Cannon Falls | B&B Blog

Old Market Deli

I cannot say enough about this place. The deli was remodeled and opened a few years ago. The d?cor is right out of the 1920’s. The tin coved ceilings and the hexagon tiles with the name in it are just some of the fantastic period remodeling that went into the restaurant. The owner, Gary had a real vision of what he wanted, and he nailed it. The chairs and table are real wood but in a comfortable way with a substantial feel. The large deli counter is the feature of the place in that you obviously have to mosey on up to order but not in an intimidating way. If you have been to a place that is a bit out of the ordinary and found yourself wondering what do I do here, then this bit of info makes sense. The whole thing could be taken right from time square or a backstreet of Chicago. All he is missing is the accent and the grime (the place is immaculate!). Plenty of seating while you wait for them to bring your order to you.
Now for the food. Being as you have just stepped in from a Southern Minnesota small town street, you are expecting a certain cuisine even if the name deli is on the door. Well you are wrong. the honey mustard has a bite. You want some fresh avocado on that? No problem as they have it. Overall, I thought the menu was maybe a little too risky for small town tastes but I am clearly wrong as show up during a rush and you will have a hard time finding a table. They do daily soups and everything is customizable to taste so do not fear that you will be gastronomically pushed during your lunch hour if you don’t want to be.
Now for the best trip. Go during a sunny day and eat on the patio to the side of the building. We ate and watched the hummingbirds fly in and amongst the flowers. Totally delightful!
The Quill and Quilt uses the Old Market Deli for our days when someone wants to eat at an odd hour or some other special request. We have a deal with them where our guest can go over and order whatever they want and charge it back to us. This has proven very good for all involved as the Deli does a great breakfast with lots of options.

The Old Market Deli
331 Mill St W
Cannon Falls, MN 55009
(507) 263-8888

Dudley’s Pizza & Sandwich Shop

Dudley’s Pizza & Sandwich Shop of Cannon Falls is a lical sandwhich and pizza shop. I have had teh delivery a few times and honestly vouch for this pizza. I like it. This is a high quality flavorful pizza. It does not resemble the major delivery brands in that it is going have more flavor and a bit more grease then those brands but in a good way. The big size is really big. Feeds a good five people well. We had a group of six and ordered two extra large and we way over did it.
The B&B works well for this if you have a large group over night and want to keep to our common rooms and chat. We had the whole B&B so we ordered the two and then sat around to all hours of the night having a good time. They deliver right to the Quill and Quilt so no need to go out. It is a great way to keep the flow going if you are enjoying the fireplace on a chilly night or back patio on a summer evening.
I have no experienced the sandwich side of the shop but I was talking Lisa from Frog Creek Pottery and she uses them to make her picnic lunches in the summer. Her opinion was that it was a great sandwich at a good value. Who doesn’t like that? They pride themselves on making a lot of the stuff from scratch with high quality ingredients. Sort of makes you want to pick up the phone and order doesn’t it? They also offer dine in.

Dudley’s Pizza & Sandwich Shop

320 W Mill St
Cannon Falls, MN 55009-2045
507-263-4000

The Cannon Golf Club

It is easy to forget about dinner at The Cannon Golf Club.
But, you should try and remember it for a few reasons. To start, they
are only about 3 miles from downtown Cannon Falls. You just go north on
Hwy-20 to the sign for Randolph (Goodhue 17) and go a mile or so on 17,
and look for their clubhouse off to the left. Also, the atmosphere is
very pleasant, either overlooking the golf course from the very nice
inside or sitting outside on their patio. Then, one of the best things,
is there is some creativity going on with the food – which is
inexplicably lacking in Cannon Falls. They offer good flatbread pizzas,
and some interesting entr?es that are not on their online menu but are
rather tasty – since it is Cannon Falls, they have plenty of burger
options too. Important to some of us, they also have a respectable bar
selection with good choices in beer and wine. And finally, the cost
when considering everything is quite reasonable. The only thing that can
get in the way of all this value, is they don’t have a separate room for
banquets. This means they have to close the dining room and are not
open for dinner when they have an event. So, save yourself some
trouble by calling ahead to verify they are open for dinner, especially
on Saturdays. Their menu is here.

8606 295th Street East
Cannon Falls, Minnesota 55009
Email: greglee@cannongolfclub.com
Phone: 507-263-3126 Fax 507-263-9486

Cannon Falls Wine and Art Festival

The 2011 “Cannon Falls Wine and Art Festival” is now in its 2nd year – at least in this format. This is a different festival from the “Cannon Falls Art Festival” which you may recall from a few years back – held on Mill Street in front of the Cannon River Winery.
The new format is much more pleasant and brings more attention to wine and music. Hannah’s Bend Park is beautiful and spacious. It is laden with 100+ year-old trees, borders the Cannon River and is the site of a Frisbee golf course (except for this weekend of course). You can easily walk or bike from the center of town.
There is no charge for the festival which opens at 10am and runs to 5pm on Saturday & Sunday (7/16 & 7/17). There is also a variety of music and other entertainment – the sort of which you might expect at an outdoor wine and art festival, again, all free. It is, after all, a wine & art festival, so you can assume that you could purchase wine & art – and in fact that is the case.
If you would like to sample the wines, there is a $20/person fee and you must be 21 years old. You will be granted opportunity to sample wines from 12 of the best wineries in the region, and talk to representatives directly involved in the operation of producing these wines. The wine tasting is from 12pm-4pm each day.
This festival has a strong local element; some may say it is their focus. There will be locally sourced food products, local wines, and naturally local artisans. Prominently, there is a good variety of local art represented and much is very accessible. Proceeds go toward a local memorial the town wants to build to honor Veterans – in another park just down the river from Hannah’s Bend.
It is hard to beat the combination of beautiful nature, live music, interesting art, and the opportunity to check out the wines of 12 local and unique wineries at the same time.

Cannon River Winery Vineyard Tours

Cannon River Winery Vineyard of Cannon Falls will be open for tours and picnics starting in July. Weather permitting it will run every Sat from July 2nd to the end of September. This is a real treat. Minnesota does not have an abundance of vineyards so to have one that you can tour and picnic in is a nice change from the norm.

You need to stop by the Cannon River Winery to pick pay $5 and pick up a map. Only Cannon River Winery wine is welcome at the vineyard. You could do a lot worse then bringing a bottle or two of their award winning wine. Packing a nice picnic lunch and enjoying the feel of a true working vienyard right here in Minnesota. The vista is picturesque as you are on a hillside overlooking a sweeping valley. The arrow straight rows of grape vines transport you across the ocean to a simpler way of life in the old country.

A truly must see if you are lover of the grape.

Sol De Mexico

Sol De Mexico Mexican Grille in Cannon Falls is a real treat to find where it is. I am a huge fan of Mexican food and this place did more then ok. First off a good Mexican restaurant needs to have and margaritas. I also need them to big, frozen and strawberry. They offer all of this. The decor is a bit simple. Nothing fancy as is the food but it is good. The fajitas came out sizzling and were right off the grill. They had a decent helping of guacamole on the plate. I could not have been happier.

The place like I mentioned is not fancy. No need to dress up. i am surprised at how authentic the food was for being in the country. This is not a Hispanic area of Minnesota. I understand the owner has more then one and hopefully he will soon have many as I would also like one or a dozen up here in the Cities.

Try the Sol De Mexico Mexican Grille, you will not be disappointed.

Matt’s Review –

Cannon Falls has plenty of options if you are looking for a burger. You can get one at McDonald’s, The Mill Street Tavern, Chuggers, Brewsters, The Cannon Golf Club, The Dairy Inn, Dairy Queen, The VFW, Country Kitchen, and most any gathering. However, finding something made in-house that is not a burger, and doesn’t exist on the Applebee’s menu is considerably more challenging. If you also want to have a server and a full bar available – the field of restaurants gets very thin indeed. One place you can go for all this is Sol de Mexico. Ironically, this place is built in what was once a Hardees, where many a hamburger was flipped. Sol de Mexico is located just off Hwy-52 and across from the big truck stop south of town. Once inside, you will see they have done what they can to offer a festive atmosphere.

The menu has basically all the Mexican food items now household names thanks to Taco Bell, Zantigo & Taco Johns, plus some things like fajitas that are not. However, the ingredients lean more to the authentic/traditional, and overall the quality is much better. The menu does lack what you might expect in a more traditional Mexican restaurant, so don’t expect mole sauce. But, you will run across authentic Mexican cheese, fresh cilantro and corn tortillas. The free salsa & chips are great and they usually have them in front of you within seconds of sitting down. Don’t overlook the tacos as they are simple and made with nicely seasoned beef. You may enjoy them even more during happy hour, which is pretty much any time other than peak dinner or lunch hour – since you can get them and any of their tap beers for $1. I think that might beat Taco Bell prices, and no one will pour you a Fat Tire at Taco Bell. Oddly, they apparently use a mix for their frozen margaritas – so you might want to call your tequila and/or get it made on the rocks. What I have sampled from their menu has all been decent, and in most cases good. I have not found anything on the menu that hits the “rave about it” section of the food meter – but I will say the service is always spot on, and the place seems very clean. Oh! And they also have a hamburger on their menu.

Quilting Retreat

We are discussing how to set up a quilting retreat with a group. The best idea seems to be that they would need to fill the whole B&B or close to it. Then we would be able to provide the common areas for their quilting. I can just imagine the whole place filled with quilters on a cold winter night. the fireplaces roaring and every having a good time. We have a large dining area with a large table that would be perfect for setting up. then we could stage a few other areas. Space and comfort for all is the idea.Not to mention, Fabrics on Fourth is within walking distance for the last minute needs. You can never have too much fabric (only quilters will get this one).

So if you are also looking for a place to do your Quilting Retreat, please keep the Quill and Quilt in mind. We could work with a smaller group in the off season. So whatever you are thinking just call or email and we will try to accommodate you.

Update – We should be able to get a discount out of the Fabirc store for large groups so certainly ask us what we can do to help.

New Gazebo in Cannon Falls

Cannon Falls has built a new gazebo at the trail head for the Cannon Valley Trail. They are dedicating it on Thursday june, 16. This the same day as the Nature Valley Grand Prix bike race is coming through town. You have to be getting a feel for how Cannon Falls is just booming. A new library is in the works. The Mayo Clinic is picking a location for their new hospital. I know that the gazebo is not a huge thing but it shows the direction, energy and resources that the community is putting into making Cannon Falls better. Keep it up!

I finally got over there to get a photo. Very nicely done right at the trail head. Everything is well marked and kept up. A really great start to a wonderful ride.

Cannon Falls Library

They are looking into building a new library in Cannon Falls. The current library needs 3/4 of a million dollars in repairs so a better use of funds and land is to go new. I applaud this endeavor whole heartedly. Growing up I loved going to the library and still think of it as a fantastic source of information and a refuge.

Kids today need more access to books as the internet, tv and other distractions constantly cut down the time our children spend reading. With reading being the one activity that increases intelligence.

The new library will be built on the same site and will cost 1.4 million dollars. Donations are being accepted. If you want more information -

Cannon Falls Library
306 Mill Street West
Cannon Falls, MN 55009
(507) 263-2804

Update: as 7/4/2011 they were only 150k short of reaching their goal. Hopefully we will have the new library soon.

2011 Nature Valley Grand Prix

2011 Nature Valley Gran Prix in Cannon Falls -

Mark your calendars and make plans to enjoy the 2011 Nature Valley Grand Prix when it comes to Cannon Falls on Thursday, June 16! Watch the thrilling race and cheer on the professional athletes! Racers from across the globe will be competing in this race.
The In-Town Circuit is the same route as has been used in the past. A map highlighting the in-town circuit is on page 2. For safety reasons, there will be no parking allowed on the in-town circuit and in the Expo Area on race day. The expo portion of Mill Street will be closed at approximately 1:30 to allow set up time. If your business is located in the Expo area please advise your staff and customers of this time.

Also, during the race itself there will be BRIEF closures of certain streets and
intersections. The in-town circuit will be closed to traffic just before the first
racer enters the circuit and will remain closed until the end of that race.
(approx. 45 minutes). There will be about an hour between the women’s race and the
men’s race when traffic will be allowed to move into or out of the area. The men are
expected to be on the in-town circuit at 7:00 p.m. and their race should end by 7:20 p.m.
We expect the women back in town by 8:00 p.m. with their race ending at 8:20 p.m. At
6:15 we will be having the Kid’s Fun Race that will involve a portion of the in-town
circuit near the start/finish line.

Old Market Deli

Dudley’s Pizza & Sandwich Shop

The Cannon Golf Club

Cannon Falls Wine and Art Festival

Cannon River Winery Vineyard Tours

Sol De Mexico

Quilting Retreat

New Gazebo in Cannon Falls

Cannon Falls Library

2011 Nature Valley Grand Prix

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