Owner Chanin Cloutier stands behind the bar of Marie’s Kitchen which opened on Aug. 5 in the city of Wells.

Chanin Cloutier wasn’t looking to operate a bar/restaurant when he moved to Wells – but that is exactly what he did when he opened Marie’s Kitchen in Wells on Aug. 5, right ahead of Kernel Days.

I started out owning a lemonade stand in 2020,” Cloutier says. “I had always planned to expand the lemonade stand and had thoughts of buying a food truck.”

He was also kicking around some other ideas.

“I wanted to open a coffee shop and I almost bought one in northern Minnesota in the city of Tower,” Cloutier comments. “Then I saw that the American Legion Club was for sale in Wells and decided to give it a shot.”

Cloutier is a native of Faribault and also lived in Medford before moving to Wells in June of 2024.

“I actually left my job as a plating process engineer and supervisor at Cinch Connectivity Solutions,” he notes. “They are a company that is a global manufacturer of electronic interconnect products serving aerospace, defense, industrial, medical, and transportation markets. The Waseca facility supports advanced manufacturing through CNC machining, precision production, engineering, and quality assurance.”

After buying the restaurant Cloutier had to come up with a name for his new establishment. Many people are probably wondering who Marie is.

“The name Marie’s contains the first letter of each of my children’s names,” Cloutier explains. “M is for Madie, A is for Abby, R is for Rian, I is for Ian, E is for Emily and S is for Sarah.”

Although Cloutier says the building was in good shape when he purchased it, there were still many hours spent getting it ready for their first customers.

“The floors were in excellent shape so we didn’t have to touch those,” he says. “But we did do quite a bit of painting. We also did some ceiling repair and filled some small holes in the walls. There were also changes to be made in the kitchen to bring it up to code and a cooler unit that needed to be replaced. And remodeling work always takes longer than a person thinks it should.”

Another part of the remodeling project was very difficult.

“The nostalgia of this place made me fall in love with it,” Cloutier comments. “So it was hard removing all of the Legion stuff. However, I was assured that Legion members had been given the opportunity to take things they wanted and the museum in town also received some items.”

It was during the remodeling process that Cloutier hired many of the people who are now on his staff of workers.

“We had people stopping in and seeing what we were doing and they would want to work, to help out,” Cloutier remarks. “I learned a lot about those people during the remodeling process and was impressed with their initiative.”

He says the ease of staffing his business remains one of the biggest surprises he has had since buying the restaurant.

“We didn’t have to go looking for help,” he admits. “They found us. We have eight people on staff right now.”

He has also learned that owning a bar/eating establishment keeps a person very busy.

“We may be closed on Mondays but that is when my orders come in,” Cloutier comments. “I only got out of Wells two days this summer. It has been exhausting, but it is worth it.”

The kitchen at Marie’s Kitchen is open from 4-9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

“The bar is open from 4 p.m. until midnight Wednesday through Saturday,” Cloutier says. “We close the bar earlier on Sundays, about 10 p.m.”

Originally, Marie’s Kitchen was not open on Tuesdays but that recently changed and now Trivia Night takes place every Tuesday from 5-11 p.m.

“Trivia Night is already very popular,” Cloutier states. “We have a full menu that night except for burgers. So we offer chicken wings, chicken strips, pizza and basic appetizers like fries, onion rings, cheese curds and mushrooms. The mushrooms are very good.”

He is looking at expanding the menu in the future.

“We have had a number of people asking for fried chicken,” Cloutier says. “That is something we plan on adding in the near future.”

Besides the building being in good shape, Cloutier notes that another selling point of the building was the way the seating area is laid out.

“The size and the openness are really nice. There is a short wall that separates the bar from the dining tables,” he comments. “I am super-family oriented. So I want it to be nice for people who bring younger families in to have a meal to have that separation. I want families to be comfortable here.”

Then there is the bar itself.

“I love it. It’s a horseshoe bar that looks really great,” Cloutier says. “People can sit on high stools on one side of the bar and in chairs on the other side of the bar.”

Cloutier has already rented out the seating area for a retirement party and is looking forward to making that space available for special occasions more often.

“We also have a full basement that we would like to finish,” he remarks. “Once that is done we could open that area for occasions like wedding receptions and retirement parties.”

Another plan that is not far from becoming a reality is to begin serving a breakfast buffet on Saturdays and Sundays.

“We are hoping to start that by Sept. 12,” Cloutier says. “We would serve scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage links and patties, bacon and people would be able to make their own waffles.”

When he can find time to get away from his business, Cloutier shares that he loves the outdoors and enjoys hunting and fishing.

“My family is very musical and I play guitar,” Cloutier adds. “So there is a chance we might add some singing entertainment at some point down the road.”

Cloutier says he has enjoyed going from being an employee to being his own boss and is happy he came to Wells.

“I am very thankful for the people who have come in to check us out,” he concludes. “Everyone has been so nice and supportive. The positive feedback has been overwhelming.”