Roadside Restaurant — Restaurant in Aitkin

My wife drove up from Cities to Aitkin to do a mission appeal at St. James Church. We came up in a whiteout along the lake, 18-30" of snow over a few days, and so we stayed until it was safer to drive back. Locals recommended Roadside for breakfast and they were right. It is a comfortable, friendly place with good service. The portions are for lumberjacks or snow mobilers, and the prices reasonable. We had great service over two days when traffic around town was light. The menu has great choices for all meals, but we had breakfast. I had the same breakfast both days: Cake and Eggs. The blueberry pancake needed a separate plate, because it was discus sized. Blueberry pancakes are rarely well done, mostly because there are too many blueberries in too thin and moist a batter, and so the juice from the blueberries make the cake a tasteless mess. Here the cake is raised high and has a bit of a yeasty taste, and the berries are nicely incorporated to give both flavor and texture. I changed how I had the eggs over two days, and changed my meat from thick, crispy bacon to lovely sausage links. We were well fuelled to go out and shovel our car free of new snow. This is your breakfast place if you are in the...

This place was good at some point in the past, but today I had a meal there that has convinced me that they’re on their way out. I ordered broasted chicken, and it was only luke warm, and was dry. The broasted chicken was on special, and it tasted like it had been sitting in the kitchen under a lamp for some time. I ordered a side salad, and that looked bad but tasted worse. The lettuce was nearly translucent, with grainy tomatoes and bitter onions. I didn’t finish my food. Another person at my table got the cheeseburger, and it was just a pre-formed patty, cooked overdone. They might as well close to save face if this is the trend. We used to love this place but will be steering clear now, unfortunately. Two stars instead of just one because the people who work there...

This place is great! It's not much to look at but the parking lot was full so I figured it was worth a try. I'm glad I did because hidden inside was good food, reasonably priced and served up by some really friendly folks. I was pleasantly surprised the menu had so much to offer for breakfast and lunch in a place only open until 2:00pm. The chicken wild rice soup was excellent - I am making a point to come back for it, again! My steak sandwich was a bit tough but well-cooked and delicious. I get the idea just about everything on the menu is tasty, and I'll come back and try more next time I'm passing through. In fact, I might even make the 2-hour trip just for that wild...