About Us
The Blue Water Café is located in downtown Grand Marais, Minnesota on the beautiful shores of Lake Superior and is a long time favorite of locals and visitors.
Blue Water Café is a family owned business and provides a full menu. We serve breakfast all day, lunch, and dinner. Our omelettes have been acknowledged as being one of the top ten in the state of Minnesota.
Whether you are wanting to shop, dine, relax, fish, ski, hike or sit on the beach, Blue Water Café is located in the middle of everything.
We recently added a vacation rental above the Café that can sleep 6 guests and provides a great view of downtown Grand Marais, Lake Superior and the Sawtooth Mountains. To view our suite and book click here.
1920 - 1948
In the 1920’s, Grand Marais quickly became known as an idyllic summer destination. This boom in summer tourism brought new hotels, cafes, clothing stores, and a theatre to downtown Grand Marais.
The history of Blue Water Cafe largely began in 1946, when “Tony’s Eat,” a quaint diner with only five or six stools at the counter, opened where Blue Water Café now stands. In 1948, the name was changed to “Tony’s Lunch” and the building was moved down the street.
1952 - 1954
The lot remained vacant until 1952, when Ray and Mable Sjoberg, who owned the land at the time, built a new café on the lot with a second-floor apartment. Later that year, the Sjoberg’s leased the café to Frank and Thelma (Sally) Rosener, who both had experience in the restaurant business in Minneapolis and they renamed the café the Du Nord.
Just a year later, Mr. Rosener tragically died suddenly, leaving Mrs. Rosener to operate the café by herself. Mrs. Rosener continued to grow the business and, in 1954, she added an addition to the back of the building where the kitchen moved to, and she invited local high school art students to paint a map of Lake Superior on the east wall.
1957 - 1973
In March of 1957, Eleanor & Ray Sjoberg (who was the son of Ray and Mable Sjoberg) bought the café and renamed it the El Ray Café. They remodeled the café with a new ceiling, new light fixtures, and booths.
On November 30, 1973, the Sjobergs sold the café to Michael and Sharon Rusten, who at the time owned Cascade Lodge. The Rusten’s renamed the café the Blue Water Café, and installed a new counter, wallpaper and curtains. They also created a new logo and signage.
1981 - 1983
On July 29, 1981, the café was sold to Gene and Laurene Glader, the new owners of Cascade Lodge. The Glader’s were pleasantly surprised by the number of locals and tourists that frequented the café and noticed people often saying, “I’ll meet you at the Blue Water.” This prompted them to adopt the slogan “The Meeting Place in Grand Marais!”
Mr. and Mrs. Glader rented the second floor of the café to a gift shop proprietor in 1982, but then they decided to remodel the second floor of the café in 1983 into an Italian restaurant. The newly remodeled second floor was called the Upper Deck and, with new windows, it had an incredible view of the lake.
1985 - 1988
In the fall of 1985, the Upper Deck Forum was created, a weekly meeting where a variety of speakers discussed important issues in Cook County. The Forum ran for 15 years and was awarded the Minnesota Outstanding Project Award in 1988, recognizing it as one of the best community education programs in the state.
1986 -2012
In 1986, Mr. Glader hired Dan Riddle, the current owner of Blue Water Cafe, to manage the café. In 2005, the Glader’s decided to retire and sold the café to Dan and Melodee Riddle.
In 2012, the Riddle’s discontinued food service on the second level of the café and decided to rent out the upstairs to various small businesses.
2017
In April of 2017 the Riddle’s remodeled the second floor into a beautiful vacation rental suite featuring 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and stunning views of Lake Superior and downtown Grand Marais. Click below to learn more about the Blue Water Suite.
2018
IIn 2018 the Riddle’s undertook another exciting new venture and opened Blue Water Pies. With the changing of the guard at the Pie Place, the Pie Place was going to cease operations of their pie making, so the Riddle’s decided to purchase their recipes and equipment to continue making their pies. Blue Water Pies now offers over 16 homemade pie selections to choose from. Click below to order a pie online or call 218-387-1597.
