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!

The ribs are just delicious! Generous portions of fried…read morechicken, moist and broasted Meal comes with a small soup and salad bar. Service was quite friendly and efficient. Good atmosphere with lots of local antiques on the walls. A great pit stop before entering Canada!

Almost Lindy's was a good find. The ambiance is very old time-y Minnesota bar scene, they play…read morecountry, and we got waited on by the owner. They've got a good selection of unique pizzas, (perogy, cheeseburger, pulled pork) all which sound pretty good. The pizza dough is rolled every day by hand, and their BBQ sauce is made locally. The pizza is thin crust (+) but has a good quarter inch of melted cheese (-). Next time I go, I'll order light cheese, but it's definitely worth a 'next time.'

Great place but it burned to the ground last fall. A food truck has kinda moved in a few blocks…read moreNorth.

The ideal place to soak up all that Lake of the Woods has to offer!! Great scenery, amazing…read morecompany and beer that you crave all winter long! One must have gravy fries and poutine in order to capture the full Greens experience! Pizza is also super delicious and the waitstaff is over the top friendly!

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.

Always closed early or post weird hours on the front door. It's currently Wednesday and posted…read morehours are til 9pm I arrived at 7:53 to a sign posted on the door stating that today they would close at 8pm. They can't even keep the weird posted hours. I'm done traveling to this location to be disappointed the majority of the time.

Service was extremely fast and all the employees were very friendly. The dining and bathrooms were…read moreclean. The layout of the building was a little strange but that doesn't change the fact that our subs tasted great!

Great breakfast spot! Their food is reasonably priced and tasty. Their donuts also looked amazing…read more The service was quick even on an early Sunday morning. Perfect place to go for breakfast!

I always make a point of eating at Pattenn's Cafe when I'm in Orr fishing. They have an excellent…read morebreakfast menu and many days they have dinner specials. The service is always good as well. Recommended!

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.

Food was great. Deck/view were very nice. Construction on hotel was a bit much but that should be…read moreover soon...keep the good good and people will come!

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 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.

To me, best food on the lake. The Parmesan crusted walleye for breakfast or dinner is the thing to…read moreget. Get extra hollandaise sauce to go with it as well.

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