Satter: Crossroads Corner menu ‘surefire’

By Matt Bewley | The Daily Journal

Published Tuesday, April 17, 2007

One of the best ways to get a new restaurant and bar off the ground is to bring in a sure-fire menu, a comfortable but up-to-date interior and lots of experience — as the new Crossroads Corner did in Pelican Rapids.

“Business so far has been overwhelming,” co-proprietor Derek Satter said. “It’s been very, very good. People are coming in to check it out, all the locals are coming into to support us, and then people are coming in to follow Pam’s menu from Barnesville.”

Pam and Lanny Carlsrud, owners of Pam’s Cafe, brought most of their popular menu items with them, including chicken-fried steak, meat loaf, roast beef and homemade pies, rolls and doughnuts.

“Their menu is unique,” he said. “It offers so many different things. It’s down home cooking, not just fast food, at very good prices. We also serve their breakfasts all day long, and I brought a few things over from other places, like buffalo chicken sandwiches.”

Formerly the Bridges Bistro and Bar, the establishment’s new business owners made some major changes to the interior decor.

“We’ve remodeled the entire inside,” he said, “but left up the mural of all the people of Pelican Rapids. It has a lot of history and we want to show our respect for the people there, so we didn’t paint over it. We took out the pool table and dart board and turned the front room into a non-smoking area, and divided the dining room and bar with a wall.”

They have seating for about 45 guests in the dining areas and 100 altogether.

Rounding out the group of entrepreneurs is Jean Satter.

“I take care of the bar and Pam and Lanni run the kitchen. Mom does all the financial work,” he said.

The quick rise to success has left the owners scrambling to bring in more wait staff.

“We don’t have enough,” Satter said. “We still need waitresses, but I’ve probably got four of the best cooks around. The staff we have now has been doing a great job. We have seven employees besides the four owners, and could still use about four more waitresses.”

While not advertising to promote special events there, Satter is always willing to try and help.

“We can do some small events — we like to keep the dining room open to the public - but we will still work with people if they want to have something down here,” he said.

The Crossroads Corner is located at 10 S. Broadway in downtown Pelican Rapids.