Lake Avenue Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Duluth

No. Just no. To call that dish Shrimp and Grits is an insult to both the shrimp and the grits. Maybe I am extra critical being from the low country where shrimp and grits were invented but anyone who has ever had the dish would agree. It was like the person that came up with their menu took traditional dishes like Bangers and Mash, Fry Bread, and Shrimp and Grits, threw a bunch of random ingredients into the dishes with no respect for the cultures and traditions those dishes represent.

I can tell that person who thought the dish was a good idea had never had shrimp and grits before. They basically took some southern staples and added it to a plate. Collard greens are hard to make taste good, unless they've been cooked for hours with a hamhock, get out of here. Then throw some molasses in there? eww, no. Cheese grits my friends. Cheese. Grits. Also, grits don't have whole corn kernels in them. No. No no no no no. Sweet grossness topped with egg. EGG??!!?! Like yes, grits and eggs are a southern staple. I ate it growing up. But that was NASTY. Plus the 3 shrimp on the side of the plate like an overcooked after thought. Honey, the dish is Shrimp and Grits, not grits that would make your grandmother roll over in her grave paired with a shrimp and more collard greens and "cornbread" than you should be legally allowed to eat outside of the south.

Also, husband's dish of the Bangers and Mash were also pretty terrible. He thinks the peas were dehydrated, soaked in water then thrown on the plate. I had a bite and it was bad. Again, so sweet. Like everything we had was like sweet. Maybe they are trying to go for sweet and savory but forgot the savory. Had to dump salt on the plate to try to counteract all that sweet.

I'm still mad about them shrimp and grits. You really have no idea. The waitress was very nice and I didn't dare complain but other people should know before going. But I will never ever go back. It wasn't even like something I could forgive and give you a second try. Like you messed with a southerner and her signature dish from her home state. Like you messed it up real bad.

The only reason you get the extra star is because the service was good and the drinks were good. But the food. My grandmother is...

Pros: Wonderful concept bringing fresh, local produce and vendors to the table.

Our host was warm and welcoming, and quickly sat our party of four in while the crowd was starting to pick up. Our waitress, Laura, was very helpful answering our questions about the menu and local beer availabilities. There were floating servers who diligently filled our water every half glass empty.

The venue is well maintained and modestly decored with art pieces from local artists displayed throughout the space. They are also available for purchase. Plenty of seating space between patrons for privacy, especially during the busy hours.

Cons: Food-cost proportion was not worth it for us. We were willing to pay for the dishes, but we were disappointed with the unimpressed, bland tastes with most of the dishes we had.

We started well with a cup of the carnivore soup (a jerk chicken soup), Berry salad, and elote. The soup was flavorful. The salad was refreshing and we enjoyed the smooth, melting cheese and spiced almonds complimenting each other. The elote was nicely grilled, but there were a few burnt areas hard to chew on.

For entrees, we ordered the shrimp boil, smoked cheddar Mac and cheese (pictured), burger (pictured), and steak (pictured). The shrimp boil had a nicely spiced sauce to it, but it was heavily plated with potatoes. There were only two pieces of shrimp and four thin slices of sausage. When we told that the $24 plate had only two shrimp in it, we were told that there was supposed to be three (imagine our wide-eyed reaction to that). The Mac and cheese tasted like a homemade Velveeta Mac and cheese, creamy and bland. I couldn't taste the smoked cheddar at all. The burger was juicy. It reminds me of a Five Guys burger. The fries had some good seasoning. Good combination with a cold IPA. The steak was accompanied with more potatoes. My friend asked Laura for steak sauce and were told that they do not supply steak sauce, however there is some kind of inside sauce drizzled over the steak. It was cringey to watch our friend salt his steak at almost every cut and bite.

Portion was good, except for the shrimp (more like potato) boil, but overall presentation and flavors were hard to capture...

We came as a group of four adults and two children. We ordered food and specifically asked for the children’s meals to be brought out right away. For the kids, we ordered the simplest dish — scrambled eggs, two slices of bacon, and bread. A meal that takes no more than 10 minutes to prepare was brought out after 40 minutes. The children were hungry and restless, and we had to entertain them for almost an hour.

After one hour and twenty minutes, only two sandwiches for one couple arrived at the table. My husband and I still had nothing. After one hour and forty minutes, the rest of the meals finally came, but my husband was served a completely different dish instead of the steak he had ordered. Why couldn’t they say right away that the steak wasn’t available? To make matters worse, the other couple received a dish with a hair in it. After pointing this out, they had to wait another 30 minutes for a replacement. By the time almost two hours had passed, no one wanted to eat anymore — everyone was angry and frustrated.

The service from our waitress deserves a special mention. She completely ignored our table: never checked in, never refilled drinks, never asked if we needed anything. When my husband tried to speak to her, she literally walked away. It felt like she was deliberately avoiding us, knowing our order wasn’t being prepared. The only act of kindness came from a waitress at another table, who brought crayons and coloring sheets for the children. We are very grateful to her.

In summary: • we waited almost two hours; • the children’s simple meal took 40 minutes; • my husband received the wrong dish instead of his steak; • one dish was served with a hair inside, and the replacement took another 30 minutes; • no compensation, no apologies, no effort to make things right; • service was zero, food was average, portions were small; • the bill was almost $270 for four adults and two children.

We left angry and disappointed. Of course, we didn’t leave any tip — which was still far too soft a response for this level of service. This restaurant deserves a 1 out of 10. We will never return and do not recommend...