Hans House — Restaurant in Elbow Lake

One of the most unusual eating experiences between the Twin Cities and Fargo. The owner, ALLEGEDLY named Eugene Wittemann, is a classically trained chef that rode his bicycle to Elbow Lake one day a decade ago and never left. Some say he's Belgian, others say German and a few say he is from New Hampshire. Either way-be warned, he does not always follow his posted hours. He has a bit of a Gordon Ramsey complex and close up shop early and/or for days at a time. He has also been known to close for weeks at a time during the winter when he can't ride his bicycle to the restaurant. You can however, at least 85% of the time, between 8-10 AM, you can find a world class American breakfast. About 65% of the time, between 11 AM and 2 PM he will have a themed buffet such as: British, Scandinavian, Mexican and Italian. He is usually at the restaurant by 3 AM to bake all the the breads for the day and wraps up the day by 3 PM. However, Wittemann is also a craftsman of food and can wax poetically about the differences between 44 different regional German sausages. He enjoys cooking authentic cuisine from any location--to order. Just call him a couple of weeks ahead of time, and for example, tell him you want boiled crawfish, gumbo and shrimp etoufee for 12 people, and he'll quote...

Really wanted to give this place a fair shot. Came in on a Sunday morning, wasn't very busy and the waitress was very friendly and got my order taken right away. Special of the day was a New York Steak and Eggs with Hash Browns for $8.99, which is a super great price.

Now I didn't expect the highest quality cut of meat, but I did at least hope that when I ordered it medium-rare that it wouldn't be cooked well done and not seasoned in the slightest.

Unfortunately that's exactly what happened. I'm not sure if it's because of the older clientele of the area but no salt or pepper on a steak is just really not great.

All in all I can't be too upset. Staff and pricing are the two saving graces of the place, but the Chef needs to at the very least season the steak if he can't be bothered to cook it...

I had the daily special which was a Hot Beef Sandwich.. I didn't realize that it would have onions on it... My stomach has a problem with them.... I've got to tell you that the meal was very good and I didn't have any problem at all... If I had known about the onions I probably would have ordered something else and would have missed out on a very excellent meal... I will be back in to eat when I'm back to elbow...