Twin Cities Restaurant Blog

Sneakers Bar & Grill ~ Duluth, MN

Cuisine: American
Restaurant Features: Sports Bar
Location: Duluth, MN
Address: 207 W Superior St, Duluth, MN‎ - (218) 727-7494
Hours: Opens 11am Daily

Links: Website   Google Map

Atmosphere: Located within the Holiday Inn complex in downtown Duluth, Sneakers Sports Bar can be accessed on the 2nd floor of the adjacent mall area.  Like its name implies, Sneakers is a Sports bar that has tons of local UMD and professional Minnesota sports team memorabilia.  The bar take a main portion of the restaurant space, with bar-height tables surrounding it.

Menu: Appetizers at Sneakers include Quesadillas, Mozzarella Sticks, Chicken Fingers, Potato Skins, Chicken Wings, Spinach and Artichoke Dip, Super Nachos, Onion Rings and Chili.

Salads offered are Caesar, Buffalo Caesar, Team Captain (chicken breast, egg, bacon, etc), The Driver (ham, turkey, egg, etc) and  Taco Salad.

Sandwiches at Sneaks include Grilled Chicken Breast, French Dip, Fiesta Chicken Pita, Gyro, Ham & Cheese, Turkey Cranberry Panini, Ham and Cheddar Panini, Roast Beef and Gouda Panin, Tuna Melt, Reuben, Chicken Cesar Wrap, BLT Wrap, and Fire Cracker Chicken Wrap.  Burgers are build-your-own.

Entrees include Ribeye Steak, Ground Sirloin topped with Mushrooms and Onions, Fish & Chips, Chicken & Cheese Enchilada, and Chicken Fingers.

Price guide: Appetizers $7-9  Salads $7-9  Sandwiches $8-10  Entrees $9-12

What I ordered: I was in the mood for a sandwich and followed the server's suggestion of the Roast Beef and Gouda Panini.  While the description sounded good to me, this ended up being a poor choice.  The roast beef tasted like it had been sitting around for way too long, to the point of almost tasting "bad".  The smoked gouda and horseradish mayo conglomerated into thick globs of tasteless creaminess.  I honestly couldn't get past more than 2-3 bites and I was starving.  The fries were good and helped ease my hunger.

My companion ordered the Ribeye Entree which turned out to be a much better experience than my Panini.  The steak was only 8 oz but was flavorful and somewhat tender.  It came with a side salad that I shared and the fries that were hot and crispy.

Service: There was almost no one in the restaurant on this Sunday during lunch time, which I can attribute to the fact that 1. The Vikings were not playing that day, but rather the following evening for Monday night football and 2.  Another of the Holiday Inn restaurants, Porter's, was also serving their popular Sunday Breakfast.  Our waitress was nice and meant well by giving her suggestion for the sandwich and only charged me half price when she discovered that I did not care for it.  Drinks were sometimes slow to be refilled.

Overall Impression: Avoid the Roast Beef Panini unless you know the meat is fresh.  I am leery to ever go back for the food but it seems like a cool place to have a drink and watch a game.

Pizza Luce ~ Minneapolis, St Paul & Duluth, MN

Cuisine: Pizza, American
Restaurant Features: Bar, Counter Service and Table Service
Locations:  Downtown Minneapolis, Uptown Minneapolis, Seward & University, St Paul & Duluth, MN
Addresses & Maps:

Downtown Minneapolis- 119 North 4th Street Mpls, MN 55401 (612) 333-7359

Uptown Minneapolis- 3200 Lyndale Ave So. Mpls, MN 55408 (612) 827-5978

Minneapolis- 2200 E. Franklin Avenue Mpls, MN 55404 (612) 332-2535

St Paul- 1183 Selby Avenue St. Paul, MN 55104 (651) 288-0186

Duluth- 11 East Superior Street Duluth, MN 55802 (218) 727-7400

Hours: M-Th 11a-2:30a  Fri 11a-3:30a Sat 10a-3:30a  Sun 10a-2:30a
Links: Pizza Luce Website

Atmosphere:  The downtown Mpls Pizza Luce location has two sides to the restaurant, on the right is the quick-serve line where guests can order pizza-by-the-slice.  On the left is the dining room where guests sit down and order off the menu.  The restaurant is decorated with a collection of hand-made art, including canvas paintings and glass pendant lamps.  There is also a large full-service bar on the left side.

Menu: Appetizers at Pizza Luce include Artichoke Dip, Luce Chicken Wings, Veggie Nuggets, Focaccia Katerina, Garlic Cheese Toast, and Focaccia.

Salads offered are the Caesar, Greek, Garden, Spinach, Tuna Caliente, and the Lucky Luciano.

Hoagie sandwiches include Chicken Parmiagana, Mock Chicken Parmigiana, Meatball Parmigiana, Italian Sausage Parmiagana, and Mock Sausage Parmiagana.  Other hoagies sandwiches include Pesto Turkey, Muffeleta, Mock Muffeleta, Italian Combo, Chicken Dijon, Mock Chicken Dijon, Ultimate Veggie, Beef Italiano, and Tuna Melt.

Pizzas come in 10", 12" or 16".  You can build your own or order any of the Specialty Pizzas which include The Classic, The Luce, Baked Potato Pizza, Maximus, Shrimp al Pesto, The Bear, Spanish Chicken, Ruby Rae and Pizza Lupe.

Pasta dishes include Spaghetti, Mostaccioli, Lasagna Abruzzi, and Roasted Vegetable Lasagna.

Pizza Luce also has a nice selection of desserts including Tiramisu, Carrot Cake, Cheese Cake, Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar, Rice Krispie Bar, Big Ole Brownie, and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.

Price guide:  Salads $3-8   Hoagies $7 Pizzas $12-22   Pastas  $6-9  Desserts $2-5

What We ordered: My companions and I started with the Garlic Cheese Toast and Artichoke Dip for  appetizers.  The cheese bread was really flavorful and baked to a golden brown, just the way I like it.  The sauce was very garlicy, which I thought was great.

 

We also tried the Artichoke Dip, which came in a large ramekin with three loaves of warm focaccia on the side.  The dip was primarily cream-cheese based with roasted garlic and some parmesan.  The cream cheese flavor was quite strong.  I could taste the artichoke but only mildly, as they were very finely chopped into the dip.  The bread was thick and really flavorful on its own.

 

For our main entree we shared a medium sausage and shrimp pizza.  Delicious! The crust was New York-style but slightly light and fluffy instead of chewy.  The sauce was zesty and garlicy and paired wonderfully with the Italian sausage and shrimp.   The pizza also had a ton of cheese on top and was overall very filling.

Service:  Our server was really good and gave us some good suggestions about drinks and appetizers, and was very patient as we took our time looking over the menu.
Overall Impression: Sitting down and ordering off the menu is where it is at when it comes to Pizza Luce!  Great late-night spot or place to catch happy hour too.  Pizza Luce also has a brunch menu on the wekends.