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

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.

Usually I find myself visiting restaurants, while traveling, based on Yelp and TripAdvisor reviews…read more However, after backpacking in Voyageurs National Park me and my fiancé were looking for the quickest option that looked halfway appealing. Coming from the Virginia-North Carolina border I'm partial towards NC style (vinegar based bbq) but I'm always looking to try BBQ from other parts of the country to compare. Judging from the sign outside this seemed like just the place and honestly I couldn't have been more pleased. This place blew away my expectations. While they don't lean towards a particular style (vinager, mustard, tomato, etc) they produce a incredibly well smoked and tender pulled pork. Easily some of the best I've ever had. The baked beans were fantastic and had my finances asking for the recipe. On top of all that, the beer selection was by far the best in the area. Due to COVID they had apparently only been open for a couple weeks but judging from the quality of the meal they will be open for years to come. Wanting to be totally honest in my review my girlfriend ordered a Hawaiian Pizza and wasn't super impressed. She compared it to a decent frozen pizza, so if you aren't interested in BBQ or good beer then this may not be your place. However I'm still giving this place 5 stars because if you are a pulled pork or brisket fan then this is a must try!

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.

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.

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!

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.

Food is great. Service was great. Great spot to stop and have beers! The ambiance was very cool.read more

From the owner: We are a bar & restaurant with on & off sale beer, wine and liquor, served in a comfortable "Up…read moreNorth" atmosphere. We offer free Wi-Fi, pull tabs, electronic bingo, pool tables, and horse shoe pits. We provide a great stop along Highway 71 N, or on the Blue Ox ATV and snowmobile trail.

We weren't planning on eating at Chocolate Moose, but after a mishap with the wifi at our hotel and…read morenot having much cell service in the area, we to give to give the first restaurant we saw on the way into town, Chocolate Moose, a try for dinner. This is a larger restaurant located right across from the Days Inn. We arrived pretty late, but even at 8PM on a Saturday everning, the place was packed. Luckily there was a table open and we were seated immediately. We ended up only getting one item to share because we had just eaten a ton of cherries and were not that hungry. The server was happy to accommodate. Fried Chicken Dinner ($20.99) - The dish first comes with a side salad, which since we decided to share, came split on two plates. It's a basic salad with some cucumber, iceberg lettuce, and shredded cheese, and is served with two whole small cups of dressing. Our choice was Ranch, which is surprisingly delicious. It's slightly tangy with that classic Ranch taste. It's served cold and is clearly superior to regular bottled dressing - I believe they mix their dressing in house. The fried chicken took about 30 minutes to arrive. It includes four pieces of chicken that are tiny - the smallest pieces I've ever seen other than Cornish game chickens. The chicken seems to be hand trimmed from a whole chicken, then hand battered and fried. The breast actually still has a piece of neck attached and the cut ends are quite messy. It's a homestyle, classical fried chicken, so it's fried hard until somewhat dry and chewy inside. The exterior gives a robust crunch, not quite cornflake/thick flour batter style, but a thinner crunchy coating. The chicken is bled thoroughly so there's no sign of extraneous myoglobin bloody areas that I sometimes see in homestyle fried chicken. It's salted and seasoned well on the exterior. The chicken comes with a bread stick. It's soft, fluffy, and chewy and is brushed with an appropriate amount of salted butter to liven things up. For the side, we went with the wild rice, which was our first try of this dish on the trip. The wild rice is really interesting. It's all curled up and popped open. It has a texture that's really snappy and bouncy, kind of like a hot dog in snappiness, but with the bounce of beef tripe. The taste is nutty similar to barley. We were so enamored with the texture that over the next couple of days, we actually visited multiple grocery stores and trading posts to pick up the various types available to cook at home - cultivated, wood parched, air boat harvested, and wild hand picked. (4/5) Given the tiny size of the chicken, the half chicken meal probably only feeds one person. It was enough for us, though, since we were not that hungry. I was quite surprised at the quality of the food at Chocolate Moose. I expected most of the restaurants in International Falls to be Sysco-reheated-food type establishments, but Chocolate Moose actually makes at least some (maybe most?) of their food in house. Bathrooms - Two larger ones with multiple stalls. Food: [4/5] Service: [+] Other: [ ] Final Rating: 4/5

Tried this place because it was right next to our hotel. My frnvh toast and hashbrowns were great,…read morewife said they have the best oatmeal she's ever had!