The old Windigo on Poplar Lake is under new ownership/management and is now the Poplar Haus. It looks great in there. The owners are experienced restaurateurs from the Twin Cities. They grind their own hamburger meat: brisket, chuck, and bacon. They top it with their own sauce. It's a two-patty affair grilled on the flat top.

It is the best burger I've eaten.

I'm not affiliated, just felt like you should know. Lots of good choices for good food in the area and this one definitely belongs on the list.

Thanks for the heads-up. We will be spending a week on the Gunflint in August and we are always looking for a good place to have a meal "out".

We love Poplar Haus... it has become our favorite new place to eat and hang out on the Trail. Great food... rotating menu...and great owners.

Glad to hear the new owners are bringing some revitalization to the place . I was only in the old Windigo once a few years ago and it appeared ready for a big overhaul.

Had a fine dinner there on the Saturday night of the BWCA expo--food was great, service exellent! Room was a little on the loud side but with great friends you hardly notice!

How's the beer list?

cowdoc: "How's the beer list?"

They usually have at least a half dozen craft beers on tap. Not sure how often they rotate the options. They had some different choices ten days ago than they did at Easter or in January.

Poplar Haus menu

Thanks for the heads up! We will stop by when we're up there over Labor Day weekend.

May have to give them a try also. But we cannot miss out on a meal at Trail Center because we love their burgers too. Plus, it's the only place I know of to get my favorite dessert....Rhubarb Malts!

+1 on Poplar Haus. Delicious food, great atmosphere, friendly staff. I met one of the owners of Poplar Haus as he came around to check on things. Very humble and thankful for the support. Not to take anything from the always fantastic Trail Center. Just another option to mix it up if you spend a couple days on the Trail.

cowdoc: "How's the beer list?"

Local and National Craft Brews from:
Bent Paddle (Duluth, MN)
Voyageur (Grand Marais, MN)
Fair State (Minneapolis MN)
Surly (Minneapolis, MN)
Fulton (Minneapolis, MN)
Lift Bridge (Stillwater, MN)
Indeed (Minneapolis, MN)
Bauhaus (Minneapolis, MN)
Beaver Island (St Cloud, MN)
Toppling Goliath (Decorah, IA)
Founders (Grand Rapids, MI)
Odell (Fort Collins, CO)

We may check this out on our way home from the trail in August, thanks! It'll be a change from Trail Center, which I've eaten at both times I've been up the trail.

Maybe we'll try it the next time we are up there doing a cabin stay and we eat out multiple times. I don't think I can "cheat" on the Trail Center when we are up for a bwca trip. But......... they do have a better craft beer selection so it might make it worth while to give it a shot the night before our trip and then Trail Center after the trip before heading home ;)

ducks: "Maybe we'll try it the next time we are up there doing a cabin stay and we eat out multiple times. I don't think I can "cheat" on the Trail Center when we are up for a bwca trip. But......... they do have a better craft beer selection so it might make it worth while to give it a shot the night before our trip and then Trail Center after the trip before heading home ;)


"

It gives us all more places to go... I just am now adding another meal or two ;-) to my Trail adventures.

I stopped in at Poplar Haus liquor store on my way to visit the Twins87 gang who were staying there last year. The owners were really personable. I need to get back there now that the restaurant is open!

luft: "I stopped in at Poplar Haus liquor store on my way to visit the Twins87 gang who were staying there last year. The owners were really personable. I need to get back there now that the restaurant is open!"

I can nearly guarantee you’ll eat there in late July ;-)

I will have to give the Poplar Haus a try. I really like Trail Center up in that neck of the woods as well. Grand Marais is pretty much a drive by place without stopping for me and the crew in the past 5 years as it is busy busy busy. It is nice to see others enjoying Grand Marais though. It seems humankind is filling this area up with people and it's easier to get a good quick meal closer to the BWCA than ever before.

Glad to hear this. The Windigo was in much need of some love, and the Gunflint also really needs a good restaurant.

anthonylane: "Glad to hear this. The Windigo was in much need of some love, and the Gunflint also really needs a good restaurant."

+1 My wife and I ate at Windigo one time about 10 years ago the night before entering a bwca trip when we were staying at Rockwood because Trail Center had a long wait. It was the oddest experience I think we've ever had at a restaurant and have never gone back.

Big duckling and I were just up the trail and ate at Trail Center the night before entering the bwca and the morning we left for home. I couldn't talk her into eating somewhere else. She picks a Gunflint EP just so she can have 2 meals at the TC ;) Maybe next time..... I did take advantage of Poplar Haus having a liquor store and got a 6 pack of craft beer for the same price it is at home. The guy working was very friendly and we had a good chat.

We also ate at the Windigo a long time ago. It was 2007, the first year we took Anna up there for a cabin week, and we were staying at the Little Ollie Cabin at Poplar Creek. She was four. I remember it so well, like it was yesterday.

The place was, as you say ducks, "odd". Back then it was very disorganized-looking and quite a few dead plants around. Strange decor, and it was quite the experience. I am just going to quote from my narrative in Anna's photo book:

(background: our friend Sue who lived in a cabin on Long Lake by Ely had given Anna a very special "treasure box" in which to keep wonderful things from her vacation. It somehow got designated for small pine cones. I learned last summer that she still has it. When I asked what she keeps in it, she rolled her eyes and said, "Pine cones, of course!" Well, duh!)

"Day Eight"
This morning we decided to hike up Honeymoon Bluff and see the view there. Anna liked the flowers along the way, and then she really liked the little pine cones she found at the top of the hill. Lots of those went into shirt pockets, so that they could go into the treasure box later. . .

We stopped in at Clearwater Lodge for just a minute, to see the big log lodge and the huge stone fireplace. Then Anna thought she wanted to go out for lunch, so we went to Windigo Lodge. On the way up the stairs in to the dining room we met the biggest Great Dane dog we had ever seen! He was a puppy who got excited and knocked Anna down. [Quite a tumble, as I remember it.] She got a little bit scared at first, and she shed some tears, but she was OK after she thought it over, and after she made sure that her pine cones were still all right. The man at the dining room told her if she came back next year he would help her knock the big dog over and that made her laugh! She had big blueberry pancakes for lunch, and they gave them to us for free. That was pretty nice."

I think we will have to take her back there for a meal this August and see if she remembers the place at all. Spartan1 and I have been back since, but I do not believe she has.

(My apologies to those of you who are sick of "Anna's Grandma" stories.)