Tavern On The Hill

This is a great restaurant with good service and a solid menu. The only complaint I have is with the tomato bisque soup. The soup didn’t have a soup texture… It was more like someone poured a bottle of Ragu spaghetti sauce into a bowl. I would have given this 4 stars had I not ordered the soup.

Really nice staff. Decent atmosphere. Others enjoyed their food, but I only had the tomato bisque soup– not great– looked/​tasted like Ragu. I know bisque is supposed to be thick, but this was too far.

The kale salad was really good. Great flavor all the way around. I needed to ask for another thing of dressing however, as it didn’t come with much. The tomato bisque soup was another story however. While it was a good sized «cup» of soup the flavor was almost as if came from a can of spaghetti sauce. The brussel sprouts were ok but could have been so much better. They came with bacon bits but had they roasted them with bigger pieces of bacon, it would have helped the flavor quite a bit. A nice try with those advertised flavors, but they were bland. The best part of this place was the nice server.

This is a tough one. In Duluth this is a 4 star place. Lots of different styles of food on the menu. Tacos, pot pies, sandwiches, burgers, bowls, salads and more. Tavern on the Hill is trying to be a lot of things and usually I feel that doesn’t go well. But for the most part they do a decent job. There is nothing on the menu that I have had that is fantastic but a lot of good choices. I had the pulled pork sandwich last night. I also had the smoked salmon appetizer. The sandwich was pretty good. The appetizer was good, but I had to get over the fact that I was paying 12 bucks for smoked salmon, a dollop of cheese and Town House brand crackers. I am just not used to getting a spread of Town House or Ritz on a plate when I go out to eat. But you know what? It worked. It was a good cracker choice with that salmon and that cheese.
When I have been here before the waits have been fairly long. Not last night. Quick service and much appreciated.
Good beer selection. I had the Day Tripper. Excellent.

I went to this location for a little get together with the girls. The children’s menu options were good, but I was not overwhelmed with the food. My family and I would give the food a 5 out of 10. The wait staff and atmosphere were good.
We will probably not be going back.

I liked the venue and ambience of this space, and I imagine it’s fun when the nightlife is busier. The murals on the walls are well-​painted, and interesting and sometimes funny. Just look closely at some of the characters. We had a good time pointing out who remind us of our friends or celebrity figures.
We had reasonable service at the Tavern on the Hill, if slightly slow.
We enjoyed the ahi tuna crisps and the sriracha bbq nachos to start off the meal. The tuna was delicious, and it’s presentation was engaging visually and on the tongue, a good crunch with the fleshy tuna. The pork on the nachos was slightly tangy and appetizing.
The beer + cheddar cheese soup here was good, but okay to skip here. It’s served with popcorn as traditional in this area.
The Power Up! kale salad was such a solid midwestern meal. The Minnesota wild rice made it even more filling and the combination of greens, chicken, cranberries, and almonds was perfect together.
I loved the cocktail selection. I drank two delightful lavender gin smashes. The flavor of the lavender was perfect with the gin, and the scent of the drink was divine.

I took my team to Tavern on the Hill for lunch last week after receiving a gift card from the manager. I had been here previously and the wait for lunch was quite long. I am very happy to say that this experience was much better! We had four people in our party and were seated right away and our drinks were brought quickly. We ordered an appetizer, which was also brought promptly, and our meals followed the appetizers as soon as we were done eating the appetizer. We did not have to wait for anything, which is just the way lunch service should be.
All of us had some form of lemonade or NA drink and they were all tasty and refreshing. I really like the selection of NA drinks here for the times you don’t want a boring old Diet Coke or a cocktail. The appetizer we ordered was the steak tips and they were very good. It comes with fried onions and a horseradish sauce that all go together well. My meal was the shrimp and avocado salad and it was delicious. I typically get the fish or shrimp tacos here, which are always good. The shrimp salad had similar flavors (shrimp is cooked the same way) but was lighter and great for lunch.
I’m really happy to have given this place another chance and to see the improvements that have been made in their lunch service because they do a really good job at offering a wide variety of food and drinks that please most everyone.

The Tavern On The Hill benefits from its ideal location and that is the only reason I can see why they can get away with the prices they charge. The Tavern is really nice looking and spacious restaurant because it is so new. The do have really good food and if you are a night owl they run a $ 5 special on their pizza after 10pm. They have disappointed me on a couple of occasions however. They often have slow service because of how busy the restaurant gets, they have changed their happy hour specials a couple of times which have seemed to benefit only them, and they wouldn’t even give a buddy of mine a free drink for his 21^st when we brought a party over ten. I do love the atmosphere of the Tav and their $ 5 dollar pizzas are delicious but it defiantly feels that the Tav charges as much as they want knowing they can based on being in a great location.

I have been here a few times. I don’t recommend it unless you want to pay a pretty penny for some decent cuisine.
DON’T use their curbside service. They don’t deliver.
Late night specials are the only thing that will keep me coming back here. Otherwise, it’s too overpriced for the location. It’s next to a college, what do you expect?
I prefer Blackwoods and Blackwater for this chain of restaurants. A server named Payton (sp?) at Blackwater ALWAYS treats me well. I look forward to their sushi nights on Thursdays and hope I get her service!

Today my boyfriend and I were in Duluth to go to Bentleyville. I went to UMD my freshman year so I wanted to go by campus and while we were there we decided to go here for lunch around 3:30. We got seated immediately and were given the preference of bar or dining, we chose dining. The waitress brought us to an area with 2 other groups, and a ton of empty tables and sat us right by a door leading out to a patio. Given its December 21^st and we figured no one would be going out we figured it was fine. Tavern on The Hill has the patio, along with the inside dining areas, decorated for Christmas and it is very festive and cute. A group was surprised by a family member which was great for them, they decided they wanted to go take pictures on the patio, again this was fine. However, when going outside they proceeded to hold the door open for a solid minute and a half as their group filtered out letting the chilly 20 degree breeze hit us directly. There was only 7 of them so I’m not sure why it took so long. Then, while they were out there, the manager came out and the waitress told him that the family was from the same area. So then he, the manager, proceeds to open the door and talk to them, keeping the door open, for 2 minutes. I put on my jacket after the first minute and the waitress just looked and said nothing to him.
We ordered an appetizer, the crab wontons, and they came out with our food about 35 minutes after we ordered. Usually fried appetizers are very quick. The thai chili sauce that came with the wontons was great, and the wontons were great except you could literally taste no crab and it was $ 9 for six. I’ll stick to my local place where I get 8 fantastic wontons for a whopping $ 4.
I ordered the ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ burger, which is half bacon and half ground beef mixed into a patty. It was Ok. It was surprisingly dry, considering bacon has a very high fat content. My boyfriend got the tavern burger, which again, he said was just ok. The burgers weren’t anything super special, something you’d get at a chain that focuses on burgers like Red Robin. The pickles that came with the burger were badly done refrigerator pickles. The fries were pretty good though.
Our waitress was good overall, though I wish she would have just told her manager to step outside after seeing my boyfriend and I looking over at him and putting on our coats. She was attentive to our needs by refilling our drinks and such.
Overall the atmosphere was very nice, the food was OK and the management needs to get their heads together and pay attention to their surroundings when they are putting some customers in a chilly situation.

Came in on my birthday and tried to get a table for two. It was a 45 min wait. We had tried to call in and reserve a table but they apparently don’t take reservations unless you have a party of 6 or more.
When we finally got a table, we had to get up and ask for a menu. It took about 5 min for our server to bring us a glass of water. We sat at a table in a fairly large room instead of something off to the corner. The party next to us was pretty loud too.
There was really nothing on the menu that looked like it was worth waiting another 45 min for so we left.
The menu looked more suited for lunch, appetizers and drinking. I wouldn’t really try again for a full meal. Maybe on a less busy day when I’m not very hungry.

Went here a few weeks ago with friends from out of state, one of which is a vegetarian. They have many veg choices so that is why we chose to go. We live in town but this was our first time.
We went on a Saturday night around 8:30 and had about a half hr wait. We could have sat in the bar but it was so loud you couldn’t even hear yourself talk. The décor is very nice. Love the murals.
We started with onion rings which were very good and came with a great dipping sauce. I had a Bloody Mary. Nothing special at all.
The menu is pretty large and diverse, Prices reasonable. Service was pretty good but not excellent.
I had the Prime Rib Dip ($ 17 a bit spendy) and I did not like it at all, thus the 3 stars. The Ciabatta was dripping with butter/​grease that did not taste good and the beef had a very strange flavor I did not like. Took it home and hubby ate it but he did not care for it either. Not sure how you can make a prime rib sandwich bad but it was.
The others had Avocado Tacos, Perch Fish Fry and Tavern Cioppino. They were all very happy with their meals and really liked the place. I tried the Cioppino and it was very good.
We would go again but I would definitely try something else.

Great place for lunch. Today was my first time ar the Tavern on the Hill. Good drinks and
Pricing was OK also. I really was impressed by the wall paintings, depicting Duluth and
Surrounding area. The artist is very good. Waite staff very good, making you feel right at
home and that you mattered.
I glad they kept the TV sound down and only in the bare area where it should be. I hate to
go to a sport bar, due to the many tv going and diff. Stations at the time.

Where do I even begin with this place. Took a girls trip up to Duluth and used Unilocal to find a place to eat. Found Tavern on the hill so we decided to give it a try.
Its in a newer development area with plenty of parking. There were a total of 6 girls, we walked in and there was no hostess or anyone in site. The place wasn’t too busy but steady. We stood in the front for about 5 mintues with no one in site and no one greeted us. FINALLY a hostess comes up and says Hi how many, we tell her 6 and she looks at one of my friends and says, do you need a kids menu? Not sure if that was rude or a compliment but shes 26 years old. We then asked her if it were happy hour. She said she doesn’t know when happy hour is or if they even have one. Wait WHAT? How do you not know anything about your restaurant but you work here. stupid girl.
We get seated on the patio outside. Hopeing to have a better experience it only gets worse. The waitress SUCKED! We didn’t get any water refills, she didn’t ask how our food was or how we were doing. We were there for a good hour and probably only saw her to place our order and then when our food came out. AFTER we pay our bill and tip her she decides she wants to be super friendly smile and ask how our meal was. She didn’t deserve that good of a tip but we wanted to see if she would be nice after she got paid and YUP she was so friendly and wanted to know if we neede antyhing else… NO we are done eating, Where were you when we needed refills on our drinks? where were you when we needed more napkins because the wings were messy?
The fun doesn’t stop there, We decided to go to the bar for a shot. We literally stood there for 15 minutes! Not ONE bartender said hi smiled or anything. Ok now I understand we are asian and but must we be this racist? You can help the white man next to us but not bother to ask us if we needed anything?
NEVER COME TO THIS PLACE, HORRIBLE SERVICE!!! They don’t deserve a star at all!

Good food is most important, but what makes a 5 star is the atmosphere and management/​service.
This place is amazing! Loved everything about the bar and patio. Loved our food. See photos of veggie pot pie, mac n cheese, pulled pork sandwich and chocolate cake.
It got busy and there were some glitches in our service, but the staff couldn’t have handled the situation any better. They were connected as a team and helped each other out, including the manager. This made it a great atmosphere to be in, aside from the cool décor.
I loved how they are thinking of the environment with their recycled paper go-​boxes and nifty water facets in the bathroom that also dried your hands. Cool! Of course the sign between the bathrooms that read «Men to the left because women are always right» made me smile. :)
Super cool place! No matter what you will have a great time and eat good food. Can’t wait to go back!

From the moment our party of 8 walked in, the experience was 5 star. Our server Paige made great recommendations. We started with the fried crispy creamy avocado appetizer as well as the pub pretzels and ahi tuna crisps. They were all excellent. For dinner I had the Lake Superior whitefish with the smashed cauliflower. The fish was light and flaky and cooked perfectly. The piccata sauce was as good as I’ve ever had and the smashed cauliflower was so good I wanted a second helping!
Our table also raved about the Tavern Cioppino, Grecian tacos, midnight Cubano sandwich and the Cheesehead pizza (for our vegetarian) hit the spot just right! We also had a five year old who is gluten sensitive but it wasn’t a problem finding a delicious meal for her ~ she loved (devoured!) Shea’s Mac n’ Cheese with the gluten free noodles!
Prices were great, service extraordinary.
Can’t wait to go back!

Fantastic fried avocados, still not sure how they tasted so creamy! The food was served in an extraordinary time despite the large crowds. Plus the water service was the best I had ever seen, it’s now the comparison I use to any restaurant.
I would recommend this restaurant to anyone, do not be intimidated by the large swarms of customers toils service will still be timely, food was great, fun atmosphere and chef bens smashed red potatoes were to die for.

Whatever you do. Order the buffalo Chicken Pizza. It’s to die for. Completely. NOM NOM NOM
Just kidding, go to Pizza Lucé.

The first full service restaurant to open at the site of the old Woodland Junior High is called «Tavern on the Hill,» and is part of the local Blackwoods hospitality group. The debut also marks the opening of the first full bar within staggering distance of the campus.
The restaurant touts its locavore connection, sourcing as much locally as they are able to, (which really doesn’t explain items like ahi and North Atlantic Salmon) and offer a very diverse menu of sandwiches, pizza, flatbreads, full plates, tacos and «sushi» (designed for the Duluth palate). Several menu items are new to the area, including fish tacos and dishes with bison meat.
A small ‘market’ just inside the door of the restaurant offers take-​away menu items, prepared and packaged to go.
They have ‘one of the best tasting burgers experienced in a long time, crowing about the quality of the meat. Servers offered the burgers in one of two modes: «pink» or «not pink,» and the kitchen obliged.
Craft cocktails and beers are available, and the restaurant is open daily at 11AM, closing at 1 AM, except Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 AM.

I was in town visiting family so we visited for lunch. Even during lunch on a weekday the place was very busy but it’s big so it wasn’t a problem to get a table.
I got the kale salad, my mom got the burrito bowl and my boyfriend got the mac and cheese so that tells you the variety on the menu — which to me is a good thing!
I liked my kale salad well enough but I did feel like something was missing. It had chicken, wild rice and cranberries but it needed something else. Croutons or something. Maybe because the wild rice didn’t really add much in the way of flavor. It was good but not amazing.
My mom really liked her burrito bowl. It’s similar to Chipotle in concept but the rice was more seasoned — like what you’d get at most Mexican restaurants. But she loved it and it was big enough she even brought home leftovers.
The service was nice and attentive and overall there was a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere.
This is a great addition to Duluth, and especially to this neighborhood.