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.
(Update - John Alexander's closed in early 2014 and the space now houses a new restaurant by the name of Rustica. Look for an entry on Rustica in the coming days.)
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