Loony's Brew is a laid back dive bar / pub located in the quaint village town of Ranier, Minnesota…read more To be more precise about Ranier, MN, it's situated right beside the once bustling industrial town of International Falls, MN...just 3 miles away. And, lol, in the bigger picture of it all, if you're visiting International Falls, MN, you're most likely in this remote part of Northern Minnesota exploring Voyageurs National Park. That's where it started for me. I had just completed time at Voyageurs NP and while speaking with a representative at the International Falls Chamber of Commerce, they recommended stopping here at Loony's Brew. Once in Ranier, parking was difficult, but I found a spot across the train tracks. I didn't mind walking 10 minutes over to Loony's as it gave me insight into what made Ranier unique...definitely a small town/local vibe as if I had stepped back in time. Loony's appearance on the outside reminded me of a simple summerhouse cottage along the waterfront with a dock in the backyard for accessing Rainy Lake. Overall, it's like staying at a lake house in the countryside. Although there's no official sign for customers to know they've arrived at Loony's Brew, there's a wooden post hanging by the entrance with a message stating...."PUB, BEER, FOOD, WINE, GOOD TIMES". Loony's has a playful/old fashioned bar kind of feel. You could sense the owners knew the specific tone they wanted to provide for patrons. The bar has an assortment of homegrown, locally brewed beers on tap....According to their website, they feature - "American, Hoppy, Belgian, Stouts & Porters, Fruits, Gruits, Lagers, NAs, and Barleywines". Loony's is decorated with classic guitars, vintage license plates and loads of symbolic mementos dedicated to their history. There's a back/rear section area featuring a billiards table, jukebox and dartboard. Situated all around are high-top tables and chairs. Plus, there's a small corner for showcasing local bands and musical acts. I ordered a beer, took it outside and walked across the street to the Brew Deck Bar area for enjoying views of Sand Bay beside Rainy Lake. The setting was pleasantly quiet. There's even a little pier where you can walk towards a rustic lighthouse. Overall, Loony's Brew is a worthwhile place to come after your discoveries at Voyageurs National Park. It's a no hassle, no fuss brewery that embodies the blue-collar town of Ranier, MN.

Great pub on the lake! Bartender, Colin, is excellent!…read more Come join the "family" for Sunday Funday!

Excellent meal with a beautiful view of the lake. Probably the best French Dip I've ever enjoyed…read more The wild rice soup was very good. Highly recommend.

We popped in for a celebratory beverage and had a great experience. The bugs were too bad to sit…read moreoutdoors so we grabbed a seat at the bar. The gentleman who served us was super knowledgeable and fun to watch prepare our cocktails. All fresh fruit syrups made in house - the cocktails were amazing. I loved the Lime Tea. An excellent experience and we'll 100% be back the next time we visit!

Delicious food! Great service, very clean. I like that you could get a drink from the bar too!read more

The food is surprisingly good for bar food. Pizzas are great! Atmosphere is just a bar, but…read moresomehow you just don't care! It's great.

The server was friendly and attentive. It was a nice space and they were accommodating and ready…read morefor our large group. On to the food - We had a table of 11 and unfortunately 6 of us had the walleye. It was not fresh. It was quite fishy tasting and there was a lively debate on whether it was actually walleye. However the older, stoic fish ordering folks wouldn't dream of complaining or wasting. They ate their fries and pretended everything was fine. The uneaten fish was shoved into a container for either the dogs or the pigs. I would have insisted on a refire or replacement. My husband had the ribeye. It was unusually thin and surprisingly flavorless. It was accompanied by waterlogged chopped vegetables and tasty fries. I was one of the lucky ones. I had the gnocchi with beef and pork ragu which was delicious. The coffee was good and the caesar salad was fresh and tasty. Others were satisfied with their shrimp tacos, chef salad and philly cheesesteak. The most disappointing thing is the fact that they KNEW that fish wasn't fit to be served. No way you couldn't know unless you're just going through the motions. Thank god no one got sick. My suggestion- just do a few things but do them well. Taste your food occasionally, especially fish items.

Might have given a better review if it was open more than 1 night out of a 2 week stay. The hotel,…read morewebsite, and sign on the door keep giving a different reason each day for why its closed. The front desk thought it would be open today. I checked the website, it said open so I sent 4 trucks of firefighters based on the open status on the website and input from the front desk. We show up and of course its closed, AGAIN!

The best Reuben sandwich I've ever eaten. Seriously. We ate here twice and second time I had the…read morefish sandwich. It was good, a little on the small side if you're really hungry. The people are really sweet who work here. It looks like what you think lakeside dining in the woods should. Check out the salt and pepper shakers.

We boated over from our resort to have our anniversary dinner. Going up the back way through the…read moreabandoned resort is a bit alarming. Looks like a horror movie set. The restaurant is a Northwoods vibe with a lot of old kitschy bar signs, old fashioned auger, etc. We enjoyed our veggie pizza and also tried the deep fried green beans with a spicy mayo-based sauce. Our server was attentive, bringing us back our Arnie palmer refills. Definitely not a typical anniversary celebration.

Menu is small. Food served was cold. Corn tortillas were not even heated. The porketta sandwich was…read moretasty but cold. Said it came with chips but didn't receive any. Waiter was on phone for over 20 minutes while there. Another server that was updating the beer list did step in to help and was nice.

Very nice place. Good beer choices. Only problem is you aren't sure when they are open. They…read moredon't respond to email or Facebook msg. Swing by I guess and take a chance.

We love the food at Big John's, my favorite has to be the buffalo chicken won tons! We always bring…read moreour guests to Big John's and everyone has a great meal!

The food was okay but don't believe the website regarding their hours. Said open til 8 on a Friday…read morenight, but when we got there at 7 they said they're closed.

We decided on Thunderbird Lodge for lunch after our Grand Tour of Voyageurs National Park. We…read moreweren't originally planning on visiting, but this place was one of the closest restaurants to the Rainy Lake Visitor Center. We were starving since it was almost 1 PM and we hadn't eaten at all since the previous night. The place wasn't busy at all, and with a thunderstorm rolling in and the skies darkening, we took a seat inside and got our food within 10 minutes. Walleye Sandwich ($22) - First I have to say that I love how this is served. All the veggies (a couple of slices of pickle, some lettuce, and tomato) are all placed underneath the bread and fried fish in order to keep things fresh and crisp. A lot of times when a restaurant pre-assembles sandwiches with veggies, the moisture soaks into the bread and/or fried food. The fish, in this case fried walleye, is nicely flaky and mostly tender, not drying out too overly much from the fry. It has mild flavor, fresh not fishy, and the breading, evenly applied all around, stays completely adhered. The breading isn't too heavy of a layer so the taste of the fish still comes through. The bread is a normal commercial bun, toasted until kind of crinkly and crumbly. Watch out for bones inside the fillet - I found three still embedded. The sandwich comes with some thin commercial battered fries. There's not much else to say other than there was no problems with the level of fry. (4/5) Chicken Wild Rice Bowl ($8) - This is a relatively creamy stew-like soup, with a mire poix mix that includes tender carrot, but crunchy celery. Clearly an indication that it's home made. There are chicken chunks that don't seem to be home made though - the chunks seem like cubed chicken from a can or vacuum packed and cubed. There's extra umami and saltiness from crumbled bacon - in fact, the soup as a whole is perhaps too salty for my tastes. There's a decent amount of cultivated broken soup-grade wild rice included, some pieces are longer and curly, most are short and straight. They still give that nice bitey, springy, snappy texture though. (4/5) I found Thunderbird Lodge to serve some pretty decent food, especially given the real dearth of quality restaurants in general around International Falls. I wish we had eaten there on a sunnier day so we could take in the full view of Rainy Lake while eating on the patio! Bathrooms - Larger ones in the hotel Food: [4/5] Service: [ ] Other: [ ] Final Rating: 4/5

Yet another wonderful meal at The Thunderbird. Walleye can't be beat. The chicken n wild rice soup…read morewas so good too. The view is worth the trip for sure.