Lake Country Feeds

Calling the Brainerd Lakes region the Hamptons of Minnesota may be overstated, but it is the summer getaway for both the well-heeled gentry and the new-money crowd. The population and number of homes in the region has doubled between 1970 and 2000.

For those not fortunate enough to own a million-dollar lake home on the Whitefish Chain, experiencing the area means visiting a resort, and there are plenty of great ones to choose, but when it comes to dining out, the choices are a little thinner. The region has not been immune to the Wal-Mart-ting of America: Chain/theme dining long ago replaced the scratch-cooking country diner. Worth far more as a home site than as a reinvented kitschy commodity, many of the shoreline supper clubs that used to offer authentic experiences have been sold in the ongoing land rush. But there are some fun choices, both on and off the water, that should not be missed, though the area has a ways to go to equal the North Shore’s bounty.

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Sherwood Forest
Built more than 100 years ago from original cedar logs, this stunning restaurant is a wonderful place to spend an evening. Situated on a small spit of road between Lake Margaret and Gull Lake, Sherwood Forest is the best chophouse in the region. The massive space—dominated by a Gulliver-sized fireplace and twin fifty-foot hand-hewn beams overhead—is comfortable and swanky by area standards, but the service is warm and relaxed. Designated a National Historic Site, the Forest has a long-standing tradition of fine dining. Go for the bone-in rib eye and pair it with béarnaise sauce, or, if fish is your thing, try the broiled walleye or pan-seared tuna. Ma Barker loved this place and so will you.

Moonlite Bay
Looking for the quintessential pull-your-boat-up-and-eat sort of place? Moonlite Bay is it. Its burgers are right up there with the best of the region’s greasy spoons’, which is not saying all that much, but the location makes this place rock. It’s billed as a family restaurant and bar, but you may want to leave the kids at home in the later hours, because the unique setting—right on the narrows between two major lakes—means the drinking crowd likes to show up when the sun goes down. During the high season, families pack the place beginning at 11 a.m. every day, wolfing down platters of ribs, drummies, big salads, and humongous sandwiches. Food aside, I have spent more days here than I care to reveal, doing serious people-watching and making careful note of the worst boat names on the chain (Nauti-Nymph) as the endless parade of watercraft drifts through the no-wake zone.