PDD Awards Archives - Perfect Duluth Day

Perfect Fish Fry: The Breeze Inn

Mar 28, 2019 No Comments

Competition to name the Perfect Duluth fish fry was fierce but the The Breeze Inn managed to angle ahead of the others to claim the title with 36 percent of the vote among the final three.

Do country-bar fish fries fare better? It’s notable that the three top-ranked fish fries are all just outside of Duluth city limits. Breeze Inn is in Rice Lake Township while Billy’s in Lakewood Township was the runner up with 33 percent of the vote. Wabegon in Superior Township came in third with a respectable 31 percent. Among establishments within Duluth city limits, Bridgeman’s had the most votes.

Restaurants Fish and Fishing, PDD Awards

Perfect New Restaurant: Corktown Deli & Brews

Feb 05, 2019 No Comments

A Lincoln Park sandwich shop emerged as the hero in Perfect Duluth Day’s 2019 poll to discern the area’s best new restaurant. Corktown Deli & Brews won 43 percent of the runoff vote in a pool of three finalists that was narrowed down from a list of 25 nominees. Pak’s Green Corner and Martha’s Daughter were runners up with 33 percent and 24 percent of the votes, respectively.

Corktown Deli & Brews opened in June. Jeff Petcoff, the fast-casual restaurant’s general manager, was thrilled to hear the poll results. “That’s one of the biggest compliments you can get,” he says, “because readers and people vote on it; it’s a vote of confidence from everyone. It’s humbling and will help keep us going.”

News and Current Affairs, Polls, Restaurants Corktown Deli and Brews, Lincoln Park Craft District, PDD Awards

Perfect Duluth Restaurant: Lake Avenue Restaurant and Bar

Oct 19, 2018 No Comments

Though it’s been lauded in Twin Cities publications for years, surprisingly Lake Avenue Restaurant and Bar hasn’t won any local accolades for its cuisine. Until now.

In Perfect Duluth Day’s poll to name the Perfect Duluth Restaurant, Lake Avenue emerged as the clear winner with 48.3 percent of the vote among the top three.

Co-owner Derek Snyder says he was “super surprised and flattered” his restaurant won the poll.

“A lot of Duluthians still don’t know about us,” he said.

Polls, Restaurants Lake Avenue Restaurant and Bar, PDD Awards

Perfect Iron Range Restaurant: Vi’s Pizza

Aug 15, 2018 1 Comment

Competition was stiff in the Perfect Iron Range Restaurant poll. After a 36-hour, tie-breaking vote we can officially declare Vi’s Pizza in Biwabik the champion.

In the final poll, Vi’s Pizza had 70 percent of the vote, while BoomTown Woodfire Bar & Grill in Eveleth had 30 percent.

Clearly, no ordinary pizza joint could beat the likes of top contenders like BoomTown and Gilbert’s famous Jamaican restaurant, the Whistling Bird. But Vi’s Pizza is a veritable Iron Range institution.

The original pizza recipe was handed down from owner Kim Mattson’s Italian grandmother. Viola “Vi” and her husband Frank Urick started selling takeout pizzas out of the back of their Biwabik home in 1959.

Polls, Restaurants Biwabik, Iron Range, PDD Awards, Vi's Pizza

Perfect South Shore-area Restaurant: Delta Diner

Oct 06, 2017 1 Comment

The Delta Diner, a one-of-a-kind eatery located 25 miles inland from Lake Superior in the midst of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, has captured the Perfect South Shore-area Restaurant title with 54 percent of the vote.

Since opening in 2003, the restored 1940’s diner has become a culinary destination. It’s not uncommon for people to drive for hours to eat there, traveling from as far as Madison, Milwaukee or the Twin Cities. And customers are willing to wait up to two hours for a meal during busy times.

With Delta Diner, owners Todd Bucher and his wife Nina have created a “vibe” that keeps people coming back. “Restaurants are a very personal thing,” he says. “What wins people over besides our food is the authentic diner experience.”

Restaurants Delta Diner, Diners Drive-ins and Dives, PDD Awards

Perfect New Restaurant: OMC Smokehouse

Jul 21, 2017 No Comments

OMC Smokehouse is the winner of Perfect Duluth Day’s best new restaurant poll. The popular barbecue joint smoked the competition, garnering 82 percent of the vote among the two finalists. The Boat Club Restaurant and Bar was runner up with 18 percent; 14 other nominees were eliminated in early voting.

OMC (which stands for oink, moo, cluck) opened in February. For more than two years, area residents eagerly anticipated the restaurant’s arrival.

News and Current Affairs, Polls, Restaurants Duluth Grill, OMC Smokehouse, PDD Awards

Perfect Bakery: Duluth’s Best Bread

Nov 21, 2016 4 Comments

The business with the audacity to call itself Duluth’s Best Bread clearly is living up to its name. Not only does it have the best bread, it’s Duluth’s best general bakery according to Perfect Duluth Day’s poll. It took the title of Perfect Bakery with 38 percent of the vote among the final four.

The relative newcomer celebrated its one-year anniversary in September. Brothers Michael and Robert Lillegard, a trained mathematician and a writer, respectively, founded the nontraditional bakery.

Duluth’s Best Bread has limited storefront hours and a subscription service. It features a small menu of products carefully perfected by Michael, such as sourdough bread, croissants, cinnamon rolls and pretzels.

Polls Bakeries, Duluth's Best Bread, PDD Awards

Perfect Drinking Establishment: Sir Benedict’s Tavern

Aug 29, 2016 No Comments

Area boozers and barflies have reached a general consensus: Sir Benedict’s Tavern on the Lake is the perfect Duluth drinking establishment. The English-themed pub located at 805 E. Superior St. netted 34.5 percent of the vote in Perfect Duluth Day’s poll.

Sir Ben’s is a bit of an institution. It opened as a pub in 1978 (before that the building was a service station) with a focus on sandwiches and beer. The favored watering hole has long attracted a range of fans, from college students to musicians and business people.

Owners Josh and Kaila Stotts took over the tavern in April 2015. Josh was surprised to learn about the PDD poll. When asked what patrons appreciate about the bar, he said. “We try to offer a welcoming ambiance — a place where people can relax and feel really comfortable.”

Josh Stotts

Restaurants Bars / Drinking Establishments, Beer and Breweries, PDD Awards

Perfect North Shore Restaurant: Gunflint Tavern

Jul 20, 2016 No Comments

One conclusion can be easily drawn from the results of Perfect Duluth Day’s poll to name the best restaurant on Lake Superior’s North Shore: Grand Marais is the place to be. The top three restaurants are located there, including the perfect one, Gunflint Tavern.

Owner Jeff Gecas says it hasn’t always been easy. He and his wife Susan are “Deadheads” who decided to create the business “almost selfishly” in 1998 because there wasn’t anywhere to watch live music and drink microbrews on draft in Grand Marais. “We never had Bud or Miller Lite. We didn’t allow smoking. People said ‘They’ll never make it,'” Gecas remembers. “We’re now in our 19th year.”

Upending convention, the Tavern now offers music 260 nights a year and brews its own beer. With its eclectic menu, craft beer and live music several nights of the week, it has become a North Shore institution and a favorite among locals and tourists alike.

In an outpost like Grand Marais, one might be surprised to find bangers and mash, chicken mole and an Asian noodle bowl under the same roof. Casual fare like burgers and pizzas are available at the Gunflint Tavern too, as are finer dining options such as walleye, steak and mushroom ravioli.

Polls, Restaurants Gunflint Tavern, North Shore of Lake Superior, PDD Awards

Perfect New Restaurant: Northern Waters Restaurant

May 26, 2016 No Comments

It’s no surprise Northern Waters Restaurant crushed Perfect Duluth Day’s best new restaurant poll. The eagerly anticipated eatery just opened in February, but has swiftly won the admiration and bellies of Twin Ports residents, as evidenced by garnering 67 percent of the vote.

Manager Greg Conley with staff at Northern Waters

Polls, Restaurants Northern Waters, Northern Waters Smokehaus, PDD Awards

Perfect Indoor Concert Venue: Red Herring Lounge

Feb 09, 2016 1 Comment

When it comes to picking the best indoor concert venue, there are a lot of things to consider — seating, acoustics, general vibe, etc. There might be plenty of room for argument on just about any criteria, but in one facet Duluth has a clear winner. It would be tough to dispute that any local concert hall, club or coffee house has consistently brought more high-caliber talent to its stage in the past two years than the Red Herring Lounge. Among the top four in PDD’s poll, the Herring pulled out a clean win with 35 percent of the vote.

Music, Polls Bob Monahan, PDD Awards, Red Herring Lounge

Perfect Play or Musical of 2015: Renegade’s Eastland

Jan 19, 2016 No Comments

Renegade Theater Company has earned its second consecutive Perfect Play or Musical plaque, this time for a dramatic musical that marked the centennial of the tragic sinking of the SS Eastland. The 1915 shipwreck resulted in the death of 844 passengers, the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.

Titled Eastland: A New Musical, the play was partially inspired by Jay Bonansinga’s 2004 historical novel The Sinking of the Eastland: America’s Forgotten Tragedy. The show debuted in 2012 at the Lookingglass Theater in Chicago. Renegade’s staging in August 2015 was just the second professional production of the haunting musical written by Andrew White, with a folk, blues and ragtime score by Ben Sussman and Andre Pluess.

Art PDD Awards, Renegade Theater Company, Theater

Perfect Album of 2015: Low’s Ones and Sixes

Jan 05, 2016 2 Comments

The latest evidence of the ubiquity of Alan Sparhawk: Not only did his band Low gain the most votes in PDD’s poll to determine the best local album of 2015 for its release Ones and Sixes, Sparhawk also produced the Social Disaster album Dark Side of the Roller Rink, which finished a close second in the voting.

But that’s kind of what we expect from the icon of Duluth’s music scene.

For Low’s 11th studio album — its fourth on the Seattle-based Sub Pop Records label — the band teamed with producer BJ Burton and recorded at April Base Studios in Eau Claire. As usual, Sparhawk handles the guitar work and shares vocals with his wife, drummer Mimi Parker. It’s their third album with bassist Steve Garrington.

Ones and Sixes is perhaps the band’s most spiritual-sounding music yet, though not in a denominational sort of way. The songs are filled with soul and strain. Like every Low album, critics have labeled it a departure, while at the same time noting it’s unmistakably Low. Perhaps therein lies the soul and strain. When music critics have a tough time putting a finger on it, it’s usually a great thing that’s happening in the headphones.

Music Low, PDD Awards

Perfect Outdoor Concert Venue: Bayfront Festival Park

Jul 22, 2015 3 Comments

Duluthians aren’t shy about loving Bayfront Park. Asked in PDD’s poll to name the best outdoor concert venue, 71.5 percent gave their nod to the 10-acre harbor-side multi-purpose park that has hosted Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Trampled by Turtles, Wilco, the Monkees, the Doobie Brothers, Willie Nelson, Steve Martin, nearly three decades of Bayfront Blues Festivals and a long list of others.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune also named Bayfront the state’s “Best Outdoor Music Venue” in 2014, noting: “It has the Aerial Lift Bridge, hilly city skyline and occasional passing ore boat for a backdrop, the cool breeze off Lake Superior for natural air-conditioning and a huge grassy lawn for stretching out. … Coolest of all: Families can bring kids under 12 to shows for free, as is dictated by the city.”

Music, Polls Bayfront Festival Park, PDD Awards

Perfect Play or Musical of 2014: Renegade’s Red

Jan 31, 2015 1 Comment

It was close, and it has to be considered an upset. Renegade Theater Company’s two-character biographical play, Red, staged in the roughly 100-seat Teatro Zuccone theater, was the winner in Perfect Duluth Day’s poll to name the best play or musical of 2014. It edged out the Duluth Playhouse’s centennial-marking, big-budget musical production of Les Misérables, which was staged in the 2,200-seat Symphony Hall at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.