Lakeside
Making it Up North: Sol Café
From the vibrant immigrant neighborhoods of Houston to the tech offices of a software engineer, Chef Antony Gor has always been guided by one thing: the power of nourishment. Now, he’s brought that vision to Duluth with Sol Café.
Making it Up North is a PBS North series that explores stories of creative artists, artisans and entrepreneurs engaged in honing their skills, following their passion and realizing their dreams.
New Hong Kong-style cafe coming to Lakeside

Chef Antony Gor is opening a new Hong Kong-style cafe in Lakeside. The restaurant will take over the former longtime home of the New London Cafe. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A new Hong Kong-style cafe will take over a longtime restaurant space in Lakeside as its chef-owner moves from hosting special pop-up dining events to a permanent brick-and-mortar location.
Chef Antony Gor has launched plans to open Sōl Cafe at 4721 E. Superior St., the former home of New London Cafe and, most recently, Falastin Palestinian Food. The new fast-casual, breakfast-and-lunch place is expected to open later this year. (more…)
R.I.P. Lakeside Professional Building
The Lakeside Professional Building, formerly St. Michael’s School, is no more. St. Michael’s Catholic Church announced in December that the building at 4915 E. Superior St. had been deemed structurally deficient and would be demolished. The tenants, which included Gabriel’s Used Bookstore and the Sami Cultural Center, cleared out in the spring. Gabriel’s had operated out of the building’s basement since 1994.
Lincoln Park salad shop moves to Lakeside; adds dining room

Ritual Salad owner Cori Zastera poses in the doorway of her new restaurant location in Lakeside. Zastera and friend Jenna Wersal, left, were prepping the building for paint June 11. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A year after opening in Lincoln Park, a popular grab-and-go lunch counter and mystic shop is moving to a bigger building in Lakeside.
Ritual Salad & Apothecary plans to open a new restaurant in a former driving school at 4501 E. Superior St. this month. The business debuted last spring in a tiny, renovated building on the corner of Superior Street and 18th Avenue West. The move will increase indoor seating capacity from five to 25. (more…)
Falastin will take over former New London Café
Fox 21 reports a Palestinian café and market will replace the New London Café at 4721 E. Superior St. in Duluth’s Lakeside neighborhood.
Lyla Abukhodair and her mother Ann have operated a Palentinian pop-up restaurant called Falastin for more than a year. They plan to open their brick-and-mortar location later this year. (more…)
Postcard from Lakeside Presbyterian Church
Lakeside Presbyterian Church was founded in 1890 and the building shown in this undated postcard went up at 4430 McCulloch St. in 1921, replacing the church’s previous building there. (more…)
Lake Superior Brewing to open soon; no beer until Labor Day
Lake Superior Brewing opening soon - WDIO.com
Lake Superior Brewing will open soon in Duluth's Lakeside neighborhood. It will be a restaurant, bar, and brewery.
wdio.com
A specific date hasn’t been set, but WDIO-TV reports that Lake Superior Brewing will open soon. It will initially be just a restaurant and bar, however. The brewery’s beer won’t be ready until September. “Hopefully by Labor Day,” co-owner Sarah Maxim told WDIO. (more…)
Lake Superior Brewing gets new owners, will move to Lakeside

Seth and Sarah Maxim have purchased Lake Superior Brewing Company and plan to move operations into the former Xcel Xercise fitness center at 5423 E. Superior St. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
An iconic craft brewery, the first of its kind in Minnesota, has been sold and new owners plan to move operations from Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood to Lakeside. (more…)
Lakeside donut shop plan hits snag

A Dozen Excuses owner Melissa Kingren serves up fresh sweet rolls at her Tower Avenue bakery in Superior.
A Superior bakery saw its plans to open a satellite shop in Duluth derail last month but owners are still looking for a place to bring donuts back to Lakeside. (more…)
Donut lovers have hope in Duluth’s Lakeside

Cases were loaded with pastry and shelves decorated with cookie jars at Johnson’s Lakeside Bakery in this 2015 photo.
Eastside donut and cookie lovers will lose a longtime sweet supplier this spring but a potential plan is in the works to install another bakery at the same address which has fed the neighborhood for more than six decades. (more…)
Johnson’s Bakery will close Lakeside location
Johnson’s Bakery announced Saturday on Facebook it will close its Lakeside location. Operations will continue at the original Johnson’s Bakery in Duluth’s West End.
“It is with regret that we must close our retail location in Lakeside,” the Facebook post stated. “We have GREATLY appreciated our loyal customers; our Lakeside employees have LOVED working with you. Many of you have been so kind to those employees as they have made different life transitions.”
An exact closing date has not been determined, but the Facebook post indicates it will be “no later than the end of April.” (more…)
Coffee and … beer? In Lakeside?
Last week I bicycled to Duluth’s Lakeside neighborhood with a friend — to Amity Coffee and BEER?
Today is the one-year anniversary since the law was revised. The Duluth City Council repealed a more than 125-year-old Lakeside liquor ban on June 27, 2016. Amity Coffee became the neighborhood’s first seller of alcoholic beverages four months later. (more…)
Mystery Photo #51: Lakeside Reunion
Usually with the “Mystery Photos” series we know very little about the featured image at the start and learn a variety of details after publishing it. In this case we know a lot going in, but one detail is missing. (more…)
Power to the Peeps
Selfless promotion: my family and friends created this art while I was working. Check it out, on display at Hannah Johnson Fabrics in Lakeside. (more…)
Liquor is legal in Lakeside. Who will serve it?
It’s as clear as 100-proof vodka that the first bar in the long-temperate Lakeside neighborhood of Duluth will be located on East Superior Street. The commercial corridor bends almost three miles from Northland Country Club to the Lester River. The road cuts through the heart of a bedroom community that includes close to 10,000 residents. It’s a neighborhood that has never seen a neon Leinenkugel sign or heard a last call. (more…)
Know Your Duluth Liquor Laws!
- Not in Our Neighborhood, Part 1: Buying Booze in Duluth 1934-1973
- Not in Our Neighborhood! Part 2: The Battles Over the Lakeside Liquor Law, 1973-Today
- The ‘Grande Dame’ of Lakeside (A profile of Myrtle Marshall, whose effort to keep the 1891 law in place has been mythologized.)
- Tempered by Temperance: Duluth & Liquor, 1870-1919 (Includes the creation of the 1891 Lakeside Liquor Law.)
- And Never on Sundays (Covers 1934-1973 liquor issues concerning music, dancing, women, etc.)
Lost cat in Lakeside
Maddie is lost! She’s a 10-year-old shorthair spayed female cat. Maddie is a dominantly white calico cat with a caramel-colored “mustache.” Maddie weighs about 10-11 lbs.
Maddie is an indoor cat who never goes outside. She’s sweet and cuddly when at home, but she’s timid and skittish in strange situations. She’s probably very frightened and hiding in bushes or under a deck/porch. Maddie was last seen on July 18 near 48th Avenue East and Cooke Street in Duluth. (more…)
Lake Superior masons, past Portorama leader and more in the Look at Lakeside newsletter
The Look at Lakeside newsletter turned three years old with its 18th issue, published a few weeks ago (six issues per year). The newsletter is online at lookatlakeside.com. It was interesting to get a tour of the masonic lodge in Lakeside. How many buildings do we drive by often but haven’t been in? Maybe I’m a curious person but it’s interesting to me to think about all the people who have been in a place over the years.
Amity Coffee is open in Lakeside
Amity Coffee opened on Sept. 6 at 4429 E. Superior St., serving up java from Duluth Coffee Co. The owners are Adam Swank and Patti Chuang.
The artwork on the walls is a selection of landscape paintings by Aaron Kloss.
Hours are 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursdays, 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
(more…)
Lakeside newsletter #2 is out
The Oct/Nov issue is available at Lakeside businesses and can be read on-line at www.LookAtLakeside.com. Learn about Brighton Beach Tourist Camp, Meet a Neighbor, and learn about events happening in Lakeside.
New newsletter for Lakeside and Lester Park neighborhoods
The first issue of the Look at Lakeside newsletter is out. It will come out every two months (on the even-numbered months). If you have article topics, Lakeside photos, news, even history, or even want to share why you live in or what you like about Lakeside-Lester Park, send me an email. The issues are being distributed at Lakeside-Lester Park businesses and online. You can subscribe (free) to get a notice when the next issue is out online.








