Island Lake Inn, a bar and grill about 12 miles north of Duluth in the Gnesen Township, has closed.

In a post on Facebook yesterday the owners wrote:

We have some news –

We have decided to close the Island Lake Inn effective immediately. After we close tonight, we will only re-open for the last time on Sunday, December 31 from 11am – 5pm to say farewell, award the TV giveaway to a lucky winner, and wish Beau well on his deployment.

It has been a great journey, and we have been honored to carry the torch at the Island Lake Inn for the past 3 years. Our ultimate goal has always been to provide a great service at a fair price and a place you could be proud of. We certainly made mistakes and learned a lot during our time, but generally we feel very proud of what we were able to accomplish. We purchased a struggling business in a tough industry. We invested our money and time in the building, the quality of the product, and most importantly building a great staff with amazing people. We are confident the Island Lake Inn is in a much better position than when we acquired it, but the time is right for us to step aside and make way for a new owner/operator.

Our family is growing. Two owners are expecting babies – one any day now, and the other in May before our busy summer season. In addition, we were fortunate enough to have Beau Davidson manage the Inn 2 of the past 3 years, however, he is heading out on military deployment soon. In light of all of this, we feel the time is right to close the Inn and focus our attention on finding a buyer or partner that wishes to lease the business operations. We recognize that with our growing families and other businesses, we will be unable to give the Inn the necessary attention it needs and deserves moving forward.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support over the past three years. We poured our hearts into reviving the Island Lake Inn. This decision does not come lightly, and we wish you all the very best in the New Year.

The Fryes