The Black Water Lounge featured live music in a classy atmosphere. The restaurant closed in July after a 15-year run in Greysolon Plaza. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)

Downtown Duluth suffered blows to its dining scene over the past year with two restaurants leaving prominent, historic buildings while Hermantown will lose a landmark establishment at the end of the month.

Martini drinkers, jazz lovers and people who just like a dark, glamorous place to eat and meet downtown saw the Black Water Lounge close this past summer in what is perhaps the biggest Twin Ports restaurant casualty of 2024.

The Black Woods Group announced the closing in July ending a 15-year run inside the historic Greysolon Plaza at 231 E. Superior St.

The Black Water Lounge featured specialty cocktails and tasty sushi in a classy, upscale dining room, but what made the place unique was a regular live music calendar featuring top area talent. The Maxi Childs Trio anchored proceedings, serving as the house band for its entire 15-year run. Laura Velvet, Paul Metsa, Russ Sackett and pianist Tom Cawcutt also frequented the stage in various iterations.

“Thank you for the amazing atmosphere and the best jazz ever,” wrote one music fan on the Black Water Lounge Instagram page. “Will miss this so much.”

“My most favorite place to go for a night out. Maxi Childs Trio has a special place in my heart. You’ll all be missed,” wrote another patron.

The Black Woods Group said in a social media post that changes since the COVID-19 pandemic have led to changes in the hospitality industry: “Times have changed — people’s dining and social habits have shifted — even more so since the impacts of COVID. These changes have pushed us to have to make the difficult decision to close a business that is very special to us.”

Black Woods Group said the closing will not affect its operation at the Greysolon Ballroom, or its other restaurants including Tavern on The Hill and its three Black Woods Bar and Grill locations.

Wasabi Japanese Cuisine will close its downtown Duluth location in the historic 1889 City Hall building. Restaurant owners will focus on their rebuilt location in Superior.

The historic 1889 City Hall building will also lose a long-time restaurant tenant at the end of 2024.

Wasabi Japanese Cuisine announced this fall its lease had expired and operations at 132 E. Superior St. will cease on Dec. 31. The restaurant plans to focus on its newly constructed Tower Avenue location in Superior.

“After six wonderful years of serving our amazing customers at this location, it is with mixed emotions that we announce the closure of our restaurant,” ownership wrote on Facebook. “While this chapter comes to an end, we are excited to continue serving you at our Superior location, which remains open and ready to welcome you with the same warmth, flavors, and hospitality you’ve come to know and love.”

The Wasabi restaurant at 3333 Tower Avenue in Superior was destroyed by fire in January of 2023. A new building was constructed at the same location and reopened in May of this year.

OCH Holdings LLC owns the historic city hall. It operates the 13-room Oliver Inn and the Rathskeller whiskey bar in the building.

The Chalet in Hermantown announced it will close Dec. 28. Founded by Robert Wherley in 1970, his extended family has run the restaurant, bar and laundromat for more than five decades.

Hermantown also saw a major restaurant closing in 2024.

The Chalet Lounge, 4833 Miller Trunk Highway, announced it will end bar, restaurant and laundromat services on Dec. 28. The establishment has been a cornerstone of the Hermantown community for more than 50 years.

The restaurant was established in 1970 when Robert Wherley purchased the Bratwurst House on property just north of Arrowhead Road on Highway 53 — renaming it The Chalet Lounge. Wherley, who died in 2014, owned the business for two decades before selling it to his daughter Barb Hakes in 1991. Hakes died in 2019 and the landmark was passed on to her daughters.

“We’ve loved every minute of having this place and making so many families happy and feel like they’re part of our family, but it’s time for us to move on and let go,” the family posted on The Chalet Facebook page. “My great grandpa started this in 1970. It was his dream to have a place where you could wash clothes, eat and have a drink and he made it happen. We’ve lived it out as long as we could. It was an extremely hard decision for us to decide to close and sell but it’s the best thing for our family.”

Well over 100 people commented on the Facebook closing announcement. Many shared memories and funny stories from Hermantown’s version of Cheers.

“Definitely have many memories at the Chalet. I worked at the Hermantown Walmart for 14 years. We had a large group of us that would come after work and unwind,” wrote one patron. “Also came with my family. We loved the food & the atmosphere. It’s sad news but thank you all for the great memories.”

Other Duluth restaurant casualties include the Blue Rock Grill downtown, The New London Cafe in Lakeside, the Vanilla Bean at Mount Royal, and Vintage Italian Pizza in Chester Park and West Duluth.

Blue Rock Grill, at 7 W. Superior Street, was a short-lived effort involving a large northland restaurant chain.

The Blue Rock Grill had a short run at 7 W. Superior Street. The space is now home to Alto Pino.

The Blue Rock Grill opened in the former 7 West Taphouse space in October of 2023. It closed five months later. Both the Blue Rock Grill and 7 West Taphouse belong to a family of restaurants owned and operated by the Letnes Restaurant Group in Waite Park, Minn. and Rick Lampton’s Up North LLC.

“We definitely didn’t get the volume we were expecting,” Lampton told Fox 21 News.

The Blue Rock Grill closed its Miller Hill Mall location in 2023 and moved to the Superior Street location. The Miller Hill Mall space is now home to Ichiro Sushi and Ramen. The 7 West Taphouse burger and beer menu continues to be offered at 2510 Maple Grove Road in the Miller Hill Mall area and at 1319 Tower Ave. in downtown Superior.

Alto Pino, an independently-owned Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, now occupies the 7 W. Superior Street location.

New London Cafe had been a staple in Lakeside for two decades. Lyla Abukhodair and Sam Miller took over the location and opened Falastin, a Palestinian restaurant and market in April.

The New London Cafe, 4721 E. Superior St., was opened in 2004 by Carl Ehlenz, the owner of Betty’s Pies in Two Harbors. An ownership group led by John Jenkins and Jacob Ferris purchased the restaurant and building in 2021, according to a Duluth News Tribune article.

After remodeling the restaurant and creating a vacation rental loft on the second floor, the ownership group unexpectedly sold the New London Café.

“We weren’t looking to sell,” Jenkins told the News Tribune in January. “We had a young, ambitious couple that we’re friends with approach us with an offer. They came in pretty hard and aggressive with earnest money and with plans for the cafe.”

In April, Lyla Abukhodair and Sam Miller reopened the New London Cafe space as Falastin, a restaurant and market featuring Palestinian cuisine.

Vanilla Bean owners in Two Harbors expanded to this Mount Royal location in 2018. The restaurant closed in 2024 and a Chilly Billy’s has replaced it.

Owners of the Vanilla Bean restaurant in Two Harbors opened a second location in the former Northern Waters space at 1608 Woodland Ave. in February 2018. After a six-year run, owners Jason Vincent and Jeff Anderson closed the establishment.

“Thank you for believing in us when we decided six years ago to expand and open a Duluth location,” they wrote on Facebook. “Many people doubted us. But we persevered, kept going when the days got tough, and even made it through a global pandemic.”

The Two Harbors Vanilla Bean remains open. Vincent and Anderson also operate the Boat Club Restaurant and Bar in the Fitger’s complex. The Mount Royal location is now a Chilly Billy’s.

Vintage Italian Pizza closed two Duluth locations in 2024 including this one at 1830 E. 8th Street. The pizza shop in Superior remains open.

Vintage Italian Pizza closed its locations at 1830 E. Eighth St. and 3901 Grand Ave. at the end of 2023. The Twin Ports chain told Bring Me The News the closures were due to lack of staffing and high taxes. The Vintage Italian Pizza location on Tower Avenue in Superior remains open.

Other northland restaurant closures include: Mike’s Cafe & Pizzeria in Cloquet, Hong Kong Restaurant in Cloquet, Piglet’s Grill & Cantina in the Town of Superior, Lake Effect Restaurant and Bar in Gnesen Township and Mac’s Bar and Grill in Mountain Iron.

Two closures with asterisks: The A & Dubs seasonal drive-in in Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood did not open last summer and the owners have not announced if it will open in 2025. Taste of Saigon in Canal Park closed this past fall and the space was remodeled by new owners and recently reopened as Phởlicious.

For details on eating and drinking establishments that opened in 2024, read the companion piece to this story, “New restaurants brought a fresh wave of flavors in 2024.”