Take a Bite of Thunder Bay’s Food Scene
Amanda Bay
April 30, 2026
If you walk into Goods & Co right now and think, “I smell pancakes?” you’re not imagining things. That dreamy, buttery, Sunday morning scent is coming from the brand new Hoito space that just opened inside the market. And yes, it’s every bit as nostalgic and iconic as you’re hoping.
Founded by loggers in Northwestern Ontario, the Hoito has been feeding Thunder Bay for over 100 years. We’re talking generations of families, post-hockey breakfasts, first dates, and hangover cures, all under one very Finnish roof. For decades, its original home inside the historic Finnish Labour Temple wasn’t just a restaurant, it was a place of Finnish pride, built on collective values and community care. So when a devastating fire destroyed the heritage site and the world-famous restaurant a few years ago, yeah, it hurt. A lot.
But Thunder Bay doesn’t let icons disappear that easily. After three years operating out of a smaller setup at the Thunder Bay Country Market, the Hoito has officially expanded. The new space inside Goods & Co. has a full commercial kitchen, which means menu items we’ve been low key mourning are officially BACK. Hot turkey sandwiches with those crinkle cut fries? Rice pudding? Salt fish sandwiches? Mojakka? Oh, absolutely.
That’s MOY-a-kah. If you grew up in Thunder Bay, especially in a Finnish household, you already know. Mojakka is that beef and root vegetable soup that tastes like home, originally concocted by Finnish immigrants in North America. It’s the Hoito’s house specialty and absolutely deserves a comeback tour.
But let’s be real though…the Finnish pancakes are what you’re coming here for, no questions asked. They’re still the most popular item on the menu and the reason half the market smells like heaven. As big as your face, thin, crêpe-like and golden. At the Hoito, they’re typically served with bacon and eggs, drenched in maple syrup.
We also recommend the Pulla French Toast and the Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian’Pies’), the traditional rye pastry with rice filling— definitely add the tomato and the Munavoi (egg and butter spread).
When you visit this space, it’s really not just allllllll about the food, it’s also about the feeling you get when you sit down. The OG Hoito chairs (yes, the blue ones), with the traditional branding on the menus brings back instant nostalgia, and genuinely feels like stepping into a memory. Now they just need to bring that back the gigantic scale that we all use to jump on before and after pancakes!
The Hoito has always been a restaurant for the people. In fact, when it was founded in 1918 (the idea sparked in a logging camp near Nipigon), it was owned and controlled collectively. The name “Hoito”, is actually Finnish for “care”. Today, it’s returned to those collective roots, and it matters, especially in a city where more than 10% of residents identify as Finnish. (Fun fact: Thunder Bay has the largest concentration of Finns per capita outside of Finland.)
Side note: Mark your calendar for St. Urho’s Day! (The Saturday before St.Patrick’s Day). It’s the gloriously made-up Finnish holiday celebrating a saint who chased away grasshoppers. The day includes purple and green outfits, rakes in the air, chanting to banish grasshoppers, Finnish music, and a parade featuring a four-foot plaster grasshopper (who just recently got a makeover). This year the parade will end at Goods & Co.
The Hoito at Goods & Co. is open Wednesday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Early breakfast before the rest of the shops open? We love to see it.) It’s still operating at the Thunder Bay Country Market too: Wednesdays: 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Now excuse us, we have pancakes to order. Kiitos!
