54 THUNDER BA Y EXPERIENCE 2020 70S 80S As a bluec ollar t o wn in the 70 s and 80 s the r es t aur ant sc ene in Thunder Bay c onsis t ed mainl y of a f e w l oc al spots with hearty homes tyl e meals s t eakhouses f as tf ood r es t aur ants and c off ee shops Loc al hot els off er ed some fne dining options f or special oc c asions but as the mill ennium c ame t o an end the beginnings of what has bec ome an incr edibl y div er se culinary sc ene w er e born THE LAST 25 YEARS It was the mid 90 s when things r eall y s t art ed t o shift a small handful of r es t aur ants had opened with unique menus and an int er es t in l oc all y pr oduc ed ingr edients f armer s r amped up pr oduction and ne w l oc al pr oduc er s including what was at the time Ont ario s fr s t gouda f arm Thunder Oak Cheese F arm opened The gr o wth of the sc ene was sl o w but s t eady and as mor e l oc al pr oducts w er e av ailabl e mor e r es t aur ants opened and as mor e r es t aur ants opened mor e l oc al pr oducts w er e av ailabl e L OC AL PRODUCERS In 1995 the Thunder Bay Country Mark et fr s t opened in a much small er building with onl y 11 v endor s 25 y ear s aft er fr s t opening its door s t oday thousands of visit or s mak e their way t o the Do v e building on the CLE Gr ounds e v ery W ednesday and Satur day t o shop f or l oc al meats cheese eggs pr oduc e baking meals and cr afts fr om o v er 100 l oc al v endor s Many of the pr oducts made in Thunder Bay hav e f ound f ans in plac es f ar outside city limits Prime Gelat o Shumka Dus t W olfhead Coff ee c an be f ound in mos t major gr oc ery s t or es thr oughout Northern Ont ario Sl eeping Giant Br e wing Company cr aft beer is av ailabl e thr oughout the pr o vinc e at L CBO s t or es and Heartbeat Hot Sauc e is spicing up plat es ar ound the w orld Madein Thunder Bay pr oducts mak e gr eat souv enir s and gifts f or friends and f amil y DIVERSE REST AURANTS In the las t dec ade the number of r es t aur ants in Thunder Bay has gr o wn subs t antiall y and the div er sity of the off erings is trul y incr edibl e In the W at erfr ont Dis trict al one y oull fnd many r es t aur ants and eat eries off ering up mouthwat ering menus including the upsc al e y et c omf ort abl e T omlin Res t aur ant the northerninspir ed fav our s at Sil v er Bir ch Res t aur ant BBQ bur ger s and a lar ge cr aft beer sel ection at Red Lion Smok ehouse unf or gett abl e Thai cuisine at Thai Kit chen gas tr opub f ar e at The F oundry and The So v er eign Room and Asian F usion at King Ghidr ah among many other gr eat spots T he M a d h o u s e S l e e p i n g G i a n t B r e w e r y T h u n d e r O a k C h e e s e F a r m I n C o m m o n Epic a Pictur es Epic a Pictur es Goh Ir omot o