Support Local Businesses: Neighbors Route 75 Bar and Grill [LISTEN]

It's more important now than ever to support local businesses like bars and restaurants during the shut down.

Every weekday morning at 8 a.m. we'll be visiting with a local restaurant operator to find out how they are doing during the pandemic. We'll check-in and find out what specials they're running, how you can order for delivery, take-out our curbside pickup.

Today, were joined on the show by Joe Holtz with Neighbors Route 75 Bar and Grill in St. Joseph.

With three locations in Minnesota, the restaurant is a family affair for Holtz who has five relatives working for him.

When you go to the restaurant you can expect homemade dishes and freshness, "we're not farm to table but almost everything we do is fresh, hand-cut. We smoke our own meat in house. I personally go to the [Peterson potato farm] in Becker to pick up potatoes," said Holtz.

With some restaurants scaling back their menu during COVID-19, Holtz is still offering up his full menu for takeout. He mentioned they are doing delivery for larger orders, but they're mostly operating through takeout or curbside pickup.

Because Neighbors is closed for dine-in service, per Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's executive order, they recently started partnering with several other local restaurants in our area to become a charity drop off location. The drive was started by MC's Dugout as a way to use their empty space and utilize some of their community connections. Several local restaurants heard about it and decided to follow suit. "When I heard about that, I was on it right away. Let's help the community. It's all about sticking together," said Holtz.

The charity drive runs for three Tuesdays in December. Last week the restaurant kicked things off by collecting clothes. This week they're collecting toys and on Dec. 22 they'll finish the drive with food donations. "Hopefully people will grab a meal when they drop something off … it all helps. Little by little we will fight through this," Holtz added.

In addition to takeout and curbside pickup, you can also support the restaurant by buying gift cards. They're running a promotion where you get a free $5 gift card anytime you purchase $50 or more in gift cards.

They recently started offering up online ordering for all three of their Neighbors Route 75 locations which include St. Joseph, Albertville and Princeton. 

Neighbors Route 75 Bar and Grill is open 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. You can call them at 320-557-0268. Their closest location to St. Cloud is at 2010 County Road 75 in St. Joseph.