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.
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)
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.
Canal Park Brewing Co. is expected to open this summer. Construction is underway and Wagner Zaun Architecture’s designs look like this.
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.)
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?
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!
Duluth’s newest Mexican restaurant is in the Village Square Mall on Mountain Shadow Drive. Has anyone checked it out yet?
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!
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.
Seeing the House of Donuts post makes me wonder … what’s going on with the Hacienda del Sol?
The best Vietnamese restaurant in the City of Duluth is gone. (Thank goodness we still have Lan Chi’s in Superior.)
(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!
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.
