Foodie destinations along Highway 35, Northern Minnesota

December 21, 2009 11:42 AM

Northern Minnesota experts? Searching for good eats - the kind you buy and take home with you, not restaurants - between Two Harbors and Minneapolis.

This is the situation: we're taking a little trip to the North shore, returning on the 31st. The night we return we're hosting a low key New Year's Eve gathering at our house. Between getting back people arriving I don't feel like rushing around buying food. My bright idea was to pick stuff up along the way. Got a favorite gourmet shop along the route? Unique regional specialties, quirky ethnic cuisine, etc. are a plus. Help me fill the Christmas Hamper, since Fortnum and Mason won't deliver my first choice!

This is the route. I don't need advice on buying good food in Minneapolis, I've got that covered. I'll worry about if and when specific shops are open.

posted by nanojath to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

Tobie's restaurant for caramel or cinnamon rolls. Hinckley exit 183 off I-35
posted by soelo at 11:46 AM on December 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Conventional wisdom will tell you Tobies and/or Betty's Pies (which is just south of Two Harbors on Scenic 101, not the expressway). I agree with conventional wisdom on Tobies only, and only for rolls, as soelo mentioned. Betty's Pies is overrated.
posted by AugieAugustus at 11:49 AM on December 21, 2009

Cinnamon rolls from Tobie's at the Hinckley exit are a MUST!

At the first Pine City exit (if you're heading south on 35), there's a little coffee house called "Java Joe's" (I think). It's pretty cute and has nice snacks- cookies and scones and whatnot.

I can't think of anything else offhand, but I'll keep my brain on it.
posted by elmer benson at 11:56 AM on December 21, 2009

Best answer: Definitely get some smoked salmon spread from Russ Kendell’s smokehouse – On the scenic route between Two Harbors and Duluth. Lots of other options are there as well
posted by Think_Long at 12:04 PM on December 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Best answer: On Canal Street in Duluth there is a nice smoked fish/artisan cheese shop....that I can't remember the name of. Shoot.
posted by Malla at 12:36 PM on December 21, 2009

Best answer: Malla, I think that is the Northern Waters Smokehaus in the Dewitt-Seitz Marketplace.

And yes, definitely check out that marketplace in Duluth. The same building also has a fun candy store (Hepzibah's) where you can get little chocolate ore ships!
posted by castlebravo at 12:46 PM on December 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

Get a wild-rice burger, pub-style, from Fitger's Brewhouse in Duluth for take-out.
posted by Zosia Blue at 6:02 PM on December 21, 2009

Don't know where the spots are these days, but if you see a sign for pasties be sure to stop, if you're seeking authentic food from that region!
posted by kuppajava at 6:26 PM on December 21, 2009

Best answer: Get a growler of local beer from Fitger's Brewhouse.... Let's see... Nthing Kendall's smoked fish... and Northern Waters Smokehaus is awesome--you may be able to find some sort of entrée there. (Kendalls is better for local fish! It's easy to miss if you aren't paying attention.) Betty's Pies is just *north* of Two Harbors, but it's still the best place in the universe for pie. Tobies at Hinckley? Only for baked goods, like cinnamon rolls.

I don't know of anyplace you can get pasties hereabouts--that's more of a Yooper thing.

I don't know what they have for take-out really, but Takk for Maten/Kippis Bar on Superior Street right at Lake (in Duluth) is a fantastic neo-Norwegian and Finnish place. Their salmon lefse wraps are great, but I haven't been in since they expanded. And if you want true Duluthian ethnic, and you love Italian, go West Duluth to the Italian Village (301 N. Central Ave.)--this isn't typical tourist Duluth, but I've heard it's the best for certain Italian delicacies--so good for entrées or prosciutto.
posted by RedEmma at 7:26 AM on December 22, 2009

if you see a sign for pasties be sure to stop, if you're seeking authentic food from that region

I’m pretty sure Pasties are more of an Upper Peninsula MI thing, not so popular in Minnesota.
posted by Think_Long at 8:03 AM on December 22, 2009

Or, I guess what RedEmma Said
posted by Think_Long at 8:03 AM on December 22, 2009

Response by poster: Thank you for all the great suggestions.
posted by nanojath at 3:18 PM on December 22, 2009

Response by poster: I'm adding a few items I came across in my own looking around for others who may come across this thread.

Great Lakes! Candy Kitchen
Lou's Fish Smoke House
Northern Waters Smokehaus
Mount Royal Fine Foods
Blue Heron Trading Co.
posted by nanojath at 3:52 PM on December 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

For those last: just a note. Mt. Royal Fine Foods is just a higher-end grocery store. (I shop there all the time.) There's nothing special there unless you're looking for picked herring in a jar you can get most anyplace.
posted by RedEmma at 1:24 PM on December 28, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for the tip RedEmma.
posted by nanojath at 7:15 AM on December 29, 2009