Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol.
Already have an account?
By submitting, you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and to receive information about MPR's or APMG entities' programs and offerings. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about MPR, APMG entities, and its sponsors. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
Appetites®
Tom Crann

In J. Ryan Stradal's new book, the Midwest supper club is a character unto itself

portrait of a man with glasses next to a yellow book cover
“Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club” is a family drama set in and around a supper club in the fictional northern Minnesota town of Bear Jaw. Author J. Ryan Stradal says it’s “the kind of book you can’t take the Minnesota out of in editing.”
Courtesy of Penguin Random House

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Log inCreate a free Account

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

It starts with an old fashioned or two, then a big plate of prime rib or some walleye, maybe macaroni and cheese or scalloped potatoes on the side, and a relish tray — there should be a relish tray — and a band on the weekend for dancing. That perfect supper club experience may be fading in some ways, but it's certainly alive and vibrant in the latest novel from Minnesota-raised author J. Ryan Stradal.

“Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club” is set in the 1990s in and around a supper club in the fictional northern Minnesota town of Bear Jaw. It’s a family drama that unwinds after bartender and owner Mariel gets in a car accident on the way to pick up her mother, who then stubbornly waits and waits — and waits some more — for her daughter to show up. She waits so long she becomes a local hero and KSTP’s Jason Davis brings his “On the Road” segment to her.

“There’s the largest ball of twine, there’s the largest popcorn ball and there’s the longest passive aggressive waiting period,” Stradal said, adding this is “the kind of book you can’t take the Minnesota out of in editing.”

Stradal said the supper club setting, inspired by his family’s outings to Wiederholt's Supper Club in Hastings and his days as a janitor at the Steamboat Inn in Prescott, Wis., as well as interviews with restaurant owners, offers a lot of literary fodder.

“Supper clubs are almost always family owned and run,” Stradal said. “There’s a really good chance you’ll meet the owner. And quite often, they have staff that have been there for quite awhile, too. A lot of the owners I interviewed for this book had waitresses going on decades, and you wont see that at most restaurants.”

“Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club” is out now. Stradal has several book tour events scheduled in Minnesota and Wisconsin through July.