Duluth Cider — Restaurant in Duluth

I wanted to like this place but I had a strange experience here. I asked a guy behind the bar how hard it was to use only Minnesota apples all year. I was making small talk but genuinely curious about how it works. The dude got visibly uncomfortable and made a comment about how it's mostly Great Lakes apples. I asked what that meant since it's such a large area of the country and he got very short with me and ended the conversation abruptly. It was such a strange encounter that I went back to the email I was forwarded about the place to make sure I wasn't imagining things. It said right in the current email: "All of our ciders are created in-house with 100% Minnesota apples." Same thing at the time of this review on their Facebook page in the sidebar About Duluth Cider. After my experience, I don't believe they're being honest about that and there's definitely some serious tension if you ask any questions about it. There were some other red flags based on ANOTHER strange thing I saw and overheard between staff but I'll leave it at that. Weird place.

EDIT: Based on the response, I don't think they understand what I said. I didn't say anyone was being dishonest about Great Lakes apples because that's not what I read about the place and I had never even heard that term before visiting. And it wasn't just the Facebook that said something different it was an email that I was forwarded right before I visited and also the website. I'll explain that it piqued my interest about all MN apples because I went through the U of M horticulture apple program and I was excited to chat apples. Unfortunately the staff was pretty rude when I asked a question about it so I don't plan to come back when I'm up in Duluth again. I do appreciate the offer and I appreciate this person taking the time to respond to my review (I'll add a star for that) but it's clear from the response that they didn't actually understand my...

My sister and I spent a long weekend in Duluth. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate for our outdoor plans, so… what are a couple of girls to do on a rainy, cold day? Drink (and eat), of course! There are two new cideries a couple of blocks apart and we tried them both. Duluth Cider is far Superior. We both had a flight and they did not disappoint. Las Lajas -- I mean, seriously, how can you drink a cider and taste apple and coffee and smell it as well? CHAI -- More of the same. The smell alone was unbelievable and who’d have thought, CHAI and apples? No. 24 – Cherries and chilis? Get. Out. Both of us had a favorite though: EVE. She was fruity and sweet. Perfection. Went down smoothly. Our palates were bursting! So much so, that we went back for another round on Day 2. The bartenders were attentive and friendly. The atmosphere was open and inviting. The prices were reasonable. You can bring in your own food, have it delivered, or purchase some of their locally sourced snack items. They’re located in a renovated 100-year old building that used to house the stables for the Duluth Post Office. The added possibility of seeing a ghost horse? What’s not to love? To be honest, I didn’t know cideries were a thing. I’ve found a new hobby! Keep up the awesomeness....

The cider was decent however if it wasn’t for the fact that I really wanted to try some local cider I’d have turned around and not bought anything due to the poor service me and my husband received-I had never been before but upon coming in I made it clear I was only going to be taking cider cans to go as we were visiting from out of town and wanted to take some back to our air b n b rather than have it there as we have little children. Because I hadn’t been before I wanted to try some before deciding what to buy which seemed like a pretty reasonable request but the lady behind the counter seemed annoyed with me and clearly had a tone/attitude-so after my samples I decided on a few and opened the fridge to pull out the cans and get them rung up but while I was doing that the woman at the counter moved on to help the next group behind me literally mid transaction-it was rude and uncalled for-again I’d have walked out had it not been for the fact that I had my heart set on local cider-I’ve never had such poor service at a tasting room....