History of The Choo Choo

For many years The Choo Choo Restaurant and Bar as been a landmark in the Twin Cities western suburbs. Sources say the western-most portion of the building dates back to 1915 and has been a "watering-hole" for most of its history up to and including today. The location was owned for many years by the Pettit Family. In 1968, Mark Peterson purchased the location from Stan Pettit. Not long afterwards, Mark saw an article in The Wall Street Journal highlighting a new trend of buying used railroad cabooses and turning them into lake cabins. This sparked the idea that a caboose would make a great addition to the bar. 

In 1969 Mark bought two cabooses - one with wheels and one without. The one without wheels was moved to his former home on County Road 24 where it still remains. The other (with the help of a bit of track laying and a flat bed truck) was rolled to its new resting place next to the original bar building. The Caboose sat outside until 1979 when Mark decided to enclose it. Mark expanded the building on the East side of the caboose, converting the new side into a dining room, separating it from the bar. In 1985, Glen and Christy Whitham purchased the Choo Choo. The caboose was used to host private parties and overflow seating for dining plus hosting comedy entertainment in the fall and winter. In June of 1999 the Andersen family purchased the Choo Choo and are carrying on the historical traditions.

During the time Mark operated the establishment, he searched for a snack that would complement liquid refreshment. That was prior to the peanut/popcorn era. A salesman convinced him that he could offer an inexpensive appetizer using chicken wings. Mark took it another step and gave them away just like popcorn is available today. He became a successful pioneer in the area of cooking wings. In fact, his original secret recipe has stayed on and it still served today, 45 plus years later. In the summer of 2009, the Choo Choo was given another culinary honor. The Crow River Riders H. O. G.s (Harley Owners Group) voted the "Best Cheeseburger" award to the Choo Choo.

Beyond wings and burgers, the Choo Choo Restaurant & Bar offers a complete dining menu, including weekend breakfast, daily lunch, dinner and children's menu. They have also expanded their services to offer on- and off-premise catering services.