Otto's Public House

07/14/2025

Before we officially sign off, we just want to say thank you.

Thank you for being part of the Otto’s Public House journey. Whether you stopped in once or were here every week, your support, laughter, and love meant everything to us. We built Otto’s to be a place for community, and that’s exactly what it became — because of you.

There are so many folks we need to thank by name. First: Jackson Goerges, we literally could not have done any of this without you. You are, without a doubt, the best human we’ve had the honor of working with.

To Nakaria Stewart and Rosie Urbaniak, our hilarious and hard-working kitchen duo who made some of the tastiest sandwiches and helped us clean and move until the very end — thank you.

To Avva Plank, the genius behind most of our house-made soups!

To Andrea Lacher, whose bartending craft is only matched by her beautiful food photography.
To our other rockstar bartenders, Sherry Wells and Josh Goyette, thank you for keeping the good vibes flowing.

And to other amazing team members: Jaycee Gilbertson, Connie Florey, Lidia Pete, Que Pruitt, Holly Barkla and Reilee Fick

To the generous, and skilled people who lifted us up in every way:

> Marie Krebsbach, for teaching us so much about the space, the community, and her food!
> Ali Sheimo with Ali Creations
> Holly Brooks
> Renee and the team at Sievers Creative
> Kevin and the crew at Riester Refrigeration
> Shannon from Q Media Group
> Red Wing Chamber of Commerce
> Casey with Sysco Foods
> Karl with Performance Food Group
> Bill Hanisch and the crew at Hanisch Bakery
> Jeff Caza and all the Local Hooligans
> Jim and the folks at Tattersall Distilling
> Lindsay and the team at Musty Barnhart, for all the insurance help
> Marsha Martens, for painting the bathrooms just in time for opening day.
> Every musician who ever played at Otto’s
> Kevin and the team at Home Plate, for the support and business you sent our way
> Randii and the folks at Red Wing Ignite (now Ignite MN)
> Red Wing Downtown Main Street and every local business that supported and shared our story
> The Red Wing Library and Goodhue County Historical Society
> Minnesota Dairy Lab, for turning our Irish Cream recipe into ice cream!
> The creative and talented folks like Janet Gray, Pam Dusbabek and Cait Beran for putting yourselves out there and hosting events with us!
> Sam and the team at Big Turn Music Fest, for believing in our vision
> Emily and the crew at Red Wing Arts, for being some of our loudest cheerleaders

And last but certainly not least Lauren's Parents, Donna Laboy and Bill Lindauer who have been there with us for every step of this journey. They've been there since long before Red Wing and this iteration of our business and we are grateful for their hard work, love and support!

You all made this place what it was. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for being part of this weird, beautiful, heartfelt dream.

Wondering what’s next? Honestly… so are we. It’s going to take time to heal — emotionally and financially — but in time, something new will grow. And whatever comes next, we know we’ll tackle it together.

Join us on our other social channels if you want to follow along: .adventures

With love and deep gratitude,
Lauren & Kyle

06/28/2025

This week has been a nightmare and a whirlwind but it hasn’t been all bad!! We got to make some very special memories with our Team! We got to donate food to the Otto’s family and the community! We’ve gotten to hear so many kind words about how beautiful the space was and how good the food was! We’ve gotten well wishes and more seriously good hugs than before the pandemic! For you see friends, “happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

They say when one door closes another door opens, we’re not sure what’s on the other side of this new door but we’re ready to step through, and we’re grateful to have each other and the wonderful folks we’ve met here in a Red Wing along the way!

PS - we realized we’ve been too busy working over these last 5 months to take too many pictures so we’d love to see your photos! Post in the comments or send us a DM we’d love to see your memories of Otto’s!

06/23/2025

Well folks, the dream was short-lived… but BEAUTIFUL.

It’s with heavy hearts that we share: Otto’s Public House will be closing its doors for good. Our last day of service will be Tuesday, June 24.

Today and tomorrow we’ll be open with limited hours from 5–9pm. So stop by, raise a glass, and help us drink the bar dry, we’d love to see you.

***JOIN US FOR ONE FINAL NIGHT OF FUN AT OTTO’S! JOIN US FOR OUR PAINT PARTY TONIGHT AND TRIVIA TUESDAY IS STILL ON FOR TOMORROW!!***

Otto’s was everything we dreamed it would be:

A cozy, welcoming hangout in the heart of Red Wing. A place for community, comfort, conversation, and delicious food and drinks. With your support, we made that dream real and for that, we’ll always be grateful.

We poured our hearts into this place, but at the end of the day, the revenue just wasn’t there. And while we could analyze a million reasons, the truth is: it doesn’t change the outcome.

Thank you for the memories, the meals, the laughs, and the love.

We’re proud of what we built and honored you were a part of it.

With love and gratitude,

Lauren and Kyle ❤️
[email protected]

06/22/2025

Due to the heat we’ll be closing at 2pm today! Stay cool out there friends!

06/17/2025

A year ago we got the keys to the Armory Center and began building Otto’s Public House.

From day one, we’ve poured everything into this place — time, money, energy, and heart. On Tuesday of last week, we celebrated our 21st dating anniversary. But instead of celebrating any of that, we spent yet another week desperately trying to figure out how to keep going. Then last week things went from bad to worse when someone decided to steal $3,000 in pull tab money from the bar. Money meant for the community. Money that we simply do not have to replace.

This year has tested us in every way: we’ve faced personal losses, health struggles, two surgeries, a miscarriage, financial strain. We’ve stayed optimistic even when it didn’t make sense. We’ve tried so hard to keep believing that if we just worked a little harder, got a little more creative, made it through another week, we could turn the corner.

Otto’s started as a fresh beginning for our family. A dream to bring a new hangout to Red Wing. But the truth is, we’ve been hemorrhaging money since the beginning because of all of the unexpected problems with the building. We’ve been operating on razor-thin margins with no real cushion. At this point we simply can’t keep absorbing the losses alone. Beyond that we need to get ahead of cash flow so that we can operate smoothly and for years to come.

We’re not giving up, but we’re tired and discouraged. We are hurting. And we need help.

So here we are, seeking help — whether it’s through our https://gofund.me/558923b7, coming in for a meal or a drink, sharing our story, or introducing us to someone who believes in what we’re building and may be interested in investing or partnering.

Our dream hasn’t changed:
→ A hangout where you can stay awhile
→ A space that uplifts local art and supports others through programs like our Giving Tap (still on hold because of funding)
→ A welcoming, safe place for everyone — no matter who you are
→ A home for laughter, games, live music, creativity, good food and great drinks.
→ A modern-day Cheers or Central Perk — for Red Wing and our neighbors

If you believe in this dream, in us, now is the time. Reach out. Come in. Share this. Donate if you can. Let’s keep building something beautiful, together.

With gratitude (and more than a little heartbreak),

Lauren and Kyle Otto
[email protected]

06/17/2025

Same song different verse today. Our weekday cook is still under the weather so today (Tuesday June 17th) will be another 5pm open.

Life happens and we're short staffed so we won't be opening until 5pm today. See you tonight for the Poetry Slam with Sam, starting at 7pm! Plus tonight is industry night, which means we offer a BIG THANK YOU to all of our fellow service industry works with 20% off! See you tonight!
PS - we're still hiring cooks!

06/17/2025

06/16/2025

Life happens and we're short staffed so we won't be opening until 5pm today. See you tonight for the Poetry Slam with Sam, starting at 7pm! Plus tonight is industry night, which means we offer a BIG THANK YOU to all of our fellow service industry works with 20% off! See you tonight!
PS - we're still hiring cooks!