Sushi in Duluth? (home, restaurant, price)

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by Flicka6

I don't think that's necessarily true.

Most people I know at least are familiar with the words "hummus" and "curry". Not everyone in the area is on a strict potroast and mashed potatos diet, otherwise places like Nokomis or Thai Krathong wouldn't even be in business.

I agree with another poster who said there is a large population of liberal/adventurous diners in the area who would be happy to have a sushi option in town instead of having to travel down to the Cities or a gas station (I know its "good", but still ) to get their fill.

Good luck to you Skipast, if you go ahead with your plan!

Is Thai Krathong even still in business?

If you compare Duluth to similar-sized cities in the region (Sioux Falls and Fargo), not particularly known for their diversity or sophistication, Duluth does not fare particularly well.

Fargo has two Indian restaurants. Both have Indian - Chinese food on their menu, and one has South Indian food as well. Duluth's ONE Indian restaurant has neither and is one of the more expensive Indian restaurants I've seen in the U.S.

The Sioux Falls area (Worthington) has an Ethiopian restaurant. Duluth has no Ethiopian restaurant.

Fargo has at least one restaurant with sushi, Sioux Falls two.

I'm sorry, but I don't buy the idea that Duluth diners are especially adventurous.

[aluminumpork]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

Is Thai Krathong even still in business?

Indeed, in fact they've recently opened their brand new Canal Park restaurant (with a full bar!) right next to Hell's Kitchen. I haven't had the chance yet, but when peering through the windows, it looks really nice!

A friend of mine reviewed it not too long ago (Thai Krathong Duluth » Review of New Thai Krathong in Canal Park | DULUTH DISH) and he seemed to really enjoy it.

I also know what you mean with your comparison between Fargo and Duluth. Even with the few times I've been to Fargo, I'm always blown away by how many restaurants they have. Maybe I'm a little sheltered here, but HuHot was one of my favorite dining experiences I've ever had. I would probably do HuHot weekly if we had one here. That said, I do think there is a certain "sophisticated" population in the Duluth area that is often overlooked. I suppose a test of this will be shown through the new Black Water bar and how successful they are.

[Flicka6]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

Is Thai Krathong even still in business?

If you compare Duluth to similar-sized cities in the region (Sioux Falls and Fargo), not particularly known for their diversity or sophistication, Duluth does not fare particularly well.

Fargo has two Indian restaurants. Both have Indian - Chinese food on their menu, and one has South Indian food as well. Duluth's ONE Indian restaurant has neither and is one of the more expensive Indian restaurants I've seen in the U.S.

The Sioux Falls area (Worthington) has an Ethiopian restaurant. Duluth has no Ethiopian restaurant.

Fargo has at least one restaurant with sushi, Sioux Falls two.

I'm sorry, but I don't buy the idea that Duluth diners are especially adventurous.

I agree that Duluth is a bit behind when it comes to exotic dining options.

However, if people were interested in increasing their options they might do themselves a favor by not feeding into the preconceived notions that the Duluth market won't support these restaurants just because there aren't 5 other Thai, Sushi, Ethiopian, whatever restaurants in the area.

That kind of attitude just doesn't make sense to me. I'd have to disagree that not having a particual type of restaurants equals a lack of interest in the cuisine.

And just as a side note, The Queen of Sheba restaurant is most likely in Worthington because they have a fairly large Ethiopian population (compared to Duluth at least).

[skipast75]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

Is Thai Krathong even still in business?

If you compare Duluth to similar-sized cities in the region (Sioux Falls and Fargo), not particularly known for their diversity or sophistication, Duluth does not fare particularly well.

Fargo has two Indian restaurants. Both have Indian - Chinese food on their menu, and one has South Indian food as well. Duluth's ONE Indian restaurant has neither and is one of the more expensive Indian restaurants I've seen in the U.S.

The Sioux Falls area (Worthington) has an Ethiopian restaurant. Duluth has no Ethiopian restaurant.

Fargo has at least one restaurant with sushi, Sioux Falls two.

I'm sorry, but I don't buy the idea that Duluth diners are especially adventurous.

I do not agree. Duluth has a very healthy Vietnamese, Chinese population, and it has a healthy african-american population. Italians, Germans, and Scandanavians are the overruling crowd for sure. I always wondered why the African-Americans do not do more in duluth? A soul food restaraunt would be Amazing!! as I have visited many around the country. Always great comfort food. (Are you listening guys??) I have a friend here in Montana who always makes black eyed peas, collar greens with Ham hocks, and other known dishes. Always so amazing to eat!! As for Ethiopian food, Even Minneapolis has only a couple, and Afghan food is sparce in the cities too. It just takes someone with the courage to open up a new food joint. If it is unique, clean, and tasty, it will usually succeed.

[acrylic]

I find it so funny when people say that an Ethiopian restaurant denotes lack of taste. This isn't the first place I've heard it.
Sorry, but I saw a thing about Ethiopian food on Andrew Zimmern, and none of that looks even slightly appealing. Most of the food is like fermented and near the rotting point.
Though I'd definitely be up for food from places in the Middle East and other places, but Ethiopian, from what I saw, absolutely does not appeal to me from what I saw.

[greyduk]

Skipast75:

I can't keep you in business... but I promise if you open up a good sushi place in Duluth, I will visit. I don't live in the area, but I've made longer drives for worse reasons. I'd love to see that kind of thing downtown...

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by skipast75

I do not agree. Duluth has a very healthy Vietnamese, Chinese population, and it has a healthy african-american population. Italians, Germans, and Scandanavians are the overruling crowd for sure. I always wondered why the African-Americans do not do more in duluth? A soul food restaraunt would be Amazing!! as I have visited many around the country. Always great comfort food. (Are you listening guys??) I have a friend here in Montana who always makes black eyed peas, collar greens with Ham hocks, and other known dishes. Always so amazing to eat!! As for Ethiopian food, Even Minneapolis has only a couple, and Afghan food is sparce in the cities too. It just takes someone with the courage to open up a new food joint. If it is unique, clean, and tasty, it will usually succeed.

According to my list, Minneapolis and St. Paul have seven to nine Ethiopian restaurants, depending on how you count:

PDF Files

What makes Duluth's lack of ethnic restaurants surprising is the fact that we are a college town: something like 30,000 students give or take in the area, as well as professors, staff, etc. Yet my fellow college students seem more interested in Olive Garden or Applebee's than any local restaurant, and far more interested in having a Chipotle, Buffalo Wild Wings, or Cheesecake Factory than a good Ethiopian restaurant or another sushi joint.

Originally Posted by acrylic

I find it so funny when people say that an Ethiopian restaurant denotes lack of taste. This isn't the first place I've heard it.
Sorry, but I saw a thing about Ethiopian food on Andrew Zimmern, and none of that looks even slightly appealing. Most of the food is like fermented and near the rotting point.
Though I'd definitely be up for food from places in the Middle East and other places, but Ethiopian, from what I saw, absolutely does not appeal to me from what I saw.

I don't think Andrew Zimmern's show makes any cuisine look appealing. It's called "Bizarre Foods" for a reason.

Ethiopian food is actually very delicious:

Ethiopian cuisine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[skipast75]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

According to my list, Minneapolis and St. Paul have seven to nine Ethiopian restaurants, depending on how you count:

PDF Files

What makes Duluth's lack of ethnic restaurants surprising is the fact that we are a college town: something like 30,000 students give or take in the area, as well as professors, staff, etc. Yet my fellow college students seem more interested in Olive Garden or Applebee's than any local restaurant, and far more interested in having a Chipotle, Buffalo Wild Wings, or Cheesecake Factory than a good Ethiopian restaurant or another sushi joint.



I don't think Andrew Zimmern's show makes any cuisine look appealing. It's called "Bizarre Foods" for a reason.

Ethiopian food is actually very delicious:

Ethiopian cuisine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you are a college professor, then maybe you should enlighten the pros of eating at local eateries. And how it helps the local economy. I sometimes visit places like olive garden, because it does offer amazing food. Nothing wrong with that. But for every one chain store visit, I eat twenty times at a locally owned place. But younger people are into conforming. That and they haven't been shown the pros of eating locally. And maybe because the local version of the same is not as good as Olive Garden. Either way, another sushi joint in metro area of 225,000, I feel, would be a great place. Whether I or someone else opens it. Bozeman area is only 80,000, and it has three in downtown, and a sushi store that sells all the goods needed to make it. Even little big sky, pop 2200 people, has two places that role.

[TimC2462]

Originally Posted by skipast75

So out here in Bozeman MT, Sushi is the real deal. Flown in, overnighted. Several joints offer everything from $5.00 rolls up to 18.00 rolls. Coming from duluth, I did not want to eat Sushi. My friends told me I was a moran, and that it is the healthiest, and best meal for the money. Well, they were right. I live off the stuff now. It is as addictive as any drug. I crave it every night. And thought about a business venture in Duluth. Well, here it is. Would you like to see a quality sushi joint in duluth. Do you think it would work in a land of scandanavians and italians? Do you think people would choose it over the many great chinese places in town? (duluth has great chinese, compared to Montana) Thanks.

I don't live anywhere near Montana or Minnesota, but I saw the heading of the thread and sushi caught my interest.

Out here in California, there's a lot of folks who prefer to eat sushi over Chinese on some days. What it boils down to is the quality of the food. A successful restaurant is one that has a variety of menu options that offer more than just sushi (udon, chicken/beef teriyaki, etc.) that will still appeal to some that are hesitant about eating raw fish.

Man, I love sushi! Just make sure the food is FRESH and high quality, and excel in customer service.

Good luck!

Tim C.

[greyduk]

Oh, and make sure your servers split checks... I'm sorry, there's enough things different about a sushi place that they don't have to "high class" to split checks for groups of people. I went to this place the other day with 5 other people, and got the auto-grat...come on.... If you're gonna force me to pay a certain gratuity, if you don't split my check for me you're not getting any more than the 15% you mandate. Bummer too because I usually start at 20 and go up from there.