Elmers Texas BBQ, Battle Lake, MN Review

[lavelanet]

I normally frequent the Boston Board but I go to Minnesota annually in the summer. And we usually eat at Elmers BBQ ( http://www.elmersbbq.com/ )at least once when we’re up there in Battle Lake. Now Battle Lake has a population of about 695 people and it’s the big town in this area so you have a limited number of food options around. But this place impressed me so much the last time I was there that I felt I had to write a real quick review of it. I’ve eaten here at least once every year for several years, and well it’s a BBQ place so I always get the ribs and they are just beautiful. They are slow roasted for 24 hours so they can run out if they get a lot of orders and you come late but the risk is worth it for the ribs. One of the highlights of this place is what’s called Hush Puppies these little mouth watering side dishes will make you think only one thing. “Can I ask for more?” I opted for these the first time I went because I’d never seen them before and haven’t looked back.

Now the reason for this review you might think is to talk about the ribs and the hush puppies but it’s not. Elmers is a great BBQ place no question and to have such a good one in a low population area like this is a boon, but what’s really inspired me to write this is my most recent trip out to Minnesota. We were there the week of Fathers Day and we had just cooked 4 racks of ribs on the grill at our cabin the night before we went to Elmers. So needless to say I wasn’t in the mood for ribs that night. Why were we at a BBQ place right after having BBQ you might ask? Well it’s a long story involving angry hungry children under the age of 4 that I won’t get into for your sake. But the twist of fate that brought me there was to be kismet. I decided to order “The Haas” it’s a 12 oz rib eye which is good for most people but I like a big piece of meat when ever possible and I was pretty hungry so I asked for an 18 oz one. All of the steak cuts are cut to order so you can make your cut larger for a $1 per oz. Now this steak was so superb I was raving about it for days and my wife was stunned. I’m an extremely discerning dinner and will critique a meal or a dish to levels that my wife usually doesn’t want to hear about. But this steak was the best one I’ve had in years and I’ve been to most of the finest restaurants in Boston, and many around the world. To find a steak so well cut and prepared in a place like Elmers of a quality that I would have expected on a good night from names such as Abe& Louies, Mortons, or the Capital Grill was so out of left field I had to go see the manager and let him know how happy I was with the steak.

So if you’re in the area of Ottertail Lake I would highly recommend a stop at Elmers BBQ

[Mushroom]

Fantastic! I never thought I'd see a review of anything up in Ottertail County. We stay over on West Lost Lake every year and we're always on the hunt for some place to go when we're not eating up Crappies & Bluegills. Though we'll have a hard time dragging my Mom away from Zorba's - she lives for their Macho Nachos. Anywhere else you'd recommend in the area?

[lavelanet]

Stubs in Battle Lake is the "fancy sit down restaurant" for the area I haven’t been there in a few years but the walleye was very good when I did. As it turns out this is where we were originally headed the night we went to Elmers but the wait was too much for the kids to take so we called Elmers and they said they’d be able to seat us right away so we hopped over there.

Zorbas has several restaurants I've only been to the one on Ottertail as our place is on Blanche Lake but the atmosphere, there is as you know quite the local hotspot. I love the fact that if we were on Ottertail we could drive our boat right up and park at their docks. As for the food it's a very good pizza style place to hang out with friends. We'll defiantly be going back next year it's just a lot of fun.

Other than that there’s a nice little tea/pastry shop in Perham where they have “International Turtle Races” ( I actually saw a girl from Paris win one year). I can’t remember the name of it though. But as you know there are so few places that you tend to stay at your cabin to eat.

Between Stubs and Elmers I’d rather go to Elmers. I’m still thinking about that steak.