New Scenic Cafe

FABULOUS food & great service!!! 3 kids loved it too! Kids menu is great and reasonably priced. Large beverage menu as well, which is always good! Would love to come back in the summer and sit outside with a cocktail overlooking the lake.

Be prepared to bring some serious coin and your coolest attitude when coming up to the New Scenic Café. We came for lunch on a cold Saturday afternoon. The parking lot was full and pretty icy; a very slippery walk. We were promptly greeted by a chilly (attitude) young woman dressed in a short black spaghetti strapped dress– just saying it was odd– her question was also odd, «what can I do for you?» Do they do anything but serve food here? Anyway, after a short wait we were seated and ordered roasted cauliflower for $ 11 to start. No kidding, it was about ¹⁄₃ cup of tiny little pieces of cauliflower with petite cut tomatoes and black pepper for $ 11! We ordered Tempe Reuben sandwiches which were decent sized and very good but could have used a side of dressing served with it. As it was, it came with a little bunch of small red grapes and a small pickle chunk. Our bill was $ 45. It was good but we decided to skip the $ 7 – 12 dessert and go to Culver’s in Two Harbors for a custard cone. The couple sitting ahead of us had two kids with them and parted with $ 100 for lunch. Lots of interesting food on the menu for lots of money. The clientele appear to be well heeled conspicuous consumers who can afford drop this kind of money for lunch without a care– kinda like «yuppies» used to be. It seemed like the people around us were more impressed with the food than we were.

Now my favorite restaurant in Duluth! Started with the pork belly appetizer — almost wrestled with my wife for the last bite. It was wonderful! Then we split an awesome pistachio goat cheese salad. I ordered the sea bass … my wife ordered the ribeye roll. Again — both entrees were excellent. I’m not really a dessert guy, but we ordered the chocolate cremeaux. Oh my goodness — it was heavenly! The food is outstanding, the portions are small, the prices are not, and the service was pretty good. We visited at 8:00pm in January, so we didn’t get to see the scenic view, but the ambiance was nice for a date with my favorite person. I will be back, and I recommend the New Scenic Café!

Amazing! This place gets me to try ingredients I didn’t think I liked before they worked their magic. We’ve sampled many items from their menu mostly the sandwiches as we tend to stop in for early lunch. The dessert menu is also a must. I love that the menu is always fresh and very creative! The atmosphere with graden in the front and the lake across the street is unmatched. This is the type of place that inspires people to step out of comfort zones. I crave those tuna tacos with the slaw. Oh man. And I don’t normally like tuna.

Five star food, one star service. However, the food is so good I almost considered a five star rating on here. Buckle up, this is a long one.
Anyways, we live around 20 minutes away, so we make a somewhat regular venture up to the café. Every time we have previously dined here, we’ve had nothing but perfect service. Today, however, was a letdown to say the least. After a short wait (to be expected on a Sunday) we were sat and after a good 5 minutes of waiting to be greeted, we were met with a server abruptly slamming a small bowl of pistachios and waters on the table before stalking off without a word. A few minutes after, Mackenzie greeted us with a canned welcome and asked if we needed drinks. We had a few questions about the selection and her answers were anything but satisfactory. After asking her to check on the selections of a certain beer, she reluctantly disappeared to check. Finally, drinks are at the table and she immediately assumes were ready to order. Now normally, patrons are met almost immediately upon sitting with the specials of the day. This was not the case today. We had to inquire ourselves, and still did not get any decent idea of what the specials entailed. We finally make our decisions (two bowls of soup and a split sandwich) when she asks if we would like the soups before. We declined, as we planned to eat them together. Later, two bowls of soup arrive, no sandwich. About 6 or 7 minutes into realizing that we may not be receiving said sandwich, we flag her down and she informs us that it will be up shortly, after running to the POS and returning a few moments later. Hmm. Okay. It eventually comes out, about 10 – 15 minutes after our inquiry– strangely the amount of time a sandwich might take in a kitchen normally. As my partner and I are both in the industry, we were well aware that she had forgotten to fire our sandwich originally. She was very unapologetic and ignored our table as much as possible after food drop off.
Moral of the story, the food was wonderful as it always is, and their drink selection is also quite unique and pleasant as is the atmosphere. Hopefully you receive better service than we did, but that really is the only thing to detract from the restaurant. As two seasoned restaurant service employees, we are quite picky when we’re paying New Scenic prices and expect service that matches the food. Normally, the place delivers. Hopefully this is just a fluke.

Best restaurant in Duluth. Creative entrees. Fresh ingredients. Top level service most of the time. A classic foodie restaurant. I like Va Bene better overall but that is my individual quirk — I think anyone used to good restaurants would say this is the best in Duluth.
I would argue this is one of the few Duluth restaurants that not only could survive in Minneapolis but could thrive.
I don’t feel like New Scenic frequently hits it out of the park with their entrees like some Mpls places do (e.g., Bar La Grassa and their lobster and soft egg bruschetta). But I do feel like everything you get at New Scenic will be triples, to keep the baseball metaphor going, with the occasional home run. You can expect mostly great food every time you come here. It is definitely worth a stop any time you are in Duluth.

This is a foodie place located up on the scenic north shore drive. Nice outdoor area with big chairs in a sunny spot — kitchen type atmosphere on the inside. Unlike other north shore places, don’t think beer burger cheese fries. Think gruyère salmon quinoa jicama.
Plenty of parking.

Be prepared for a wait. We went at 1pm on a Monday afternoon and waited nearly an hour to be seated. There is a nice garden area outdoors for waiting.
We visited this place based on Unilocal reviews and the «good for kids» rating. The last part is probably true, as they have a decent kids menu and even crayons. The kids grilled cheese was just right.
The adult meals varied a little more. My special Knife River herring sandwich was good, even if it was mostly bread. My wife’s heirloom tomato «salad» consisted of 6 tiny cherry tomatoes halved with a pinch of cheese and herbs. This would be small for an appetizer and for a $ 12 salad it was VERY disappointing.
The service was poor. We saw our waitress exactly twice and her only words were literally «are you ready?» — we placed our orders without a word from her, and she delivered the check with no offer of dessert, drink refills, or anything. The busser refilled our waters once, our food was delivered silently without a word (after a half hour), and we were never thanked. Did we do something wrong? Our 6 year old quietly colored the whole time but I wonder, like others have said here, if children are not actually welcome.

2^nd stop in my northern trip was to this aptly named scenic café. Our food of choice was the special starter of figs with bleu cheese and crostini in local maple syrup and nuts. Thank you thank you thank you. This was wonderful. The main courses we had were the beef tenderloin and seared duck breast. While these dishes were good (the flavors combining a little of everything in a bite of duck worked quite well) the figs stole the show.
On the less positive side the lunch took around 2 hours! Way way way too long as it was not by choice per se. Second, some of the staff did not seem too keen to be of service (dont like kids?) For which their tip suffered.
Anyways it seems to me the kitchen is putting out interesting and perhaps passionate food for which I give my thanks. It was a pleasure dining at your table.

This place is very cute. Its wood-​built. Location is amazing; as the name says its scenic. Its on scenic drive. You can see superior lake from the restaurant. Enough about location.
Wine collection is good, not expensive but good wines. I had bodegas naia verdejo, it was really good. First smell of it was powerful enough to tell me that I choosed wisely.
They give a cup full of pistachio as soon as you sit down so that’s an advantage you free loaders out there.
I had ratatouille, it was freaking good. They cooked all veggies and put it in baked bread with oil and vinegar. Really nice. It came with pineapple and few berries.
My restaurant review is not complete unless I have seen bathroom. No it does not mean I pee/​poop too much. I just expect cleanliness in a 4 or 5 star restaurant. Toilet was nice and clean, had a wooden décor.
So go there enjoy the drive, view and then eat and poop (optional).

The food here was amazing. I love the location, and the vibe is so perfect. My only complaint, is that I showed up with a couple of kids, and it was like I showed up with two small people filled with horror and disease. The server never spoke to the kids, and the only time he looked at them was down his nose. It was a bummer for the parents, but kids being what they are I don’t think they even noticed. I’d come again, and I’d bring my kids, both to enjoy the food, and to see if I can make the server squirm.

I have been to very few Duluth restaurants that didn’t have rotten service and crummy food. New Scenic has both excellent service and quite good food.
I’m pleased to recommend New Scenic and wish more restaurants in the area would get a clue like these guys. Try the French onion soup or croque Provençal.

This was such a great find.
Located just north of Duluth and situated across the street from Lake Superior is the New Scenic Café.
Modestly decorated with a nice little garden in front, this restaurant caters to a foodie but casual clientele.
The location and décor aside, it’s really all about the food. For appetizers we went with the ahi tacos in a fried wonton with wasabi slaw. We also went with the curry mussels. Both dishes were unique and out of this world.
For entrees we went with the seared scallops over mashed potato and the pork loin. Just fantastic. They also had a great dessert menu and we tried the kettle corn ice cream.
Service was excellent and the beer list was great with many local craft options.
All in all it was a great spot. Make reservations!

I have NEVER had a bad meal here! This is really the best place around duluth to get high quality food that’s worth every penny. Be prepared for a wait b/​c everyone loves this place! This is not particularly kid friendly, not to say it’s unfriendly, it’s just a small space with fancy meals. This is where my husband and I always go on dates:)