New Scenic Café — Restaurant in Duluth Township

This was probably the worst restaurant experience I’ve had in the past decade. My wife and I made a reservation for ourselves plus our 5-month old at new Scenic Café based on recommendations from friends and rave reviews on the Internet. Our experience was anything but rave.

Food. We ordered a few oysters on the half shell. The accompaniments on the plate were nice, but the oysters themselves were small and notably the least cold of any raw oyster I’ve ever been served. We also ordered the muscles at our waiters recommendation. The curry broth was fine, but rather one note with just curry flavor. The only dish that we thought was good and lived up to this restaurant’s fine dining aspirations was the plum, which was artfully plated and had fantastic textures. We had the Swedish meatballs that our waiter recommended and described as “ definitely better than IKEA”, which only invited the comparison and they honestly were quite similar. Finally, we had the miso Seabass, which was well prepared and tender. The accompaniment of seaweed, carrot and radish felt like an afterthought. The seaweed tasted the same as something you would get from a package.

Service. Our service was awful. Our waiter was boisterous with menu recommendations when we first sat down and then abandoned our table for at least 30 minutes while tending to a much larger table. He finally came back and took our order and there was a long wait for our appetizers to arrive, probably another 45 minutes. A while after we had finished the appetizers, we noticed the waiter walking our way and quickly wheel back around towards the kitchen. He came back about five minutes later to say that the kitchen hadn’t forgotten about us, and that our food was being worked done. We then waited at least another half hour. In the meantime, we watched entire courses be brought out to other tables. At this point, our waiter came by and did mention that dessert would be on the restaurant due to the delay. After waiting another 15 minutes, our food finally arrived as the last guests in the restaurant besides us left. Our waiter became more sparse by this point, presumedly avoiding us due to the awkwardness of the situation. At the end of the night, the waiter came by and amended his prior offer of dessert and suggested that he could send us home with a piece of cake to go, presumably because the kitchen had now closed as we were the only people left in the restaurant and they would not want to reopen it to make dessert. On reflection, there were multiple points, where I wish that our waiter would have realized that he was not providing proper service to our table and is inattentiveness was causing delays. I would typically expect that he would ask other staff to help or ask his manager for assistance.

Atmosphere. The restaurant has a cozy atmosphere. Unfortunately, we were placed in a room with two other small tables and one table of approximately 20 people. Due to the small size of the room, this table was extremely loud. I don’t fault the patrons, but do you think that the restaurant should not have seated other guests in this room with such a large party there.

We are neither strangers to find dining nor are we frequently eating nice meals out. We really enjoy cooking for ourselves and love going to fine dining restaurants that we think are doing things better than we could accomplish at home, all well enjoying a level of service that makes the experience feel special. With regards to the food, New Scenic Cafe is not doing anything so innovative or special so as to make the food itself feel special or worth the high price that they are asking. I have been to plenty of other restaurants that disappoint somewhat on food and that is fine. However, I do hope for an experience and service that make up for what the food itself cannot accomplish. Unfortunately, this is where Scenic Cafe fell flat. What a disappointment and low point for an otherwise nice trip to the North Shore. Next time we’ll just...

Our family visited New Scenic Café on October 12, 2025, during what was meant to be a relaxing trip to Duluth’s North Shore. Sadly, the experience at this restaurant was not only disappointing - it genuinely ruined a day of our vacation.

To begin with something positive: the setting itself remains beautiful. The dining room is cozy and overlooks Lake Superior, which should have made for a special meal. Unfortunately, everything else — from service to food quality — fell far below expectations.

Service: The service was frustratingly slow and inattentive. We waited an unusually long time for our server and the delays continued throughout our stay. As another reviewer described (and we fully agree), our waiter was enthusiastic with recommendations at first, then abandoned our table for long stretches. By the time our food finally appeared, most of the restaurant had cleared out.

Food: This was, without question, some of the most disappointing food we’ve ever had in many years — made worse by the restaurant’s high prices and fine-dining aspirations.

Miso Sea Bass: The dish promised Japanese flavors, but the marinade stayed on the surface and never penetrated the fish. In authentic Japanese cooking, the fish is marinated overnight — here, it felt rushed and superficial. The sea bass sat on a bed of seaweed that was bought from Costco (I bought the same thing and eat at home), and it was topped with pre-sliced, pre-marinated Vietnamese pickled carrots — the same kind usually only used in bánh mì sandwiches. The result was a forced, “creative” fusion that felt incoherent, unpleasant, and poorly balanced. There is nothing else with this $44 order.

Chef’s Special – 6 oz Ribeye Kabob: My wife ordered what was described as a chef’s specialty, but the meat was of poor quality — stringy, overly salty, and barely edible. Instead of the tender, flavorful ribeye one expects, the beef was tough and carelessly prepared. Heavy seasoning and uneven cooking only made things worse. For a “signature” dish, this was deeply disappointing.

Kids’ Meal – Chicken Tenders: My son’s $12 kids’ meal was another low point. The chicken tenders were clearly from frozen, processed food — bland, dry, and flavorless. For the price, we expected something fresh or house-made, but instead it tasted like something from a supermarket freezer. Honestly, I would have preferred buying nuggets from McDonald’s for half the price — they would have tasted far better.

Value: The pricing is unjustifiable for the quality. Charging $1 for a thin slice of bread felt insulting, and our total bill for two adults and one $12 kids meal came to $115 including tip. At that level, we expect thoughtful preparation, fresh ingredients, and good service. What we received was none of those things.

Atmosphere: Although the space is cozy, we were seated in a small room alongside a few large, noisy parties, which made conversation nearly impossible. My son is a special need child, and he obviously does not enjoy the setting. A restaurant of this caliber should manage seating arrangements more thoughtfully.

Overall: New Scenic Café relies heavily on its scenic location and reputation, but the actual dining experience does not live up to either. The food relies on shortcuts and pre-packaged ingredients, the service is inattentive and poorly managed, and the value simply isn’t there. We left disappointed, frustrated, and wishing we had spent the evening anywhere else. With so many other wonderful dining options in Duluth, we cannot recommend this restaurant and will not...

We were very excited to be going to the Scenic Cafe as we had hear many good things, and my husband had been given a gift certificate by his work. Disappointed to say it was a mixed experience. We went on a slower afternoon and were the 3rd table to be seated. If this review was solely based on our server it would be a 5/5, a young lady who told us she was new to the cafe she did a brilliant job of accurately describing the foods on the menu and specials in vivid detail. We were expecting a fine-to-casual experience and were surprised when we entered the building to see interesting art work and three differently themed rooms. They seem like trailers pulled together? While the tables and lighting was good the room we were in had very uncomfortable chairs with ripped and cracked leather seats. Then when given our menu's they were on card stock - that in it's self not a bad thing, however, they were dirty with previous guests finger prints and spills of coffee and possibly gravy, plus ripped and torn. The appetizer food presentation was excellent and the soup special was delicious. Then came the mains and we were expecting something terrific, however, the plate mine was served on was cracked and chipped. The food itself was also up and down, presentation excellent, but the bread mine was served on had been way over toasted so that it crumbled when touched and could not be eaten as a sandwich as presented nor easily with a knife and fork. My hubby was happy with his burger but the french fries had been over cooked and were tiny shards. The desert special of goat cheese creme brulee was delicious but the profiteroles with ice cream looked great but lacked taste. The potential is great but a few things just need to be pulled into line to give a consistent experience. Perhaps we just hit a bad night as many other reviews are great and we had heard very good things previous to our visit. Again I'd like to mention the server was wonderful. The concepts for the food were interesting and every dish we saw go by was...