PDD Awards: The Best of Duluth Restaurants
Explore the best of Duluth’s food and drink scene through Perfect Duluth Day’s PDD Awards. From breakfast spots and burger joints to breweries and coffee shops, browse award winners in Duluth and the surrounding region, with links to the stories behind each selection.
Ask a few Duluthians where to eat and you’ll probably get enough answers to fill a week. Perfect Duluth Day put the question to its readers, one food group at a time. These picks for the best restaurants in Duluth and the surrounding area cover breakfast, burgers, pizza and more, with a few stops for coffee and beer along the way. Select a restaurant name to read its PDD award story.
A note on the dates: This collection brings
together PDD reader-poll winners from 2013–2019. The years
below identify each award, and the descriptions look back
at the food and places readers chose. Names, menus,
locations and operating status can change. Check current
details before heading out.
Best Restaurants in Duluth & the Twin Ports: PDD Readers’ Picks
Perfect Restaurant · 2018
Lake Avenue Restaurant and Bar
A special occasion helps, but it wasn’t a requirement
at this Canal Park favorite. Lake Avenue paired
adventurous, seasonal cooking with a setting that
also suited a casual happy hour. The DeWitt-Seitz
restaurant took nearly half the final-round vote
for Duluth’s best restaurant in 2018.
Perfect New Restaurant · 2019
Corktown Deli & Brews
A deli can make quite an entrance with the right
sandwich. Corktown’s house-made pastrami and
carefully assembled lunches helped the Lincoln
Park newcomer earn this title. It also had some
experienced relatives: the folks behind Duluth
Grill and OMC Smokehouse.
Perfect Fish Fry · 2019
The Breeze Inn
The competition for the Duluth area’s best fish fry
was close. The Breeze Inn pulled ahead with fish
hand-dipped in batter made with Hoops beer,
homemade coleslaw and tartar sauce that attracted
attention well beyond Jean Duluth Road. Apparently,
people wanted that recipe.
Perfect Breakfast Restaurant · 2013
Duluth Grill
Scotch eggs, curried polenta, smoked salmon omelets.
There was plenty to discuss before anyone got to
the caramel apple French toast. Duluth Grill won
the best-breakfast vote with a menu that stretched
the diner routine and a commitment to local food
that extended into its own parking-lot gardens.
Perfect Lunch Restaurant · 2013
Northern Waters Smokehaus
Sandwiches carried the day in PDD’s best-lunch poll,
and Northern Waters carried the sandwiches.
More than half the voters chose the Canal Park
smokehouse. Smoked fish, specialty meats and
combinations like the Cajun Fish and Sitka Sushi
gave the lunchtime line a reason to keep forming.
Perfect Pizza Restaurant · 2013
Thirsty Pagan Brewing
This pizza vote took Duluth readers across the
bridge. Superior’s Thirsty Pagan won with
deep-dish pies and plenty of Wisconsin cheese.
House beer and live music rounded out the
experience, but the pizza did the heavy lifting.
It collected 46 percent of the vote.
Perfect Burger Restaurant · 2013
Anchor Bar
Burgers, fries and nautical odds and ends on the
walls. The Anchor didn’t need much explaining
to Twin Ports voters. The Superior institution
took the burger title with options like cashew
and olive burgers, reasonable prices and an
atmosphere that was very much its own.
Perfect Asian Restaurant · 2013
Hanabi Japanese Cuisine
Hanabi Japanese Cuisine got the nod when PDD
readers voted for the area’s best Asian restaurant
in 2013. It joins the food-and-drink winners here
under the original award category. Follow the
link for the announcement and reader discussion.
Perfect Italian Restaurant · 2013
Va Bene Caffé
A small Italian restaurant with a very large lake
outside the window. Va Bene’s pasta, scratch-made
sauces and breads earned readers’ attention,
while the gelato made a case for saving room.
It took 40 percent of the vote for Duluth’s
best Italian restaurant.
Perfect Mexican Restaurant · 2013
Mexico Lindo
Duluthians had opinions about this category.
Enough opinions that the poll included a
“none are worthy” option. Mexico Lindo’s
Duluth location finished ahead of it, bringing
a broad menu and a Lake Superior-facing deck
at Fitger’s to the winners’ table.
Perfect Vegetarian Menu · 2013
Duluth Grill
Another category, another plaque for Duluth Grill.
After winning breakfast, the restaurant took
the vegetarian-menu title in a final matchup
with At Sara’s Table / Chester Creek Café.
Its attention to fresh, local ingredients
clearly had an audience beyond the breakfast crowd.
Coffee, Something Sweet & a Place for a Beer
Perfect Coffee Shop · 2014
Beaner’s Central
The name on the 2014 award is Beaner’s Central.
These days, look for Wussow’s Concert Cafe.
The West Duluth coffeehouse brings coffee,
food and original music together, giving the
neighborhood a place to settle in for a
conversation or stick around for a show.
Perfect Bakery · 2016
Duluth’s Best Bread
Putting “best” in the name sets expectations.
PDD readers decided this bakery could back it up.
Brothers Michael and Robert Lillegard won the
bakery poll a little over a year after opening,
with sourdough, croissants, cinnamon rolls and
pretzels making the argument.
Perfect Drinking Establishment · 2016
Sir Benedict’s Tavern on the Lake
A sandwich, a beer and some music made a
convincing combination at Sir Ben’s. The
English-themed pub on East Superior Street
edged out the competition with craft taps,
a patio near the lake and a comfortable
place for an evening to get away from you.
Perfect Brewery · 2014
Bent Paddle Brewing
Bent Paddle wasted little time making itself
known. The West End brewery opened in 2013
and won PDD’s brewery poll the following year.
Bent Hop and Black Ale had their followers,
and the 14° Extra Special Bitter had already
picked up a Great American Beer Festival medal.
Beyond Duluth: North Shore, South Shore & Iron Range Winners
Perfect North Shore Restaurant · 2016
Gunflint Tavern
Grand Marais claimed all three top spots in
this North Shore poll, with Gunflint Tavern
finishing first. Its eclectic menu made room
for chicken mole, noodle bowls and burgers.
House-brewed beer, live music and a rooftop
harbor view added reasons to stay awhile.
Perfect South Shore-area Restaurant · 2017
Delta Diner
A restored 1940s diner in the Wisconsin woods
was worth the drive for voters in this category.
Delta Diner mixed familiar breakfast fare with
a few surprises. Its Norwegian pancakes,
for instance, came with pickled jalapeños.
Not every diner takes that turn.
Perfect Iron Range Restaurant · 2018
Vi’s Pizza
It took a tie-breaking vote, but Biwabik’s
Vi’s Pizza claimed the Iron Range title.
The family recipe had a considerable head
start: Viola and Frank Urick began selling
pizzas from their home in 1959.
Generations of pizza eaters followed.