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    Sven & Ole's

    3.6 (177 reviews)
    ModeratePizza
    Closed • Closed

    Sven & Ole's Photos

    SVEN & OLE'S ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

    Recommended Reviews - Sven & Ole's

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    Pepperoni Pizza

    Ordered take-out for a Saturday lunch. Ordered around 12:30 and was ready within 20 minutes. Pizza was really tasty and made for yummy leftovers overs that evening too. We ordered thin crust but it came with original crust, which turned out great!

    Lilly N.

    Such a cute pizza shop-love the small town iconic vibes. I deeply regret not getting a t-shirt (absolutely adorable) The wait for the pizza was fairly short and it was fairly busy. The pizza was pretty good-we got the margarita- but I either the cheese bread would have been a little....cheesier. Anyway that's pretty much my only complaint- I'll be back!

    12inch thin crust meatzah in my top 5 favorite pizza places
    Rachel W.

    Amazing pizza we always stop here when we're up here some of the best pizza I've had and is still good the next day

    Full dining room but unclean. Sticky tables, overrunning  trash bins and tons of flies.
    Alyssa Y.

    Is the pizza good? Yes. But that is the only thing going for this place. I get that Covid hit places hard and this seems to be one of them. The building has been for sale since 2022 and has dropped significantly in price with still no sale. It seems the owners have all but given up. Ordering was fairly straightforward. Not a super friendly approach but not rude either. The menu is posted on the window so the only thing that was kind of a bummer was a lot of customer milling around waiting for orders blocking the actual menu. You're expected to know what you want, even if youve never been, so be prepared when you get to the register. Upon entering you see a sign asking you to bus your own table. Great if people so that but when they don't (and there's no actual cleaning supplies in site to wipe down tables) you find yourself sitting in a room full of sticky tables, overfilled trash bins and and endless amount of flies joining your party for dinner. It made us wonder if the tables are ever cleaned, even after closing. The dining room is somewhat dark and the back also has office partitions where you can see extra storage and uhaul boxes just stacked up. The customer flow was still pretty steady but many took their pies to go. We should have. Eating on the nearby beach (to really anywhere other than the actual restaurant) is the way to go. I guess this spot is a Grand Marais icon. The food was good but overall the spot is past it's prime and seems to be something that the staff has little interest in actually putting effort into keeping it a must do. In my mind it's probably a just skip. Food: 4/5 Customer service: 2.5/5 Dining space and cleanliness: 1/5

    Pizza

    We got takeout wings and pizza last night which happens to be the middle of winter so not high season. Like many local establishments, there were many postings around staffing shortages so they are limited on hours which is completely understandable. The gentleman working was friendly and we were able to take our buzzer back to our nearby condo while waiting for our order to be done. We made our own pizza as my husband despises onions and most of their menu items contain onions and they're not offering any substitutions or changes at this time. I like the pizza, crust was good, kind of a medium depth and toppings were plentiful. The sauce wasn't my favorite but I'm also not a huge marinara fan but they were not offering the white sauce. I would 100% skip the boneless wings. They were basically chicken nuggets with sauces on the side so we could toss them ourselves. Could have easily purchased a frozen bag at the grocery store and created the same thing. I know this is an institution up here and I'd definitely come back for pizza again but it wouldn't be an absolute 'must visit' in my mind.

    Slice of Uffda Supreme and a Coke
    Carie B.

    First time here and I thought it was very delicious!! We had a supreme and a pepperoni, 16" for both and ate it all. The cheese, sauce and crust all worked together perfectly!! We substituted green olives for mushrooms on our supreme. 9/10, I would definitely eat it again!! PSA: Due to the economy and labor issues, they are not open every day. And when they ARE open, it is in-person ordering/take-away dining only. No phone-in orders.

    Outside of building

    I had a great experience with the food!! Mini pizza was perfect for one and tasted great, as well as the chicken wings, not the best but decent great sauce selection! Not too many staff but they worked hard, restaurant was needing a good deep cleaning and update but it was still a great experience!

    16" thin crust made w/o cheese to be vegan ($25). Nicely chewy and slightly crispy crust with decent sauce.
    Kedar D.

    Sven & Ole's is a mainstay pizza staple in the center of Grand Marais. In these COVID days, you order at a window and come back later when the pizza is ready. I got a 16" thin crust without cheese to be vegan ($25). The crust is nice and crackly, with some chew. The sauce isn't bad. I just wish they had vegan cheese and meats (how about from Herbivorous Butcher in Minneapolis?). If you're looking for the best pizza in town, Sven & Ole's is probably it.

    Cheese pizza with onions (not many onions)
    Elise D.

    On the day of my visit, Sven and Ole's was only taking orders from their walk-up window. There were no marks for social distancing. The staff was not asking people to not clump directly in front of the window, or to make separate lines for those who have ordered and those who have not. There is no way to discern who is waiting for their pizza and who still needs to order unless you asked around a bit. Everyone is standing in a huge clump (very few with masks, this is not the establishment's fault of course but it makes it even more important that they enforce social distancing guidelines). This is not made any easier by the fact they were not reachable by phone, nor is there any online ordering. The only option was to order at the window. The wait times were running at an hour when we ordered. Phone and online ordering would help to minimize traffic and cut down on time spent waiting in a crowd (also important when it comes to ensuring customer safety with COVID). Either you need to go home and hope you time your return for when your pizza is ready, or wait outside with the crowd. I did talk to the staff at the window (staff is wearing masks) about social distancing measures and she said something would be put in place but people probably wouldn't follow it anyway. Isn't it worth a try, though? The 6 foot distance marks have worked well at every place I've been that has them. She also said it was their first day without the inside being open, but given how established this place is, I would imagine staff have a good idea of how popular of a place it is and would be able to anticipate needs and plan accordingly. Also, we're three months deep into COVID and safety recommendations are well-established by now. I really hope this was a bad day and this changes soon. I know S&O's is a known and loved business in Northern MN. I just did not have a good experience. About the actual food: we ordered a pizza with just onions on it. There weren't many onions. I messaged the business privately about it on Facebook and got a terse reply saying the onions were under the cheese. They said I had not taken a bite of it to see (I usually take any pictures of my food before I start eating it so I can present it fully when I post a photo, as do most people I know) and said it was "clear as day" there were onions on the pizza after enlarging the photo. I did not taste or feel much more In terms of onions and did lift up the cheese on some slices to see if there was more I was missing but there still wasn't much there. Flavor-wise, the pizza was good, however I would have liked more in terms of toppings. The price was reasonable for a one-topping 12-inch pizza. In sum: social distancing is not currently being enforced at the time of this review. Phones were not being answered (I talked to two other people in line who were also unable to get a hold of the store either, and I overheard one person say they had tried calling 11 times before coming down to order) so you may have to order in person with a long wait. Messaged the business about lack of toppings and received a terse reply.

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    2 months ago

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    3 months ago

    Get there EARLY, this place is POPULAR! Pizza was delicious and filling. Cool vibe to the shop and friendly satff.

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    9 months ago

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    2 years ago

    Good pizza. Service was decent. We just took the pizza to go and ate at the hotel. Would eat their pizza again if in the area!

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    7 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Ordered it and picked it up . Was really really good. Would recommend the meat lovers pizza lots of toppings

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    2 years ago

    Always good! Not Great but darn good! Especially when you're hungry after a day of hiking or shopping!

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    Hungry Hippie Tacos - Wild Willy

    Hungry Hippie Tacos

    4.2(221 reviews)
    0.1 mi
    •$

    not sure if the tacos were that great or if it was because we had been on Isle Royale for 4 days…read morebut we TORE UP SOME TACOS!!! in all seriousness, everything was delicious...recommended if you're on the way too or from the island or just in the area.

    Hungry Hippie Tacos is an interesting fast food establishment, serving tacos that are a like a bit…read moreof a fusion between Native American and Mexican-American cuisine. The food they serve is nothing like a traditional street taco, nor anything like those classic Americanized Mexican restaurants. It really is unique and is something that I've never seen before in the past. The restaurant itself is counter service, so ordering is easy and quick. When we arrived for an early Tuesday dinner at 5PM, it was completely empty. My first impression from looking at the menu was that the tacos seem very expensive. I soon found out that each taco is probably equivalent to four street style tacos in mass, so the pricing makes sense. Grateful Pig, Basket ($15.99) - The taco comes wrapped in aluminum foil. I don't think this does the taco shell any favors, because as soon as I opened up the wrapper, the shell started to crumble and split. There's so much liquid from all the wet ingredients inside that it's literally impossible to eat this taco as a taco - after a couple of dangerous bites where stuff was falling out left and right all over the place, I went up to get a paper boat, flipped the taco out, and ended up eating the rest with fork and knife. The taco shell itself is very interesting. I went into the restaurant thinking it would be similar to Native American frybread, but it's totally different. Instead of being completely flour based, this one is like a puffed up, fried masa and wheat flour mixture, made extra crumbly rather than pliable. It's honestly not a good taco shell given how crumbly and dry it is. The pork is nicely smoky, although very salty and needs the blander ingredients above to dilute that salt out - very hard to do in taco format. The basket comes with a bunch of crunchy homemade tortilla chips, not too salty, and a tiny cup of salsa. The salsa is quite watery/runny and is pureed heavily. It's given in such a small amount that's not nearly enough for all the chips on the plate. I'm not convinced this is a freshly homemade salsa. (3/5) Wild Willy ($14.99) - Interestingly, this taco shell was better than the other. Firstly, while still crumbly, it has a bit more strength to hold things together. Secondly, it's speckled with super crunchy nubbins all over the exterior, giving additional and very pleasing crunch. Otherwise, this taco has an entire chorizo link rather than the ground bits I expected to see, as typical in a street taco. The link has a bit of heat and the spice mixture complements the natural porky flavor so well. Usually with cheaper chorizo, the spice mixture dominates, but this one is balanced. They cut the chorizo in half like a boat and then stuff it with some slightly roasted corn salsa. It's then doused with lots of chipotle sour cream for more slight heat and plenty of fatty moisture. Finally a huge pile of shredded cheese and lettuce complete the taco. (3/5) I think the tacos might be better served as an open taco concept like the Indian Taco, or at least served in a paper boat instead of wrapped in foil. As they are, though, I found the tacos to be mediocre. Bathrooms: Two unisex rooms Food: [3/5] Service: [ ] Other: [ ] Final Rating: 3/5

    Photos
    Hungry Hippie Tacos - Interior

    Interior

    Hungry Hippie Tacos - Burrito

    Burrito

    Hungry Hippie Tacos - Chimichanga

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    Chimichanga

    Voyageur Brewing Company - perch tacos

    Voyageur Brewing Company

    4.4(236 reviews)
    0.2 mi
    •$$

    Neither of us drink, but we were intrigued with Voyageur Brewing Company and their promise of…read morehomemade bread made from the leftover spent grain from their brewing process. We decided to visit after a light lunch for some additional snacks on an early Tuesday afternoon and this place was not busy at all. I think there was only a single other party inside other than us - this is definitely more of a dinner and evening establishment. Cheese Curds ($12) - An order comes with a small pile of perfectly battered and fried cheese curds. The batter kind of sticks multiple curds together into clusters, but the glue comes only from the batter, not from the cheese. None of them leak out or are gooey at all. Instead, the interior is warmed through and only melted a bit, allowing the firm texture of the cheese curd to come through. It's even slightly squeaky from how fresh they are. They have a good light crisp on the exterior and great overall texture. The curds come with a side dip that's sweet, fruity, and slightly smoky. I'm usually fan of a fruity or acidic side to balance out how fatty the fried cheese is, but I don't think this one requires the sauce at all. (4/5) Bread ($2) - This is essentially an extra order of bread for the Voyageur Picnic Board. Luckily we were able to order these as a side. And they were totally not worth it. An order includes 5 slices of a small baguette-style bread that's really dense and chewy. It's served cold and tastes completely like dough conditioner - think cheap grocery store-style bread. It honestly is so strong of a taste that I don't believe that it's homemade at all - and if it's homemade, it's one of the worst homemade breads I've ever eaten. It's clearly not meant to be eaten by itself. I can't help but think we were dumb to visit specifically for the bread. Considering this is not on the actual menu and we had to special order it, I'm going to pretend this doesn't exist and not include it in my final rating. (1/5) Again, we don't drink at all, so I can't comment on the quality of the beer served at Voyageur Brewing Company. I did quite like the cheese curds, so I'll be leaving this as a 4* review. Bathrooms - Two larger ones Note: Voyageur Brewing Company charges a 2.92% credit card fee. This is disclosed on their menu. Food: [4/5] Service: [ ] Other: [ ] Final Rating: 4/5

    Worked perfect for 5. Bench like seating. Good service. Waited accommodating. Offered beer tastes…read more Collage of food. Overall good tasting. Fresh. Tacos, Margherita flatbread, quesadilla. Beers. lots of choices. Definitely sample if you are unsure. It's got a nice atmosphere. Large amount of seating. Desserts- crème brûlée decent. Not a 10 but a strong 7. The interesting ice cream choice. Sweet and Savory.

    Photos
    Voyageur Brewing Company - Ogish Oatmeal Stout on Nitro

    Ogish Oatmeal Stout on Nitro

    Voyageur Brewing Company - Pulled pork taco

    Pulled pork taco

    Voyageur Brewing Company - Lost Compass Imperial Stout $6 (Steve) Ogish Oatmeal Stout $8

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    Lost Compass Imperial Stout $6 (Steve) Ogish Oatmeal Stout $8

    Angry Trout Cafe - Hot Chocolate and amazing atmosphere

    Angry Trout Cafe

    3.9(483 reviews)
    0.3 mi
    •$$

    The host staff was very good and informative about the wait process. They made sure we wanted to be…read moreseated outside noting that it can get chilly ( we already knew this from previous visits) and that we needed to have our full group there to be seated. Our server was amazing. Very knowledge and helpful with our wine and food selections. Everyone's food was very delicious. I mean every last thing on the plate was carefully thought out and prepared perfectly. And the dessert. Wow! I'm gluten free so many restaurants only option is crème bruele. Not here. The Swedish cream with lingonberries is to die for. We come back every year. I'm already anticipating next year's visit.

    I'm got the grilled white fish with wild rice. There was absolutely no seasoning on the stuff…read morewhatsoever. It was the most bland food I've ever eaten. I was literally dumping salad dressing on my fish and rice just to flavor. They automatically add a 20% gratuity to the food so they can pay their staff a " living wage." I am a very generous tipper, but I also tip on service. Our waiter never came back after we got our food or asked if we wanted more drinks until we were finished. He was kind of condescending to the people behind us when they asked questions about the menu. Unfortunately, if they don't have to work for their tip, they're not gonna do much more than they have to. My husband's chicken was pretty good, that got it up from two stars to three. We wouldn't go back.

    Photos
    Angry Trout Cafe - Menu

    Menu

    Angry Trout Cafe - A classic grilled white fish dinner with a well rounded mix of fresh fruit, vegetables, and fried rice to die for...

    A classic grilled white fish dinner with a well rounded mix of fresh fruit, vegetables, and fried rice to die for...

    Angry Trout Cafe - View from our outdoor table . . .

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    View from our outdoor table . . .

    Gun Flint Tavern - Chips and I have no idea what it's supposed to be

    Gun Flint Tavern

    3.5(283 reviews)
    0.1 mi
    •$$

    As we continue our motorhome journey, we are staying in Grand Marais for three nights. Nice walk…read morefrom campground into town. We decided to go up to the Raven's Nest. Was surprised to see some live music taking place. The guitar player was so good, we closed the place. The bartender was very good. I started with two Old Fashions and his pours were very good, but this comes with a price. Cant remember the exact price, but considering the pour, not a bad deal. We ended up having several more drinks...we were into the whole vibe! Had some great conversations. Here's the kicker...got up the next morning and I was missing a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses. I looked everywhere. When we walked into town, I go into the Gun Flint and ask the bartender if she could check to see if anyone had found them. My wife and I were saying "right, in this day and time, who turns in a pair of found Ray Bans". The bartender, i think her name was Jennica, took the time to check in the office and then go upstairs to the Nest. I was in shock that she came back with my sunglasses! The guy who cleans up at night (Lennie?) found them and turned them in. The music was great, the drinks were great. Service was excellent.

    We spent Friday and Saturday evenings at the bar for dinner, and what stood out most wasn't just…read morethe great food--it was the people. My husband loved the walleye, and everything we had was excellent. Sitting at the bar gave us a chance to watch your team in action. The food runners were so jolly and so interested in making sure you got exactly what you ordered. We noticed the same dishwasher working incredibly hard both nights, and it was obvious that every person plays an important role. The friendly bartenders, servers, kitchen staff, and support staff all worked together seamlessly with genuine pride and teamwork. Great restaurants don't happen by accident. It's clear the manager has built a culture where everyone supports one another and truly cares about the guest experience. We travel extensively, and seeing a team like this is rare. Gun Flint Tavern is a place we always recommend to anyone visiting Grand Marais, and after another wonderful weekend, we'll continue doing exactly that. We can't wait to come back!

    Photos
    Gun Flint Tavern - Barrel aged craft cocktails - I started with the Manhattan and never wavered.

    Barrel aged craft cocktails - I started with the Manhattan and never wavered.

    Gun Flint Tavern - Chili

    Chili

    Gun Flint Tavern - Beers on Tap*

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    Beers on Tap*

    Sven & Ole's - pizza - Updated September 2026

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