Ted Smith’s Three Guardsmen/ Dahl’s Cafe/ Snider’s Cafe/ Clementine’s
The building which has been used since last fall as a billiard hall and bath parlor, and owned by Ted Smith, is being refitted and made modern in every respect. Messrs. Conley, Moe and Smith constitute the firm, and they are all hustling, courteous and popular gentlemen, which will redound to the popularity of the new saloon. (See full description of the Three Guardsmen under Saloons category)
Andrew Dahl closed a deal whereby he comes into possession of the old Guardsman saloon on Second Street, which was recently operated by John Freeman. He will operate two saloons until license for the Street Building expires in June. (4/19/1907).
Although the building was owned by Andrew Dahl, the building no longer housed a saloon but it became Olson’s Cafe owned by Iver B. Olson by 1920.
The I.B. Olson restaurant and rooming house on Second Street between Minnesota and Beltrami avenues has been improved by a new brick front, while the interior of the building downstairs has been greatly improved with the addition of new furniture. The rooms on the second floor are now being made over and the exterior of the building is still to receive further improvement. ( no date)
I.B. Olson after a period of some six months has again taken over his building on Second street and has had it thoroughly remodeled and repainted inside and out. He expects to again go into the restaurant business and will open his place of business in about another week, according to present plans. Mr. Olson has gone to considerable expense to having the building fixed up and expects to make his venture a success as he proposes only to run a first-class café. He is a former restaurant man and needs little introduction to Bemidji business circles. Friends are glad to see him again in this line. The basement of the building has been fixed up and will be used by the Holland Furnace Co. A carload of furnaces has arrived here and the place will be used as a distributing center. I. H. Mixer will be in charge. He recently arrived here with his family from Saginaw, Mich., and will make his home in this city. The family is now living in a cottage on Grand Forks Bay. Mr. Mixer formerly lived near Baudette and is well acquainted in this section. (June 16, 1925)
Iver B. Olson owned Olson’s Café at the time of his death in 1931.
Iver Dahl purchased this café business and it became Dahl’s Café. Iver Dahl was a resident of Bemidji since 1906. Before owning Dahl’s Café, he was the proprietor of the Great Northern Hotel located at 207 Minnesota Avenue.
Work began on an enlargement of Dahl’s Café and rooming house adding 35 feet to the rear of the structure. (May 7, 1935)
Iver Dahl died in April 1948 at Jackson, Miss., while enroute home from a vacation trip, and Mrs. Ragnhild Dahl then ran the café. The café was under new management in December 1954 by Sophia Snider and a Mr. Rowles.
Mrs. Clifford (Sophia) Snider moved to Bemidji in 1922 where she worked as a cook for the Stapletons at the Lake Shore Hotel and also at Kaplan’s Bemidji Hotel. She sold pastries and baked goods to area residents for eleven years until 1941. She worked at Munsingwear for several years as an inspector. In 1947 she started cooking at the Markham Hotel and was employed there for a few years. She was also a cook at the Third Street Café. In 1952, she bought and operated Sophia’s Diner until 1953.
In 1954, Mrs. Snider purchased Dahl’s Café and renamed it Snider’s Café, which she operated successfully until her retirement in 1967. Allen Snider, Sophia’s son, took it over at that time.
Louise Snider, daughter of Sophia Snider, worked at the café during her teen years. She married Clifford “Kip” Norden in 1956. She continued working at the restaurant while raising her family. When Kip died in 1975, she cooked at St. Philip’s school cafeteria, eventually making the decision to purchase Snider’s Café in 1976. She operated the café until her retirement in 1990.
Anna Blaufuss moved to Bemidji in 1944. She worked at Snider’s Café for 35 years.
The café then became Clementine’s in the 1990’s. It is currently the site of the Cantabria Coffee House.