Bringing rubbed grub to Moose Lake

Dinel and Lance Hollerbach were asked to smoke a whole hog for a birthday barbecue years ago, but they didn't have a smoker that was big enough.

"One man said that he had a big roaster," Dinel said recently. "We went to look at it in the woods. There was a tree growing through it."

They brought the smoker home and Lance used his welding and fabricating skills to fix it up.

"When he pulled up with it at the place where we were going to smoke the hog, people laughed and called him a redneck," Dinel said. "That's where the Redneck name comes from."

Now the couple has started on a new venture: they opened Redneck Meats BBQ earlier this month in the former Art's Café on Arrowhead Lane in Moose Lake. People could stop in on Halloween evening and get a preview of the new décor in the restaurant.

The road for their new venture has not been easy. They opened the restaurant as planned on Nov. 1, but learned the next day that one of the people who had visited on Halloween had a positive Covid-19 test. They closed the dining room for two weeks, as required by the Minnesota Department of Health and their concern about the members of the community.

"Given the continued increase of positive Covid cases locally, we have decided to keep the dining room close until Dec. 1," the Redneck Meats BBQ page states on Facebook. "We want to do our part in keeping our community safe and slow the spread."

In the meantime, they are offering curbside and delivery services only.

Experienced

Dinel grew up in Moose Lake and remembers watching her mother and grandmother cook at the Hilltop Restaurant, in the former Soo Hotel in Moose Lake.

"That's where my love of cooking came from," she said. "I've been in the restaurant and bar business since I was 18. I took a few years off to try other things but I came back to it. I once managed the LeGrand Supper Club and we had Rumors Bar and Grill in Cloquet."

It was smoking meat together that set them on a new path "That's how we got into this together," Dinell said.

They want to stand out.

"All of our meats will be fresh, not frozen, with a few exceptions," Dinel said. "We live in Nickerson. On my way to Moose Lake, I will be stopping at the Duquette General Store and picking up an order of meat every day. Ninety-nine percent of the food that we will serve will be homemade. We will have pulled pork everyday and barbecued chicken every day. Other barbecued entrées, such as ribs, will be served on weekends. Reservations are needed in advance for rib dinners so we can prepare fresh ribs."

Dinel invited others to help develop the restaurant's offerings.

"If someone has a favorite recipe, they can bring it in," she said. "If I choose to make it, that person will get a discount on their meal."

Gift certificates will be given to local nonprofit organizations as a way to support the community, Dinel said.

"We gave 650 pounds of food to the local food shelf since we started here," she said. "The community needs to stick together."

Location

History is important to the Hollerbachs. The new business is located in one of the oldest buildings in Moose Lake.

According to information in newspaper articles through the years - which are displayed under plexiglass on the counter - the business started as Dick's Lunch in 1938 in a small house with just a lunch counter.

That house was moved to the side of the site, and the current building was constructed in 1939, still under the ownership of Dick and Hedvig Abrahamson. It was known as Dix Café and served an important role in the community as a truck and Greyhound bus stop for many years before Interstate 35 was built in the early 1960s.

Dick Abrahamson died in 1954 and Hedvig continued to operate the business until 1962, when she sold it to Art Jones.

The Abrahamsons' son-in-law, Carl Hanson, painted the murals high on the north and south interior walls in the 1940s. They were repainted in 2001.

Other historical information is displayed on the counter and in the back room.

"Three different families started a restaurant here," Dinel said. "We have been friends of Cheryl Fitzgerald, the last owner, for years. But we don't know much about the owners that had the restaurant after Art Jones and before Romelle Jones owned it. We would like to learn more about those owners, and ask people to bring in any information that they have."

The Hollerbachs also invite people to bring in the history of any Moose Lake restaurant.

"The younger generation needs to know how Moose Lake changed over the years and what role the restaurants played in the local history," Dinel said.

There have been changes in the tables and seating in the dining room but the old-fashioned service will remain. Those who have been coming for coffee over the years will see an increase from 50 cents to $1 a cup, but large homemade cookies and other treats are available to go with it.

"All of our portions will be bigger," Dinel said. "Customers will get a bang for their bucks. Our job will be to fill their bellies."

Plans for next spring or summer include remodeling the bathrooms to make them handicap accessible and to install a door and a deck for outside dining on the north side of the building, said Dinel.

Redneck Meats and BBQ is open six days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings. Call and order meals to be picked up by the back door. Delivery is available for an extra charge within the Moose Lake city limits. Call 218-485-4602 or visit RedNeckMeatsBBQ.com or find them on Facebook.