The patio at Ernie's on Gull is a place to spend a summer evening by the lake. It's a familiar summer scene, and the histories of some of the places hosting it add another dimension.
Ernie's has a long history. So has the kitchen a few miles south at Cragun's. Both reopened for another season the way they do every year, and both are named after a specific person who once stood behind the bar or the stove. The histories behind Ernie's and Irma's offer one perspective on Gull Lake's dining scene, alongside this year's closure and expansion.
Ernie's Story Goes Back to 1917
Ernie Ritari, a Finnish immigrant, moved his family to Squaw Point on the east side of Gull Lake in 1917, back when getting there meant a half-day ride by horseback through jack pine and hazel brush. He rented out ten boats to families mostly from Minneapolis and Iowa, his wife Edna tended bar and cleaned cabins, and the two of them were among the only residents who stayed on the lake year round. The building has worn a few names since then, including Ron's Steak House and the Butcher Block, before it became Ernie's on Gull.
The restaurant today is run by brothers Chris and Mike Foy, who grew up around East Gull Lake and graduated from Brainerd High School. That detail matters more than it looks. The Foy brothers' childhoods around East Gull Lake connect the restaurant's present to the area's local history.
Irma's Kitchen Just Reopened, and the Building Remembers Everyone Who Ran It Before
A few miles south at Cragun's Resort, Irma's Kitchen opened for its 2026 season on June 16 and will run into the fall. The name belongs to Irma Cragun, who purchased the property with her husband Dutch in 1988, but the building itself goes back further. Walter and Lena Frampton built it in 1926, and Lena cooked three hearty meals a day, lumberjack style, for the guests who stayed there. Ben and Eleanor Curry bought the place in 1946 and expanded the dining room using timbers hauled in from the Pine Beach Peninsula. The property changed hands a few more times before Dutch and Irma Cragun took it over, and the current restaurant keeps the original Pastry Cooks cupboard on display, salvaged and refinished rather than replaced.
The building's history spans a century and several named owners, and traces of that history remain visible today, from the salvaged cupboard to the name on the door.
A Closure and an Expansion
Sherwood North, which sat along Interlachen Road near Nisswa, now shows as closed in current business listings. There's no scandal in that. Restaurants close for all kinds of ordinary reasons. What's worth noticing is what grew instead. Chocolate Ox, the candy and ice cream shop with locations on Main Street in Nisswa and inside Grand View Lodge, added a third storefront on Pelican Lake this past May.
Taken together, the closure and expansion offer a snapshot of change in Gull Lake's dining scene.
A Community Effort Beyond Restaurants
The Gull Chain of Lakes Association's annual Lakes & Libations gala was scheduled for August 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Gull Lake Center at Grand View Lodge. It was the organization's only fundraiser of the year, with proceeds designated for buoy installation and maintenance, the Lake Steward program, loon conservation, and work to identify and prevent aquatic invasive species. The program was scheduled to include a presentation from University of Minnesota researcher Jeff Marr on wave safety and its effect on shoreline integrity and water quality, alongside a live auction and a 50/50 raffle. Tickets were listed at $65 through gcola.org, and membership in the association wasn't required to attend, according to the Brainerd Dispatch.
The association is volunteer-run and funded by local residents. Its work is another part of Gull Lake's story, alongside the histories of its restaurants and resorts. If you own dock frontage or a retaining wall on this lake, the association's focus on wave safety speaks to an issue that reaches beyond the gala itself. Shoreline integrity isn't an abstract concern here. It's the physical thing holding up your property line.
What This Means for the Rest of Your August
For the coming weekends, you might visit Ernie's or Irma's if it's been a while. If you have a stake in what happens to the shoreline itself, wave safety and shoreline integrity are worth attention.
That's the version of Gull Lake that doesn't show up in a listing description: a lake where some businesses carry long family histories, and where local residents support efforts to protect the water. If you're thinking about what it actually means to own a piece of this shoreline long term, or you're weighing a move here against another lake in the area, the team at Polovitz Group knows this water and the families who run it. Start your lake-home search or market your property with our team.
