Best smoked food in the world. I get the northern bagel every time and it always hits the spot. I…read moremake it a habit of planning my trips up north around a stop for a bite here. The service is great (a bit busy but that speaks to the quality). It's a cute little shop under the building and feels cozy.

Northern Waters Smokehaus is one of the most recommended restaurants in Duluth. Located…read moreconveniently in the center of Canal Park, we stopped by on a sunny Wednesday early afternoon, hoping to score some of the best sandwiches in town. Even though this was well past lunch time at 2PM, the outside patio was packed and there was a line of 10 people or so to contend with to order at the register. Due to how busy it was, our food took about 20 minutes to arrive. The Squealy Dan, Porketta ($16) - Unlike most other restaurants with Iron Range Porketta, Northern Waters slices their porketta thinly instead of pulling the pork apart. It has a pleasant spiced flavor and the texture feels as if it's cured rather than roasted. It's relatively tender, and while they give a decent amount of meat, it's completely overshadowed by the heavy spicy quality of the black pepper and the acidity and vegetalness of the crunchy pepperoncini. There's a bit of melted gooey provolone on top of the porketta. While nice, there's not enough to balance out the peppers. This is all on a crusty almost baguette-like hero roll, toasty and warm. The sandwich is served with a side dip that's essentially black pepper and pepperoncini water. Definitely not needed given how overwhelming those elements are in the sandwich. (3/5) Pastrami Mommy ($19) - I haven't had bison pastrami before. Now I know why it's not very common - it's way too lean and dry compared to beef pastrami. Still, it's nicely spiced and peppery, and there's not much of the bison gamey flavor since it's cooked out from the curing. There's a little bit of mayo underneath and some mustard on top, but it's not enough moisture or fat in my opinion to counteract the leanness of the bison. While there are some slices of provolone above the meat, they are served cold. I feel like melting it with the pastrami on the griddle would do wonders to help develop some more unctuousness. It's also served on cold rye - perhaps toasting with some butter would also help. Otherwise, the sandwich is just too dry and lean for my tastes. (3/5) I feel like I ordered the wrong items. I probably should have gone with some of the seafood sandwiches, but I found it strange they only serve Atlantic salmon rather than local lake fish. In the end, I appreciate that Northern Waters Smokehaus makes most of their meats in house, but after trying their food, I feel like it's more hype than substance. Bathrooms - Larger ones located upstairs, shared with the rest of the businesses in the mini mall. Note: Northern Waters Smokehaus charges a 3% credit card fee. This is disclosed on a sign at the front register. Food: [3/5] Service: [ ] Other: [+] Final Rating: 3/5

One of my favorite bbq spots in Minnesota. Great service with friendly staff. The inside is busy…read morewith a great energetic vibe. You can call ahead to get your name in the line for seating to save your wait time. The complimentary chicharron bowl was a great way to start the meal. Use the bbq sauces as dip. Order: Half rack ribs. Not the best texture on this rack. Just a little too soft for me. Salt level was aggressive. I would not recommend the portion we were served today. I think they just had an off day. Brisket. Tender and juicy. Perfectly smoked. This was a delicious bite. Bbq style Cuban sandwich. This was a memorable bite of food. Great spin on a classic. Sides: Mac and cheese. Creamy, saucy and flavorful. Highly recommended. Fresh cut fries. Definitely worth the upgrade. The dill lemon aioli is highly recommended. Cheesy grits. Yummy. The star of the show was the thinly sliced pickled jalapeño on top. Added that sweet vinegar crunch. Poblano corn. Good flavor. Just ok. Baked beans. Good bite but nothing special or memorable. I would skip. Collar greens. Tender and flavorful. Highly recommended.

Sat on the big patio with the dogs. They even offered a water bowl and gave them dog treats!…read more Great smiley service! Tasty food.

We love Va Bene. The enclosed solarium is perfect with a beautiful view of Lake Superior…read more Try the Peach Bellini, it is a delight. I confess, I almost always order the Gnocchi with Gorgonzola cream sauce. I add shrimp and mushrooms. Little pillows of heaven. Awesome. Next time I am going to order another dish as my husband's choices have been stellar too. And don't skip dessert. The cannelloni is delicious and the gelato amazing too. You can even pick 2 flavors. Service is friendly and fun.

What a wonderful dinner this evening! Maddie was our waitress on the Grotto and was so helpful with…read morequestions and menu choices. We enjoyed the best old fashioned before dinner and were not rushed at all to order our food. We did order a beet salad and a Caesar salad and both were great choices. The beet salad was the better one for me. It had just enough balsamic dressing without drowning the ingredients. For entrees, we ordered the rigatoni with the spicy red sauce and sausage added as recommended by Maddie, our waitress, and the butternut squash, candied pancetta herb pasta with pecans. Both pastas were very good. The butternut squash pasta had a few too many whole pecans, but had excellent flavor. For dessert we shared a lemon gelato with sugar cookie. That was the BEST! We sat in the Grotto area with a gorgeous view of Superior. Beautiful night to be seated there. This is a restaurant not to miss if you are in the Duluth area. But make your reservation or you may miss out.

Stopped in for a coffee on a Friday morning at the recommendation of a nearby business owner and I…read morewas not disappointed! The space itself is HUGE with tons of seating - I was in shock. My friend described the coziness of it as "your grandma's house". We got in line right in time because it filled up right after we ordered. They have tons of coffee and tea options as well as baked goods and hot food of the day items (quiche, frittata, etc). They also do beer and wine and had a solid tap selection. I had the dovetail latte and my friend had an iced vanilla latte and we both loved our coffees. They also have a small craft and trinket section from local sellers which was so cool and made the space feel so homey. It was so good we ended up doing back later that weekend as well. Recommend if you're in the area!

Great coffee shop in Duluth! Plenty of seating area to read, study, or chat with a friend. I…read moreenjoyed their little gift shop area with beautiful creative items. Coffee was tasty as well! Make sure to check it out if you're in the area!

It's incredible to find a Vietnamese restaurant serving such delicious food in a small city like…read moreDuluth. Whether you are Vietnamese or not, you should definitely give this place a try--I'm certain you won't be disappointed. Be sure to try the Vietnamese coffee, too.

Really good food and good portions. I got some spicy pho, and it was really spicy. I also think…read morethat all the other things that our table had were very good. I think it might be a little bit expensive for what you get, but maybe Duluth is getting kind of pricey now. We were there in the middle of a blizzard, so parking was easy. The place was almost empty for the first hour we were there, and then as we were leaving it got really, really busy. In a normal service day, it might be a very busy place to go to.

FIVE STARS FOR SURE - The location has free parking (which is rare in Duluth). The hostess was…read morepolite and greeted us with a smile and quickly sat us. The menu has a lot of variety with many items to choose from. The server was just top notch like took time to get order right, answer questions, come back and check on us and smile and super professional the whole time. My beverage was amazing and food was great, one of the people in our group said the homemade vegetable soup was the best soup they've ever had. To be honest the food was really good but the staff was just amazing. The hostess, server, even person who walking by answered a question and wasn't our server were all just beyond top notch. Like the service you'd get at a upper end steak house (but even better than that). I think the food is great, the servers are TOP NOTCH and for sure recommend. I'd give six stars if I could.

Stopped by Lake Ave for a late lunch today after poking around in the shops in the building…read more We got a seat out on the patio, which was small and cute. They also have a window into the kitchen, so you can see the chefs cooking! Our server was very sweet and attentive! It was their first day too!! Woohoo! I got the Rise of the Phoenix mocktail, which was so yummy! Perfect for a hot day! Had a good amount of vegetarian options, which is always lovely to see! I ended up getting the Wild Rice Hot Dish because it felt so quintessentially Minnesotan. I didn't end up loving it. I thought it needed more flavoring and spicing it up, but I know that that is NOT quintessentially Minnesotan. But my whole group thought it could have used a little something-something. BUT we also got the Mac and Kim-cheese and that was so good and flavorful! Such a fun combo! Would definitely get that dish again!

The service is wonderful. We had a shift change and both servers were friendly, efficient and…read moreresponsive. The food is great. I'm hooked on the fried sprouts. This was my second visit and I cannot wait to return. The decor is cool; artwork from local artists is very interesting.

He Ssaid: Duluth is a wonderful place to visit. The…read morelandscape is beautiful and there are several good foods places to choose from. Corktown has a good selection of both meat and veggie dishes. I ordered the falafel plate and I enjoyed the plate, immensely. Our waitress was really kind, too. She asked if we were there to fish (we were). The waitress offered to share some good fishing spots. Awesome. Pros: - Nice spot that offers quality dishes. - Smoked meats are good Cons: - I would rank other Duluth restaurants over this place, but Corktown is still a solid choice.

Service was intentional: Hosts, bartenders, servers, and bussers, were all helpful. Belle was an…read moreawesome server! Environment was pretty fun: Small and cozy, yet didn't feel crowded. Food was fantastic: from the Wings, to the burgers and sides - everything's flavor was amazing and textures were perfect. Be careful - "spicy" is pretty hot!

Popped into Burger Paradox right at the tail end of dinner rush and we got a fresh table. Our…read moreserver (Taylor) was quick, knowledgeable, attentive, and gave great suggestions. We started off with KBBQ Spouts & Buffalo dill pickle fries and they both were excellent. After a bit of a wait our burgers and fries came out hot and ready to get smashed. We all ordered different burgers (Table of 4) and after the appetizers we knew we were in for a treat. All in Burger Paradox was stellar and I'm now I'm a food coma writing this review. Damn. 5 Stars

Delicious local farm to table food and friendly service. We each tried something different and…read moreloved what we got. Gotta try the Triple B bowl and Korean Brussels Sprouts. Amazing!

Fresh, locally sourced and delicious menu options, fast and hospitable service!…read more We were worried that the wait time would be long but it was just long enough to enjoy the outdoor garden boxes and sun. Even though we are visiting Duluth during this crazy time of the wild fires, Duluth Grill made our trip worth it! They have a streamlined process for getting seated, the staff are welcoming and knowledgeable about the menu and local area. My family ordered the usual staples: biscuits and gravy, pancakes and sausage, and bacon/eggs/sausage. All were hearty portions and perfectly prepped. I tried the "Triple B" which turns out to be a Midwest version of Bibimbop. Made with manoomin (wild rice), beef/pork mix, kimchi, marinated kale- probably my fave of the dish. The combo is a deliciously perfect power meal to start any day and weekend right! I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the care they take in procuring local ingredients- even their kale and some herbs are from their own lil garden. I highly recommend the Duluth Grill, there's something for everyone! We will definitely stop by on our next trip out to Duluth.

Absolute 5 star experience here. We entered right at they opened at 11 on a Saturday. I told our…read moresever that I had an event coming up at noon so we'd be ordering right away, and by golly, the staff took care of us. Drinks, followed by poutine 5 minutes later, then food about 10 minutes after that. We were all done within 30 minutes! The food was fantastic, too. Delicious poutine, with oozy gooey squeaky cheese curds. I had the smoked fish salad; it had the right amounts of everything and felt like a distinctly Duluth dish. My husband had the fish and chips. I had a bite of his fish, and it was perfect, with great batter and flavor. I would happily come here again on a visit. I can see why this is a city institution.

Intrigued by their homemade wild rice burgers, we decided to visit Fitger's Brewhouse for a dinner…read morewhile in Duluth. When we arrived a bit after 7PM, we had quite some trouble finding parking and ended up having to park a couple of blocks away after circling for 20 minutes. Walking in, the place wasn't too busy, perhaps 50% capacity. We were interested in ordering the fried cheese curds, but the server told us they weren't battered in house, so we passed on them. Smoked Fish Salad (Market Price, $18.99) - This is a pretty salad - all ingredients are arranged in rows along the dish. Mixing things together is a bit of a pain, but I appreciate the dressing on the side to add to preference. The dressing is an interesting blend of mayo and other ingredients, perhaps BBQ sauce, that make it slightly tangy and very sweet. There's an undertone of smokiness throughout, which tastes somewhat like liquid smoke rather than the dressing actually being smoked. It is on the sweeter side of dressings. Other than greens, there's a row of wild rice, dark and snappy, completely broken cultivated rice. There's also a bit of house smoked trout, nice and smoky. (4/5) Classic Wild Rice Burger ($16.99) - This is one of the tallest burgers I've seen in quite a while, mostly due to the inclusion of fresh vegetables including onion and tomato, and alfalfa sprouts. For some reason instead of using larger tomatoes, they use small roma tomatoes, including three small slices. They also used red onion that's chopped into a variety of different shapes instead of whole slices. It's really strange - I guess this saves on cost? Unfortunately smaller pieces means things fall out while eating. The patty is larger than the bun. It has plenty of broken wild rice bits giving some additional crunch and that signature wild rice taste. It's charred on the griddle well and it keeps its structure, not falling apart or becoming mushy at any point. I love how it's distinctively a rice burger and doesn't try to be a meat substitute. Two slices of American cheese are melted on top that gives some fattiness to the dish. The bun is toasted without butter and there's a flavorful garlic mayo spread on the top. It would be nice if they had also applied the sauce to the bottom bun as I found the patty to not have enough moisture or fat incorporated. The burger comes with some thin commercial fries. There aren't any issues with the level of fry and they are otherwise unremarkable. (4/5) Fitger's Brewhouse serves some solid good old fashioned Midwestern American food. Not much else to say. Bathrooms - Larger ones shared with the rest of the business in the building Food: [4/5] Service: [ ] Other: [ ] Final Rating: 4/5