Embracing my Swedish/ Norwegian side checking out the lovely town ofLindström today. Well known as…read morethe town with the teapot water tower just north of Forest Lake. Along with a tasty lunch in Chisago. @thenorthernlaketavern wrapped up our visit with a tasty lunch. We enjoyed the chicken and garlic flatbread, and a mushroom Swiss burger with tots. Uffdah what a fun day! Hoping everyone can find some Hygge in your days.

Sis and I took a last-minute Thursday late afternoon roadtrip up Hwy 8 due to a FB Marketplace…read morepickup. It was dinnertime and I asked the Seller a restaurant they recommend in the area. She told us The Northern and to make sure to order the cheese curds. Looking at the menu before hitting the road again, sis and I knew the place was for us: burgers, sandwiches and wraps. Pulling into the parking lot was easy. Even though looked full, we were still able to find a spot. I want to note the gorgeous view of the red barn/farm across from the pond when pulling in. I noticed a patio on the North side of the building, which would put this farm in your view. We did have about a 20 minute wait for a table for 2. The restaurant looked busy from what I could see. Once we were brought to out table, I then noticed that the bar seating was pretty much open. Had I known, we might have elected to just sit at the bar. However, I asked for menus right away so that we could at least ponder it during that 20 minutes. We were sat at a high top right near the kitchen door. Being able to see all the food come out, I changed my mind on what I was going to order almost 10 times. We asked for the cheese curds as soon as we were greeted by our waitress. OMGosh! They were in the shape of cubes, deep fried to golden perfection. The outside had perfect firmness from the fryer. The inside was gooey, salty white cheese. Perfect just by itself. It did come with a ranch dipping sauce that was just so yummy. It reminded me a seasoned sour cream. The waitress didn't know the brand of the cheese curds (ie. Ellsworth) but did say the ranch was homemade Sis ordered the Great Northern Burger with French fries. She's a fan of BBQ sauce, bacon and onion rings on a burger. Fries were nicely seasoned, long, soft and semi-skin-on (not crinkle or steak fries). Burger was huge and worth the $15.99 price tag. I settled on the BOTM, the Nacho Burger, with tator tots. Toppings included nacho cheese, Fritos chips, bacon, diced/sliced jalapenos. The tator tots were one of the best I've ever had. Again, seasoned nicely. And the perfect ratio of hard outside crunch to soft inside potato. The Nacho burger was huge too....and messy with the nacho cheese. The Fritos did get a little soggy at the end. The bacon was under the melted cheese. And there were plenty of jalapenos hidden under the meat patty. Those were easy to discard so I could control how many fiery peppers were in my mouth at one time. Was service slower than normal? Yes. Was the service friendly? Yes. Was it worth the wait? Also YES! I would definitely recommend (I already have to my coworkers.) for anyone who loves gourmet burgers. They also have a nice variety to the sandwich, wraps, tacos and flatbread menu. I will just have to take the 40 minute drive again to try something else.

Less Uffda, More Lefse: that's what this place is about! We…read morethought the service was lacking, especially for a Saturday morning (a relatively popular time for them). Since this was our first time, we had no idea that it was a 'seat yourself' type of place and there were no signs indicating so. We stood at the door being stared at by the patrons and the employees. It took several minutes for someone to tell us we could sit wherever. Finally, our waitress stopped over, took our drink order, but because we weren't ready, she left. She didn't come back for more than 15 minutes. She did apologize, but it was far too long. Prices were reasonable and two specials were offered - our kinda place! My husband took part in one of those specials and ordered the country fried steak and eggs. I ordered the regular steak and eggs. We did substitute an order of toast for the Swedish pancakes (gotta!) It took a really long time for our food to come, which was disappointing. Food did come out hot and my husband was a big fan of the country fried steak. I didn't think the Swedish pancakes were anything I would HAVE to order a second time, but I'm glad we tried them. The hashbrowns were probably the highlight of breakfast. A waitress did stop by with a dum dum for kids, which was a cute added touch!

Stopped in with a friend, after going for a walk. Our usual place was closed, so we found this one…read moreand decided to give it a try. It has a small town, local hang out feel to it. There are plenty of tables that aren't crowded too close together. Staff was extremely friendly. Everyone around us appeared to be eating breakfast, and it all looked good. However, since it is a Swedish restaurant we decided to order the meatballs and lefse. Both had average flavor, but wasn't anything special. The gravy on the meatballs were under whelming. I don't think I would order them again but I definitely want to go back and try their breakfast.

Simply lovely, why it was one of the nicest places we ever went to. Need we go on? With such a…read moreraving surely not! But we will. Pulling up to Gustaf's was a delight in itself (did I hear someone say "curb appeal"?) And then we walked in. The wallpaper? The crown molding? The wood floors? The chandelier? The accent pieces? Did we mention the wallpaper? Absolutely beautiful, Americana-Edwardian. The nooks of tables made this place so cozy and private feeling. Your own little spot. The gentlemen severs were charming! Polite and genuine. Who are we kidding we're just gonna call them out, Drew and Michael fantastic job boys! On the menu it said something like, that quality ingredients are important to them. And it does truly show. This was some really nice foodies. Very good. We got "The Swede", Brie cheese with blueberry jam, on wild rice cranberry bread-side of tomato soup (feeling like, in the best way, Denethor with those toms), some hot cider (we forgot how much we love that stuff, be needing gallons of it), and last but certainly not least...apple pie. Our tastebuds were happy happy things, we ourselves were (and still are) happy happy creatures. Heard some worship music in the background and a verse from Ephesians was on the wall. Truly a blessed experience. We have to come back to try the French toast. Also picked up some pot pie for a later date. Wonderful. If we here at The Tight Squad could give you more stars we would. The wallpaper really was too pretty. (In addition there's an upstairs (presumably with more wallpaper we haven't laid our eyes on) that you can reserve) -The Tight Squad

I usually go for like lunch. The food has always been fresh and delicious!!!…read moreThe service is very attentive and accommodating. The owner is a sweetheart!

Arrived at 8:30 on a Friday night, sat down and the server immediately told us they were no longer…read moreserving chicken or pizza, it was too late. It says they are open till 9:00pm, but obviously the cook and the owners don't care what the customer wants. They should change their hours then if they are not going to serve the full menu till 9:00pm. So, we ordered the Chicken Parmesan to take home, because it was obvious the workers there were more intent at leaving as soon as they could than properly servicing customers. Upon arriving home to eat our meal, the chicken was so tough that we had to get a steak knife to cut it, and was like chewing on a rubber ball. Bad service, bad meal, never going back there again and I definitely will not recommend this place to anyone.

It's a family owned cafe that has great breakfasts, which is served all day!! Their Pizza is…read moreFANTASTIC!!! Service is always great and I love that they deliver from late afternoon until close!!

This place was so cute and homey! We stopped for lunch and loved the atmosphere. The menu had a…read morevariety of very savory selections from sandwiches to soups to coffee and sweets! If you're vegan, vegetarian or need GF options, this is a perfect spot for you! The service was very friendly and collaborative - meaning we were offered great hospitality from all of the staff members. There are additional seating in the back of the restaurant and it was quite roomy. We really enjoyed the food and experience! We will definitely come again when in the area! Quick tips: - You order in front and will seat your party once everyone has ordered. This may have caused some bottlenecks in the line but we got there when it wasn't as busy. - Your food items will be delivered to your table. - Their hot chocolate and coffee drinks were so delicious! - Their cookies and treats are also a must try!

Visited Watershed with some friends for dinner. They have a back area for extra space so we were…read moreseated there. They had water already on the table which is a plus! Note that you have to order here before being seated. Not too bad but does put the pressure on to order quickly so you can be seated before others. I went with the turkey melt and upgraded to fries and my partner got a turkey club with a fries upgrade. Together, this meal totaled just over $40 (no extra drink, we got waters). I feel bad giving a low score because of this but I do have to mention that the prices feel much higher than the quality of the food. Yes, we added fries instead of chips which might be the cause for the higher prices, but you can get two well made burgers for less than this so it doesn't feel justified. Additionally, the food was good but not great. My tuna melt lacked a bit of flavoring and only tasted of mayo. Normally this would be fine for me but not when I paid above average for my food. This really is a nice restaurant and in an area that doesn't have too many of those. Our waitress was very attentive (almost too attentive) and the service was good but I don't think I'd choose to visit again.

To say I liked The High Hat is a bit of an understatement. Honestly just thinking about it now I'm…read moresad I don't live in MN and can't go back soon, it's really just that good. First of all we found this place on Yelp and landed on it because of the high reviews and how close it was to our airbnb. I was a bit worried about a wait as it looked popular but with two people we were able to get in pretty quick (less than 5 min wait) on a Sunday morning. It was packed though, so there might be a wait. Space is at a premium in this building and despite being a bit crammed in it was still a great experience overall. Honestly everything was wonderful. The server: A+, ambiance: great, food: holy hell it was delicious. I had some sort of benedict that came on cornbread and was paired with some incredible hashbrowns. Chef's kiss. I also ordered a specialty mocha for fun and it also did not disappoint. This place is a slam dunk for breakfast. If you live in the twin cities and you haven't eaten here yet what are you doing!?

This place is an absolute GEM in the breakfast world. It is the ONLY place in the twin cities, that…read moreI have found, where I can get a great coffee as well as a great breakfast. Every. Single. Time. That doesn't even cover how wonderful the staff there is! Just really great people who are keeping it real. No parties larger than 6, this is a hard rule and needs to be respected. I have seen people argue with the owner. It's a small place and he values his staff so much that he will not opt for income over his staff's mental health or stress level. I admire that so much. All the more reason to take your close friend and enjoy a real down to earth local business!!!

Sportsmen's Cafe has good comfort food and great service. It's not fancy, but has a very homey…read moreatmosphere.

Great food and awesome home made pie! Fast and friendly service with great prices. Go !read more

We stopped in for dinner after a round of golf in Ramsey. Fun bbq joint vibe, casual and homey. The…read moremenu had many options but felt like I needed to try something that was bbq related. We started with cheese curds. Loved that they were batter fried and not breaded. Very tasty and a huge app portion. My entree was the pulled pork sandwich with bbq beans. Everything was very good. Pork had a savory flavor and it was nice and tender. Portions were large. Topped it all off with a Hazy Little Thing beer. Great service. Easy parking. Just off a major road. Great stop.

My husband works for an LTL delivery service and made a couple deliveries to Jellybean and Julia's…read morewhen they were opening their current location. He told me back then that someday we needed to check out J&J's. We love small business, local, non-chain restaurants. I decided to surprise my husband and take him to J&J's for Father's Day. We are empty nesters, so it was just the two of us for lunch. We arrived just after 12 p.m. There was a line out the door, which we expected since it was Father's Day and Sunday lunchtime. We were told it would be a 15-20 minute wait for a table, which we had no issue with. We ended up waiting less than 10 minutes because there was a table available on the patio. The weather was beautiful, and with summer being so short in Minnesota, we like to take advantage of it whenever we can. Our server came to our table shortly after we were seated, but it was long enough that we both had time to decide what we wanted before she arrived. I ordered the Texas Philly, and my husband had the brisket sandwich. We had to wait a while for our food, which we understood given how busy the restaurant was. Others around us were complaining about the wait, and those tables had a different server who was very apologetic about the kitchen being backed up. The hand-cut fries were piping hot and seasoned perfectly. It's so rare to go out to eat and get hot fries, let alone fries that are piping hot. That alone was worth the wait! My husband loved the brisket sandwich, and the Texas Philly was SO good--piled full of meat. We live in the south metro, but it was well worth the 30+ minute drive to get there. We'll definitely be back and will absolutely recommend J&J's to others!

Perfect small town diner! I had a very good, and big, breakfast here. I probably should have…read moregotten the half order of Biscuits and Gravy, because it was so good that I finished the entire full order that was quite large. The biscuits were very good, and the gravy had nice flavor (could have used a little more sausage). A side of two scrambled eggs also had good flavor, although I prefer them to be fluffier rather than the crepe-style offered here. Hashbrowns were excellent. Service was friendly and attentive, and the space is very welcoming and comfortable. Would probably make this a regular stop if in Siren again.

Had breakfast here again. Wasn't disappointed. Had Blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, crispy…read morebacon, corned beef hash , biscuits and gravy. All tasted great. Service was spot on .

Amazing food, generous portions, friendlt servers, and a showcase of tasty things when checking out.read more

Went for lunch the other day. Stopped in on Keys Cafe & Bakery. I went with ge hot roast beef…read moresandwich with mash potatoes. Old school best describes what I got. More than you can imagine for meat between 2 slices of gravy covered bread with a generous portion of gravy covered potatoes. Yes I ate all of it. Never waste a good meal. My server was pleasant and attentive, just the way it should be. I give them a 4 star. If you in Forest Lake MN. You have to go to Keys. Nancy had eggs Benedict with crispy hash browns.