ABERDEEN — Valhalla awaits.

But you won’t need to die a great hero's death to enter this grand meeting hall filled with choice cuts of ribeye steak, smoked brisket, loaded pizzas, stacked sandwiches and enough food to satiate even the largest of Viking warriors.

Odin’s Smokehouse, located at 76 S. Main St. in Aberdeen, is the newest restaurant to grace the local area and plays heavily into its Norse aesthetic.

The name of the restaurant, owned by Patty and Adam Linville, was inspired by Adam, who is of Viking descent and whose appearance is not too dissimilar to his Nordic ancestors of yore.

“Adam and I met about five years ago in Utah and we've loved cooking together,” said Patty, an Aberdeen native. “He’s just natural at it and I've been cooking since I was young. We both drove trucks at the time, but on our off time, we would make our own bacon. We'd make our own ham. We absolutely loved it.”

She continued, “We started to discuss buying a food truck during the COVID shutdown. Unfortunately, they were just way too expensive. The cost of a food truck nowadays has skyrocketed. It was cheaper to buy a restaurant anyways, because you had to have a commissary kitchen and all the licenses and stuff. We started looking into that about a year and a half ago and this is the establishment we finally were able to pin down for it. We ended up selling our house and moving up here and opening up a business.”

Odin’s Smokehouse's menu offers a large variety of meat by the weight, ribs and signature barbecue plates, filling appetizers, grilled sandwiches, specialty burgers, massive sides, pasta, sub sandwiches and a whole page dedicated to pizza.

“Most of our stuff is old school,” Patty said. “It's homemade food. It's not fast food. The building itself was built in 1903 and it's been here since the town was established. It's a really neat old hardwood floor, tall ceiling building, and so when you walk in, it feels really old school and homey and welcoming. That's kind of what we're going for, that welcoming, smokehouse, good food, family (oriented), sit down and chat for a while kind of atmosphere. That's really what we were aiming for and that's just who me and my husband are.”

The smoked brisket has quickly become a fan favorite at Odin’s with the restaurant selling out of it almost every day. Much of the food prepared at the restaurant is also made from scratch, including ravioli and lasagna.

“I make all the bread, all the hamburger buns, all the hoagie rolls, everything,” Patty said. “We also have a pizza side, because it's actually technically two (restaurants). There's the smokehouse itself and then on the other side of the wall is a pizza restaurant. We make everything from scratch there too, except for the cheese.”

According to Patty, the steaks at Odin’s Smokehouse are so good she can’t visit any other steakhouse because they simply aren’t up to the same standards of quality and taste.

“My husband can cook a steak that will ruin you on steaks. You will not be able to eat it anywhere else,” Patty said.

The spirit of the medieval banquet hall appears alive and well in Aberdeen, with mammoth portions, a comfortable and familial environment and an enormous selection of food that is truly becoming of the restaurant's ancient Norse namesake.

“I love my community,” Patty said. “I've lived in this area for so long and I had actually moved to Utah and missed it so much that I just had to come back. Now that I'm here, I'm just happy to be able to be back in the community and just be a part of Aberdeen. It's a great town.”

For more information on Odin’s Smokehouse or to view its menu, visit odinssmokehouse.com.