AL JOHNSON'S SWEDISH RESTAURANT
1960's DOOR COUNTY DISNEYLAND
With thier famous Goats on the Roof, Al Johnson’s is easily the most legendary restaurant in all of Door County and maybe even Wisconsin. We argue that you must have the famous breakfast of Swedish pancakes with lingonberries and a side of Swedish meatballs at least once in your life (and many, many more times if it makes your heart and tummy sing).
BEST FOR: A trip back in time to another world. There’s a wonderful 1960’s Disneyland feel about the place – you enter the WayBack machine the moment you walk in.
Absorb the retro decor, the lovely waitresses in their full skirts looking like they’d be at home in The Sound of Music having a top-of-the-Mountain-moment (I know, wrong country, but very much the same look, same fresh-air Heidi vibe). Take. It. In. and enjoy the trip back in time. It’s really lovely and it’s sure to move you in some wonderful way.
FUN FACT #1: My Aunt Sherry had a Sturgeon Bay cherry and apple orchard when I was a child AND she had a strawberry patch that supplied Al Johnson’s with at least some of the strawberries they needed to keep all those happy tummies singing along. I thought that was wonderful.
FUN FACT #2: Al Johnson’s is the largest importer of lingonberries in the U.S. Be sure to at least try them…they’re delicious dark little berries. Have them on your pancakes or try them in jam form (also available in the must-visit Butik gift shop).
INSIDER TIP #1: To minimize the summertime wait, get there before 8am or have breakfast for lunch to avoid the longest of lines. (Breakfast is served until 3pm, when the restaurant closes.)
INSIDER TIP #2: While you’re waiting, browse the wonderfully eclectic Butik gift shop, walk around the grounds snapping pics, wander across the street to stroll the lovely marina and, depending on your wait time, continue down the waterfront path to the beach and back around through town.
INSIDER TIP #3: On goat-friendly days from late-May to mid-October, you’ll see the happy, relaxed goats nibbling at the famous sod roof. They arrive at around 9am and go back to the farm at around 6pm. If you’d like to check in on the roof action, there are goat cams for that. (Link Below)
Breakfast & Lunch
Open All Year – 7am-3pm 7 Days a Week
10698 N. Bay Shore Drive, Sister Bay (23 Minute drive)
aljohnsons.com | 920 854-2626
