The villagers' beloved lunch spot to the awareness of whole Finland

When stepping inside Neste Matin and Liisan Asema in Lapinlahti, you can sense a warm and friendly atmosphere in every corner. Owner Jouni Majala greets customers and assists at the self-service checkout. The lunch table is filled with delicious salads, breads, and main courses. The staff is helpful, and you can see a smile on everyone's face!

Neste Matin ja Liisan Asema made history by winning the Finland's Best Lunch 2024 competition, marking the first time that a victory went to a service station. Located along Highway 5, this bustling service station restaurant is beloved by the locals, where in addition to lunch, they also enjoy Christmas lunches and celebrate various holidays such as Mother's and Father's Day. Thanks to the competition organized by Edenred, the lunch of this Eastern Finnish station is now gaining recognition across Finland.

The support of the local community was a significant factor in achieving the victory

The journey of the winning restaurant, Neste Matin and Liisan Asema, towards victory began with a casual discussion about whether they should participate in Edenred's Finland's Best Lunch competition. They decided to order table stands from Edenred to promote the competition. As the voting began, the station quickly rose to the top of the lunch restaurant rankings, where they suspected that some of the locals had voted for the restaurant. Subsequently, advertisements for the station were commissioned from an advertising agency and displayed on digital screens.

The villagers, workers, and drivers embraced the voting process. "We are truly grateful. Our loyal customers made our victory possible," owner Jouni Majala expressed.

The title of Finland's best lunch restaurant was achieved through collective effort. The staff worked together and actively reminded customers to vote. However, the victory was also fueled by the local community's love for the restaurant. Many regular customers of Neste Matin and Liisan Asema, as well as locals, embraced the voting and actively promoted the competition, e.g., on various local forums.

Surely, a major factor in the victory was our staff, who actively reminded customers to vote, Majala continued.

The station exudes a familial team spirit

Many employees have been working at Neste Matin ja Liisan Asema for over 20 years and have wholeheartedly worked for the success of the station. They are delighted by how a restaurant in a remote area can thrive so well, winning a lunch competition that received over 100,000 votes. There have been ups and downs, and a lot of hard work has gone into the success of the restaurant.

I have been with the establishment for a long time, and I have had the opportunity to work with wonderful and hardworking employees. Through collaboration, we have advanced the kitchen and developed our food offerings. Now it feels like we have seen it all, and this is a wonderful culmination of a long career, shared kitchen supervisor and the station's "grandma," Raija Kämäräinen.

It's really meaningful to work at the station, there's a great team spirit, like a family of our own, described Sari Räisänen, who has worked as a cook at the station for 26 years.

At Neste Matin and Liisan Asema, there is a familial team spirit among both the employees and the customers. This atmosphere can be felt everywhere.

Service-mindedness is ingrained in us, we are constantly working to ensure that our customers feel good and leave with a smile on their faces. Our heartfelt mission is to fuel people with delicious food, describes Jouni Majala. 

The operation is transitioning purely to "human fuel"

The award-winning restaurant relies on traditional Finnish home-cooked food that tastes good from babies to grandparents. The lunch menu includes meatballs, oven-baked sausage, and macaroni casserole, and for dessert, there are always pancakes and fresh buns available. Future plans include expanding the kitchen and restaurant area when fuel sales end at the turn of the year, and the focus shifts entirely to "human fuel". 

Pizza buffet and oven-baked sausage are always popular, the salad bar has been significantly developed recently and it's really popular, continues Kämäräinen, who has worked at the station for 37 years.

Lunch is offered for an exceptionally long time, from 10 am to 5 pm. The restaurant serves 300-500 lunches daily, depending on the season. Located along Highway 5, the station attracts many autumn hikers and travelers to Lapland to stop by. Depending on the time of year, the restaurant can even serve entire busloads of passing travelers at once.

To minimize lunch buffet waste, Neste Matin and Liisan Asema utilize the ResQ Club food waste app. Additionally, they donate leftover meals to charity in the form of food assistance.

We interviewed  Neste Matin ja Liisan Asema owner Jouni Majala and workers Raija Kämäräinen and Sari Räisänen  for this article on 23.9.2024.