Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant

Grand Marais MN (Sunny High 80 Low 61)


While in Grand Marais Minnesota we ate at the Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant. Naniboujou was conceived in the minds of a handful of men as an ultra-exclusive, private club on the shores of Lake Superior about 15 miles north of Grand Marais. Among the charter members were Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey and Ring Lardner. The club was dedicated in 1929 with plans for membership to be limited to 1000. A golf course and eight tennis courts were planned as well as a hunting lodge but later in 1929 Black Friday occurred and the Great Depression began. As a result the club failed and was sold, only the main lodge was completed. It is now open as a Hotel and a Restaurant.

Inside the dining room stands a native stone fireplace, the largest in the state of Minnesota, is made of two hundred tons of native rock. 

The dining room is decorated in designs of the Cree Indians and has never been repainted since its completion in 1929. Here is the ceiling.

Here is a closeup of one of the designs.

The food here is incredible. The french toast is the best we have ever had and has been added to 'Our Favorite Things: Food!'. Their oatmeal is called porridge and tastes like cream of bread pudding. They make a wild rice, mushroom, cheese and Black Forest ham omelet that is very good. Everything else is also very good; from the bread to the muffins to the herbed potatoes. The breakfast meats of bacon and blueberry wild rice sausage are also tasty.


If you are ever in the area a stop at the Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant is a sightseeing and culinary adventure.


This got us thinking since we are leaving Grand Marais today how the area is a foodies paradise so we plan to do an in-depth analysis of the Grand Marais food scene in a future blog posting.


Till next time,


Bob and Jo