Sister Bay, Wisconsin: Goats on the Roof
A restaurant roof covered with sod, which live goats have kept neatly trimmed since 1981. The restaurant says that this is the original goat roof that all other goats-on-a-roof attractions have copied, and that it will sue any restaurant that tries to copy its goat roof.
Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant
- Address:
- 10698 N. Bay Shore Drive, Sister Bay, WI
- Directions:
- Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant. Downtown, on the east side of WI-42/N. Bay Shore Drive.
- Hours:
- Goats late May-Oct. Business: M-Sa 6 am - 8 pm, Su 7 am - 8 pm. (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- Phone:
- 920-854-2626
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
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Best time to see the goats on weekdays is around 9:30 in the morning.
[Crystal, 10/04/2021]The goats are only on the roof from late May to October, when the weather is warmer.
[Abigail, 03/31/2017]The Goats on Roof may not be the same ones, but there's three of them. I'm so intrigued by this -- do they ever get brought down? If they need a veterinary surgeon does he have to get up on the roof?
[BereniceUK, 11/19/2009]
Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant and Butik is an authentic Swedish family-owned restaurant where you can find goats grazing the sod roof. It's quite a sight, and it's made this place one of the most famous restaurants in Door County. Inside the casual, carpeted dining room, young ladies in Scandinavian garb dish out limpa bread and Swedish meatballs.
The menu consists of a variety of Swedish fare, from pancakes with lingonberries to Swedish meatballs, whitefish, sandwiches, salads, and a variety of hot and cold plates.
[Jeremy, 04/30/2007]Reading on one of your links about goats on a rooftop in British Columbia reminded me that Wisconsin had one, too. It's in Sister Bay in Door County on the main highway through town. (Unless my memory's fogged, and it's in another of Door County's picturesque tourist traps.)
A google.com search says it's at Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant and Butik, 702 Bay Shore Dr., Sister Bay: "This hot spot in Sister Bay features Swedish pancakes with lingonberry sauce (about $5.50)--and a bunch of surefooted goats grazing on the moss-covered roof.
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The sod on the roof came first; sod roofs are popular in Sweden, and it's a Swedish restaurant. The goats arrived as a practical joke played by Wink Larson while the restaurant owner, Al Johnson, was away on vacation. That was in the 1960s. There have been goats on the roof ever since.