A former account of mine in the Twin Cities area knew of my affinity with supper clubs and brew pubs. About four years ago, he told me of a place on a lake just west of Minneapolis that was a combination supper club AND a brew pub. I had this place on my "Restaurants to Visit" list ever since. But because of the pandemic and subsequent job changes, I hadn't been back up to Minneapolis for a while. I did recently visit to the Twin Cities for work and this time I made my way out to Birch's on the Lake.
Back in the early 60's, a supper club by the name of Hanson House opened on the shores of Long Lake near Wayzata and Orono just west of Minneapolis. When Hanson House closed in 1984, Billy's Lighthouse took over the supper club and it continued to be a favorite destination for steaks, fish fries and great views of the lake. But Billy's Lighthouse closed down in 2006 and the property was re-zoned to accommodate a proposed townhome development.
The townhome development never materialized, however, and the original supper club building was never demolished. It sat vacant for nearly 10 years before another restauranteur in the area came to its rescue.
Burton Joseph grew up in the restaurant and catering business. His family ran Joseph Catering in Minneapolis for a number of years and his father owned a franchised chicken restaurant in the 1960's and 70's. Two years after Billy's Lighthouse closed, Joseph took over a spot in Long Lake that used to be an Italian restaurant and turned it into a contemporary supper club with an emphasis on hearty comfort food. A longtime family fried chicken recipe was the cornerstone of his menu at Birch's Restaurant and Bar.
Billy's Lighthouse sat in decay for nearly 10 years as Burton Joseph passed near the property each time he went to and from Birch's Restaurant. Finally, he decided to do something about the two-tiered supper club and he had a plan. And it involved a young man longing to run his own brewpub.
Brennan Greene grew up in the Orono/Long Lake area west of Minneapolis and he ended going away to college at Wisconsin. After graduating from UW, he went to the World Brewing Academy - first in Chicago at the Siebel Institute, then finishing up in Munich at the Doemens Academy - to learn how to brew beer. Upon graduation, Greene ended up in St. Louis as the brewer at the original Schlafly Tap Room. (Click here to see the Road Tips entry on the Schlafly Tap Room from 16 years ago.) For 8 years, Greene led a team of brewers making some of the better craft beers in the St. Louis area focusing on sours and barrel-aged beers that helped grow Schlafly's business.
In 2014, Greene left Schlafly on a quest to open his own microbrewery. He had a name - Missouri Oak Brewery - and a concept for a brewpub with a beer garden in the University City neighborhood of St. Louis. But two failed attempts at leasing space for his brewpub caused Greene to re-examine his plans to open in St. Louis.
Pictured right - Brennan Greene and Burton Joseph during the build out of the Birch's on the Lake supper club and brewery. Photo courtesy Laker Pioneer.
On a trip back to Minnesota to see his parents in the fall of 2014 after failing to find a spot in St. Louis, he was introduced to Burton Joseph who happened to be a friend of Greene's parents. It turned out that Joseph was looking into doing a brewpub at some point and shared Greene's ambition about opening a microbrewery.
One of Greene's problems with running a brewpub was that his wife had just given birth to their first child and it was going to be tough for his wife to take care of their daughter if she had to help out at the brewpub. But what convinced Greene to come back to Minnesota permanently was that they suddenly had a built-in baby-sitter with his parents for their baby daughter.
Joseph and Greene leased the old Billy's Lighthouse in early 2015 which by that time had turned into an eyesore as it was rundown and well-in-need of extensive repairs. After gutting the building and starting from scratch, the duo put the supper club on the upper level of the two-tiered building, and put the brewery/brewpub downstairs with a walk-out patio that sat just off Long Lake. After 9 months of construction, Birch's on the Lake opened in late September of 2015.
I had an appointment in downtown Minneapolis in the late morning, then had to drive up to Fargo for meetings later in the day. I had looked up Birch's on the Lake and found that it wouldn't be all that far out of the way if I went there for lunch. I took I-394 west out of downtown Minneapolis and followed it all the way out of the city as it eventually turns into US 12. A quick turn off US 12 in Long Lake took me right to Birch's on the Lake. (see map)
The supper club upstairs is closed during the day with all lunch served in the brewpub downstairs. But I was able to sneak a peek into the main dining room thanks to a young lady who was at the doorway. The supper club featured a long dining room with great lake views to the north side of the room through a number of large windows. A fireplace was at one end and I understand that they have live entertainment in the dining room some evenings.
The brewpub is down the stairs and opens into a three-sided bar area. The bar had a few single diners there for lunch and that's where I decided to park myself. The bartender that day was a lady by the name of Steph and she gave me a lunch menu to look over. The brewery was offering seven beers on tap that day including a blonde ale, a stout beer seasoned with marshmallows that made it taste like S'mores, and a blood orange wheat beer. I got the hazy IPA which was a 1st place winner in its category at the 2023 Minnesota Brewers Cup awards earlier this year. It was definitely worthy of the award.
There's a small lounge area on the bar level just in front of the brewery room. The lounge featured half-barrel chairs with some small tables. It was sort of a disheveled space with some boxes off to the side as it also appeared to be a working area of the brewery. Lamps made with brown gallon jugs hung from the ceiling throughout the brewpub.
The 10-barrel brewing system was behind glass panels and it definitely smelled like a microbrewery. I was told that initially when Birch's on the Lake first opened they were closed on Mondays and Tuesdays as the smell of the brewing process didn't agree with some diners. But they've since been able to vent out a lot of the more overpowering smells from the brewery.
A lower level from the bar and lounge area takes you to the dining area of brewpub. Barn board short walls lined one side of the dining space with large windows looked out toward the lake. More of the brown jug light fixtures hung from the ceiling in the dining area.
The outside terrace is just past the windows from the brewpub dining room. The deck is long and narrow and looks out on to Long Lake. The patio terrace is a popular place for lunch and dinner, and it was evident this particular day as nearly every table was filled during the lunch rush.
The lunch menu features a number of sandwiches, appetizers, soup, salads and brunch items that are served until 3 p.m. (The dinner menu goes more toward the traditional supper club entrees such as steaks, seafood, ribs, and pasta dishes along with sandwiches, specialty tacos and flat breads. On Saturdays and Sundays, Birch's on the Lake features brunch starting at 10 a.m.)
There were a lot of things on the lunch menu that caught my attention. The grilled grouper tacos was probably the first thing that jumped out at me, but I also was intrigued with the burnt ends served with waffle fries. The brunch part of the menu had a couple things that interested me such as the corned beef hash topped with a poached egg and a hollandaise sauce. And off the menu that day was a duck tacos special that Steph said was very good.
But it was a guy across the bar who ordered something that made me change my mind at the last minute.
Steph brought out a plate of the prime rib benedict and placed it in front of the guy across from me at the bar. He was telling someone just a couple seats over from him how great the prime rib benedict was and how he got it nearly everytime he stopped in for lunch. I sort of shrugged my shoulders and ordered it, as well.
It featured thin-sliced prime rib placed upon two English muffins halves, each topped with a poached egg and a hollandaise sauce. Real hash browns - as in freshly shredded - were on the side with strawberry slices. I asked Steph for some Cholula hot sauce to sprinkle on top of the hollandaise and the hash browns.
And it was pretty good. I don't know if I was quite as enthusiastic about the overall quality or taste of the plate of food as the guy across the bar was, but it was still very good. The hollandaise sauce had a nice tangy taste and was spiced up with some ground horseradish, but didn't overpower the rest of the items on the plate. The sliced prime rib was tender and was a surprisingly good combination as part of the eggs benedict.
If you're a long-time reader of Road Tips, you'll know that two of my favorite places to visit in my travels are supper clubs and brewpubs. Imagine my glee to find a supper club and a brewpub under one roof. Birch's on the Lake is a great combination of both. You can have your traditional supper club meals on the upper level, but also have a great brewpub experience on the lower level with a nice outside terrace to enjoy the views of the lake. My only regret is that I wish I had found Birch's on the Lake sooner as I don't get to the Twin Cities as much as I used to. But when I do get back, I really want to head back out for another meal.
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