If you’d like to see a moose, but are having difficulty doing so, the next best thing may be a visit to Our Place in Finland. The restaurant has perhaps the largest collection of moose memorabilia on the North Shore, including a collection of moose antlers, antler carvings and moose artwork.
“We get more people asking where they can see a moose than where they can catch a walleye,” says Larry Schanno, an avid “hunter” of shed moose antlers who owns the restaurant with his wife, Debra.
Of course, most folks come to Our Place looking for something to eat and typically are very satisfied with what they find. Opening at 7 a.m. for breakfast, the restaurant serves food throughout the day, with the kitchen closing at 8 p.m. in the winter and 9 p.m. in summer. The best-selling menu item is barbequed ribs.
A History of Our Place
Built and opened for business on May 30, 1926 by Walter and Anna Thompson. Gunner Palm took over Thompson’s Store in 1927. Sold in 1954 to John and Lorna Amdal. Sold in 1958 to Dale and Carol Banks. In 1973 the Banks sold to Larry Ryden. About 1990, it was sold to Teresa Sundholm. In 1999 it was purchased by Larry and Deb Schanno.--Larry Schanno
“In the 11 years we’ve owned the restaurant, the only complaint we’ve received about the ribs is they wanted more of them,” Schanno says.
Describing Our Place as “a family restaurant that serves alcohol,” Schanno says they strive to have a comfortable place for mom, grandma and the kids. Restaurant customers come from all over. In the winter, Our Place is a favorite stop for snowmobilers enjoying the area’s extensive system of groomed trails.
“Finland may not be your destination, but all of the snowmobile trails pass through here,” Schanno says.
The restaurant is popular with North Shore locals from Beaver Bay to Lutsen. A few folks from Grand Marais are regular customers, too. During the summer, guests from many North Shore resorts head to Our Place for what Schanno calls “a local atmosphere and prices without sacrificing food quality.”
The menu at Our Place remains consistent, although new items are occasionally added. For instance, Schanno, a former logger, changed the hot roast beef sandwich to a hot pork sandwich one winter, because loggers traditionally ate more pork during the cold months. In spring, when he tried to switch back to roast beef customers asked that he keep pork on the menu. On other occasions, the restaurant has given out free samples of new items to judge customer response.
About six years ago, the Silver Bay Vet’s Home brought a group of veterans to the restaurant for lunch. Schanno, the son of a WWII veteran, welcomed the vets, who began coming once every two weeks. Later, the vets stopped coming and he learned the funding for the lunch outing had run out. He asked the vet home to continue the outing and said lunch for the vets was on him. Restaurant patrons began making donations so the vets could come to Our Place once a week.
Word got out about the vets’ lunches. First, the Duluth News-Tribune did a story about Our Place. Then Twin Cities television personality Jason Davis did a show on Schanno’s efforts on behalf of veterans, which now includes taking them fishing for brook trout at a pond on his property. In 2010, the vets had 22 fishing outings at the pond. He has also taken a couple of vets deer hunting on his property.
“We try to do good things for people who have done great things,” he says.
Further donations have allowed him to do more good things. He installed special fencing at the ponds so vets using wheelchairs and walkers have a safe and comfortable place to fish. Those he takes hunting do so from a heated, portable stand. And as they say, what goes around comes around.
“It’s been good karma,” Schanno says. “People from all over stop in the restaurant because they’ve heard about what we do for the vets.”
Good food and good karma, moose memorabilia to boot, make Our Place a special place among North Shore eateries.