Saturday Business Spotlight: Stag R Inn
[June 14, 2025] Bar
and grill Stag R Inn has been a popular place to eat in Emden for the
past several years. As of August 21, 2024, new ownership took over and
made a few changes to both the menu and the restaurant itself.
Co-owner Penny
Johnson has worked in restaurants since age 15 and said she has always
wanted to run a restaurant. Co-owner Damon White also had some
restaurant experience, so when the Stag R Inn was for sale, they decided
to buy it.
Head cook Calen Ballard has been surprised by how far people come to eat
at the Stag R Inn. People travel from Springfield, Pekin, Leroy,
Hopedale and many other towns to eat. Ballard said many tell them they
have heard about the food and want to try it.
Fridays and
Saturdays often bring in big crowds.
There are many popular dishes such as the white stag burger, which
Ballard said is a burger with white American and provolone cheeses,
candied, caramelized onions and ribeye strips with Hawaiian sweet sauce.
Another popular item is the hand breaded pork tenderloin.
As head cook,
Ballard has creative control of the kitchen and creates specials only
offered on certain days. Everything is made in house, and Ballard tries
to make sure everything is high quality and serving sizes are good. He
wants people to have a good experience.
One special that Ballard said was surprisingly very popular is the
meatloaf. He said one man offered to pay $100 for a whole meatloaf.
Other popular specials are the ranger smash burgers, lemon pepper wild
rice broccoli, ribeye with Irish potatoes, boneless chicken wings and
bone-in chicken wings. The popular mac smash and mac wrap are similar to
Big Macs, but made with Stag R Inn’s own special sauce.
On Mondays and Wednesdays, they serve mashed potatoes made from scratch
with eight ingredients. Tuesdays specials include made from scratch taco
wraps. Wednesday specials include fried chicken, portobello ribeye wrap,
blueberry BBQ burgers, blueberry BBQ pork burger and blueberry BBQ
chicken wrap. A jalapeno popper burger and chicken wings are popular
Thursday specials. Friday specials include walleye, catfish, grilled
mahi mahi, shrimp and 14 ounce ribeye.
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Ballard said the
jalapeno popper burger is made with cream cheese and raspberry bacon
jam. He tries to give people a little something different with these
specials.
Something else
Ballard makes is a wine gravy and White often likes to drink a cup of
the gravy.
White’s favorite part of running the restaurant is watching people get
their plates and eat. He said they try to present the food as if people
are eating at grandma’s house and getting a good home cooked meal.
Johnson said they purchase meat such as ground chuck, steaks,
tenderloin, chicken breasts and pork chops from IGA in Lincoln a few
times a week.
Because fresh is better, Johnson said the soups, salads, pastas and
potatoes are fresh.
Occasionally, something on their menu dwindles in popularity, so White
said they take it off the menu. The flatbread pizzas are one example.
White said they are planning to expand the fenced in area outside. They
are hoping to have bands play outside at some point.
The back room has been repainted, and they plan to add a picture of a
buck in there.
Other changes have included taking out the old dart board and
shuffleboard table and adding two more slot machines.
The two billiard tables that have been there for years remain and
Thursday nights, pool leagues play.
Tuesday night trivia, which has long been a tradition at the Stag R Inn,
also returned recently.
As for advice for someone looking to open a business in Logan County,
Johnson said to hire the best staff [because] you won’t make it without
them.
White said you
need a good team to make it work. He calls the Stag R Inn the best
restaurant in Logan County with the best waitresses and best chef. There
are a total of 10 employees at the Stag R Inn.
If you have not had a chance to try their food, come visit the Stag R
Inn at 120 Lincoln Street in Emden. They are open Mondays through
Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Fridays and Saturday from 11 a.m.
to 1 a.m.
[Angela Reiners] |
