Newsbits: restaurants
A couple of Grand Forks dining scene newsbits...
•Dagwood's changes name...
Dagwood's Bar and Grill on North 42nd Street has new owners and has been renamed to the "Overtime Bar and Grill". I figured that this was coming because the sale has been in the works for a while and the liquor license was recently transferred over to the new owners. Not sure if the new owners and the new name will result in any changes to the establishment. I saw the new signs on the building the other day and was going to mention this, but I had forgotten about it. Thanks to GFL reader Matthew for emailing me about this and helping me to remember that I should put up something about it.
•Pita restaurant coming to South Washington...
A GFL reader, Chuck, emailed me with the tip that a new pita restaurant is coming to the old Giovanni's Pizza/Roma's Pizza building on South Washington. This may be the new Pita Pit restaurant that has been in the works for a while, or it could be another pita restaurant...perhaps a local start-up? The Pita Pit website still lists the Grand Forks location as "in development" and the last time I emailed them they said that they were still picking out a location. Guess we'll find out soon enough. Apparently renovation on the building has already started. I'll have to take a drive by there soon.
Thanks again to GFL readers Matthew and Chuck for emailing me about these stories. I always welcome any news tips you can provide!
Digg 
del.icio.us 
Posts
14 comments:
We got a Pita Pit up here in Minot last year. I like it. The food is good, and the cool thing is that they'll deliver their sandwiches.
Very handy.
It's too bad they changed the name; Dagwood's had a nice brand identity going on. I hope the transition works well for them, it's a fun place to go, esp in the summertime.
No problem, GFG... A co-worker of mine mentioned the name-change of Dagwoods and I did finally hear the radio advertisement at work Friday evening. From what I understand not much will be changing, but with new owners - it would be nice to introduce some new options on the menu. As for the Pita Pit... if you can believe it, I've never even had a "pita." I've heard they're quite tasty, so sometime soon (maybe?) I'll check the place out.
I realize this is totally unrelated to the original post, GFG... But, us Grand Forks citizens need to lobby for more tents for the next "Thunder Over the Red River" air-show. I only spent 2.5 hours out there today with a couple friends and I'm burnt crisp. The only shade they provided us out there were from the exhibition planes on the tarmac. SPF-40 may not have even helped today... Now, where's my calamine lotion?
Nice, Dave... My parents would take me up to the Fort Wayne Int'l Airport (back in Indiana) air-shows when I was a child and the Blue Angels were up there nearly every time we went. I grew up watching them - but it was nice to see their Air Force counterparts today. Trees? That would be a good idea, as well. They desperately need something out there. They had a couple of tents erected out there, but they had a sign that read it was for "Distinguished guests only..." Whatever the hell that meant. I may have a picture or two from the event on my blog tomorrow (or tonight), if anyone is interested (http://mwx.blogspot.com) and will probably upload lots more to my photo gallery, eventually (http://photos.mhartman-wx.com). Cheers!
I have never actually eaten at Dagwood's so I don't have much opinion about the name change. I never quite understood how they were able to use the name Dagwood's and images from the cartoon...did they pay a licensing fee at some point???
I've eaten in the Pita Pit in Fargo at the Times Square strip mall on 13th Avenue South. Very good food and friendly employees. I'll be glad to see this chain come to GF. And yes, Dave, it does seem like we're getting more choices as far as dining goes in town.
I'm still kinda hoping that this pita restaurant coming to the old building on Washington is some other pita place and not Pita Pit. A place like Pita Pit deserves a spot in a new strip mall and not a run-down building on Washington. The reader who emailed me the tip called the new place on Washington "The Pita Pocket" so maybe it is something different than Pita Pit. I'm guessing a local startup.
I didn't go to this year's Friends and Neighbors Day at GFAFB. I went back in the late 90s and I got fried then. It always seems to be really hot whenever something like this goes on.
BTW, am I the only one who can count on their fingers the number of misquitos they've seen this year? That's one good thing about the drought, I guess. :)
Dagwood's: Was never really impressed with the place, it was a poor substitute for "Toppers" and "42nd Street Eatery" (or whatever the heck the guy called it after he moved Toppers to 32nd and reopened that place as a BBQ joint)
Mosquito's: Even down here by the river, they're pretty sparse. Would rather have the rain, though
Friends and Neighbour's Day: Forgot to go :-) Actually, we went to Fargo for shopping at a decent mall and for a pretty good dinner at Johnny Carino's
Dale: the "barbeque" place was named after the owner's initials, BJB's.
Toppers definitely was the best option for a burger joint in town. It at least had some style and atmosphere.
I used to love Topper's when it was on the corner of Washington and 32nd Avenue South. Then it became the 32nd Street Eatery, but burned shortly thereafter.
For those of you relatively new to town, the lot we're talking about when we mention Topper's is the current location of the Gate City Bank on South Washington.
There is an empty lot next door to this bank...wonder if there are any interested parties?
There is an empty lot next door to this bank...wonder if there are any interested parties?
It would seem to defy logic, in that the south end is and has been growing for a long time, but this general area has a storied history of restaurants failing. The name escapes me, but previous to Toppers moving in there, there was an upper end steak house kind of place in that building, and numerous pizza / chinese / italian efforts tried and failed in a building not far south from there.
As for Dagwoods, I think the problem was that the old owner didn't have the rights to the name (officially), and therefore couldn't sell them to the new owner. But I know very little. Ask the bartender or owners, I'm sure they would be happy to tell the story.
I wish Pita Pit would have gone into a new building...
Post a Comment