Monday, August 2, 2010
Riverside Inn, Side Lake, MN
We went camping a couple of weeks ago and, of course, had to check out the local color. This is one of two bars that were near the campground. We decided to check it out after a grueling three mile hike. Yes, three miles can be grueling when it's all up and down hills and the temps are in the high 80s. Blech! We needed some AC to cool off! When we arrived it was fairly busy being the start of the dinner rush. We got seats at the end of the bar and waited a few minutes before we saw the bartender. When she did finally make her appearance we did get our drinks pretty quickly but they were nothing special.
They weren't as expensive as most MN bars but they weren't really on the cheap side, either. Sort of the limbo that made us take notice for a few seconds and then was quickly gone.
We ate breakfast here the next day (I keep forgetting to take pictures of the food!). Pete didn't think it was anything special but I liked it. I don't remember what he got; something with eggs, most likely. I got the Side Lake Muffin (I think). Anyway, it's an English muffin with egg, cheese and ham. It was served open face so it was like two half sandwiches but it was really tasty. It came with hashbrowns which were unimpressive and left mostly uneaten.
Decor here is nothing special. Really forgettable, actually. You can tell from the picture that the bar is all worn and rather ugly. The rest of it follows suit. The bathroom sort of made me laugh...you walk down this hallway and the doorway to the women's bathroom is really narrow. Anyone much bigger than me might have issues getting through it.
All in all, it's not a bad place. It just shows it's age, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.