~To delight every customer as we deliver exceptional service and present our unparalleled, deliciously different culinary creations.~
~As a collaboration of mothers, sisters and daughters, Fanna's is committed to carrying on the passion we have for our cherished business. Realization of our vision comes as we continue to share our love of creative cooking.~
~Our joy comes from the endless smiles and happiness that our food brings to our customers. People of any age will experience a truly memorable meal or treat!~
Fanna's Market & Eatery was the result of a dream of two sisters to own their own business featuring a market that sold unique and one of a kind finds. It grew to include, and we became known for, a cozy café that served deliciously different sandwiches, salads and our signature dish, Dutch Poffertjes.
It seems like forever since we closed the doors of our Fanna's Market & Eatery on May 2, 2020. Tucked away for the past year were the hopes that Fanna's would one day reappear. We transitioned back into our previous careers, but always had that desire to keep Fanna's alive serving the food we've all missed. So, here we are pursuing yet another "new" adventure...Fanna's "On the Fly" mobile food service. The menu will be sweet and simple, namely our Poffertjes. You will be happy to see the return of some old favorites along with new treats with a deliciously different flair. Check out our upcoming events and make a plan to come visit us soon. We've missed our customers and can't wait to see you again!
Fanna Kendall Pier was the wife of Colwert Pier, one of the first permanent settlers of Fond du Lac. On May 28, 1836, Colwert Pier left Green Bay by horseback to prepare the “Fond du Lac House” for the coming of his wife. Mrs. Pier took a safer route by boat down the Fox River and Lake Winnebago, for there were rumors of an Indian war about to break out.
On June 6, 1836, Fanna Pier arrived at the outlet of the Fond du Lac River on Lake Winnebago. The Winnebago Indians lined the banks of the river and welcomed Fanna on her arrival as she was greeted by her husband.
Captain Samuel Irwin wrote these words about the Piers: “I bade goodbye to Mrs. Pier with feelings not unmixed with sorrow. She endeared herself to all of us by her uniform kindness. She assisted us in our cooking, and cheering us by her looks and words through all the trying scenes of the nine days we were on the voyage. When we left her on the bank of the Fond du Lac River, a lone region surrounded by hundreds of Indians, with no one but her husband to protect her, we all felt sad.”
Another writer also had this to say, “She once told me that when Captain Irwin’s boat was out of sight, she and her husband were left alone-feeling they constituted the only civilized inhabitants of the entire region, she sat down upon the ground and cried a considerable time, then wiping away her tears, she resolutely got up and walked into the house where her home was to be, and took a calm view of the surroundings…”
The Fond du Lac House consisted of two cabins united; there was a hall between the dining room and sitting room, and a kitchen in the rear of the cabin. Within a half a day, an Indian squaw appeared at the house. Through sign language, Mrs. Pier understood that the woman wanted to trade some feathers for some flour, and she did so. Within a half hour, the house was filled with squaws wanting to trade feathers for pork and flour. The Piers only had one barrel of pork and 2 barrels of flour. By the end of the day, Fanna had enough feathers to make two rather large feather beds.
Tragedy struck the small settlement of Fond du Lac on March 1, 1838, with the passing of Mrs. Fanna (Kendall) Pier, following a short illness.
Fanna Street, a one block road in Fond du Lac, is named after Mrs. Pier and is located on land where the Pier farm had previously stood.
Owners, Chris (Willis) Koepke and Cathy (Willis) Spanbauer grew up on Fanna Street. Their first entrepreneurial enterprise (at the ages of 10 and 8) was named Fanna Street Lounge and was located in the basement of their home. They served homemade paper food “cooked” on their mother’s vintage toy stove.