During our vacation to the Glacier Lakes region in west central Minnesota earlier this summer, we were sort of struck with the lack of places to eat in the immediate area around Spicer and New London - especially the lack of good ol' upper Midwest supper club-style places. We actually checked out some places in nearby Willmar, but found that the choices were pretty slim, as well. We met a young couple at a brew pub in New London one evening and we were lamenting the restaurant choices in the immediate area. The couple at the brew pub were from Willmar and the guy was telling me about a restaurant at Eagle Creek, a combination public and member-driven golf club on the north side of that city. He made a good case for the place, and on our last night in the area we ended up going to The Oaks at Eagle Creek for dinner.
Eagle Creek Golf Course is a very mature course located between Swan Lake and Willmar Lake. It first opened in 1931 - 88 years ago - and the fairways are nestled between large oak trees that line the course. Like many golf courses of its kind in the Midwest, it features a nice place to eat that is opened to the public. The Oaks at Eagle Creek has had a number of owners over the years but it was falling on hard times in the mid-00's. That's when the board at Eagle Creek sought out Dave Baker to see if he was interested in taking over the restaurant.
Dave Baker, along with his wife, Mary, had been involved in restaurants and hotels in the Willmar/Spicer area since they moved there in 1994 when Dave took a job at a hotel/conference center in the area. The Baker's owned Melvin's on the Lake in Spicer, a long time supper club in the area, from 2003 until 2011, before selling the business to Zorbaz, a small chain of pizza and Mexican food places that are situated on lakes throughout northern and western Minnesota. (Click here to read the recent Road Tips entry on Zorbaz-Green Lake.) They also owned a Super 8 hotel in Willmar, as well as a commercial building in the area. The Baker's also own the popular Green Lake Cruises which feature public and private cruises on Green Lake in Spicer.
Pictured right - Mary and Dave Baker. Photo courtesy Home Town Source.
The Baker's were approached in 2007 by shareholder members at Eagle Creek to see if they would be interested in taking over the restaurant. They agreed and took over ownership of The Oaks in 2008. A few years later, Bakers did an extensive remodel to the place to take some of the tiredness out of the restaurant.
(In addition to owning restaurants, a hotel and a commercial building - as well as promoting civic interests in the Willmar/Spicer area - Dave Baker is also a state representative in the Minnesota House of Representatives. First elected in 2014, Baker is on his third term at the Minnesota statehouse and focuses on helping small businesses grow and on the growing opioid crisis which tragically took the life of his son in 2011 at the age of 25.)
The weather during our stay in Spicer had been sort of back and forth between rainy days and nice warm sunny ones. It was the latter when we drove the 10 miles down to Willmar to go to The Oaks for dinner. (See map) We pulled into the parking lot around 7 p.m. and it was packed from the league golfers who were on the course that evening, but we were able to find a spot a bit further out away from the clubhouse/restaurant. We walked up the steps to the second story entrance just off a patio that looked out onto the tree-lined golf course.
Inside The Oaks, we found a nice dining room that featured a number of linen-topped tables with windows that looked out onto the patio and the golf course beyond. The Oaks was hosting a function in the dining room that evening, so we were going to have to sit in the bar area of the place.
The lively bar area was pretty full with golfers who had finished their rounds and locals who were in having dinner that evening. We ended up sitting at a table with a window view of one of the tee boxes off to the side of the restaurant/club house. We were given menus when we sat down and a young lady came over a little later to take our drink orders. My wife started out with a Tito's and cranberry juice - light on the cranberry juice, please - and I got a Surly Furious India pale ale.
The menu at The Oaks was about as close to a supper club experience we had during our trip to the area. They had steaks, seafood and fresh water fish, pasta dishes, burgers and sandwiches. Flat breads, tacos and a number of appetizers were also available. We placed our choices for food that evening and then we were invited to visit The Oaks salad bar to start out.
They had a nice little salad bar in the main dining room at The Oaks. A hot buffet table was nearby, but that was closed up after the end of the function they had in the dining room that evening. Fresh greens and vegetables were part of the salad bar and a caldron of soup was off to the side. We loaded up on the salad bar, especially the wonderful pickled red beets they had. I never liked pickled beets until my wife fed me some of the ones her late grandmother would can years ago. The combination of the sweetness and the earthiness of the beets at The Oaks were heavenly and reminded me so much of my wife's grandmother's pickled beets.
The other thing that stood out at the salad bar at The Oaks were their house-made flower pot dinner rolls. Light, flaky and fluffy, these rolls were simply outstanding in taste and quality. It was all I could do from going back to pilfer a couple more rolls between the time we finished our salads and before our main meals were brought out.
For dinner that night, my wife went with the Canadian walleye. It featured a large walleye fillet that was available battered and fried, pan-fried or broiled. My wife went with the pan-seared option. It came with a side of fresh green beans and a quinoa wild rice with a house-made tartar sauce to go with the fish. The walleye was light and easy to cut with a fork with flakes of the fish coming off easily. My wife loaded it up with lemon juice and she said it didn't have much - at all - of a fishy taste to it. She thought it was wonderful.
I got the ribeye and I asked for it medium-rare, but it was more medium-plus. I got sautéed mushrooms to go along with the steak and green beans also came with it. For a $2.00 up-charge, I was able to get some of their beer-battered onion rings instead of a potato choice. Actually, the ribeye looked more like a slice of grilled prime rib - which, of course, the ribeye comes from. Actually, not all of the cut was overcooked - there were some parts of the ribeye where the meat did look more like a medium-rare temperature, but other parts were overcooked. It was like the flame was hotter on one end of the cut than the other. I wasn't going to complain or send it back. It was actually fine enough for what it was.
The onion rings were pretty good, as well. They had a light and fluffy batter that had a nice beer-battered taste. I probably wouldn't have eaten much - if any - of a potato choice, so the onion rings were a much better option for me. (I was sort of surprised that they didn't have the official side of the State of Minnesota - tater tots. I would have gotten those if they were available.)
We didn't have a many options for dining during our trip to the Glacier Lakes area for our vacation this summer - especially looking for an authentic supper club in the area. But The Oaks at Eagle Creek came about the closest to it for us on this trip. Situated at a venerable country club on the outskirts of Willmar, The Oaks gave us probably our best meal while we were in the area. Even though my steak was overcooked, it was still good enough to eat. My wife was more than happy with her choice of the pan-seared Canadian walleye that evening. The dining area in the lively bar was not as nice as the main dining area in the back, but it was still a nice place to dine. We thought the service that was tag-teamed between two or three young ladies was fine and efficient. I don't know if there's any places in the Willmar area that are any better. But if there is, it would be tough to beat the meal we had at The Oaks.
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