Talked to a buddy who lives in Ely and he said the Ely Steakhouse is not reopening. Don’t know if it’s true, but I hope it’s just a rumor. I’ve had some fantastic times in that place and met some great people that have became friends. Sure would hate to see it go away.

Website just says closed for the season. Every time I tried to go this year it was packed and had at least an hour and half wait. Never did get there this year.

Hope you are wrong, hope it doesn't close permanently.

T

What I heard is they are closed for a couple weeks for some remodeling. But they have really struggled with staffing since the pandemic started. More even than other places. Still I doubt they are closed for good, just for a bit which is common in Ely. I would be very sad to see it go.

Hopefully this is only temporary.. I will cry if I can never get a Bucky burger again

Say it ain’t so. Love this place before a trip for a good steak.

podgeo: "Hopefully this is only temporary.. I will cry if I can never get a Bucky burger again"

No longer on the menu, but they still make it if asked: a killer black and blue burger! Order both; one for the left hand and one for the right.

Frenchy19: "

podgeo: "Hopefully this is only temporary.. I will cry if I can never get a Bucky burger again"

No longer on the menu, but they still make it if asked: a killer black and blue burger! Order both; one for the left hand and one for the right."

Think i'm going to cry... I'm good on the Black and Blue
The Bucky was on the menu when I was there back in early June.

Frenchy19: "

podgeo: "Hopefully this is only temporary.. I will cry if I can never get a Bucky burger again"

No longer on the menu, but they still make it if asked: a killer black and blue burger! Order both; one for the left hand and one for the right."

Just looked at the menu online the Bucky is still on it.

podgeo: "Hopefully this is only temporary.. I will cry if I can never get a Bucky burger again"

Me too.

podgeo: "

Frenchy19: "

podgeo: "Hopefully this is only temporary.. I will cry if I can never get a Bucky burger again"

No longer on the menu, but they still make it if asked: a killer black and blue burger! Order both; one for the left hand and one for the right."

Just looked at the menu online the Bucky is still on it. "

The Bucky is awesome!

From what I hear, they are not going to reopen.

It would be a terrible shame. I hope that is not correct.

There's a new "for sale" sign in the window now.

TreeBear: "There's a new "for sale" sign in the window now."

That's ominous.

I swear it was packed both times I was in Ely this summer, pretty sure I'm not remembering last summer?

3Ball: "It would be a terrible shame. I hope that is not correct."

It was a shame when the Coast to Coast hardware store on that location closed it's doors. This is what comes from fighting free enterprise.

I remember multiple grocery stores, hardware stores, pharmacies, real merchandise stores, restaurants, bars, and THREE car dealerships, and I'm not too old! ;) I remember MANY lodges, that were forced out by the government. All sad!

The town was still vibrant, when I started working there in the 1970s. Miners, loggers, resorts. Great vacation place, and yet so different from WI & MI.

Super sad and ominous. I seem to recall reading an article in Kiplinger several years ago that predicted a decline in casual dinning restaurants. It seems true enough in my home town.

I echo what Stumpy said; this is what happens when you fight free enterprise. Too many laws in my opinion and too much taxation. Seems we’re intent on killing the golden goose.

Omg no! The Ely Steakhouse is my go-to for a good meal [crying emoji]. I’ll be in town later this week & if I see that for sale sign I’ll be very sad. It is true they have had staffing issues, they reduced hours & menu to try to alleviate the burden. They seemed to be busy during peak season, some days I couldn’t get a seat for one without a wait. ‘Tis a symptom of the failing system Im afraid…that’s why I moved to the woods preemptively haha gotta start living like it’s the greatest depression before the depression if one wants to not be depressed during the depression haha.

Very sad to hear. Well I’ll say…weird again…I tried to eat there several times and always 1.5 hour wait. Never did get to eat there this year. Was way too busy.

We can make all the assumptions we want but probably none of us will ever know why it is closing. The average longevity of a restaurant in the US is 8 years.
About 30% of restaurants never make it past a year. It takes a ton of work to keep a restaurant successful. It taxes the family heavily…statistically speaking the majority of long lasting restaurants are run by divorced or single people—which is very telling. Of course there are outliers. Even successful family business often fail at some point eventually one of the generations decides it isn’t worth it.

I have a buddy who owns ten restaurants in the Twin Cities. It was twelve, but two recently closed within the 1st year of operation. What he told me was he just didn’t have the time/passion to make those two new ones work and the stress of staffing killed him. He tried to have a manager run them to reduce the stress, but no manager is going to have the passion/vision the owner has. He learned a lot.

Anyway, maybe none of my rambling is relevant. :) Just saying…lots of possible reasons…and restaurants unfortunately open and close all the time. Hope they come back. Always enjoyed my stops there.

T

Those are all excellent points. Geez, going to a restaurant is so expensive these days it's crazy. Go on a hot date get 2 burgers, fries, a coke and splurge for a fake strawberry shake and it's $30 bucks. 2 eggs over easy bacon hash browns & white toast is $15 + a tip. Seriously... Thing is, I don't see prices that over the top at the grocery store. I mostly cook at home, it's fun, it's healthier and necessary with the cost of eating out. Of course, on a trip you are going to splurge a bit, gotta live it up sometime, but eating out regularly is out. Not sure how much that applies in this instance, your points are probably way more relevant, just venting, I guess.

There was a time in my life not too long ago when I used the angle to convince a girl/woman that the cheap date was a sort of art form. It's not how much you spend, it's how much fun you can have spending the least amount of dough. 2 slices of pizza for $5 add an extra coke and you're sitting at a picnic table in the sun smiling that it cost less than 7 bucks and life is good. Let's just say that was an interesting experiment, something like that comes with an expiration date... Haha. Tho there is one joint by me offering $1.95 slices. Prob the size of a postage stamp but I might check it out just for fun.

Cheers, scat

TreeBear: "There's a new "for sale" sign in the window now."

Sorry for the scare. Apparently my "almost married brain" is a little shakier than usual on details. The sale sign I saw was on Sir G's. None on Steakhouse.

Oh man, I think Sir Gs is the pizza place. I almost mentioned that because that was the best thin crust pizza ever, at least after a trip. That was tasty, we wolfed that down and usually I’m good after two slices. Memorable actually…
Alas, some memories will always remain only memories. Bummer.

Sir G's is nowhere near the Ely Steakhouse; cannot see how that gaff happened. Additionally, the politics and "cheap date" crap in this thread do not belong here.

JohnGalt: "that’s why I moved to the woods preemptively"

You live in the BWCA??

Frenchy19: "Sir G's is nowhere near the Ely Steakhouse; cannot see how that gaff happened. Additionally, the politics and "cheap date" crap in this thread do not belong here. "

Says you.

Stumpy: "

Frenchy19: "Sir G's is nowhere near the Ely Steakhouse; cannot see how that gaff happened. Additionally, the politics and "cheap date" crap in this thread do not belong here. "

Says you."

And me.

Hey Frenchy - I have no interest in politics, and that has nothing to do with it anyway. My point was two people can't have the simplest breakfast or lunch for under $30, and we all have noticed that, I hear it all the time, and this has to have an effect on the small restaurant businesses in a town like Ely.

There is no such thing as a cheap date anymore. I kind of think my contribution to this thread was more relevant to it than yours. What is your point exactly? You don't appreciate a tad bit of levity. Snark for the sake of snark, nicely played again.

TreeBear: "

TreeBear: "There's a new "for sale" sign in the window now."

Sorry for the scare. Apparently my "almost married brain" is a little shakier than usual on details. The sale sign I saw was on Sir G's. None on Steakhouse. "

In some ways, this is almost worse. :( Two Ely staples for me might not be there next year.

T

Restaurants come and go. Chances are 50/50 the next establishment will offer superior meals.

I have yet to get a meal in Ely as tasty as I have on the Gunflint trail side of the wilderness. Fingers crossed there is a Poplar Haus West opening on this site.

Stumpy: "

Frenchy19: "Sir G's is nowhere near the Ely Steakhouse; cannot see how that gaff happened. Additionally, the politics and "cheap date" crap in this thread do not belong here. "

Says you."

I think says the owner of this site, since every time threads devolve into political banter they end up locked?

I have seen no politics on this thread.