Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant


Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant is a family owned, casual dining restaurant in Sister Bay, Wisconsin; it is known for its Swedish cuisine and Scandinavian experience, as well as for the goats that live on its roof.

History

In 1949, Al Johnson, the owner, opened a restaurant that he called Al's Home Cooking, which is now called Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant & Butik. In 1973, Al Johnson renovated the restaurant by importing wooden logs from a building in Norway and added a sod roof. Al's wife, Ingert, changed the interior to a more traditional Scandinavian design, and she added a gift shop called the Butik as a time filler for restaurant patrons waiting to be seated. After the renovation was complete, a friend gave Johnson a goat named Oscar as a joke, and someone decided to put Oscar on the roof as a joke. He later caught the attention of pedestrians, and inspired Al to obtain additional goats and put them on the roof as a marketing gimmick. In 1996, the Johnsons registered the "Goats on the Roof" trademark, so that other restaurants in the United States can't have goats on their roofs.

Location

Al Johnson's is on the main street in the town of Sister Bay, which is located in Door County, Wisconsin.

Goat Cam

The restaurant has two cameras that overlook the roof, allowing people to watch the goats at any hour of the day from spring to October. The goats are removed from the roof at night.