Restaurants in Big Lake

The ruleta wheel at Pancho Villa Mexican Restaurant sends tablefuls of friends into a frenzy when one of the bunch is chosen to take a spin. Landing on the right space in this wheel can grant the entire table free drinks from a selection of specialty margaritas and cocktails. This is just one of the ways the staff amps up the festive atmosphere in the restaurant—there's also karaoke every night Thursday through Sunday. And thanks to the flat screen televisions, patrons can keep an eye on their favorite teams as they face off with rivals or trade secrets for keeping their shoelaces tied.

Patrons come as much for the atmosphere as they do for the menu of chicken flautas, cheese enchiladas, shrimp chimichangas, pork ribs, and other traditional Mexican cuisine. When the weather's nice they can dine outside, where umbrellas protect their entrees from the sun's sticky fingers. Regular lunch specials and the Monticello location's lunch buffet make midday dining even more enticing.

You'll have a major decision to make at Olde Main Eatery: breakfast or lunch? An all-day breakfast menu of omelets and biscuits and gravy pits itself against a slate of light wraps and hearty patty melts. The french toast tempts with its light cinnamon coating, as do burgers and build-your-own deli sandwiches stacked on sourdough, marble rye, and croissant slices. The 150 year old diner itself exudes an air of small-town Americana, from its green- and white-striped awning and historic photographs lining the wall, to the staff's impromptu productions of The Music Man.

Originally opened as the Top Hat Drive-In in 1953, Sonic has grown into a burger-franchise mecca that today operates out of 3,500 locations across the country, making it the nation’s largest chain of drive-in restaurants. Sonic specializes in made-to-order American classics—including burgers, hot dogs, milk shakes, and marshmallow Ford Thunderbolts—which customers order and receive without ever having to leave their cars. Unique menu items include toaster sandwiches stacked on thick slices of texas toast, as well as the brand’s signature tots and fresh limeades.

Sonic’s numerous awards include a 2011 Zagat survey ranking it among the top five fast-food restaurants in three categories: Best Value Menu, Best Milk Shake, and Best Drive-Thru. The benevolent eatery has also donated more than $2 million to public schools throughout the country through their program Limeades for Learning, which helps to fund educational projects and retirement plans for classroom guinea pigs.

From humble beginnings as a single donut shop in Lakewood, California, in 1953, Denny's has grown into a nationwide destination for classic American diner food served around the clock. Today, just shy of 1,800 locations thrive across the nation, serving up breakfast, lunch, and dinner at any time that guests feel a hunger for good food. Family owned and operated, Denny's of Otsego's friendly and attentive staff serves up a menu of more than 100 options, including build-your-own breakfasts and burgers and fried fish for an all-you-can-eat meal on Fridays.

Since first teeing off in 1989, Fox Hollow Golf Club has hosted regular state championships and the 2008 sectional qualifying tournament for the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, showcasing the club's 27-hole layout characterized by challenging play and picturesque surroundings. The course sprawls throughout 200 acres of hardwood forest and windswept prairie and is often blanketed by lush bluegrass and natural flora. The original 18 stretches along the banks of the Crow River for much of its 6,713-yard length, affecting play on five holes. Occasionally, golfers are forced to carry shots over the river, as is the case on the par 3 third hole, where players must aim their tee shots at the island green and hope the ball doesn't run off the steep sides or get eaten by an amphibious caddy. With two greens and a split fairway, the par 4 17th can take on two distinct identities or three creepy alter egos. If the hole is placed on the left side of the green, players are best suited to hit a small fairway landing area and execute a long approach, but if it’s on the right, they must blast their tee shot over two bodies of water to reach the green.Prior to a round, players can make use of the Fox Hollow practice facility, where they'll find a full-length driving range, three putting greens, and a practice bunker.Course at a Glance:

StoneLounge hearkens the rustic, welcoming ambiance of a mountain lodge, greeting hungry guests with a room-dominating stone-faced fireplace that smells like the good kind of burning. Amid the high ceilings and log walls, the chefs populate their lunch and dinner menus with an array of New American fare, including starters such as the southern fried chicken tenders and crab dip, which pair with walleye and myriad cuts of meat. Burgers patties in beef, crab-cake, and turkey form are whisked to the plush, high-backed booths, and flatbread pizzas come garnished with meaty toppings or collections of edible plants. Live music acts take the stage on Saturday nights, offering soulful and funky soundtracks to noshing, dancing, and debating whether the moon landing or the moon itself is the biggest federally perpetrated hoax.

Shawn Richardson and his hunting buddies were on a fishing trip, exchanging stories and admiring the natural beauty of Lake Superior when one of the fellas struck on a crazy idea. Fun as it was to traipse around the coniferous wilderness—he explained as his friends’ rapt expressions held steady through intermittent bites of newly caught walleye—it seemed a shame that lake-fresh fish and wild game had to be wrested from the cruelly indifferent hands of nature. What if a person need only reach out a fork to enjoy nature’s spoils?

Long after the trip had ended, that notion reverberated down the mental corridors of Shawn, himself a seasoned chef. Every time he joylessly cut a piece from a flavorless slab of frozen fish, or played an idle game of Oregon Trail it would return anew, like an unscratched itch. Finally, one morning—with resolve etched into his steely face—he said goodbye to his mounted yeti head, threw sand over the bonfire flickering on top of his living room coffee table, and strutted out the door to open up a neighborhood joint of his own, where he could serve fresh and local wild game.

Today, Woodsmans Gril’s kitchens sizzle with 13 types of unique game, including elk, bison, walleye, and quail. Shawn smokes his the meats himself onsite, while conducting a kitchen staff as they prepare an innovative menu that has enticed the palates of ABC Newspapers. Servers carry the weighty plates out into the dining room, where Shawn's taxidermy mounts gaze down from brick walls, and color photographs of wild deer, flapping fish, and rugged escaped bank tellers adorn the tables.