Grand Forks: A History of American Dining in 128 Reviews

by Marilyn Hagerty

  When we finished our meal, we had a chance to visit with Terry Atkins, who with his wife, Rhonda, owns and operates Andrew’s Steak house and the Econo-Lodge. He thinks he draws local people because he is serving food at reasonable prices. And it’s working. He must have the same attitude with the 63-room motel operation. He has a sign out in front suggesting, “Spend a night, not a fortune.”

  Andrew’s Steakhouse no longer operates in Rugby.

  Royal Fork Serves Sunday Dinners Every Day

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  SEPTEMBER 21, 1988

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  It was just after six, and the line for dinner was fairly long at the Royal Fork Buffet in Columbia Mall. My sister, Helen, and brother-in-law, Carl “Bob” Jensen, were interested in it anyway. They were visiting here from Sacramento, Calif., where they have every kind of eating establishment you can imagine, except a Royal Fork Buffet.

  As we moved toward the buffet line, we looked over the large color photographs of food along the walls—grapes, carrots, market scenes. They are spectacular. It wasn’t long before we picked up our plates and picked our way through the salad bar, which is complete and well-tended. There was one employee just tidying up and wiping up spills.

  This is volume business. This is organization, I thought to myself as we approached the vegetables. Then came the hot cinnamon rolls, whipped potatoes and gravy. Since it was Wednesday, there was baked cod, Swiss steak, fried chicken, homemade chicken and dumplings, dressing and blueberry muffins. Enough, already. But it’s fun to make the choices.

  After we got our beverages, we moved on to the huge dining area. It was busy, all right, but we had no trouble finding places at the end of a table for eight. And shortly after we got seated, a couple from Canada asked if we minded if they sat at the table with us.

  “Fine,” we said, and they sat down. They were senior citizens—like us—and they told us they come down to Grand Forks often just to have something to do. They always come to the Royal Fork, they said, because they feel it’s a good food buy. Also in Grand Forks, they buy cheese for themselves and cigarettes for their son.

  We ate, and we talked. My brother-in-law strikes up conversations wherever he goes. He’s a big friendly Dane with ocean-blue eyes. He likes his meat and potatoes, and he liked the Royal Fork. The place was bustling with people of all ages—older people, families and groups of guys. Most everyone was serious about their eating.

  The Royal Fork, however, is a cut above those places that advertise all you can eat. It’s more refined, with its hanging green plants and light oak lattice trim. There are servers who offer more coffee and make sure the tables and booths are clean.

  All of the food has a homemade quality. It reminds me of Sunday dinners we had long ago—before people learned about going out for brunch and ordering in pizza.

  Frenchy’s Cabaret Has New Menu with Combo Options

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  OCTOBER 19, 1988

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  “I wonder what they do with the insides they scoop out of these potato shells,” Constant Companion said as we were eating dinner at Frenchy’s Cabaret last Tuesday evening.

  “Dunno,” I said, eyeing his cheese-covered potato shells as I ate a moist, tasty baked potato. CC had ordered a 6-ounce filet mignon that came with sautéed mushrooms for $8.50. I had ordered the 4-ounce top sirloin for $4.50. As a starter, we had a choice of salad, soup, tomato juice or coleslaw. With our entrees, we got our choice of potatoes, and believe it or not—a vegetable. In this case, corn.

  We thought it was a pretty good deal since the food turned out to be better than average. I liked the salad because the lettuce was cut finely and so were the tomatoes on top. I liked the red cabbage slivered in with the iceberg lettuce. Instead of salad, CC had dumpling soup. “Tastes good,” he commented. “Though a little salty.”

  Our plan had been to revisit the Cabaret dining room in Frenchy’s. We hadn’t been there since shortly after it opened four years ago, and we wanted to see how things were going. The dining room looked nice. There is new carpeting and new white and red paper on two walls. White-covered tables all have red napkins and steak sauce on them. On the west wall, there’s a mural of cabaret dancers.

  But we weren’t able to sit in the dining room. It seems there was an emergency when the cook called in sick and one of the waiters wasn’t able to make it. Things were at sixes and sevens, so to speak. So we were ushered into the lounge area for dinner.

  This was OK. There were several tables of people dining as well as the late afternoon or early evening bar crowd. There was an old movie showing on the big screen, but I don’t think anyone was watching it.

  Our waitress, in tight-fitting jeans, was businesslike and energetic. She was hopping from one table to another, trying to keep up with everything. Later, I learned she is Lori Hollinger, daughter of Hubert “Frenchy” LaCrosse, the proprietor.

  “Frenchy” took time out to answer a few questions when we finished eating. “You picked a fine time to try us,” he said, explaining that he fills in at the stove only when the need arises. He also depends on Caryn Swedin to make soups and salad dressings while he does the meat cutting. The kitchen is equipped with a charbroiler, deep fryer, two convection ovens and three microwaves.

  LaCrosse went into food service to keep up with the times when the drinking laws were changed. He says that business is pretty good.

  “We’re still trying to convince people that we’re no longer strictly a college place, although we still get some of them,” he said. “We are drawing more people from the community. More of a blue-collar and working-class clientele,” LaCrosse said. “Two people can come in here and eat and drink for $15.”

  Before we left, we asked LaCrosse what he does with the insides of the potatoes.

  “Oh,” he said, “we use them for au gratin potatoes, in potato salad, and in soups.”

  Hubert “Frenchy” LaCrosse closed Frenchy’s Cabaret in the mid-1990s.

  Downtown Explorers Discover Dinner in Pantry

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  NOVEMBER 16, 1988

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  You should show compassion. You should do anything you can to make him comfortable. But when your Constant Companion has a cold, there’s no reason to stay home and listen to him cough.

  So, I got in the car and drove down to The Pantry for dinner Saturday evening. When I walked in at 5 P.M., I was the only person in the restaurant. I was pleased the waitress refrained from asking, “Are you alone this evening?” That always bugs me when I happen to be eating by myself. And actually, I sometimes enjoy being alone.

  I was comfortable at The Pantry with its red-and-gray decor. There was music playing over a speaker and two ceiling fans turning lazily above the frosted globe lights. Jennifer, the waitress, gave me a menu and also recited the specials for the evening. They were chicken fettuccine ($5.95), lasagne ($4.95), Greek salad ($4.75) and catch of the day, which was orange roughy ($8.45).

  After glancing through the menu, I decided to go with orange roughy. And what a good choice it was. It turned out to be one of the nicest meals I have eaten in a local restaurant. In the first place, the tables were set nicely. White cloth napkins. White cloths over the red table covers. A salad of lettuce and red cabbage arrived with two tiny broccoli flowerets, a slice of cucumber and tomato wedge as garnish. With it were two homemade cloverleaf rolls and a small pot of butter, served in a white cloth, inside a box. That made me feel like the kitchen cares, and set the scene for the entree to come.

  The orange roughy was poached in white wine and served with a light hollandaise sauce. On the appealing serving plate, there was a twice-baked potato, a dainty serving of candied carrots with herbs, and two pieces of broccoli. The food was excellent, and I enjoyed it with a glass of Chablis.

  When I visited after dinner with the owner, Warren LeClerc, he told me that it was turning out to be the best night he has had. He opened The Pantry for lunches only one year ago—on Dec. 1—with the help of his nep
hew, Paul Ringstrom. Ringstrom is a graduate of the Cornell University hotel school, and has experience in cooking in France. He was in Grand Forks until October, when he decided it was time to move on. LeClerc said Ringstrom was thinking of starting a restaurant with friends in Barcelona, Spain, when he left.

  LeClerc now depends on Roger Leahrman as his chef. And Leahrman supervises the breads and desserts, which are baked on the premises.

  It’s the attention given to food that makes The Pantry stand out. The desserts and coffee are good enough to bring people in for late afternoon interludes. The Pantry excels in cheesecakes, triple layer carrot cake, pies and rice pudding. It shines with its coffee, which is the best around. That’s because the coffee is freshly ground, and brewed in the restaurant.

  Dinner and Theater Make “Fantastick” Evening

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  NOVEMBER 30, 1988

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  New York City, this isn’t. But Grand Forks still has a dinner theater, and the food is very good.

  We made our way up the long, wide stairway on a recent Friday evening to the Grand Forks Dinner Theater. We had been hearing about it ever since it opened in July, but never had a chance to go there. It’s the kind of place where you go for a special occasion—a birthday or anniversary. It’s also the kind of place you go when you have time for a long leisurely dinner. Or when you have guests from out of town.

  The current show, The Fantasticks, will be continuing Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and for Sunday matinees through December and into January. The theater, as most people know, is located above the Windmill Restaurant and Bar, at 213 S. Third Street, which supplies the food served to theater patrons.

  Our first impression was favorable, because of the new carpeting in rose and teal tones, and the harmonizing teal paint in the entry and reception areas. A contemporary chandelier at the top of the stairway draws comments and compliments from guests.

  The dining room is impressive, with three levels of tables set off by light wood railings. Tables are covered with rose cloths, and there are mauve cloth napkins. Glass-enclosed candles flicker on the tables. This pleasing, warm ambience puts you in the mood for a very special evening.

  We went at 5:30 P.M., when dinner service begins. We were offered a choice of walleye primavera, prime rib or chicken teriyaki. We both chose the walleye and ordered a drink as we waited.

  First came the salad of greens topped with rings of green pepper and red onion. Our walleye, done in a wine and vegetable sauce, arrived with an attractive garnish of citrus and a welcome serving of carrots on the plate. The baked potato that came with it was a waxy, moist red. It required no butter or sour cream—just a sprinkling of pepper and salt.

  For those who want to order wine, the dinner theater has an extensive list of red, sparkling, blush and white in a price range from a moderate $7 to $10—all the way up to $28.50. I figure Constant Companion will order from the top of the line if we make it to our 40th wedding anniversary next summer.

  As we finished eating, our waiter told us that the pre-show would be starting soon. Before long, the waiters and waitresses, who were already in theatrical attire, turned into entertainers. They call themselves the “Two-Bit Players,” and theirs is a large contribution to the evening of dinner theater. The show itself is performed on a stage that is easy to view from all parts of the house.

  The food service doesn’t end with dinner. It continues through the show, with desserts and coffee. Desserts include the decadent mud pie, which the Windmill helped establish in this town.

  Usually, there is cheesecake, too, with assorted toppings.

  Grand Forks Dinner Theater and the Windmill are no longer operating in Grand Forks.

  Gordy’s Cafe Specializes in Home-Style Cooking

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  APRIL 19, 1989

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  Dick King was sitting at the counter eating a pancake when I entered Gordy’s Cafe on Gateway Drive Thursday morning. His law office is nearby. King is one of the many regulars who stop in at Gordy’s. I sat down beside him while waiting for Constant Companion. We talked about the pancake. King said it was good, but it was too big.

  The waitress on duty was Bev Egstad, who has been at Gordy’s for three years. She knows most of the customers on a first-name basis. So does the other waitress, Carol Hook, who comes in at 10 A.M.

  While Bev took orders and poured coffee, Ruth Jensen was working like a robot at the grill. She would crack eggs, fry hash browns, butter English muffins and toast. She would go back and forth from the kitchen to the cooler. She was in perpetual motion.

  Gordy’s is a one-of-a-kind place. It’s homey, with red-checked cafe curtains on the windows and a row of hanging plants. People park their cars in the unpaved parking lot in a scattered pattern that makes me think of pick-up sticks. The long counter, which seats 16, is covered with pink tile that has splashes of gray and white through it.

  I ended up ordering two scrambled eggs and a toasted English muffin. When CC showed up, he ordered the breakfast special of two eggs, toast, hash browns and bacon for $1.99. The coffee was extra.

  Everybody seems happy to be at Gordy’s in the middle of the morning. The traffic in and out is steady. The waitress knows without asking who wants peanut butter with their toast. She also knows who wants jelly, and what kind they like best.

  When Ruth had a break from the grill, I asked her about the business. She said she and her husband, Terry Jensen, have been leasing Gordy’s for the past eight years from Gordy Hanson, East Grand Forks. He’s retired. The Jensens also operate the coffee shop in the Dacotah Hotel, and last year took on a third operation—the snack bar in the new Home of Economy department store.

  Breakfast business is brisk at Gordy’s. Then it goes downhill until noon. The restaurant bustles when customers stream in for “dinner.” Last Thursday, the choices were a Salisbury steak dinner, $3, soup and a sandwich, $2.50, or chicken strips with fries, coleslaw and a roll for $2.99.

  “Just home cooking,” Ruth Jensen said. She cracks her own eggs for breakfast, mixes her own pancakes, makes her own soups and peels and mashes potatoes for the dinners and hot sandwiches. When she finishes a day behind the stove, she doesn’t feel like cooking at home, she said. She and her husband like to go out to dinner at other Grand Forks restaurants. Rarely do they have time to get out of town.

  “Minneapolis is about the farthest we’ve gone,” she said. “Once we rode our motorcycles to Duluth.”

  Marilyn says, “Gordy’s Cafe faded away from Gateway Drive some time ago.” The Jensens continue to operate Gramma Butterwicks.

  Gramma Butterwicks Has a Healthy Heart Menu

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  APRIL 26, 1989

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  After two visits to Gramma Butterwicks during the past week, I can say I am impressed with the new heart-healthy menu, but I think the restaurant has a way to go. For instance, for breakfast on Thursday, I ordered the heart-healthy scrambled egg and pancakes with coffee for $3.55. When the food arrived, I thought the scrambled eggs made from egg substitute were very good. The pancakes, however, had an off taste that was not pleasing to me. So, I left them on the plate and ate a corner of the regular pancakes Constant Companion ordered.

  When I visited with the manager, I asked why they can’t just make pancakes without eggs—or use two egg whites to make the equivalent of one whole egg. He said he would be looking into that.

  Because I believe consumers need to ask questions—specific questions—I asked him what low-fat and low-cholesterol products the restaurant is using for its heart-healthy menu. He said Eggs Supreme and Promise margarine. He said the broiled skinless chicken breast with rice and vegetables has turned into one of the best items on the healthy heart menu.

  While the bulk of the restaurant’s business is off the regular menu, the manager said he can tell most people are shunning fat. He uses less oil for hash browns, for instance. He says decaffeinated coffee makes up about one-third of his cof
fee business. “There’s more requests for it all the time.”

  Still, the whole world isn’t on a diet. The restaurant has a baker, Sherrie Brandell, who turns out caramel rolls as well as oat bran muffins. And this week, there is a new line of Danish pastries for breakfast.

  The restaurant soon will be coming up with a 10-minute lunch. If the food isn’t delivered in the promised time, the lunch will be free. Apple pie is one of Gramma Butterwicks’ specialties. Customers who order a full dinner between 5 and 9 P.M. can get a free piece of pie.

  The restaurant is decorated in tones of forest green and beige. There’s a counter near the entry and a row of booths that remind me of a railroad diner. This is the smoking area. Farther back, there’s a spacious dining room, where smoking is restricted. It’s attractive, with healthy-looking plants and North Dakota Centennial prints.

  Gramma Butterwicks no longer serves the heart-healthy menu.

  Norma’s House of Goodies Is Filling Station in the Mall

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  JUNE 28, 1989

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  Lunch was $2.60, including tax, and was quick. It was good. And it was eaten in the cool and quiet of Norma’s House of Goodies, in City Center Mall.

  This is a small cafe that tends to be overlooked unless you regularly travel through the downtown mall. It’s worth a stop because it has freshly baked cookies, bars and pies every day. It also has a choice of salads and sandwiches.