Welcome to The Pines

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The roots for The Pines Restaurant go back to pre-WWII Hungary, where the Both family lived in the small village of Mucsi. Following the liberation of Hungary by Russian troops, as part of the Potsdam Conference Agreement between Truman, Churchill and Stalin, Germans living in Hungary and other Eastern European countries were expelled and sent back to Germany. The families packed up their belongings in bed sheets and began the walk to the nearest train station. Transported by box car, two weeks later they found themselves on the Rhine River in Oestrich, Germany. It is there where Aranka, at the age of 13, began her career as a cook, and learned the recipes that Margie is still using today here at The Pines! Oestrich is also where Ernst met Aranka and from whence he left in 1952 to come to the United States. Sponsored by an uncle and aunt living in Milwaukee, he quickly got a job at a local butcher shop. In 1953, he returned to Germany to marry Aranka and in 1954 she was on her way to the new world and the opportunities it had to offer. In 1971 they left Milwaukee with their three children, Lee (14), Marge (11), and Jerry (8) and bought The Pine Trees Hideaway Resort on The Turtle-Flambeau Flowage. Over the next nine years, Aranka's German cooking became legendary in the local area, drawing in customers to the resort just for her cuisine. The resort was sold in 1979 when the children began moving away for college and careers. In 1981 Ernst and Aranka persuaded their daughter Marge and her new husband Colin (Erv) Ervin to move back to Mercer and start a restaurant in town. The young couple purchased the former Little Arosa Restaurant, renamed it Little Brittany and began what has been a 36 year journey of continuing Aranka's traditional German recipes. Ernst was a constant figure at the restaurant until his death in 2011. Aranka at 91 visits whenever she's in town and makes sure to check in on the kitchen and the flowers in the garden. After several renovations of the original building and another renaming, The Pines is continuing to expand to offer its customers a quality dining experience and now live entertainment in their Beer Garden. The German biergarten is a long-honored tradition in the Both family and Marge and Erv intend to keep that tradition going for many years to come!