The Otter Supper Club is a mainstay

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Photo by Tom Hintgen

Amber Nowell of The Otter Supper Club serves guests who came from Star Lake to dine in the city of Ottertail.

Linda Buchanan has been manager of The Otter Supper Club for the past five years. She and her employees — 45 in the summer and 35 during the winter months — do their best to maintain the supper club’s long-standing reputation.

“Yes, we do the best we can to provide good service to our customers,” Buchanan said. “In this business your reputation is everything, and we feel we’re doing our best to maintain that reputation.”

Located near the junction of Highway 78 and County Road 1, on the east side of Otter Tail Lake, The Otter, in addition to its restaurant, also has a lounge, on and off sale liquor, 15-room hotel and high speed Internet.

“When people come here they find out there’s much more to The Otter than they ever knew,” Buchanan said. “As noted on our Web site, we update our specials for the restaurant, offering coupons for off-sale and posting Fantasy Nascar stats frequently. People also check out our golf and fishing guide packages on line.”

The dining room is open year round, with lunches starting at 11 a.m. and dinners beginning at 4 p.m. Buchanan is especially proud of The Otter’s charcoal grill where supper club employees prepare steaks, ribs, hamburgers, salmon and other specialties for their customers.

“With seating in our overflow meeting rooms and our main supper club we can also host many fine wedding receptions and dances,” Buchanan said. “DJ’s and bands find themselves at home on our entertainment stage.”

There’s karaoke Thursday evenings and live bands Friday and Saturday, with no cover charges.

Buchanan and her staff have hosted up to 200 people for the Ottertail Ducks Unlimited banquet. They also cater for other special occasions including Christmas parties, anniversaries and other events.

“Our lodge makes the stay here a comfortable one for our guests,” Buchanan said.

The Otter Web site promotes spacious rooms, comfortable beds and a great location near Otter Tail Lake and area golf courses including Thumper Pond. They advertise the lodge as “a home away from home.” People can check out packages and availability on the Web site.

The off-sale liquor store is fully stocked with beer, wine and liquor. The Otter has specials that are updated weekly. The establishment also has coupons that people can print and bring in.

The owners of The Otter are Mike Hilgers and Chuck Huberman. Their goal, with the help of Buchanan and the entire staff, is to maintain the establishment’s solid reputation while adding new services for customers.