JJ Astor Restaurant & Lounge

Fantastic place to eat with an amazing design which allows you to see the whole city of Duluth as the building slowly spins. THE MUSIC IS GREAT! This has been one of the few restaurants that I have eaten at of which plays jazz such as Michael Bublè, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Darin, Dean Martin, and of course Frank Sinatra.

Service was great. The Chicken Risotto was not good. The chicken was microwaved to rubber and the Risotto was ok at best. I had the adaptation of clam chowder … Sucking on a lemon with no taste. Sorry over priced and not worth the spend on poor quality and portion.

Wow, just say wow, what a romantic couple of hours we had, did not want to leave. Only one other revolving restraunt we had been to and that was the spindle top in houston, texas. We were there for the half price wine, so we slowly rotated two hours while drinking our wine. We had also ordered their duck fat fries with their in house holindaise sauce.o.m.g. were they fabulous. Don’t want to eat them every day of course even though that would be a perfect world situation. The view from there was spectacular, they do need to work on a couple of the windows, guess I have to have some sort of a negative… we do so want to go back many many times.

Love!!! We went for lunch and the food was good but the view was even better! Will come back every time we are in Duluth. We really enjoyed ourselves.

We stayed at the Radisson (paying extra for a lake view) and ate at the revolving restaurant twice: Dinner and breakfast.
At least one and maybe two stars are for the view.
My traveling companion didn’t like her selections as much as I did mine. I did pretty well for dinner: Clam chowder and scallop small plate. The clam chowder came with clams in the shells, which was a classy touch but the clams didn’t live up to the delivery. The soup itself was delicious. The scallops were great.
Breakfast was similar: My traveling companion gave her omelet a ‘meh’ but I thought the coffee was very good and the crab cake benedict was excellent. I really appreciated their non-​oily ‘deep fried potatoes’ instead of fries.
General tip: Breakfast was standard hotel pricey, dinner was revolving restaurant pricey.
Most of my photos are on Facebook, but I’ve added a few here that aren’t redundant.

Phenomenal view. Haven’t eaten yet. A bit pricey for breakfast. Doesn’t matter as I love the concept and just stunning to see the town as you eat.

This place has gone from bad to worse. 2 stars only for the views at Sunset.
Their menu is not unique. The food, horrible. I had the shrimp tempura, it was as if Long John Silvers came to cook. Heavy batter deep fried terrible-​mess. We also had the Pear Prosciutto flat bread. It was more like Hormel thick sliced dried ham flatbread.
This place is so overpriced compared to the fine food we have in Duluth. The waiters must be Union still, they are apathetic and bored because there wasn’t a guy working their with a smile or who gave any hospitality at all.
Stay. Away.

Very tastefully decorated, good service. HOWEVER, the food and expensive drinks were really very bad. Got the pork tenderloin and duck, and both were very disappointing. We ordered two drinks that were watered down. All in all the quality of the food simply did not meet the price. Will not go back.

The food was amazing! I had the duck and it was prepared perfectly. Dawn is the best server ever! She was so accommodating to my grandma that has allergies. Thanks for the great time!

We took my parents and children to JJ Astor’s for dinner to celebrate a special day. The view was wonderful and our server was nice. We ordered the Sinner Fries as an appetizer and a bottle of $ 50 champagne. The fries arrived promptly and tasted great, but we waited on the champagne, for the correct champagne flutes, I guess. Thankfully the server had brought out water to begin with. When the Champagne finally arrived it was very good. We had finished our appetizer for about 10 minutes before someone brought warm bread to the table. We had a party of 7 so our entrees took a little long to arrive. I had the Mediterranean Brined Chicken. It was a large piece of chicken and included small potatoes and olives/​tomatoes, and it looked nice on the plate. One of the other people in my party had the Meatloaf. I didn’t think it looked quite big enough, (to me it looked about the size of a baseball-​although square) but apparently it tasted good and it did come with a serving of the Yukon Gold Purée. Another in the party had the Surf and Turf with Steak and Scallops. This person said the Scallops (2 of them– somewhat large) were the best they’d ever had. We also ordered a side of Sautéed Mushrooms. This was a small serving of perhaps 6 or 7 sliced mushrooms and I would not order them again for $ 7.
Our server asked us if we needed anything before she left our table, then didn’t check on us until we were almost done with our meal. Dessert was crème brulee with a cup of coffee. This was excellent. The restaurant did not appear to be too busy, as I could see empty tables around us, and therefore I felt the service should have been a little better/​faster. It was expensive, very expensive in my opinion, but everyone in the party seemed to enjoy the food. I do have to say the tables were comfortable and the restaurant quiet and pleasant.

What a wonderful evening. The food and the waitstaff could not have been better. A real dining experience.

Kids menu was awesome and a welcome surprise. They do a great job serving fine dinning, in an upscale environment and combining that with the fact that it is a real tourist destination. They were great about our younger kids as well. We did go early (6:00) but truly enjoyed it.

Ver good food and the view was amazing… especially at night. The only thing was i did get a little dizzy from the restaurant turning. Otherwise was a very good experience. Would definitely go back.

I have been to a lot of great restaurants, and I would say this is a very mediocre restaurant. The service was good, the bartender was great, and the food was average.
We had the walleye. It’s served with brussel sprouts and some pasta. It’s good, but tastes like something you make at home.
I did very much enjoy the blackberry salad. And the brussel sprouts.
This is a place I would go for a quick view, a drink, and a snack.
If you have other options, grab a drink and the view and head to a place on canal.

I write this as my husband finishes his unseasoned New York strip steak that was originally sent back because it was cold. Colder than the A1 sauce at room temp. My Salmon was okay, luke warm. I decided not to send it back, I was too hungry. The sides were WARM and tasty. All and all, we paid for the experience of the spinning restaurant and not the food. My husband says his steak was way better at Grandma’s!

This place was a nice surprise. In short, this restaurant has an amazing view, excellent tasting food, poor food presentation, slightly over-​priced for the food quantity, and good service.
Now for the details for those that want it. We all know the view is incredible. The motion sickness thing would only seem like a problem if you were facing the inner wall and I didn’t see any seats that were. You rotate very slowly. It managed to do a full 360 degrees only after I was finished with dessert, so you literally get a different view throughout the entire meal. We spun from the 285 degree mark (posted on the wall) to the 307 mark in 4 minutes and 45 seconds. There was an extraordinarily quiet creaking sound of the floor rotating, but I found this relaxing and acted as a useful reminder that I was not stationary. Once in a while you could feel an extremely, almost unnoticeable, tug in the floor as if the motor sped up, ever so slightly, for just a second. This didn’t bother me.
The filet mignon came out looking rather pathetic for being their most expensive menu item. It looked like a hamburger slapped on a plate with potato purée just poured around it. Thank the sky that it ended up being delicious and perfectly cooked, which is far more important! The green beans had an interesting sweetness to them. If you ate a bite of the filet, purée, and onion string at once you will have discovered the perfect combination. My lemonade came in a glass that seemed unnecessarily small and I drank it up really fast and kept having to get multiple refills because of it. This is not a big deal, but just seems like more work for them.
The crème brûlée was delicious and had the top burnt just right. This particular dish was very small for the price but also very rich. It was in a small plate and only a centimeter deep.
My waiter, Chad, was very nice and knew the answers to all of my menu questions, including more complicated questions I had regarding tastes of certain elements in the dish. He also gave me good advice where I sought it. He had a funny quirk of leaving the table, quickly stepping back as if he forgot something, and then leaving again. It also happened when he left the check because he thought he forgot the pen, which he did, but left anyway. It was very funny, and cute!
I was confused on the theme of the décor. It was like the sophisticated interior of a captain’s quarters on an old ship, which was really cool, but felt the inside wall should be redone to align more with that theme (if that is the theme; it should be!). At night I found the lighting was too bright, especially the lights shining on the interior wall art. This was mainly because it made it more difficult than necessary to see the amazing night view of Duluth. I realize this is a hard level to find, but I don’t think compromising the view is acceptable. There is an annoying double service door to the kitchen located between the 352 and 15 degree marks. When it opens it lets in too much white light distorting the night view and slams too loudly. Management should fix this. Luckily you rotate past it only once.
The manager on duty did not stop to ask me or anyone else how everything was going, which is too bad because I was prepared to give good feedback, as you can see.
You definitely should come here if you’re in town and want good food paired with an incredible view.

We stayed in the Radisson, so this was a natural stop for us.
We went here on a Sunday Morning, around 9am or so. We go Sheila as our server, who was very nice and knowledgeable.
My Fiancé got the Yogurt, Granola, and Fruit, with an egg on the side. I got the 3 egg omelette, with Salmon as my meat. We got coffee as a drink, which came quickly.
The food came ~15−20 minutes after ordering, which seemed a bit long, but it didn’t really bother me since the view was amazing, even in the dead of winter.
My fiancé said that all the food was good on her end, but I was unable to taste any of it, as she ate it all.
My omelette was very good as well. Nothing bad to report at all. Salmon was very fresh, eggs were cooked well, cheese was perfect. Once we were done, we got the bill, which was reasonable for the food, paid it, and headed out for the day. Sheila was very friendly the whole time, and came to check on us a few times.
Service — ⁵⁄₅
Food Quality– ⁴⁄₅
Serving Size — ⁵⁄₅
Speediness — ⁴⁄₅
Atmosphere — ⁴⁄₅
Overall: ⁵⁄₅

I have been here twice for breakfast and it was awesome. Delicious food, large portions and wonderful view. The view is totally worth it.

The view is as fantastic as the food. I had the duck breast and my love had the pecan-​crusted walleye. Both were incredible, with sides as good as the entrees. My date was gaga over her potato purée where as my seasoned fingerling potatoes were to die for.
Between the incredible panorama and the wonderful cuisine, this would be an easy five stars. But I have to mention the service too! The staff was friendly and made our anniversary dinner something special. Duluth is a gorgeous town and JJ Astor has got to be one of the best ways to enjoy it.

I loved the morning view the first time we ate breakfast there during our stay. The best part is that everyone gets the best view at some point! The staff was pretty friendly and genuinely seemed interested that we were enjoying our stay the Radisson.
I did find myself wishing for more flavor yet again. Thankfully we had a deal with our stay, and we might come again for the excellent view.