Sportsman Cafe — Restaurant in Deer River

My father's and my fist time here.  1/26/2024 Friday 4PM:  Greeted by 2 lovely women servers with beautiful smiles.  Cozy midsized restaurant with 3/4ths of the tables full of customers.  Everyone was having the Friday special of all you can eat fish or shrimp for $9.99.  My dad and I ordered the special as well.  It came with baked beans, coleslaw, dinner roll, choice of potato, and tartar sauce.  Our plates arrived with a mountain of food.  I noticed another customer had a pile of onion rings that looked delicious, so I asked one of the lovely servers if their onion rings were as good as they looked.  She confirmed they were indeed.  As my father and I were discussing the nice restaurant and excellent food, she surprised us with 2 onion rings for us to sample.  That's excellent service.  We were so full from our first plate full, the all you can eat option, isn't really an option. Lol.  We needed a to-go box.  My father insisted he pay for our meals and left a 35% tip which say a lot coming from my dad.  As we drove off, my dad said he would like to go back again. He really enjoyed the food and service.  I agree and said next time we will have to get the special with onion rings.  Rating:  10/10 on food, service, atmosphere and price. ...

About an 1.5 hour away from #redlakemn and about 3 hours from the twin cities there's a diner/ Cafe where time seems to stop and hearty meals are served with care with all the old-time home town feels. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

That place is The Sportsman's Cafe in Deer River MN.

Service was good but more, it felt like a dining room at home.

Come hungry. Portions are huge. The Hot beef and potatoes were a hit. The pancakes were massive and served with pizza cutter😆 The grilled cheese I ordered was modified with some sass (Jalapenos) skip the fries, mainly because they were basic and I'm sure there's something better on the menu. The chocolate malt was a huge hit and also looked adorable.

Dress cozy. Slow down. Enjoy a humble meal. It's worth a drive. Small town, drive-outs to dine-in.

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While traveling, I always search out good home cooking, comfort food restaurants and ones that hopefully offer some good homemade pie.

I had read a few reviews sounding like Sportsman might be one of them. Unfortunately, it didn't fit the bill.

My wife had kind of an open face ground beef sandwich with gravy. It was just ok. I had a club sandwich which was very heavy on the lettuce but a little light on the meat. Also, the bread, I should say toast, was almost as if it had been made some time ago. Not at all crisp but on the soft side.

The pie? Hmmm. Blueberry pie, which is one of my favorites, was a disappointment. There was much more filling than blueberries and the crust resembled a crust you would get from someone that was just trying to learn how to make pie crust. Not tender and flaky at all! Being I feel I am a pie connoisseur, both in tasting and baking, this did not pass the test.

We tried Sportsman Cafe but...