Best Outdoor Dining: Sir Benedict's

Best American Restaurant
Duluth Grill

The Duluth Grill Has become sort-of the unofficial welcome center when entering the heart of Duluth. It is right off the highway and near the major fuel stop locations for people coming into town and/or heading up the North shore. A hotel is also right there. It is also a favorite Duluth hang out for locals.
Besides the convenient location, years of great food and service have made the Duluth Grill into the icon of the Northland that it is. As the category indicates, they have great American food. It is the kind of place tourists come to early in the morning and get some Northland tips from the local regulars.

Best Outside Restaurant
Sir Ben’s

Sir Ben’s is a great place for outdoor dining because of  the view and the variability. The view is simple enough to understand. Right across the street is the grassy-strip beginning of Leif Erickson park. In the summer the grass is green with the blue lake beyond. Just to the right of this grass strip are the nice brick tourist shops on the path to the Fitger’s complex. You can watch people walking, biking or riding electric scooters.
“The variability” refers to how you can find a table that conforms best to your desired level of exposure to nature. The outside seating area at Sir Ben’s is kind of like a horseshoe shape with a building in the center. This shape makes it, depending on the time a day, possible to choose to sit more in the sun or the shade. Like a boat on Lake Superior, you can also choose to be more in the wind or (in sailor speak) the lee of the building.

Best Asian Restaurant
Hanabi

This year’s Best Asian Restaurant is Hanabi Japanese Cuisine. Their menu varies “from Japanese fusion, to sushi and other traditional dishes.”
Interestingly a recent study based on Google searches found Japanese food is the 6th most popular type of ethnic food in America after Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Thai, and Indian. But at least this year and in this town, a Japanese place beat the Chinese, Thai, and Indian restaurants. The glowing reviews on their website show why this place is very popular.

Best Local Brewery
Bent Paddle

Bent Paddle Brewing is a 30-barrel production craft brewery and taproom located in the Lincoln Park Neighborhood. Using soft Lake Superior water, the Bent Paddle brews the freshest and most dependable craft beer possible. The goal at Bent Paddle Brewing is to produce beers that “Bend the Tradition” of classic styles, striving to make drinkable, balanced beers with an edge of inventiveness for all beer lovers to enjoy.

Best Bakery
Johnson Bakery

In a world that changes like stormy seas, Johnson’s Bakery is like an old dependable and familiar lighthouse. It’s sweet smells act as a beacon bringing you to a familiar place with many memories. It has been a place of enjoyable food and community for more than 70 years.
The Lincoln Park building was built in 1916 and Bill and Lillian Johnson started the bakery in 1946. Johnson’s is the last bakery left of an active community of local startup bakeries from that time period. Many of the recipes used have been around a long time. Besides the food, this long history of making community connections brings comfort in these changing times.

Best Bar & Grill
The Anchor

So what’s the deal with this place? The first time I walked into the Anchor, I was transported immediately to coastal Maine. I was half expecting a longshoreman from a previous century to sidle-up next to me saying “Move over, Barnacle Butt, I need me brew and bacon burger, Arrrrr!”
But seriously folks, the Anchor’s burgers and fries are as authentic as they get. If you look around the bar, you can see a whole potato practically being drawn and quartered (mild exaggeration) before your very eyes and turned into the freshest French fries you’ll ever eat (no exaggeration). No frills, but delish! Adam Anderson credits his late father with the Anchor’s success. “My dad started the establishment in 1977,” he said, “and we’re just trying to keep it going. It’s been successful, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! We put out a fresh product at a reasonable price.” The Anchor keeps winning this category because they aren’t just any old bar and grill. They’re special in the hearts of Northlanders.

Best Bartender
Janie Schulties at Eddie’s

Long-time Superiorite Janie Schultes knows how to keep the customer happy at Eddie’s in Superior. She has been at Eddie’s for four months and helps draw trafffic with her kind and caring bartender skills.

Best Beer Selection
7 West Taphouse

While brewpubs and production breweries are great places to witness beer making and then enjoy brews from that particular company, 7 West Taphouse is the place to try a variety of beers from lots of places. They don’t brew their own beer, but they have a lot of beer flowing out of a whole lot of taps.
“We get exclusive beer right away from certain breweries and we have 50 different taps,” said Katie Hansen, manager at the Tower Avenue location. “We’ve got every type of beer on. We have porters, sours, hazy IPA, regular IPAs and chocolate stouts. We have a lot of selection.”
They are also known for quick service.
“It takes like 5 minutes to get your food if we aren’t crazy busy. The food and the service and everything is real quick,” said Katie. “We are a fun establishment and you can try lots of drinks that we don’t get around here very often.”

Best Bloody Mary
The Breeze Inn

For good reason, in the Twin-Ports we make a big deal about Lake Superior. Establishments like to mention how close they are to the lake and if there is a view.
But the Northland also has an inland empire of trees, otherwise known as the
edge of town past most highly-populated areas as kind of a gateway to the vast woods to the north. Here you are still close to town but can stare into the dark woods and the stars as you step outside on summer night. The Breeze Inn is also far enough from town to have bonfires on good nights.
If the great environment doesn’t get you up there, then come for the Bloody Marys. The Breeze is known in the area for their Bloody Marys and this year have won in the category for this drink.
“Kate’s Bloody Mary has been nominated several times for the best bloody,” said co-owner Kate Waggoner.” I have been making this recipe for many years. At the Breeze, we keep it simple with just a pickle and olive.”

Best Burger Joint
Anchor Bar and Grill

The long time champion of the Northland’s best burgers reigns supreme for another year. Yes, the Anchor has once again been awarded by readers as the best burger joint. It is also worth noting that the Anchor won more votes in this category than any other business in any other category.  They must be doing something right.

Best Fish Fry
Eddie’s World Famous Ribs

A place with “ribs” in the title seems an odd winner in the Fish Fry category. But the fish fry at Eddie’s is so good that it’s included in Jeff Hagen’s book, Fry Me To The Moon. a guide to Friday night fish fries across Wisconsin. Eddie’s fish fries are actually available on Thursday and Friday.

Mt. Royal

Best Grocery Store
Mt. Royal Fine Foods

The customers at Mt. Royal mostly come from two different “worlds” as General Manager Steve Schadewald puts it. Since the store is right by UMD, students form part of that world. The other “world” consists of long-term customers living near the store. Mt. Royal gets a lot of support from both groups of people.
“It is a mixture of customers that have helped us maintain what we have been doing for many years, “ said Steve. “I think the reason is we try to take care of them with service and we try to offer a wide-range of quality products.”

Best Happy Hour
Spirit Room

Located in Old City Hall (and jail) on Hammond Avenue in Superior; owner Jeff Heller had an idea for a place for people to meet after work and share food and conversation. The result is the handcrafted, custom-built bar and woodwork, repurposed marble and iron work, creating a superior elegance in an intimate space. Happy hours are 4-6 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursday, with live music Wednesdays.

Best Liquor Store
Keyport

Keyport really is a great liquor store for a couple of reasons. One is the very wide variety of wine. Two is the excellent craft beer selection. Third is the very friendly employees, and fourth, the thing that really sets them apart from everyone else is their location at the end of the Bong Bridge. We talked to Nick Casper at Keyport about their win 22 years in a row and how they keep staying on top. “Prices and selection,” said Casper. In the two years they have renovated and expanded their selection of whiskey and beer making them an even more formidable competitor.

Best Outdoor Dining
Sir Benedict’s

You don’t likely think much about outdoor dining during a polar vortex, but Sir Ben’s is a great place to eat on a summer afternoon. The front features a look over the lake and is wide-open to the noon-day sun. If the sun is too strong, the umbrellas have you covered. You can look over Superior Street and see the lake, between the trees. These trees are the beginning of Leif Erickson Park, which tourists enter holding cones from the nearby ice cream stand.
The side and back of Sir Ben’s are quieter and shielded from the busy-but-not-too-busy Superior Street. The back is great for summer nighttime sitting. This is a nice place to hang back a little from the street crowd in the dim-lighting.  But, you aren’t that far back. You and your friends can still pick out faces from either Superior or the side street and say “isn’t that so and so”. The low-walled partially enclosed back patio partially traps the sound of local music from inside, while still allowing easy conversation. You can hear the band better when you go to get another beer. Speaking of which, Sir Ben’s has a great selection of craft and import beers.

Best Business Lunch
Pickwick

When you sit at Pickwick for your business lunch you are surrounded by rich wood carvings, trophy horns, and old paintings showing the European country side from a couple hundred years ago. Sitting there as a modern business person, you might imagine yourself as some medieval merchant trying to secure a trade pact with a powerful noble. This oldest restaurant in Duluth’s, stands like a castle above the lake, with the bright outside contrasting with all the darkly stained wood inside.
After you eat, you can leave the castle with your business partners and see a lot of what makes Duluth great at one compact location. You can walk down to the Lakewalk or look out at it from above. You can then go into the Fitgers complex and check out the many unique shops that demonstrate why Duluth is a great place. 

Best Place for a  Romantic Dinner
Va Bene

Va Bene is Italian for good and readers have agreed that Va Bene in Duluth is a good place for a romantic dinner. If you want to impress a love-interest in your life with a beautiful view, delicious food and a cafe atmosphere that transports you to Italy, this is the place. This is the place to take someone when you really want to tell them how much you love them. This the place to gaze out on to the lake, sip wine, and dream about your future together. This is the place ... to fall in love.

Best Breakfast
Duluth Grill

Whether you are a local getting some food before work or a traveler taking a quick stop on your way to the Boundary Waters, the Duluth Grill is a great place to eat breakfast. They have a large selection of items from the more simple to the more exotic. Being proud of supporting local food, their menu mentions where key ingredients (such as “Bay Produce tomatoes”) come from. The Duluth Grill has perfected their breakfast menu over many years. “We’ve been around doing this for almost 20 years now,” said manager Dan Lefavare. “We’ve really put an emphasis on providing the best ingredients for our guests. We love breakfast and we try to showcase that the best that we can.”

Best Coffee Shop
Duluth Coffee Co.

Visiting the Duluth Coffee Company’s downtown café is sort of like visiting ancient Rome. It is a great place in its own right but is also the headquarters of an empire, an empire of beans. Here at the headquarters you can see where the product is roasted for you in the café but is also shipped to many locations in Minnesota and parts of four other states. The café also offers a great atmosphere while the brew keeps you alert for talking, reading, or doing work.
Like the Romans, Duluth Coffee Company is always looking to add to their empire. Just like Rome founded cities to replicate Rome in the wilderness, they encourage others to start new coffee shops. They help these entrepreneurs by installing machines and offering training. These new shops sell more of their coffee and the empire grows. 

Best Martini
Spirit Room

The winner is Spirit Room (in Superior)  with an enticing, if occasionally baffling, variety of martinis including Cherry Cheesecake, Horseradish Black Pepper Gibson, Rosemary’s Salts, Banana Chocolatini and Christopher Walken-tini.

Best Mexican Restaurant
Pedro’s Grill & Cantina, Cloquet

For the first time, Pedro’s Grill and Cantina has won our award for Best Mexican Restaurant in the area. Those in Duluth will find it is worth the drive to Cloquet to enjoy authentic Mexican food at this family-run restaurant. Pedro’s is located in downtown Cloquet which is a thriving old style American downtown. After eating you can even walk from Pedro’s free parking lot to surrounding shops or Veterans’ Park across the street. You can enjoy walking around downtown Cloquet which has a little different feel than Duluth and Superior.  Back at the restaurant you can enjoy the food, free WIFI, patio, and fireplace.

Best Pizza Place
Shamrock in Superior

Located in the South End of Superior, Shamrock Bar and Pizza is known for some of the most delicious pizza in the area. During this February, their pizza of the month is the “Cheesy Pig.” This pizza has BBQ sauce, pulled pork, bacon, and three different kinds of cheese.For January, they featured an intriguing Pizza called the Big SCHMAC. Among other things, it has beef and cheddar cheese and is topped with lettuce, onions, and thousand islands. The restaurant also serves things besides pizza. For example, recently they won third place in a Superior soup contest for their chili.

Best Place for Gourmet Dinner
Lake Avenue Restaurant & Bar

Just looking through their menu, you will see some very exotic sounding dishes. Some of these are pheasant pate, bone marrow, rabbit enchiladas, grilled octopus, and wild boar bolognese.  You can see right away this is the place for someone to try fancy dishes featuring meat they may or may not have eaten before.
But if you look deeper you will see there is plenty for adventurous vegetarians as well like the Jerked Spaghetti Squash.
If you look further on the menu you will also notice that many of the meals are fairly reasonably priced which you may not have expected from a place that sells something as exotic as grilled octopus.

Best Really, Really Cheap Food
Anchor Bar

The Anchor Bar in Superior wins this category every year because most of the burgers are in the $4 to $5 range. Plus they’re really, really, delicious. With unique offerings such as the cashew burger, the Hawaiian and the fresh (slaughtered before your eyes) potato fries, it’s no real wonder that the Anchor just keeps winning.
Can you believe it? The same place whose burgers have been voted Best in the Northland (Read “Best Burger”) also has the best prices.

Best Ribs
Eddie’s World Famous Ribs

It is in the name folks and our readership has agreed that the best place to go for ribs is Eddie’s, a 50’s style restaurant in Superior’s east-end. “We have tried hard to stay consistent over the 23 years we have been here to keep the fall off the bone texture everyone loves,” said Dina Connor. Eddie’s was originally founded in the 60’s and has maintained the theme from the era since and this has prevailed through their ribs. Their award-winning ribs and excellent customer service are what have created loyal customers. Conner is proud to have won this award for 8 years in a row. Eddie’s can accommodate parties up-to-twenty and cater events for two hundred! On Thursdays and Fridays you can enjoy an All You Can Eat Fish Fries for under $10. Seriously.

Best Sandwiches
Sir Ben’s

Sir Ben’s is a great place to eat a sandwich. This greatest comes because of the place and of course the sandwiches. On their menu they have about 15 sandwiches as well as “build your own.” When getting the build your sandwiches you get a choice of 8 types of bread, 5 different cheeses, 3 vegetables out of a selection of 11, and about 13 condiments.
As for the place, Sir Ben’s is great inside and out. As mentioned elsewhere in this issue, Sir Ben’s is currently the reigning King of Outdoor Dining in Duluth. The inside is also great because of the music, games, and inviting spaces. There are areas for big groups and intimate little sections for talking and playing board games.

Best Serving Staff
OMC Smokehouse

OMC is owned by Jaima and Tom Hanson, who also own the Duluth Grill. The main difference between the two restaurants is OMC has a lot more meat and also serves alcohol. Duluth Grill is known for having great owners and great staff. So, it is no surprise that their latest restaurant also has a great staff. A great staff is formed when they have great bosses who look out for them. Led by Jaima and their son Louie, OMC is heavily involved in the sustainability and local food movement. They work hard to support local farms and ranches.

Best Steak
Hammond Steak House

Hammond Steak House has won this year’s category for “Best Steak.” They have been serving steak and liquor in their bar section for a long time. Bartender Nick Strand mentions how this is an old-style establishment similar to the old supper clubs in the area.
“Probably like there is nothing left like it since the supper clubs have gone away,” said Nick “Not too many of them are left in the area.  It is a good establishment that has been here a long time and has good quality items.”
From Duluth, drive over the Blatnik Bridge and as soon as you are driving on Wisconsin land look to the right for the big blue building with a big blue smoke stack. Just looking at the style of the signs on the building, you can tell this place is from an earlier time.

Best Vegetarian Friendly Restaurant
At Sara’s Table/Chester Creek Cafe

Most of us are more happy and comfortable being places where people genuinely want us to be happy and comfortable. Our voters have indicated At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Café is very friendly to vegetarians. Part of the reason is this restaurant has many resident vegetarian friends.
“So, we definitely cater to our vegetarians,” said barista and bartender Amanda Peterson. “About half our kitchen staff is vegetarian. So, who better to come up with these items?”
When your friends visit it is nice to make them feel welcome. The staff at the café use their minds and talents to provide a great experience for people of all needs.
“We are very creative and we cater to people who are vegan, celiac, have allergies and have special dietary needs,” said Amanda.
They cater to their guests with a large vegetarian and vegan menu, a vegan bakery, and a wide assortment of vegan desserts. They also make sure there is no cross-contamination from meat in the kitchen.
“We have special areas. We have special grills,” said Amanda. “We have special utensils. We have people who come in with special testers to see if there is anything that shouldn’t be in their food."

Best Dining Worth the Drive
Dreamland Supper Club

Dreamland opened its doors in 1927 at 4368 S. County Rd. E. in South Range, Wis. Dan and Theresa Patterson have owned the business for 22 years. Dreamland boasts a variety of cuisine ranging from a 16+oz  Australian lobster tail to a 20-plus ounce Prime Rib Au Jus.

Best Desserts
The Rustic Inn

Last year the Rustic Inn won in our category for "Best Dining Worth the Drive." This year they won in the category of "Best Desserts." The dessert part has a lot to do with how the Rustic Inn kept going strong during the last couple of years. Desserts are closely related to the bakery which became even more important during COVID. In last year's Best of the Northland, owner Beth Sullivan explained  there was a time in 2020 when restaurants had to close but bakery's could stay open. Naturally increased bakery sales helped make up lost revenue from the restaurant part of their establishment. 

The Rustic Inn