Restaurants
Eat Downtown!
Kate and I have been Eating Downtown lately, part of the annual promotion of downtown restaurants. (more…)
The Rathskeller at Tycoons Alehouse
The Rathskeller, located in the sub-basement of the new Tycoons Alehouse and Eatery, opens Thursday, March 15.
This week is the official grand opening at Tycoons, which opened on New Year’s Eve. The Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce is performing an official Happy Hour Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Thursday at 4 p.m., which will mark the opening of the Rathskeller. Tycoons is also introducing a new lunch menu this week. Check out Tycoons events on the PDD Calendar for grand opening hoopla and more.
R.I.P. Charlotte Zacher of Charlotte’s Cafe
The Duluth News Tribune has a nice remembrance of Charlotte Zacher, of Charlotte’s Cafe fame in Carlton. (more…)
Life House and New Scenic Café partner to help homeless kids
Life House will hold its second annual Hors D’Oeuvres that Open Doors event at the New Scenic Café on Tuesday, March 6, at 6 p.m.
Hors D’Oeuvres that Open Doors is a special event that raises awareness and funds for the vital services Life House provides for homeless and at-risk youth in the Duluth community. (more…)
Giant Panda reopens downtown
Want a filling meal on your lunch break, but don’t want to break the bank? This lady will serve you right up. Qihui Li and Yi Zhong moved out of their West Duluth space and re-opened downtown just one week ago in the old Saigon Cafe location. They own and operate this restaurant, which almost has a fast-food feel. The food was served quickly, relatively cheap, and surprisingly good. (more…)
R.I.P. Jim’s Hamburgers
The paper over the windows at this classic restaurant on the ground floor of the Seaway Hotel, 2005 W. Superior St. in Duluth’s friendly West End, reveals it is out of business. (Jim’s Hamburgers was included in the “Breakfast in Duluth” post just 10 months ago.)
This was the last of four Jim’s Hamburger locations in Duluth. Jim Overlie was the founder, opening the first one in 1937. I think the West End location opened in the 1940s. Overlie sold in 1985 to Dick and Mary Christensen. Dick died in 2000 and Mary died in 2006. Their son Denny took over ownership.
Other Jim’s Hamburger locations were at:
502 E. Fourth St. (closed in 2005)
414 W. Superior (closed in 1995)
502 E. First St. (closed in 1982)
Best Fried Chicken in Duluth
Where can someone go to get good fried chicken around the Twin Ports? KFC is absolutely terrible and I can’t think of any other place that has fried chicken.
What Canal Park Brewing Company will look like
Canal Park Brewing Co. is expected to open this summer. Construction is underway and Wagner Zaun Architecture’s designs look like this. (more…)
Going through the Change
I’ve been having hot flashes. No, not that kind of hot flash. And if it were, I sure wouldn’t be writing about it here. I am talking about something more insidious: a societal hot flash.
Is anyone else losing patience with media references to “unseasonably warm” temperatures? This is a record-busting winter on all counts.
Case in point, Little Angie’s: “Opulent Ice House Coming Soon: December 9 Until Thaw!” High-end cocktails to be offered in a lounge made of ice blocks. But today I noticed the piled shards of melting ice scattered around the enclosure. They just couldn’t get the thing built.
For more ranting about the Duluth climate-change experience, including a couple of photos, please see my latest Nature of Modern Life blog post.
(And, yes, it would seem that the joke is on me. Winter is here today. Gone tomorrow? We’ll see.)
How much longer will these records stand?
Uncle Loui's Pancake and French toast eating records
It seems like it’s high time somebody broke the pancake and french toast records at Uncle Loui’s. But who could manage such a feat … without blowing a hole in his or her innards, I mean? Will they stand forever and have to be “retired” as I believe the previous, pre-fire, records were?
Tycoons Alehouse open Dec. 31 … and other restaurant notes
- The sign is up at Tycoons Alehouse and Eatery and a New Year’s Eve opening is planned with Cry on Cue playing. (more…)
Is Kenny Wong’s in Superior closed?
I drove down Tower Avenue in Superior today and saw the sign for Kenny Wong’s Oriental Express was gone! Instead, it says there is some sort of hibachi place coming soon.
Did Kenny Wong’s go out of business, or is it changing to a new format? They had some great food there, and as a former employee, I’d like to know what’s going on!
Azteca’s Mexican Grill Reviews
Duluth’s newest Mexican restaurant is in the Village Square Mall on Mountain Shadow Drive. Has anyone checked it out yet?
Tycoons soft opening expected soon
The rumor going around is that Tycoons Alehouse & Eatery is having a soft opening Dec. 1. Can anyone confirm or deny? Does anyone know when it will finally open? Inquiring minds want to know!
Developer has new student housing/retail plan for Woodland Middle School site
The DNT ran a story today detailing a new mixed-use residential/commercial plan for the site of the former Woodland Middle School. The developer bought the site from the school district in September. You may be familiar with the developer’s other projects like Boulder Ridge and Campus Park. (more…)
Hacienda del Sol closed?
Seeing the House of Donuts post makes me wonder … what’s going on with the Hacienda del Sol?
RIP, Saigon Cafe
The best Vietnamese restaurant in the City of Duluth is gone. (Thank goodness we still have Lan Chi’s in Superior.) (more…)
Jalapeno Express: Fast Mexican food in Downtown Duluth!
(Click the menu to see it in a larger, more readable format.)
Jalapeno Express has finally opened downtown in the space where Maya Mexican (and Grapevine Cafe, and Taj India, and Mr. Nick’s) used to be. My husband and I caught them in the middle of their “soft” opening and partook of a couple of burritos. Due to some confusion while we were ordering, we ended up with some extra food. I’m pleased to say that Duluth now officially has a legitimate answer to Chipotle. The chicken was good, the carnitas was good, and the al Pastor was terrific as well. We added some awesome cheese dip, chips and a rice drink called “horchata” (which was suggested by the staff). I work nearby, and I think I’ll be hitting them up for quick Mexican at least once or twice per week!
Awesome service at a corporate monolith
I usually feel a little guilty eating factory farmed meat shaped into mass-produced meals, but when they have Simpsons toys as the kid’s meal (or mid-thirty-year-old-man’s meal) toy, I am there. (more…)
An Unfortunate Burrito Union Rant
I’m a huge proponent of locally owned businesses. I feel that they generally do what they do better than their franchised competition. Because of this, I’m totally cool with paying a higher price.
I’ve been to Burrito Union probably close to a dozen times, so in no way am I staking any sort of claim, but I can count on more than one hand how many times I’ve placed an order, only to have it incorrectly made. Never anything to the point where I won’t eat it, but when I pay something like $2.25 extra for something like adobo sauce and I don’t get it, I have to ask why? Why would you forget to add a topping that costs between 20-25% of the cost of a customers burrito? Especially when its a delivery order.
Again, this wouldn’t be such so bad if it were a one-time occurrence, but when the majority of experiences is like this, it really puts me off. I’m a real big fan of Tim and Rod’s other ventures and look forward to Tycoons, but I really hope service comes before ambiance.
Sushi in Duluth
Not long ago, zero restaurants in Duluth served sushi.
City Pages did a cover story about Duluth culture in 2001 titled “Hey, we’re in Duluth.” Zak Sally, then bassist of the Duluth-based band Low, lamented Duluth’s lack of sushi in the article.
The singers get their fair share of the world on the road but say they miss sushi. If somebody opened a sushi bar in Duluth, Sally deadpans, the local news would run an item explaining what sushi is. Not that everyone in town is chafing at its limits.
Shortly after the article, sushi popped up in Duluth at the old Bennett’s restaurant (now Midi) and in Superior at the old Sakana (now Marlee’s Caribbean).
Today, sushi is on the menu at a handful of area restaurants:
Black Water Lounge (They still serve sushi, don’t they?)
China King Buffet (no website; opening announced on PDD here)
Hanabi Japanese Cuisine
Osaka Sushi Hibachi Steakhouse (no website; PDD reviews here)
Zen House (Duluth)
Zen House (Hermantown)
Discussion topic: Hanabi is clearly the best and China King Buffet is clearly the least expensive, right?
UPDATE: Commenters note that two grocery stores — Mt. Royal Fine Foods and Cub Foods — both sell sushi in Duluth.
Oktoberfest
I happily attended Oktoberfest this weekend.
It’s a vast improvement over last year. Last year, tents were huddled behind orange fencing, penning the whole event into a tiny space as if to say: it’s too cold to enjoy the outdoors. This year, the whole event is more spacious, with a central walkway between a food tent, a beer tent, a kettle corn tent, a tent for the MPR Current (can we get that up here yet?), an area for bean bag games and feats of strength and, of course, the dance tent.
(more…)
Clyde Iron Rant
I don’t necessarily think this is the forum to rip into a local business, but I have to ask fellow PDDers about their experience with the quality of food and service at Clyde Iron Works. I’ve seen a couple great shows there — TBT earlier this summer, and Brandi Carlile last night. The venue itself is truly great, as is the building, but we have yet to have anything to eat there that didn’t leave us with a bad taste in our mouth, figuratively speaking.
(more…)
Mastodon meets Chef Ramsey
Okay, kiddies, I expect to see this at the WFC!
Vitta Pizza
A couple weeks ago, Vitta Pizza opened in Canal Park. It’s in the spot that Northern Lights Books used to be in, 307 Canal Park Drive. They cook the pizza in a wood-fired oven, and it’s pretty tasty.
(more…)