The Chocolate Moose will be no more

ELY- For forty years, the prominent log building near the corner of Sheridan and Central- and the good eats served within- have been like a beacon for warm-season visitors to the end of the road.
But the Chocolate Moose will not return to Ely’s culinary scene next spring as Piragis Northwoods Company, which owns the building once again, is turning the page to something new.
“It’s bittersweet,” said Elli Piragis. “It’s sad to lose a restaurant that’s been in Ely for so long. My parents started the Chocolate Moose with Millie and Barry Bissonnette, and my father used to serve ice cream there in the 1980s. People still show up at the Chocolate Moose asking after the ice cream.”
The restaurant and its building have been through several changes of ownership over the years. After operating it initially, Piragis leased the restaurant location starting in the 1990s and later sold the building. Then, in 2019, the business bought the building back. Beginning next year, it will serve as the new home of Piragis’ bookstore, which has, for years, been marooned on the second floor of the company’s main retail store located adjacent to the Chocolate Moose.
“It made sense for us,” Ellie explained. “We share walls, doors, and the same basement.” Piragis Northwoods leased the space to Bryan Morcom of Tower for a pop-up restaurant in 2019. The space was unused in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Piragis leased the restaurant to Nick Laurent and Maddie Wilson, who operated the Chocolate Moose through the end of this summer. According to Ellie, the lease was not renewed.
To move the bookstore downstairs, the business will reconnect the former Chocolate Moose to the rest of the retail space. “I’ve always wanted a downstairs bookstore,” Ellie said, highlighting the bookstore move as part of the business’s plans for expansion.
“We need to expand our footprint,” Piragis explained. “This will create space for our growing company.”
Ellie said the plans for the current bookstore space, upstairs in the main retail building at 105 N. Central, are “to be announced.” The firm currently occupies the double-wide storefront on Central, the discount outlet and outfitting buildings at 45 W. Sheridan St., and the Piragis Boat House at 14 W. Sheridan St.