Husband and I were planning a trip to Duluth, Minnesota, but we only had about 36 hours to spend, so I went on a mission to find some of the best rated breweries, distilleries and city spots to check out.

We didn’t make it everywhere, but truthfully you can only eat and drink so much in such a short amount of time haha so below I’m sharing the spots we went (spoiler alert, I would recommend every single one of them).

Duluth Breweries, Distilleries, and Food Spots

Our trip had us arriving at our hotel Sunday evening at 9pm and we left Tuesday afternoon. Because of these “off hours” we benefitted in some better hotel pricing and I was really excited to find a bay view room at the Fairfield Inn & Suites ON the Duluth waterway. Such a cool experience to be right on the little island. If this works out for you, I’d highly recommend it.

Duluth Minnesota City Sights and Photo Opportunities

Not food or drink related, but I figured I may as well make this an all-inclusive guide to our trip to Duluth!

It was a rainy Monday in April which deterred us from some of the parks and trails we wanted to check out, but it did not stop us from exploring Canal Park and the city!

We checked out Leif Erikson park, the Rose(less) Garden, Bob Dylan Way, and made it to the Lake Superior waterfront.

Sir Benedict’s Tavern On The Lake

For lunch on Monday we headed to Sir Benedict’s Tavern on the Lake, which was recommended to us because of their sandwiches…they definitely lived up to the hype.

I had a half Sir Pesto with Turkey and husband had The P.P.P.

Sir Pesto: Basil pesto, mozzarella and provolone cheeses with fresh tomato and spinach on lemon herb focaccia with Turkey

The P.P.P: Pastrami, porchetta and pepperoni with provolone, red onions, pepperoncinis and tomato with Italian dressing on white hoagie roll

Ursa Minor Brewing

Ursa Minor was highly recommended for both their beer and their pizza. While we didn’t have a chance to try the pizza it was obvious right away that the vibes here are immaculate and, as promised, the beer was great.

Canal Park Brewing Company

I was very excited to try out Canal Park Brewing Company, not only because the location was great, but how cool is it that they are solar powered?!

I highly recommend the bloody mary and the cheese curds with chipotle cream. So good. I’m a spice baby, but the house bloody mix had great flavor without being too hot and those cheese curds are probably some of the best I ever had.

Hoops Brewing

Hoops Brewery was another local Duluth brewery we were able to check out. The indoor space was beautiful and even though I’m bitter I lost 2 rounds of battleship in a row against husband, I still had a good time 😂.

Vikre Distillery

The Vikre Distillery was a must stop for me. I love love love a distillery and I’ve heard about Vikre for years.

Staying true to our personalities, I had the espresso martini and husband had the old fashioned.

Fitger’s Brewhouse

When I was googling the best Duluth food spots, Fitger’s Brewpub was at the top of the list and knowing that we’d be out and about all day and looking for a more casual atmosphere it was an obvious yes for us. I also love trying something “local” when we go places and the wild rice burger definitely checked that box. I had the original and husband had the French Onion Burger. Both of which were out of this world.

Classic Wild Rice Burger: Vegetarian patty (made with Minnesota-harvested wild rice & secret blend of herbs & spices), topped with cheddar cheese, roma tomatoes, sprouts, red onion, & garlic mayo on an egg bun

French Onion Burger: Fresh 1/2 lb ground beef patty topped with cream cheese, sour cream, garlic, fresh green onions, sautéed onions, & topped with deep fried onion tanglers on an egg bun

As an added bonus, the Fitger’s building is full of history and shops to check out.

Bent Paddle Brewery

You can’t go to Duluth to visit breweries without including Bent Paddle. We didn’t spend too long there, due to it being the end of our day and us both being exhausted, but so glad I was able to check it out and take home some of their Bent Paddle Canna products.

The Social House

Tuesday morning we knew we wanted to grab brunch before hitting the road so husband found The Social House and it hit the spot. I will say we were probably the only ones having a cocktail at 11am on a Tuesday, but there was no judgement haha.

My breakfast burrito was huge and husband said his chicken fried steak was the best he’s ever had.

Breakfast Burrito: Sausage with scrambled eggs, cheddarjack cheese, hash browns, green peppers, and onions wrapped in a flour tortilla. Topped with housemade ranchero sauce and crema

Chicken Fried Steak: Hand-breaded ribeye steak, fried and served with two eggs and hashbrowns. Topped with Social House gravy and a side of rye toast.

Jay Cooke State Park Swinging Bridge

On the way home we took a small detour to Carlton, Minnesota to hit up the Jay Cooke State Park to walk across the Swinging Bridge…I may or may not have jumped on it to have it shake knowing husband doesn’t like heights…payback for battleship. Muahahaha

It was really mucky due to the rain, but this was a nice break from the driving and checked off one of the hiking trails we wanted to accomplish so I definitely recommend it!

And that’s a wrap!

Like I said, there were a lot of other places that were recommended to us that we didn’t make it to. Some places being ones I had already been in my early 20s when I was visiting friends to party (the casino, Grandma’s, etc haha) and some of the places we wanted to check out were unfortunately closed due to us being there on a Monday (Warrior Brewing, Pickwick, etc).

Overall, I think we made a great dent and I hope you find this helpful!

CHEERS🍻