Perfect Duluth Day

Impressed with Lake Ave Café

In light of the awesome weather we had last night my better half and I decided to go for an evening bike ride.  We ended up down on that first beach on Park Point and sat there for awhile.  When it got pretty dark we headed back and decided to stop at Lake Ave Café.  

We were just wanting to grab a couple drinks and apps; luckily it was just hitting 9 p.m. which meant we could look at their “Late Night” menu, we decided to be a little adventurous and went with the Chorizo Stuffed Dates, wrapped in bacon and served with a smoked aioli on the side, and then an Octopus Pizza (smoked octopus, prosciutto, red onions and 3 cheeses.)  Both were absolutely amazing, the dates had amazing flavor with the bacon and chorizo with a great texture when you bit into the date part.  The pizza had a good smokey flavor and awesome blend of cheeses.

For drinks we each got a martini, I went with the Yazi (ginger vodka, pomegranate liqueur, and guava puree) and he tried the intriguing Twin Ports Pepper (pepper infused vodka, pineapple juice and cucumber liqueur.)  They were both fabulous with the first one not being overwhelmingly sweet, and the second being something that was a neat twist in Blackwater‘s Cucumber Press cocktail (one of my favorite drinks to get in town.)  It was actually quite spicy though if you like something with a kick, but balanced out really nicely with the cucumber and pineapple incorporated into the after-taste.

We were served by one of the owner’s and were extremely pleased with the service, knowledge of menu and presentation of the food. The quality of the food was well above what we are used to getting and was extremely reasonable.  The drinks were a bit pricy at $9 and $7, but we took into the consideration that they specialize in Micro-Distillery liquors usually crafted in the United States.

That all being said, we are planning to go back!  I am just wondering what else is good on the menu (if not everything) for the most part I have heard great things about what the new owner’s have done with the place, and the menu.  Just wondering if it is a good place to see music? I see they are hosting the Brother’s Burn Mountain tonight at 9:30 and I’m seriously considering going even if it is just for more of those mouthwatering dates!