Road Tips

Sarello's - Moorhead, MN

The long trip I took after the CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis with Jean-Philippe from Focal Loudspeakers found ourselves ending up in Fargo, ND to see our dealer, Arctic Audio.  The owner, Rod, is a long time and very supportive dealer for the line and we thought it would be fun to take he and his wife, Ellen, out for dinner.  Now, the Fargo/Moorhead area has some pretty interesting places to eat (click here to see a list of area restaurants I've eaten at in the Fargo area.), so it's always a treat to find a new place each time I come to visit.  One place that Ellen suggested we go eat was just across the Red River of the North in Moorhead - Sarello's.  For nice restaurants in the Fargo area, they've never steered me wrong.  

Sarello's is owned and run by Tony Nasello and his wife, Sarah.  (The name "Sarello's" is the combination of Sarah's first name and the Nasello surname.)  Tony was a native of Toronto, ON and the son of Sicilian immigrants. He got his degree in Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts and began to work for corporations such as Disney World and Hilton.  He got a job working on a luxury cruise liner for the Holland America company.  It was there in the early 1990's that he met Fargo native Sarah Anstett.  The two sailed around the world working together on multiple cruises before getting married and deciding to settle down in Sarah's hometown.  

(Pictured at right, Tony Nasello - picture courtesy Virtual Tourist.com)

The two had dreamed of opening their own restaurant similar to the type of food and service they provided on the large luxury cruise ships on which they worked.  They found a location just behind the Moorhead Center Mall in a building that used to be a little coffee shop and opened their doors in December of 2000.  The couple expanded their business in 2003 to include a lounge and wine bar.  

Tony refers to himself as "The Lost Italian" and the Nasello's hosted a local radio program for four years that talked about Sicilian and Northern Italian cuisine.  Nasello is the head chef at Sarello's and he's helped by station chef's Ben Walker and Chris Marteny.  

After a meeting at Rod's store, he, J.P. and I drove across the border to Moorhead.  Rod had me take a left on 4th St., then a right into and through a parking ramp, across Center Mall drive and a left into a strip mall behind the mall (see map).  Had he not been with me, I surely would have been lost.  Ellen was waiting there in the lounge for us and we were seated immediately in the dining room.  

The dining room has a number of brightly colored paintings on the wall, each highlighted by direct orb lighting.  Recessed can lighting in the middle of the dining room cast a relaxing hue on the tables down below.  Each of us were given menus and even though Rod had brought a bottle of wine, I took a look through the wine list because it was evident right off the bat that we would be making short work of the wine he brought.  

Sarello's had a special that evening - a halibut filet, grilled and topped with a medley of vegetables and finished with a light cream sauce.  Mashed potatoes also came on the side.  That sounded good, but Ellen began to tell me about the lobster ravioli - homemade ravioli stuffed with Fontana, parmesan and ricotta cheeses, tossed with lobster meat and scallions in a lobster cream sauce.  She didn't have to convince me that the lobster ravioli was probably the best thing on the menu.  

They also had a classic beef tenderloin filet mignon on the menu, as well as a pork rib-eye chop.  They also had a parmesan and pepper walleye entree, as well as a seared Mediterranean salmon with a roasted red pepper and artichoke sauce, and their signature sea bass dinner that was cooked with a citrus white butter sauce.  But Ellen had me sold on the lobster ravioli.  She and I both ordered that, while J.P. took the halibut special and Rod got the parmesan and pepper walleye.  

We each had ordered appetizers - I ordered a cup of the wild mushroom soup (below left).  The soup had a light cream/butter taste to the broth with bits of pureed mushrooms throughout.  It was actually pretty damn good.  J.P. ordered the red curry scallops, only the waiter came back and said that they were out of scallops and could substitute shrimp instead.  He took that instead.  I would have been able to show you the shrimp a spicy red cream curry sauce with sliced carrots, mushrooms and snap peas, but the picture I took didn't turn out.  He said his was also very good.  

Rod had an order of the Sicilian Arencini balls (above right) - deep fried balls of risotto, ground beef, peas and parmesan cheese, with a red pepper and artichoke puree, caramelized onions on top of the Arencini balls and finished with a couple small pools of saffron, lemon and garlic aioli.  

Ellen got one of the salad specials that evening - the beet carpaccio salad that featured thinly sliced sweet red beets topped with sliced avocados, chopped walnuts, fresh greens, crumbled blue cheese, and then finished with a red wine and honey gorgonzola vinaigrette.  She said it tasted as wonderful as it looked.  

As I suspected, we made quick work of the bottle of wine that Rod brought along, so I took a look at the wine list again and found a nice bottle of the Ramey 2008 Cabernet.  Even though we were all having seafood for dinner, we all agreed that we needed to stay with the red wine.  

Our meals came out not long afterward and we were ready to eat.  J.P.'s halibut (below left) was a lightly grilled filet sitting in a pool of a light cream sauce and topped with a myriad of cooked veggies.  A tower of mashed potatoes sat next to the fish and veggies.

Rod's walleye was encrusted in a mixture of parmesan cheese, Japanese panko bread crumbs and black pepper and pan-fried. It was topped with a lemon garlic aioli sauce.  I'm not big on breaded fish, but this looked pretty good.  Rod confirmed that it was "excellent". 

But Ellen and I thought we got the best deal of the evening - the lobster ravioli was just a slice of heaven.  There were about eight large pillows of homemade ravioli stuffed with cheese laying in a shallow bowl and topped with chunks of lobster meat, scallions and fresh parsley.  The cream sauce was light and delectable.  It was a wonderful and scrumptious meal.  

J.P. ate a good portion of his halibut, but left a lot of the veggies.  I asked him if his meal was all right and he said, "Oh, yes.  It's wonderful.  I'm just still full from the lunch we had in Chicago (we'd flown in that afternoon) and the shrimp were so filling.  I'm trying to concentrate on finishing the fish."  

Tony Nasello came out to greet us and ask how our dinners were.  I couldn't lie - the lobster ravioli was outstanding.  Everything about Sarello's was outstanding, from the service, to the food, to the wine selection, even the atmosphere in the restaurant.  Rod and Ellen did it again, they turned me on to another great restaurant in the Fargo area.  

We didn't finish up until after 10:30 and we felt pretty bad for the people in the place since they closed at 9:00 p.m. (Sarello's closes at 10:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and is closed Sunday and Monday.)  We apologized to the waiter for keeping him so late and he said, "Aw, it was fun.  I don't mind when I'm dealing with fun people."  He got a nice tip and I offered to buy him a drink after we paid.  He heartily accepted.  

Sarello's was a very pleasant surprise and it's another restaurant in the Fargo area that is just outstanding. It's sort of tough to find, but the end result is worth it.  I'm still amazed at how many good to great restaurants there are around Fargo.  It's no wonder I really enjoy going to Fargo. 

Seriously... 

Three Lyons Pub - West Fargo, ND

I did a less than favorable review for the burgers at JL Beers in Fargo last year (see that entry here) and I heard from a couple people who suggested that I try a place called Three Lyons Pub, an English Pub on the West side of Fargo.  (Actually, I don't know where Fargo ends and West Fargo begins.)  I had been out in Western North Dakota for a couple days and took a direct hit to my windshield from a rock that was kicked up by a truck in front of me.  A major crack developed in my windshield, so I made an appointment at a Safelite Glass location in Fargo to get it repaired.  I had some time to kill before I could get my car in and since it wasn't far away from Safelite Glass, I decided to go to Three Lyons to get a burger for lunch.

Three Lyons Pub is located in a strip mall on the south side of 13th Ave. E. in West Fargo (see map).  The owner, Blair Thoreson, opened the doors of the place in 2005.  Thoreson wears many hats - not only is he the owner of the Three Lyons Pub, he is also a medical program writer for Microsoft in Fargo (the largest Microsoft campus outside of the Seattle area is located in Fargo), and he has also served the Fargo area as a North Dakota state representative since 1998. Because he is so busy with other endeavors, Kent Larsen runs the day-to-day operation for Three Lyons Pub.  He's helped out by Michael Anderson who runs the kitchen, and Liz Swanson and Ryan Ellingson who co-manage the bar area.  

Blair Thoreson - pictured right  

I was a little apprehensive when I saw the exterior of Three Lyons Pub.  As my old neighbor, George, used to say about some Irish pubs, "They put up a couple Irish flags in a strip mall building and call it an Irish Pub."  I was afraid that Three Lyons may fall under that description, only as an English Pub in this case.  But I was pleasantly surprised when I entered to find a spacious dining area with high wooden tables with sturdy metal high back chairs, a long wooden bar to the left and a homey, pub style decor down to the pictures of Winston Churchill on the walls.  Ornate antique style lamps hung from the ceiling over the bar area. The back wall was made of brick and featured three flat screen televisions.  In fact, there were flat screen televisions located throughout the place.  

 

I had my pick of seats in the place as it was after the lunch rush, so I just decided to sit up at the bar.  One of the young ladies working the bar came over with a food menu and asked if I wanted anything to drink.  Since really all I had left that particular day was to get my windshield fixed, I ordered a pint of Smithwick's, one of nearly 20 beers Three Lyons has on tap.  Their beer menu is extensive with a number of domestic, import, craft brews, and cider beers available.  I've never been a big fan of the cider style beers, but they had six different ones to choose from at Three Lyons.  

Although I was told to try the burger at Three Lyons, they had a very interesting menu that included a dozen appetizers, three soups - including a corned beef and cabbage soup that sounded interesting to me, salads, sandwiches and a bevy of main entrees called "Her Majesty's Finest" which included Wellington Sliders - three small beef Wellington pastry puffs served with garlic mashed potatoes and Guinness beer gravy; Pasties - two puff pastry shells filled with ground beef with rutabagas and onions; Bangers and Mash - two pork sausages served with the Guinness gravy and garlic mashed potatoes; and a Shepherd's Pie - ground beef, carrots, onions and celery topped with garlic mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese.  The beef Wellington pastry puffs sounded very interesting to me.  

They also had a hot beef or hot turkey sandwich that was paired with garlic mashed potatoes and topped off with the Guinness gravy.  That actually sounded good to me - after a week of travel and eating all different types of food, some comfort food would have been welcome at that point.  They also had a London Broil sandwich featuring thin slices of steak on a French bread bun with your choice of two toppings that included sauteed mushrooms, sauteed onions and peppers, horseradish sauce, and jalapenos.  One other interesting sandwich was the Messy Jessy - pulled pieces of turkey topped with a homemade barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese and your choice of either pickles or jalapenos.  But, nope, I was there for a burger.

And their burger menu was rather interesting, as well.  You can get a regular hamburger or a turkey burger and build your own by adding cheese, veggies, bacon, etc.  But they also had a number of "signature" burgers including the "Klaus" - a burger with sauteed onions, jalapenos, bacon and cheddar cheese (jalapenos were very prevalent on many items on Three Lyons menu); the "Helle" - topped with, once again, jalapenos, bacon, pepperjack cheese and then sprinkled with the hot Chinese Sriracha sauce; the "Reu-burger" which wasn't a burger at all, but featured grilled corned beef and sauerkraut with Swiss cheese and 1000 Island dressing.  They had a blue cheese/bacon burger, a burger with American cheese and barbecue sauce, and a patty melt burger.

But the burger that caught my eye was the Mushroom Swiss cheese burger.  When the bartender asked me what I wanted to order, that's what I told her I wanted.  Except I also asked if I could get some bacon on the burger, as well.  For a dollar upcharge, she said it would be no problem.  Kettle potato chips come with the sandwich, but she told me for a small upcharge I could get a side of fries with a side of the Guinness gravy.  I quickly signed up for that.

It wasn't that long of a wait for the burger and fries to come out.  The burger patty was covered with Swiss cheese and an ample amount of mushrooms - canned, not fresh - and sat on the bacon.  The bun was big and fluffy, but it was a little dry and didn't really add much to the overall taste of the burger.  While the burger was good, I couldn't call it outstanding.  The bacon, cheese and mushrooms helped zip up the taste of the beef which was average, at best.  

The fries were also average, but the Guinness gravy was worth the price of admission.  Thick, savory and flavorful, it was better than dipping the fries in ketchup.  I even dipped the burger in the gravy for a couple bites.  The Guinness gravy was outstanding.  

While the burger at Three Lyons was all right, I don't know if it was better than the one I had last year just down the street at JL Beers.  It seemed to be a bit more flavorful, but still not one that I'd deem as excellent.  But for pub fare, the burger was fine.  As was the service from my bartender.  Three Lyons Pub is a nice little place with a pretty good - but not outstanding - burger.  If I were to make it back at some point, I'd want to try some of their more traditional English fare.   

Rhombus Guys Pizza - Fargo, ND

A couple years ago when I was up in Grand Forks, ND for a meeting with a prospective dealer, I was looking for a place to eat one evening.  I found a place called Rhombus Guys Pizza that looked interesting, but it was also packed full of people.  I ended up eating at the Toasted Frog that evening (see my entry here) and had a pretty good meal.  But I always had Rhombus Guys Pizza in the back of my mind.  When I was up in Fargo earlier this summer, I was talking with my dealer about food options for the evening.  He was telling me, "Oh, man!  We've had about seven really good pizza places open up in the past few months."  He named a couple of them and then he said, "Rhombus Guys is a good pizza."  

I said, "Wait! There's a Rhombus Guys in Fargo?"  

He said, "Sure!"  I immediately said I want to go get one of their pizzas.  He said, "That's good!  It's walking distance from my store!"  He wasn't kidding.  We went down an alley, walked up 7th St. to Main Ave. and walked down the block to Rhombus Guys (see map).  Even though it was close to 9 p.m., the place was packed.  That's usually a good sign. 

Once again, the back story to how Rhombus Guys got started is pretty interesting.

Back in the spring of 2000, two friends from the Thief River Falls area of Northwest Minnesota - Arron Hendricks and Matt Winjum (pictured at right - Hendricks in the red shirt and Winjum in the blue.  Photo courtesy WDAY.com) - decided to make some money on their own before they went off to college.  Winjum had a job working for the parks and recreation department in his hometown, but wanted to be his own boss.  Along with Hendricks, their idea was to build a smoothie cart and take it around to some events and gatherings around the lake vacation areas of Northwest Minnesota.  They had an old snowmobile trailer as a base and began to build the shell for the smoothie cart.  Finding out that their carpentry skills weren't quite up to snuff, when they finally finished what they thought would be a 8 foot cube box, young Arron Hendricks exclaimed, "This thing isn't a square at all.  It's more like a rhombus!"  The name stuck and they painted the structure in a myriad of colors and called it "The Mystery Rhombus Machine".  Their business - Smoothie Rhombus - was born.  

The first summer of business, they traveled to fairs, luncheons, lake beaches - wherever a crowd gathered in Northwestern Minnesota or Northeastern North Dakota, they were there.  The first year was a learning experience for both boys, they made a little money, and they knew they had something good going and wanted to do it again the next year.  

After a year of college (Arron at University of Minnesota, Matt at Arizona State), they reunited and brought in a partner, Levi Kraft, to help out with the smoothie stand.  That particular summer, they tripled their sales and gained a lot of knowledge and confidence in running a business.  

Matt's family had a cabin on Maple Lake outside of Mentor, MN and that's where the three lived during that summer.  Lamenting that no place in the area would deliver pizza, the three came up with an idea to open a pizza place in Mentor that would deliver to a surrounding area full of lake and vacation homes in Northwest Minnesota.  They found an old building in Mentor and even though financing was a problem, they ended up buying it on contract from the owner.  They then bought all the pizza equipment from a Godfather's Pizza restaurant that had gone out of business down in Moorhead, MN, just across the Red River of the North from Fargo.  Then they learned how to make pizza.

Actually, Hendricks was the only one who had no experience in making pizza prior to the trio purchasing the pizza equipment - Kraft and Winjum had worked for Domino's Pizza in the past - but he jumped in learning how to make different pizzas with unique toppings.  One of the first pizzas they came up with was a pepperoni, green pepper, onion and bacon called the Levitricks, a combination of Levi Kraft's first name and Arron Hendricks' last name.  Not long after that, Rhombus House of Pizza opened their doors in late May of 2002.

The three continued to sell their smoothies, not only in their mobile "Rhombus" cart, but in their pizza place.  They all worked long hours (each took one day off a week) and employed girlfriends and family to help in the restaurant to help keep costs down.  While business at the restaurant was a little lean at first, they quickly built up a local following with their unique pizzas and their high visibility at local events.  The first summer of business was a success.  But school called again and the three shut the doors of the seasonal pizza place and put the smoothie cart back in the garage for the winter.    

After graduating from college (Winjum with a degree in economics and marketing, Kraft in political science and economics from North Dakota State, and Hendricks with a degree in philosophy with a minor in economics) the three went full time into the pizza business in Mentor.  They found a small space in a strip mall in their hometown of Thief River Falls and opened Cafe Rhombus in the fall of 2004.  In addition to their pizza and smoothies, Cafe Rhombus also served entrees, burgers and sandwiches.  

In the spring of 2005, Levi Kraft announced that he was leaving the business to start a family with his wife - previously his high school sweetheart.  Hendricks and Winjum carried on running both the House of Rhombus pizza business in Mentor and the Rhombus Cafe in Thief River Falls.  The two alternated between the two restaurants working two weeks at a time at each place before trading off.  

After a couple of years of tinkering with the Rhombus Cafe model, the two decided to make the next step and looked for a year-round Rhombus Pizza location in the college town of Grand Forks.  They found a great little building in downtown Grand Forks and did the build-out and renovations on their own.  In 2006, Rhombus Guys Pizza opened for business. 

Running three restaurants proved to be too much for the duo and they ended up closing Cafe Rhombus in 2008 to focus their efforts on their growing full-time pizza place in Grand Forks.  The two continued to run the House of Rhombus in Mentor as a seasonal business.  But they weren't finished expanding - they opened their second Rhombus Guys Pizza in Fargo just before Labor Day in 2011.       

The Fargo location is in a long, narrow building that was built back in the early 20th century.  There's a big bar on the left side of the building with a row of booths opposite.  There are a number of tables up front and in back.  Also in back is a game room area, as well as a place to put live music.  Artwork from a local Grand Forks artist and beer signs adorn the walls.

We waited at the hostess stand for a couple minutes before a young lady came up to greet us.  They were extremely busy in Rhombus Guys that evening and there was only a small two-seater table up toward the front or seating at the bar.  We opted for the small table.  She dropped off a couple menus and we waited for someone to come over to take our beer order.  

The menu at Rhombus Guys is definitely eclectic.  In addition to their artisan pizzas, they offer a number of interesting appetizers, fresh salads, sandwiches and wraps.  They also have a number of local and regional microbrews to choose from - about two dozen on tap and another three dozen or so available in bottles.  We were thirsty.  We were hungry.  No one was waiting on us.  

It was finally after about five minutes when a young waiter - Adam - who was cleaning off a nearby booth looked over and saw us sitting there.  He came over and said, "Has anyone waited on you guys yet?"  We said no.  He said, "Ah, OK.  Miscommunication, I guess.  I told someone else that you guys were sitting there and they must have misunderstood."  Or forgot about us, more likely, as it was very busy in there.  Anyway, we ordered up some beers - I got the Alaskan Amber they had on tap.  

Rhombus Guys Pizza has nearly 3 dozen different types of pizza on their menu.  Of those pizzas, about 8 of them are of a vegetarian variety.  The original Levitricks pizza from their Mentor location is now called "Aaron's Little Miracle" on the menu in Fargo.  Their "Pacific Northwest" pizza has smoked salmon, feta cheese, black and green olives, chopped tomatoes and garlic infused olive oil.  The "Louisiana Saturday Night" has Cajun-spiced marinara sauce, shrimp, andouille sausage, red peppers, pepperocini and caramelized onions.  "Jonny Wasabi" featured chicken, teriyaki sauce, onion, green and red peppers, pepperocini, peanuts, and a wasabi drizzle over the top.  The "Americana" was basically a bacon cheeseburger pizza with beef, bacon, cheddar cheese, marinara, mozzarella and - of all things - pickles.  I got a nice laugh out of some of the pizzas. 

My dealer was telling me that he'd always wanted to try the Rockefeller - roasted garlic-infused white cream sauce, shrimp, spinach, onion, cream cheese, tomato and mozzarella, but he said he can't when he and his wife show up with their little boys.  He said, "They have to have the basic pizza when we come here.  They like the T-Rex."  The T-Rex is Rhombus Guys signature pizza - pepperoni, sausage, bacon, Canadian bacon and beef with marinara and mozzarella.  The T-Rex has won the "Best Pizza in Grand Forks" for five years running.  His wife couldn't dine with us that night and he wanted to get a large to be able to take some extra home with him.  I told him that I no problem with that.

When it came time to order, I decided upon the Big Dogz pizza - sausage, pepperoni, black olives and jalapenos with mozzarella and marinara sauce.  I got a small one (12") and I got it with the thin crust option.  (Gluten free crust is also available.)  My dealer did order a Rockefeller with the regular crust.  And he said, "We have to get this one appetizer."  He ordered the mushroom buttons - bacon/cheese stuffed mushroom caps that are then baked to what the menu described as "ooooey gooooey perfection".  Those had caught my eye earlier and I thought the pizza would be enough for me. But I welcomed the fact that we were getting those, as well.   

The stuffed mushrooms came to our table about 10 minutes after we ordered them.  And they were as good as advertised.  The cheese/bacon filling was caramelized on the top and were oozing over the sides of the caps.  The cheese ran out of the cap when I cut into one.  My dealer showed me the proper way to eat them. "Just put the whole thing in your mouth."  Yeah, and hope that the cheese has cooled enough so that the roof of your mouth doesn't receive 2nd degree burns.  They were absolutely wonderful. 

We still had some mushroom to finish when the first pizza - the Rockefeller - made it to the table.  It was huge and the server who brought it out to us had to use a pizza holder to give us room on the table.  The outer crust was misshapen and bubbly, the hallmark of a good hand-tossed pizza.  The toppings were plentiful and swimming in the white sauce on the pizza.  The shredded mozzarella was caramelized on top of the pizza.  My dealer said, "Oh, boy!  I've been wanting to try this for a long time!"

Adam then brought out the Big Dogz pizza and we did our best in trying to find a place for it on the table.  Smaller and with a noticeably lack of thickness around the edges, it too had plentiful toppings, not an over-abundance of black olives or jalapenos - which was fine with me.  

I pulled the first piece away from my pizza and took a bite.  The crust was thin, not crisp, but not moist or droopy.  The overall temperature of the pizza was, well, sort of cold.  At least colder than what I would expect a pizza to be when it's brought to the table.  I don't know if they let it sit in back for awhile before they brought it out.  The cheese was sort of rubbery, sort of like they kept it under a heat lamp too long.  I would have expected it to be like this if the pizza where delivered, but not served at a restaurant.  It was edible and the toppings were good, but I can't say that I was very impressed with my first Rhombus Guys pizza.  Frankly, I've had slices of pizza from a Casey's General Store that were better than the pizza I had at Rhombus Guys.  

Nonetheless, I made a significant dent in my pizza.  But it was disappointing to me as I'd heard so many good things about Rhombus Guys.  I don't know if it was an off night or if the pizza suffered because they were so busy so late in the evening.  I finished what I could and let my dealer take home the remaining three pieces with the rest of his Rockefeller pizza which he declared as "Good!"  

Given the popularity of Rhombus Guys Pizza, I'm hoping that I was there on an off-night.  My pizza was disappointing, but the bacon-cheese stuffed mushrooms were to die for.  Service was a little shaky at the start, but it picked up considerably as the night went on.  And the place was pretty expensive - our bill for two pizzas, an appetizer and a handful of beers was just under $87 bucks.  For that kind of money I would have hoped the pizza would have knocked my socks off.  I'm sorry, but it sure didn't.

JL Beers - Fargo

After our dinner at Green Market Kitchen when I was in Fargo earlier this past fall, my dealer, Rod, suggested that we go to a place down the street from the restaurant - JL Beers - to get a couple nightcap beers.  As we were walking there, Rod's wife, Ellen, said that JL Beers has pretty good burgers.  "They have this machine that cooks them on both sides and they come out to you pretty fast," Ellen said.  "And they have the most amazing homemade potato chips!"  We had a few beers that night, but before leaving Fargo the next day to head west, I stopped in at the West Fargo location of JL Beers to see what the deal was.

The JL Beers in downtown Fargo was the original of what is now four locations of the beer bar/burger joint.  In addition to the one in downtown Fargo and the one I visited in West Fargo, there's a JL Beers that opened up in 2011 up the road in Grand Forks.  They were also scheduled to open a JL Beers across the Red River from Fargo in Moorhead, MN sometime before the end of the year.  Each location features at least 32 beers on tap and another 25 to 30 beers available in bottles.  The food menu at JL Beers is pretty basic - they feature nine burgers and you can add on toppings such as cheese, onions (raw or fried), an egg, bacon, lettuce, tomato, or grilled peppers for an upcharge.  In addition to the great homemade chips Ellen was raving about, they also have fries and something called "Buffalo Blu" chips.  The fries and the homemade chips are available seasoned in either sea salt, barbecue spices or Cajun spices.  

Warren Ackley and Randy Thorson (pictured right - photo courtesy of the Fargo-Moorhead Forum) are the two owners behind JL Beers.  Thorson's and Ackley's company - Global Investments - is the owner of the Old Broadway, a downtown saloon/eatery that I've eaten at a couple times in the distant past, as well as Borrowed Bucks Roadhouse (also with locations in Sioux Falls, SD, Grand Forks, ND and Bismarck, ND) and the WOW 94.7 Radio Bar, billed as the world's first radio station that also serves beer.  

The name JL Beers pays homage to an old friend of theirs - Jim Lauerman - who owned Jim Lauerman's Chili, Sandwiches and Beer, a popular hangout for the locals.  After Jim's death, Ackley and Thorson bought the building that housed Lauerman's chili joint hoping to put a restaurant in it.  However, they didn't do anything with that building and ended up selling it.  Instead, they bought the building on 1st Ave. North in downtown Fargo that also housed a sandwich shop called 1st and Deli.  They opened the first JL Beers in November of 2009.  

The concept was pretty basic - burgers and beers.  And because of the small, narrow size of the space for JL Beers, they initially had seating at the bar - 24 seats.  In fact, their motto was "Seating for 1000 - 24 at a time."  The did put in three high top tables that seated four each at the downtown Fargo location.  The West Fargo location is a little bigger - their motto is "Seating for 25,000 - 49 at a time."  

While the JL Beers in downtown Fargo is located within a building, the other JL Beers locations are free standing buildings that are constructed to look like it's an old building in which the buildings on each side were torn down.  It's a pretty clever design and a pretty neat concept.  When restaurants are looking to expand and have seating for up to 100 or more people, JL Beers wants to keep it simple.  

I got into the JL Beers in West Fargo (see map) around 11:30 a.m. and there was already a good sized crowd in the house.  I took a seat at the bar and took a look at the menu.  As I said, JL Beers only features nine different burgers, but with the add-ons you can literally call your own shot as to what you want on your burger.  

The burgers are cooked on a flat grill with a heated press that comes down and smashes the burgers, cooking them in less than five minutes and giving them sort of a crusty edge.  I'd never seen a flat grill with a heated press like this before.  Once again, another unique concept to the place.  

The burgers they have on the menu range from the Original Burger with just pickles and a special sauce on a single patty, to the Buffalo Ranch burger that has Buffalo wing sauce, ranch dressing, tomato, lettuce and a seasoning on the burger.  Three burgers that caught my eye were the Humpty-Dumpty that featured a burger with cheese and a fried egg on top, the BLT Blu with bacon, lettuce, tomato and bleu cheese on top, and the Rajun' Cajun with pepperjack cheese, JL Beers homemade chili lime sauce and grilled onions.  

And, of course, they have beer at JL Beers.  The West Fargo location has 40 beers on tap as well as a number of imported and domestic beers in bottles.  JL Beers also slums with the best of them by offering over a dozen domestic beers in cans from the likes of Schlitz, Old Milwaukee, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Grain Belt Premium.  The previous night, I was introduced to a beer from a new local brewery called Fargo Brewing.  They have a Wood Chipper India pale ale (the wood chipper is a nod to the somewhat gory scene in the movie "Fargo") that was pretty darn good.  For now, the beer is brewed in Wisconsin, but the group that owns Fargo Brewing hope to have a local brewery up and running sometime within the next year or so.  I had a Wood Chipper IPA brought to me while I looked through the menu.

One thing I thought to be somewhat odd at JL Beers was the fact that you couldn't get mushrooms or jalapenos on a burger.  I was hoping to do a bacon, mushroom, Swiss cheese burger, but I couldn't do that.  I ended up going with the Great American cheeseburger topped with ketchup, mustard and pickles and a slice of American cheese.  For extra measure, I got some bacon on top.  I also ordered some of the homemade chips with the sea salt seasoning and I got a side of their chili lime sauce.  

It certainly didn't take more than three or four minutes before my meal showed up in front of me.  There was a pile of homemade chips surrounding the burger with a toasted homemade bun.  The chips were warm and very tasty.  And the chili lime sauce had a little zip to the taste and went along great with the chips.  But there were so many of the chips and a healthy side of the sauce that I knew I wouldn't be able to eat all of them.  Two people could easily share the order of chips at JL Beers. 

The burger, itself, was, well, just OK.   The bun tasted good - nice and fluffy, but not chewy.  The burger wasn't all that large to begin with and had sort of a crunchiness to the outside of it.  But it wasn't all that flavorful.  It seriously tasted like a fast food burger.  As I said, it was OK, but it wasn't spectacular at all.

It was a pretty expensive lunch, too.  With a beer the bill came to $14 bucks before the tip.  You get dinged pretty good for the burger, then when you add on the chips and the chili lime sauce, it adds up pretty quickly.  Actually, the highlight of the meal was the chips.  Well, and the beer.  The Wood Chipper IPA is a very good beer.  

My impression of JL Beers is that you go there for the beer and if you're hungry you can get an average burger.  Or get the chips if you're looking for something salty in taste to go along with the beers.  While I do like the concept of JL Beers, I'm not overly impressed with the burgers.  Go for the beer, but there's better burgers elsewhere in Fargo, I'm sure.    

Green Market Kitchen - Fargo, ND

Fargo remains one of my all-time places to travel to for my work. I have a good dealer there - Arctic Audio - and I wish I could get up there more often. But since it's 600 miles from my home in the Quad Cities to Fargo, it's not easy to get up there all that much. I could fly up, but Rod, the owner for Arctic Audio, is pretty easy going and he's not too needy. He's just thrilled that I make it up to see him just once a year. On this particular visit this past fall, I took Rod and his wife, Ellen, out to dinner at a place that she highly recommended - Green Market Kitchen in downtown Fargo.

Green Market Kitchen is a restaurant that features house made foods featuring locally grown and organic items. The chef, Andrea Baumgardner, believes in using quality ingredients with a flair for creativity and serving it to those with a passion good food. The menu features a number of house made breads and soups, local or Midwest area cheeses, meats, and produce. Green Market Kitchen also does catering for small parties and events.

Andrea Baumgardner is a native of Fargo who went away to learn how to be a chef. She returned in 2002 to become the chef at the Hotel Donaldson, a European-style boutique hotel in downtown Fargo. Wanting to return to her roots, so to speak, she was looking to do something more with organic foods. Peter Kelly was a childhood friend of Andrea's who had moved back to Fargo from New York City to care for his ailing mother. Together, the pair opened up the first Green Market Kitchen on NP Ave. (short for Northern Pacific, but all the Fargo locals just refer to it as NP Ave.) in 2006 and sold locally grown produce and meats. Still trying to find their way with their fledgling business, Andrea and Peter closed the doors of the NP Ave. business and looked for a new location.

The second incarnation of Green Market Kitchen was a deli at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo. Open six days a week from 11 a.m to 2 p.m., they quickly garnered a reputation for good tasting organic and locally grown foods. Andrea was also doing some catering at this point and more and more people began to clamor for the two to open a full service restaurant.

In 2010, along with partner Steve Heiland, the group opened the present day location on 4th Street North in downtown Fargo just a couple blocks from the Minnesota border (see map). It's not very large - it only seats around 40 people - and while Baumgardner does her magic in the kitchen, Kelly and Heiland are busy waiting on tables, cleaning up dirty dishes and making sure everything is OK in the dining room.

We came in and spied an empty four seater table in the middle of the dining room. We were getting ready to pull up a chair and Ellen looked down and saw that there was a "reserved" sign on the table. She said, "Oh! This is reserved!"

Peter Kelly (who is a neighbor and a good friend of Rod and Ellen's) came over and said, "Yeah, let me put you guys somewhere else." He scanned the room and all the larger tables were taken and the four-seaters that were empty weren't cleaned off yet. He said, "Yeah, go ahead and sit here. I'll put the reserved table at one of the others after I clean and set it up."

Rod and Ellen introduced me to Peter and he said, "Oh, wonderful! I hope you enjoy our food." He was immediately likable.

Ellen raved about the food at Green Market as we were perusing the menu. She said, "They have the most outrageous bread here. They have these flax seed crackers that are just to die for." She suggested we get a cheese tray to get as an appetizer.

I looked through the very small wine list and saw that they had a bottle of Jordan Cabernet for $65 bucks. Wow! $65 bucks? There are restaurants who have that same bottle for $120 to $130 bucks. I immediately signed up for a bottle of that for the table.

Peter brought out the cheese tray and it featured four different types of house made breads - including the flax seed crackers that Ellen raved about - and four different Midwestern cheeses. There were various fruits on the plate, as well. It was a nice opener to what promised to be a great meal.

Looking through the menu that evening - which changes almost daily depending upon availability - I noticed a number of interesting items including 28 day dry-aged/grass-fed North Dakota ribeye steaks, walleye cakes with a remoulade sauce, 1/4 roasted free range chicken, vegetarian lasagna and a lamb/turkey burger. There were a number of vegetarian and gluten-free offerings on the menu. Usually, I find the food at a place like Green Market Kitchen to be bland, but Ellen and Rod assured me that this was not the case with Andrea's cooking.

Peter came around and announced that the ribeye was sold out for the evening. It was only 7:30, but they had a big rush on it earlier. Well, that pretty much put a kibosh on what I was going to have, so I had to go to Plan B. He was telling me about the stromboli - a homemade Italian sandwich that featured Genoa salami, capacolla and prosciutto baked inside the bread with cheese. Along with the heirloom tomatoes, chard and thinly sliced parmesan cheese salad, I got that.

Rod opted for the lamb/turkey burger and got a bowl of the homemade lentil soup. Ellen got the walleye cakes with the remoulade sauce. She also ordered up a bowl of their homemade heirloom tomato soup. And for good measure she also ordered some of the homemade spaetzle and, on urging from Rod, she also ordered the duck fat potatoes. Oh, yeah - duck fat fried potatoes. She said, "The portions aren't that big, but big enough that we can all do some sharing. Sort of like tapas."

We blew through the bottle of Jordan while we were having our cheese plate and I ordered another one from Peter. He came back and said, "Ah, we are out of the Jordan. You took the last bottle." Somewhat crestfallen, I took a look at the small wine list and tried to decide what to get. Peter suggested a zinfandel from out in California somewhere. I'm not all that familiar with zin's, but we did get a bottle of that (appreciably cheaper than the Jordan) and it was good.

As Peter was opening the bottle of the zinfandel wine, he remarked, "Honestly, we've had that bottle of Jordan for six months. I'd marked it down to get it out of here." I appreciated the good deal on a great wine.

The salad was very good (below left). I guess I didn't know heirloom tomatoes could be small like cherry tomatoes, but I wasn't complaining. The greens were fresh and the thinly sliced parmesan was a delicious touch. So far, so good on the meal.

Rod said that he didn't care for his lentil soup, so he and Ellen traded. He liked the tomato soup better and they ended up just sharing back and forth. That was kind of the signature of the dinner.

Peter brought out the main entrees and I really didn't know what to expect from my stromboli. But the sandwich was cut into long slices with the ingredients embedded inside. An olive/caper/anchovy tapanade and a whipped tomato puree sauce was served with the stromboli. The tapanade was a wonderful topping with the moist and overly flavorful bread. I had more than enough to share with Rod and Ellen.

Ellen's walleye cakes were also very tasty. They were small, so a couple bites could finish them off rather easily. The remoulade sauce was homemade and some of the best I'd ever had. It was tangy, but didn't overpower the overall taste of the walleye cakes.

Rod's turkey/lamb burger was laid inside a focaccia bun that had been sliced as a pocket. He'd offered me a bite of it, but I declined. I'm not big on lamb and I don't care for turkey burgers. Besides, between the main entrees we had, it was more than enough.

Oh, and I almost forgot about the sides! How could I forget about them because they were probably the highlight of the meal. The duck fat fries aren't pictured here because we literally inhaled them after Peter brought them to the table. They were cut into small wedges and had that great duck fat taste to the outer shell with a great potato consistency inside. The spaetzle, also, was outstanding. It had chunks of fried potatoes (probably also cooked in duck fat) and fresh parsley throughout. It got to a point that we all were just using the spaetzle bowl as one large community offering.

Before we left, Andrea Baumgardner came out of the kitchen to talk with Rod and Ellen. She's strikingly tall and thin with close cropped red hair. We all liked our meals very much and she was overly happy.

Organic and/or locally grown restaurants are now the rage across the country. While I've eaten at a handful of "farm to fork" restaurants over the past year or so, I'd put Green Market Kitchen up against those I've tried in much larger metropolitan areas. That's one of the great things about Fargo - they have some interesting restaurants up there. It continually surprises me with how cosmopolitan the area can be and how good some of the restaurants are. I may have to start going up to Fargo two times a year. But never in the winter...

Silver Moon Supper Club - Fargo

A couple years ago, I took my dealer in Fargo out to dinner at Rescan, a wonderful Italian restaurant in the hip downtown area.  Before we went out to dinner, we met his wife for drinks at a place called the Silver Moon Supper Club - an upscale supper club that had opened just a couple weeks before.  I told him that at some point I wanted to take him out for dinner at the Silver Moon.  On my annual trip to Fargo this past summer, I did just that.

Monte Jones was a North Dakota farm boy who was obviously out of place in the upper plains.  After graduating from high school, he took off for New York City and became a dancer and choreographer.  After living in New York City for nearly 30 years, Monte moved back to Fargo, sensing a change in the attitudes of the city.  With Fargo being a small, yet somewhat cosmopolitan city in the middle of nowhere, Jones opened up a fine dining establishment called Monte's Downtown.  It was a big hit with the well-to-do locals and the people who came into town to do business. 

Let's go back to the 1940's.  That's when a supper club by the name of the Silver Moon opened in Moorhead, MN, just across the Red River of the North from Fargo.  From the early 40's until 1969, the Silver Moon was a grand old-style supper club - the kind of place where people would go for special dinners.  Monte Jones' mother used to work in the Silver Moon when he was growing up.  Jones and his partner, Jerry Erbstoesser, decided to open an extravagant supper club in downtown Fargo based in part on the old Silver Moon in Moorhead. 

The building that houses the Silver Moon was originally built in 1917 for a company that used the four floors and the basement as a warehouse for dry goods including clothing, linens, sheets, blankets and bedspreads.  The building was a warehouse for nearly 70 years before the space was no longer useful.  The building languished for about 20 years used for various things before a group of investors bought the space in 2007 turning the upper floors into loft residencies and allowing Jones and Erbstoesser to put the Silver Moon Supper Club on the main floor.

Jones and Erbstoesser envisioned a retro-styled restaurant, full of art deco and art moderne touches including clam shell booths, a water wall and a private eating area called Salon Privé.  They enlisted the help of Chef Josh Smith to come up with an interesting and varied menu - one that changes seasonally based upon locally grown foods found in the area.  Because of that concept, the Silver Moon's menu changes constantly and there's always bound to be something different to eat each time you go to the place.

It was late in the afternoon when I arrived into Fargo.  My dealer and his people were out working on a job site and were running late.  I ended up at a place for a couple three beers before he joined me after getting cleaned up.  We sat and talked business for a little while before we decided to head over to the Silver Moon on Roberts Street (see map).  My dealer's wife had been planning on joining us for dinner as were his two workers, but none of them were there when we showed up at 8 p.m.  

My dealer and I had a drink at the bar - a nice little modern style U-shaped bar with the bartender in a vest and black tie.  The owner, Monte Jones, whom I'd met on my previous visit to the place, came over to greet my dealer, whose wife and he are regular visitors to both the Silver Moon and to Monte's.  My dealer reintroduced me to Monte and I told him that I was looking forward to dinner that evening.  

One of my dealer's workers showed up about 8:30 and his wife finally showed about 10 minutes later.  The third worker had called and begged off saying that he was too tired to come out to dinner.  I told my dealer, "Man, you must have worked him pretty hard!"

My dealer said, "Oh, we were running wire in attic and crawl spaces today.  It was brutally hot in some of those spaces."  

The four of us sat at one of the Silver Moon's signature clam shell booths.  Personally, I don't care for booths like that - it's like you're on display for the rest of the restaurant, watching you eat and carry on in conversation.  But it was late in the evening and only a handful of people were in the restaurant.  

The Silver Moon also usually has someone in playing the baby grand piano that's up on a little riser in the main dining area.  But that night it sat silent.  When my dealer's wife inquired about that with Monte, he said that during the summer months he's been only having someone come in during the weekends.  "When the schools get back in session this fall (North Dakota State University and Minnesota State - Moorhead), we'll get our regular group of players to come back in." 

Our waitress came out and gave us menus.  I also ordered up a bottle of wine - and I have to admit that things get very fuzzy from here on out.  I'd had a few beers before we showed up to the restaurant, then a couple more while we were waiting.  I usually go back to the room and make notes of what we had to eat or drink at the restaurant, but I didn't get back to my hotel until 11:30 p.m. and I had a 5 a.m. wake-up call for a 7 a.m. flight out of Fargo that morning.  I immediately went to bed. 

So, I can't remember what kind of wine we got, but I do know it was red.  But I was the only one going to have beef that night - everyone else went with a seafood entree.  The night before in Dickinson, I broke up my two night streak of having steaks, going with some chicken dish at an Applebee's when I took my dealer and his crew out for dinner.  (My Dickinson dealer closes his doors at 9 p.m. and anything close to a fine dining restaurant in Dickinson closes at 9 p.m. - that's why we ate at Applebee's.) 

Three courses came with the dinner - salad, main entree and a dessert.  I ended up getting the Silver Moon's New York strip - rare - with a side of garlic mashed potatoes.  As I said, my guests all got seafood.  I do remember that my dealer got the shrimp and risotto entree, but I can't for the life remember what the other two got.  

The presentation at the Silver Moon is very good.  My steak was resting on a bed of asparagus spears with a small grilled onion slice on top.  From what I remember about the meal, it was very good.  Our waitress was also very good, she had a great sense of humor and took care of us very well.

After dinner, our waitress came around and showed us the dessert menu.  Something caught my eye on the dessert menu - the after dinner drinks.  And for $15 bucks they had a three-Scotch flight of drinks - the Macallan 12 year; the Macallan 15 year aged in fine oak barrels; and the 18 year Highland Park.  Now, I really have to tell you that at that point in the evening - close to 11 p.m. - I certainly didn't need that.  But for $15 bucks to have all three fine Scotch whiskeys I really couldn't pass it up.  I ended up passing on getting dessert and got the Scotch instead.  Let me tell you, I was feeling no pain at that point, but lingered a little longer in the shower the next morning after my 5 a.m. wake up call at the hotel.

So, from what I remember about the Silver Moon Supper Club - my steak was very good, the service was wonderful, whatever wine we had was very good, Monte Jones was a great host and the Scotch at the end of the night - which I didn't need, but had anyway - was a nice closer to the evening.  I wish I could get up to Fargo more often, but being that it's a nine hour drive - minimum - and a 3.5 hour plane trip (with a stop at Minneapolis-St. Paul to change planes), I just can't get up there as much.  But the way the economy in North Dakota is going, there's business to be had and I may be getting up there more often than once a year.  That way I can go back to places like The Silver Moon Supper Club and hopefully remember more about my meal.  

 

(Update - It wasn't long after my entry about the Silver Moon that Monte Jones shut the place down.  I know a lot of people were unhappy about his decision.  It was actually a cool place and one that would have worked well in a much larger metro area, but maybe not so much in Fargo.)

John Alexander's - Moorhead, MN

On my annual trip to Fargo this year, I had time for lunch with my dealer in the area, Arctic Audio.  The owner, Rod, and his assistant, Cassie, suggested we take a short drive across the Red River of the North and go into downtown Moorhead to a newer place - John Alexander's (see map).  We hopped in Rod's van and got there in less than three minutes.

John Alexander's is a contemporary American restaurant that features light lunch meals and a night time menu that features some interesting entrees.  The restaurant is owned by Juan Mondragon and his wife, Annele.  Mondragon is a native of Mexico and came to the states nearly 30 years ago on a tennis scholarship to a school in California.  The Mondragon's ended up in Fargo and he opened his first restaurant, Juano's - a popular Mexican restaurant in downtown Fargo - in 1996.  They named John Alexander's after their son.

The restaurant is situated in a beautifully restored building in downtown Moorhead.  The building, itself, was built in the late 1880's and was bought by the city of Moorhead about five years ago to encourage development.  Previously, an old bar had been in the location.  Rod told me that it was somewhat weird to eat in John Alexander's when for years he used to drink in what was then a very dive bar in Moorhead.

The lunch menu featured a number of sandwiches, salads and light entrees.  I thought about getting a salad for lunch, until I saw one of the salads they have at John Alexander's brought out to a table next to ours.  It was huge.  I decided to look hard at the sandwiches.  The French Dip caught my eye, but then I saw the Pastrami on pumpernickel.  It was topped with Swiss cheese and sauerkraut.  Cassie said, "Oh, that's my favorite."  She and I both ordered that.  You got your choice of a side and she took John Alexander's beer battered fries while I got a side salad with their homemade white wine vinaigrette dressing.

Rod ordered the fish and chips - a beer battered piece of white fish with a helping of their house fries.  About half way through the ordering process, he stopped for a moment and got to looking at the menu again.  He said to the waitress, "Naw, I was thinking of getting something else, but I'll do the fish and chips."

He said, "There's just too much to choose from on this menu.  It's all good."

And it was good.  My pastrami sandwich was piled high with very tender beef.  The cheese and sauerkraut didn't overpower the taste of the meat.  The salad for my side was OK - it featured a variety of greens and the white wine vinaigrette was interesting.

Rod's beer battered white fish was plentiful.  He said, "This batter is so rich, I usually can't eat the whole thing."  But he managed to do so at this meal.

Cassie asked me, "Did I steer you wrong on the pastrami?"

I said, "Not at all.  This is a very good sandwich."  And it was.  I was very satisfied with my lunch at John Alexander's.

There are actually a number of good places to eat in the Fargo-Moorhead area.  John Alexander's is another one that I've been turned on to.  Rod said the next time I come back up to Fargo - more than likely sometime after March next year - we needed to try John Alexander's dinner menu.   I was impressed with the lunch menu, so I'm sure I'll be pleased with what they have to offer for dinner.

Toscana - Fargo, ND

Each time I go to Fargo - yes, Fargo - I get more pleasantly surprised as to how much of a "big city" this town of about 100,000 people really is.  First of all, it's the biggest town for hundreds of miles around.  Secondly, there's a lot of money in the community.  And third, they aren't shy to spend it.  I visited my dealer in Fargo before the snow fell last year and we went out to dinner at a great little place downtown by the name of Toscana (see map).

Chef Mirco Morganti grew up in Lucca, Italy and spent five years in cooking school in Europe.  Chef Mirco's work took him all through Europe, then to the U.K. before ending up in the U.S. a few years ago.  When he was working in Sioux Falls at a restaurant there, he met Fargo native Char Nelson.  They soon married and Char convinced her husband to come back with her to Fargo to open a restaurant.  Toscana opened in the late part of 2006 and many of Chef Mirco's recipes are a reflection of his Italian heritage. 

Before we went to Toscana, my dealer and his wife took me for drinks to a new supper club that friends of theirs had recently opened, the Silver Moon (see map).  Owned by Monte Jones and Jerry Erbstoesser, the Silver Moon was a very ornate 30's-style supper club in the heart of the historic district in Fargo.  The restaurant, housed in a building that is over 90 years old, is named after a former and famous local landmark - the Silver Moon - which was located just across the Red River of the North in Moorhead, MN.  I met Monte Jones and he told me they had just opened their doors to the public a couple weeks prior after hosting a number of "dry run" evenings for friends and family.  My dealer and his wife were part of a couple of those "dry run" evenings and they raved about the food and appetizers they were served. 

Actually, with Monte Jones' wonderful hospitality and the ambiance of the place, I was all set to have dinner there that evening.  However, my dealer said, "C'mon, we're going to go get dinner.  You like Italian, don't you?"

Oh, God, yes...

My dealer's wife begged off for dinner as she was hosting a small gathering at their house later in the evening, so it was just a short walk from the Silver Moon to Toscana for my dealer and I on a cool North Dakota evening.  Toscana's decor is very rustic Italian with wrought iron and spackled walls.  It was very nice and comfortable in the restaurant. 

We got the wine list and the menu from our smartly dressed waiter.  Toscana was very classy, but very laid back.  You could have easily taken the restaurant and put it in a place like St. Louis, Chicago or Minneapolis and it would have fit in very well.

After getting a very decent priced bottle of the Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, we ordered dinner.  My dealer ordered the veal picatta which came with a small Italian salad.  I was torn between the Steak au Poivre - a New York strip topped with a green peppercorn sauce; or the meat filled tortellini in a vodka cream sauce.  The waiter had a great suggestion.  He said, "Get the Steak au Poivre and I can get you a side of the tortellini."  He just earned a nice jump in his tip.  

We talked business over salads and wine.  He announced that he was opening a new showroom in Fargo and was planning on displaying a number of products that we sell.  When we finished the first bottle of Jordan just as dinner was being served, I promptly ordered another.  We were celebrating.     

My Steak au Poivre was just wonderful.  It was cooked a perfect medium rare and the creamy green peppercorn sauce added to the wonderful flavor of the meat.  And the tortellini in the vodka cream sauce was just out of this world.  Along with a great glass of Jordan Cabernet, it certainly didn't suck to be me that evening.

I took my dealer home and he invited me in to join the gathering of his wife's friends who were watching "Project Runway."  I was like, "What?" 

But he said, "It will be a hoot.  Besides, I know they're having wine."  

Once inside, my dealer's wife asked, "So, how was Toscana?"

Well, I have to say it was one of the best Italian meals I've ever had.  The service was great and we had a great time.  Like I say, it seems like Fargo surprises me each time I visit the city.  I was certainly surprised and blown away by the food at Toscana.  It was absolutely wonderful.

Playmakers - Fargo, ND

Named one of the 25 Best Sports Bars by Sports Illustrated magazine, Playmakers in Fargo, ND is one of the best sports bars/entertainment complexes I've ever been in. 

Situated on the west side of Fargo (see map), Playmakers is a sports bar, casino, night club, and show venue all rolled into one.  It is truly amazing and is something to see.

Playmakers is owned by Lee Swanson, Jr., a Fargo area man who has built his fortune with Swanson Health Products, a large vitamin mail-order company founded by his father in the 60's.  Swanson also owns a number of gentleman's clubs around the Fargo area, as well.

My dealer in Fargo installed a whole house audio/video system into Lee Swanson, Jr's luxury loft apartment in downtown Fargo, so he has inside privilege to getting behind the scenes at Playmakers.  After he took me on a tour of Lee's loft, he took me over to Playmakers.   

Swanson opened Playmakers in the 80's, primarily as a sports bar.  In 1991, Swanson opened "The Pavilion", which was nothing more than a large pole barn attached to Playmakers primarily used for live musical acts and boxing events.  A couple years ago, Swanson sunk millions of dollars into The Pavilion to update it.  And how.  The Pavilion gave way to "The Venue" 

The Venue is pretty nifty - it's a large area that will seat 500 people, or accommodate up to 2000 people for standing room only for small concerts.  It has it's own permanent stage with high tech lighting and a state-of-the-art P.A. system.  It has a main bar area in the back side of the main floor, and a more formal bar area upstairs in the balcony area.

The Venue has a number of private "sky-boxes" in the balcony that are either owned or can be rented out for events and concerts.  There's a mezzanine of tables and chairs on the front side of the balcony that are terraced for optimum viewing. (My dealer said he saw a recent Bruce Hornsby show from those seats.)

There's also a nice little lounge area in the back part of the balcony, called "The Sky Box Lounge" that includes a pool table and comfortable seating, along with large screen televisions.  For Fargo, it's pretty classy.  Actually, if it were in Chicago, it would still be pretty classy.   

There are two 16 foot projection screens on either side of the stage, along with a number of plasma screens along the wall to allow people to see the performance.  My dealer said that he bid on the plasmas, but the bid went to the people who put in the P.A. system.  He said, "Lee told me that he just felt it would be more prudent to keep the number of sub-contractors to a minimum.  To be quite honest with you, I'm glad I didn't get the job."

The main sports bar/casino at Playmakers is one of the nicest I've ever been in.  With 4 large screens, a number of plasma panels and individual 13" LCD monitors in each booth, there's no way a person could miss any of the action on TV.  The casual, yet classy atmosphere of the sports bar area makes Playmakers one of the most unique sports bars I've ever seen.

Off to the other side of the sports bar area, there's "The House of Rock", an upscale nightclub/dance club area.  The club features diverse music selections - everything from rock to country to hip-hop to 50's and 60's.  The decor is funky and art-decoish, and it looked like it would be a fun place.

We were there in the middle part of the morning before the bar/restaurant opened up, but I checked out the menu and it looked like it was a little more than just your standard sports bar food.  My dealer said, "Oh, yeah.  They have steaks and seafood here.  The food is wonderful.  My wife and I come here quite a bit to eat."

Fargo is one of those cities that is surprisingly nice.  In my visits to the area, I've gone away with a more positive image of the town each time I've left.  And Playmakers is one of those places that helps make Fargo truly surprising.  It may be the nicest sports bar complex I've ever been in.