In Business: America’s Best Restaurants Comes to Brainerd's The Barn Diner | Lakeland News
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For over 75 years, The Barn Diner in Brainerd has remained a beloved community staple, renowned for its cozy, old-fashioned atmosphere and home-cooked comfort meals. This enduring dedication earned the establishment recognition from America's Best Restaurants, highlighting its status as one of the nation's finest dining spots. Whether visitors are stopping by after fishing or camping trips to enjoy the region's beautiful lakes, The Barn provides a warm sanctuary where guests can relax while savoring delicious food that has become synonymous with local tradition and hospitality.
The current owners, Ben and Tammy Olson, purchased the diner in 2024 with a clear mission: to preserve the rich history of the previous owners while infusing their own unique touch into the business. They ensured a smooth transition by training under the former owner before taking over, successfully maintaining all traditional homemade pie recipes that have long been customer favorites. While they kept everything that made The Barn special alive and well, including its signature charm, they also introduced new menu items to appeal to modern tastes, effectively balancing respect for tradition with innovation to keep the business growing.
A key focus of their strategy involves fostering a strong team culture rather than just employing staff, recognizing that collective effort is essential for sustained success in the restaurant industry. The owners are particularly keen on bringing new people into both Brainerd and The Barn itself, aiming to increase foot traffic within this already popular tourist destination. To achieve greater visibility without relying solely on large corporate marketing budgets, they partnered with America's Best Restaurants, a program specifically designed to help small businesses master social media skills and tell their compelling stories of family ownership and generational legacy.
The segment concludes by emphasizing that the cameras at The Barn capture more than just homemade pies and signature barnwiches; they document the heartwarming narrative of a family-owned enterprise deeply rooted in Brainerd's history for generations. Located at 711 Washington Street, the diner remains open seven days a week, inviting everyone to experience its unique blend of nostalgia and fresh offerings. This local news feature serves not only as an advertisement but also as a testament to how small businesses can thrive through community support, strategic marketing education, and an unwavering commitment to serving their neighbors with love and care.
Read the full video transcript
For more than 75 years, the Barn Diner
in Brainerd has been serving the
community with their cozy old-fashioned
atmosphere and their home-cooked comfort
meals. That long-time dedication got
them placed on America's Best
Restaurants. Our reporter Xavier Curry
was at the location and has the story
for this week's In Business.
>> Whether you're stopping by after a day
of fishing, camping, or simply enjoying
the beautiful lakes of the area, the
Barn offers a warm and inviting spot to
relax and enjoy a delicious comfort
meal.
>> We're just kind of hoping to bring new
people into the Barn, but also maybe new
people into Brainerd that don't know um
that we're here. Maybe bring some new
traffic into town. You know, we're
already really big tourist spot, but
it's always nice when you can bring more
people into our community.
>> I don't like to say employees. I don't
like to say staff. I it it's a team
because it takes a team effort in order
to make a business continue to succeed
and grow. I've been in the industry
since I was 14 years old, never been in
a kitchen. You know, I'd always been
kind of the front of the house, and so
then when we needed a cook, I had to
kind of learn how to do that. And so,
now I just kind of know all of it.
>> Ben and [snorts] Tammy Olson purchased
the place in 2024 and have since tried
their best to keep the history of the
previous owners alive while adding a
little bit of their own touch to the
place.
>> We had a really great transition with
the with the previous owner. We trained
with her before we took over, you know,
to kind of keep the tradition alive.
We've got all the same pie recipes came
when we purchased the the Barn. So, we
have all the same homemade pies. A lot
of your great favorites that are still
on the menu. Everything that everybody
loved we kept on there. We added a lot
of new things that people really like as
well, but we try to keep the charm and
everything alive and everything that
makes it the Barn.
>> Here to help [snorts] them is America's
Best Restaurants, a food road show
custom made to help small businesses get
more customer attention.
>> The mission for America's Best
Restaurants is to tell stories of small
business owners as far as when it comes
to restaurants because as we've seen
throughout the years, marketing is
changing. And if you're a big business,
a big conglomerate, you've got more than
enough money to just keep throwing it at
your marketing. But, places like this
don't. So, what we try to do is teach
them a skill set with social media to
help them with their marketing.
>> The cameras are out here at the Barn
Diner, but they're not just capturing
the homemade pies and the signature
barnwiches. They're telling the story of
a family-owned business and Brainerd
tradition that has been around for
generations. Reporting in Brainerd for
this week's in business, Xavier Curry,
Lakeland News.
>> The Barn is located at 711 Washington
Street in Brainerd and it's open 7 days
a week.
>> This in business segment of Lakeland
News was brought to you in part by Fix
Con Roofing, specializing in residential
and commercial roofing, offering
solutions for construction, remodels,
and storm damage repair.
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