Formerly: Al's Home Cooking
Sister Bay, Wisconsin · Founded 1949 · Building: 1949 original store conversion; major Norwegian log-and-sod-roof remodeling in 1973
A former Sister Bay grocery store became Al Johnson's in 1949, then gained its iconic Norwegian log exterior, sod roof, and goats in 1973.
Al Johnson bought a former IGA grocery-store building in Sister Bay in 1949 and opened Al’s Home Cooking. The restaurant later became a Swedish family dining destination shaped by Al and his Swedish-born wife, Ingert. In 1973, Norwegian-crafted log components were shipped to Sister Bay and assembled around the existing restaurant, creating the famous sod roof that became home to Oscar the goat and generations of summer roof-grazers.
Al Johnson purchased a former Hanson’s IGA grocery-store building in Sister Bay and opened a restaurant called Al’s Home Cooking.
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 'Weekend Getaway: Al Johnson's Swedish pancakes, goats a staple,' March 31, 2016; Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant, The Building page.
Al Johnson and his Swedish-born wife, Ingert, developed the restaurant's Scandinavian identity through food, décor, and family hospitality. The exact date of their marriage and menu transition was not established in this review.
Source: Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant, About Us page; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 31, 2016.
A major remodeling gave the restaurant its Scandinavian look: Norwegian yellow-pine log components were assembled in Norway, dismantled and numbered for shipment, then rebuilt around the existing operating restaurant in Sister Bay. A sod roof and expanded lobby were added.
Source: Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant, The Building page; Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant, About Us page; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 31, 2016.
Harold 'Winkie' Larson gave Al Johnson a goat named Oscar as a birthday joke and successfully placed it on the newly grassed sod roof, beginning the restaurant's goat-on-the-roof tradition.
Source: Door County Pulse, 'Ever Wonder...Why there are goats on the roof at Al Johnson's?', August 14, 2009; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 31, 2016; Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant FAQ.
Al Johnson died, while the family restaurant continued under Ingert Johnson and later generations of the Johnson family.
Source: Real Food Traveler, 'Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant,' January 11, 2022.
The official restaurant site continued to list breakfast and lunch restaurant hours, related food-and-retail operations, and ongoing seasonal goat activity.
Source: Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant, Hours and Contact pages, accessed September 10, 2026.
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The restaurant's own building history and independent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporting agree that Al Johnson bought the former Hanson’s IGA building in 1949 and opened a restaurant called Al’s Home Cooking. The record supports this origin without adopting the candidate's unsupported name, Al's Lunch.
The 1973 project used Norwegian-crafted log components that were built or assembled in Norway, numbered, dismantled, shipped, and reassembled in Sister Bay. But the new log work was built around the existing restaurant so it could remain open, making a complete imported-building or total-replacement description inaccurate.
Independent reporting and the restaurant's building history agree that the 1973 remodeling produced the familiar Scandinavian log appearance and grassed sod roof. The work used Norwegian yellow-pine log components and was undertaken around the original restaurant.
The restaurant's account, a 2009 Door County Pulse article, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel feature, and Spectrum News reporting consistently identify Harold 'Winkie' Larson, Al Johnson, Oscar the goat, and the 1973 sod roof as the origin of the tradition. The accounts vary in incidental details but agree on the core event.
The restaurant's current presentation and regional reporting describe a seasonal goat rotation, generally from late May to mid-October or May to October, with weather affecting daily roof access. The goats are a continuing attraction rather than a permanent year-round rooftop population.
The official site calls the restaurant Swedish family-owned and family-run, and 2022 reporting said Ingert Johnson owned the business after Al Johnson's death while children Lars, Annika, and Rolf ran it. A current Wisconsin corporate filing, property record, or recent ownership interview was not reviewed, so the full present-tense ownership structure remains plausible rather than independently documented.
Trademark-focused reporting identifies 1973 as first use and 1996 as first registration, but the actual United States Patent and Trademark Office registration record was not retrieved in this review. The date should remain qualified until the registration number and status are independently checked.
The restaurant has a documented 1949 origin and is among Door County's best-known family dining institutions, but no comparative countywide study of older inns, resort dining rooms, taverns, restaurants, closures, and successor businesses was reviewed. This register does not certify an oldest-restaurant title.
Al Johnson opened Al's Lunch in 1949.
The available restaurant history and independent reporting identify the original 1949 restaurant as Al's Home Cooking, opened in a former Hanson’s IGA grocery-store building.
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 'Weekend Getaway: Al Johnson's Swedish pancakes, goats a staple,' March 31, 2016; Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant, The Building page.
The present Norwegian log restaurant replaced the original building in 1973.
The 1973 project assembled Norwegian-made log components around the existing restaurant, allowing the business to remain open. It created the famous log exterior, enlarged facilities, and added the sod roof rather than simply replacing the entire 1949 structure.
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 31, 2016; Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant, The Building and About Us pages.
The goat-on-the-roof tradition began in 1974.
The tradition began in 1973, when Winkie Larson placed a goat named Oscar on the restaurant's new sod roof as a birthday joke for Al Johnson.
Source: Door County Pulse, 'Ever Wonder...Why there are goats on the roof at Al Johnson's?', August 14, 2009; Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant FAQ.
Al Johnson’s survived because the Johnson family made heritage into something active rather than merely decorative. Swedish pancakes, meatballs, lingonberries, Scandinavian décor, a sod roof, and live goats create a memorable experience, but the durable foundation is a family-operated restaurant that has continued adapting its site and services since 1949. The 1973 project was designed to keep the business operating while making its Scandinavian identity visible from the road, and the goat tradition turned that architectural choice into a lasting Door County ritual.
Al Johnson bought a former Sister Bay IGA grocery-store building in 1949 and opened a restaurant called Al's Home Cooking. He and his Swedish-born wife, Ingert, developed the business into a Swedish family restaurant, and a 1973 remodeling added the Norwegian log exterior and sod roof. That same year, Winkie Larson put a goat named Oscar on the new roof as a birthday joke, beginning the restaurant's famous summer goat tradition.
The available evidence does not establish Al Johnson's as Door County's oldest restaurant. Al Johnson's has operated since 1949 and is one of the county's most recognizable family-run restaurants, but this register has not completed a comparative study of older Door County inns, taverns, dining rooms, restaurants, closures, and successor businesses.
The first goat went on Al Johnson's sod roof in 1973. Harold 'Winkie' Larson gave Al Johnson a goat named Oscar as a birthday joke and placed it on the newly completed grass roof, creating a tradition that now returns seasonally when weather permits.
No. In 1973, Norwegian yellow-pine log components were built or assembled in Norway, dismantled, numbered, shipped to Sister Bay, and rebuilt around the existing operating restaurant. The project gave Al Johnson's its famous Scandinavian log look and sod roof, but it was a major remodeling and expansion rather than a simple replacement by an intact imported building.
Yes, goats still appear on Al Johnson's grassed roof seasonally, usually from late spring into autumn when weather conditions allow. Regional reporting says the goats are brought from a nearby farm in the morning and returned later in the day, rather than living on the roof year-round.
10698 N Bay Shore Dr, Sister Bay, WI 54234
(920) 854-2626
The restaurant's official site lists 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. restaurant hours, with related businesses on different schedules. Goats appear seasonally and only when weather permits; check current hours and the goat cam before visiting.