olive tapenade to a wide variety of cheeses and meats. The goat cheese was to die for. Right now they have (I believe) 8-10 wines in the case to sample. It appears there is room for more as they grow. I sincerely hope this business sees a ton of success as we plan to visit on every trip to the cabin!

My friend and I went here on our trip to the lake and we Loved it! I've got to say that I was…read moreblown away by the ambiance. This is a great place to take a break from your shopping and sit and sample some wines. So you get a card and you pay per sample. Prices are based on price of bottle. It's so great to try wines that you would not sample anywhere else! Loved it....WILL return every time we visit!

Prime Rib on Friday night was excellent. Garlic mashed same. Salad bar was so good. Great…read moreatmosphere. Service was excellent and food was served quickly.

The food was average at best. Looked homemade but wasn't. Service again was not great…read more Unfortunately it was a lot of young people that were more interested in hanging out then serving customers or checking in. It is decorated fairly cute.

Visiting from Montana. House red wine was great! The atmosphere had a nice cozy and friendly vibe,…read moreespecially since the owner came to our table and offered us a tour. Very impressed with the customer service, owner who is very personable and of course the wine. Definitely recommend!

Great atmosphere! Awesome bartender. Wines were delicious…read moreand we even met the vinter, Dennis!

We'd heard really great things about the food here, so we were really looking forward to trying it…read moreout, but unfortunately the experience was all-around bad. Service was pretty rough from the start. Our server was friendly, but they spilled our drinks at the table and then had to take them back because they'd been made with bad milk. It took forever to get the first round and even longer to get the second. You'd think they'd move faster getting us the second round given the first was spilled and made with bad milk! Definitely a missed opportunity to make up for the poor overall service. The bread was the highlight of the night, which is very telling given it was standard crostini bread. That said, it was warm, fresh, and served with delicious butter. Unfortunately, the rest of the meal didn't live up to that start. The food took far, far, far too long to come out and when it finally did, it didn't all arrive together. Half the table started eating while the other half just sat and watched and continued to wait for their food to come. I thought they brought it out separately to serve things hot, but the food that was first brought out was only lukewarm. I got the steak sandwich, which was fine but pretty bland. Even the sauce couldn't save it... The fries were well-seasoned but soft and floppy, which just made them feel sad and unappealing. I had an espresso martini with dinner and it was basically a chocolate drink with no real espresso flavor. Overall, the setting was fine, but slow service, uneven timing, and subpar food made this a disappointing experience.

Very good food but not a great service experience. For food: we got bread for the table (little…read morecrostinis with a warm garlic butter for dipping) and everyone got their own main dish. I ordered the Cajun rigatoni and they were kind enough to substitute the shrimp for chicken. The pasta sauce had the perfect level of spice and everyone at the table agreed that mine was the best meal. Fully recommend the pasta! For service, we didn't have a good experience which may or may not have been because our waiter was new(?). Everything just seemed to take a long time and in some cases when he would come to our table, he would have to leave and come back because he forgot his pen or something else he needed. He accidentally spilled drinks on two of the people at my table (didn't offer to comp the drinks), and ran out half of the food for our table-- went to help a different table-- then ran out the rest of our food after a good 10 minutes. If we had had a different server, I think it would have been a totally different experience. Our friend who has been here many times said she has never had any kind of experience like this before.