Waterfront dining just a short drive from Rochester…the Pondy on Lake Zumbro is worth the beautiful drive to get to and is just a few minutes from the city. Proof that business pages and advertising do work we just happened to see this on Facebook. The Pondy is very unassuming when you drive up to it but inside someone knows what they are doing when they are preparing dinner! The owner, who has just owned the Pondy for a year, is the chef. He has a long history of being a chef in this area. Steve Overton said it has been going well this first year. He has many plans for the future but for now, wants to concentrate on getting the food just right so that patrons will not hesitate to tell their friends and come back for more. After the meals that we enjoyed- we will be one of the many who come back again and again. He is concentrating on just a few menu items and doing them very well. They make everything from scratch- even the tartar sauce and the cocktail sauce. The entree prices are very reasonable and most are served with some delicious baby red potatoes and a vegetable. You can get soup or salad for an upcharge. Scott had the prime rib sandwich. The prime rib is served on a toasted hoagie roll and topped with mushrooms, onions, bacon topped with provolone cheese! It greatly exceeded his expectations and he loved it.

I had the shrimp. You can choose broiled or battered. I chose the battered because it was lightly coated in house with their own recipe. It was a very generous portion of perfectly done shrimp, a vegetable mix and the amazing baby reds. The homemade cocktail sauce is perfect with it. I would definitely order this again and Scott said he was going to order this next time.

We sat outside on the deck. The inside of The Pondy has a retro supper club feel and in fact, that is what Steve Overton said it used to be. Back in the day, it was called the Ponderosa Bar and Grill. It sits right net to the Ponderosa Campground and Steve said that back then the local’s would differentiate the restaurant from the campground by calling it the ‘Pondy’. We hope you enjoy the friendly staff, the great experience, and the exceptional food as much as we did!