Buck Snort celebrates 10th anniversary, 50th anniversary in the Dahl family

COLFAX — August 1st marked the tenth anniversary of the Buck Snort Bar & Grill on Main Street in Colfax, and earlier this year, the establishment celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in the Dahl family.

Now owned by Dan and Brenda Dahl, the business started as “Cart’s Place and the Teen-A-Rama” in 1967 and was owned by Dan’s mother and father, Cart and Elsie Dahl.

Dan’s sister, Becky Harmon, bought the business in 1987 and ran it as the Village Inn until Dan and Brenda bought it in 2007.

Both Dan and Brenda worked at the “Teen-A-Rama” in high school, as well as Dan’s sister, Debi Dahl Friedli, and friend and classmate Paula Prince.

“Becky passed away in June. That’s been hard for us. It’s been hard every day,” Brenda Dahl said.

Many things about the business have changed over the past ten years, and every day, week, and month are different, Dan and Brenda said.

The Buck Snort “has very busy times and slow ones, too,” they noted.

The Friday night fish fries are one of the busiest nights for the Buck Snort.

“People from all over, Menomonie, Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, Boyceville, come for ‘All You Can Eat Fish Fry’ that’s made to order with choice of potato, salad bar, and a fresh loaf of mini bread. The bread has always been a hit. Cart and Elsie and Becky had that as well,” Brenda Dahl said.

“People really like the made-to-order, which they usually don’t know we have until they come in here. The French dressing on the salad bar also dates back to Elsie. It’s a family recipe, and that means a lot to us,” Dan Dahl said.

The second most popular offering at the Buck Snort is “steak day” on Tuesday, while Thursday meatballs are popular, too.

Dan and Brenda Dahl also enjoy “the coffee guys” who come in the morning to shake dice, play cards and are a “super fun group.”

“We have lots of laughs, although each year we seem to lose a few that have passed away. And that is always so hard. Gerald Repaal, ‘Reep,’ this year. Such a great guy and always fun to talk to. You never knew what would come out of his mouth sometimes, as well as many more over the past 10 years. I get very attached to these guys. It’s sad when we lose them,” Brenda said.

Big events every year for the Buck Snort are the Colfax Firefighters’ Ball, the Main Street block party and the softball tournaments and softball teams. Football season with the Green Bay Packers is an important part of the business as well.

Dan and Brenda are appreciative of “all the great people in a small community.”

“We meet new people every day. We have all our locals, too, every day that come in and help support us, which is great. We do try to do most of our business in town with the other local businesses to help keep our small community going. I think that’s very important. Without a grocery store, we’d all have to travel somewhere else,”  Brenda Dahl said.

As many people are probably aware, the Buck Snort is for sale and possibly has a potential buyer.

“It will be bittersweet that it is leaving the family. I plan to take some time off for a bit and then look for a job,” Brenda said.

For the past 38 years, Dan Dahl has been employed at the paper mill, Cascades Tissue, in Eau Claire.

Dan and Brenda are both 1979 graduates of Colfax High School. They recently celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary and went out West on a trip to Montana, Yellowstone National Park and the Big Horn Mountains.

Dan and Brenda have two sons, Doug, and his wife, Jodi, and Cory, and his wife, Emily, as well as three grandchildren, Edella (6 ½), Cohen (4 ½), and Keller (18 months).