New restaurants in the works for Grand Forks
Get those tastebuds ready...we could be seeing some additions to the local dining scene over the next year or so. Several new restaurants are looking to set up shop in Grand Forks or have at least expressed interest in coming to the city. These include:
IHOP - This company has planned to open a Grand Forks restaurant for a couple of years now. They actually own the piece of land on 32nd Avenue South between Arby's and the Village Inn. From what I know, the Grand Forks restaurant will be owned by the same people who own the IHOP in Fargo. Apparently, that restaurant has had to make some changes since they opened and the owners are trying to smooth out problems (mainly with the design of the restaurant) before they open the new location in Grand Forks. Hopefully, those details have been ironed out and construction could start (::fingers crossed::) soon. In my opinion, we really need a new family, breakfast-style restaurant like this. The Village Inn doesn't do too much for me and both of the Perkins restaurants in town are outdated and rather inconsistent.
Space Aliens - This regional chain has locations in Fargo and Bismarck. They first talked about coming to Grand Forks back when the Grand Forks Marketplace was being designed. For whatever reason, they backed out at that time. Now, they appear ready to come to town. This past summer, they announced that they would be building a new Grand Forks location soon. We should be hearing more about this in the next few months. It would be nice to see something like this go up on 42nd Street near the Alerus. Since it is a theme-type restaurant, it would probably appeal to Alerus/Canad Inn tourists.
Erbert & Gerberts - This sandwich shop is similar to Jimmy John's. A while back, their website announced that they would be coming soon to Grand Forks. Probably a good fit with UND students.
The Pita Pit - This Canadian pita chain has new locations in Fargo and Minot and there are plans in the works for expanding to Grand Forks. I have been to the one in Fargo...very good food. Also probably a good fit with students.
Might be coming...
Olive Garden??? - I have heard several rumours regarding the owners of the Fargo Olive Garden opening a new Grand Forks location soon. This seems to be the chain that Grand Forks citizens most want to see come to town so a location here would probably go over quite well. Seems to me like it could be a good fit near the new Kohl's development on 32nd Avenue South.
Johnny Carino's??? - The owners of the Fargo restaurant also have rights to open a location in Grand Forks (as well as rights to several other major cities in the region. Seems plausible that they might come to Grand Forks before too long.
I can also see Panera Bread expanding to the Red River Valley in the near future. Like many chains, they would probably open a Fargo location first and then follow it up with a Grand Forks restaurant. It is worth watching what chains expand to Fargo if only to see what we might be getting here in Grand Forks in a year or two.
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24 comments:
A Kohl's is going up there?
Hrm. yeah, expect an Olive Garden, Chevy's, Chili's, or some similar restaurant to open up nearby. Probably expect another wireless provider store to open up as well. At least that's what happens around here. Every new strip mall has a Starbucks, a Verizon/T-Mobile/Cingular store, and some sort of food joint.
I think that it's pretty cool that Canadian restaurants are willing to open up in North Dakota.
Yes, crews are currently working on a Kohl's store directly east of Gordmans. This area has sat vacant for quite some time, but it appears that it should be filling up over the next year. To me, it looks like groundwork is being done on a much larger area than would be required for just a Kohl's. I imagine that we will be hearing news about other stores or restaurants building in this same area. I wouldn't be very suprised to see another wireless dealer go in there either...Starbucks/wireless dealer/restaurant certainly seems to be the formulaic strip mall around here!
The Pita Pit is based in Canada, but actually has quite a few locations in the US. I believe that, on paper, the company operates as "The Pita Pit USA" in this country.
Last year, WDAZ and the Herald both reported that Space Aliens would be building a restaurant in town soon. The Space Aliens website isn't updated very much so I don't think there is any kind of press release about it. At that time, they announced Grand Forks and, if I'm not mistaken, a couple of other locations in Minnesota...right? Guess we'll have to wait and see.
I have spoken with officals at Panera Bread and they have indicated that they would never come this far North because their bread is baked daily at a central location (somewhere in IA or NE) and shipped to each store and Fargo/GF is too far away from that central location.
jgs - yes, I have noticed that IHOP is advertising more and more in the Grand Forks market. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come. :)
Interesting to hear what you have been told by Panera, Anonymous. I'm curious...do you know if this centralized bakery is the only bakery that Panera uses? There are plenty of Paneras that are much farther away from IA/NE than we are so how come they have put restaurants in those locations, but wouldn't want to come here? IA/NE actually isn't too far from this area.
By the way...why is there a centralized bakery? Does it just mix the ingredients together and ship out unbaked loaves to the restaurants? Panera brags about "freshly baked" breads.
I hadn't heard of Panera until the past year or so. I know that there is one in St. Cloud and they are expanding all over. I hear that they have really good food.
I really don't see how distance from a centralized Nebraska/Iowa bakery facility will hurt Grand Forks' chances of getting a Panera in the long run. The thing is, a company doesn't just usually open a new restaurant in Grand Forks when there are no other locations in the vicinity. A company like Panera would probably decide to open numerous locations in MN, ND, and SD. It wouldn't be worth it to drive frozen dough up to just Grand Forks, but it would be worth it to drive frozen dough to perhaps 5-10 regional locations. There is strength in numbers.
When I spoke with Panera officals it was regarding franchising and opening a store in this area. They indicated that they have a central location where they physically bake the breads and then truck it to outlying areas. So, the 'fresh' bread at Panera is baked daily - just not in the store.
It's pretty good food regardless of where the bread is baked!
As a whole I hope that more chains see value in opening stores in this area but in my mind nothing beats an independent, personally owned place (Whiteys, Blue Moose, Sanders, Capones, etc).
"I have also heard rumors that they can't build one here in Grand Forks because it's too close to Fargo,"
That doesn't stop the mega-retailers! ;) We have several In & Out locations around here, but they're all spaced out by a few miles. Same with the Olive Garden, and same with Best Buy. In fact, we have *two* new Best Buy locations within a 10 mile radius of my apartment. Grand Forks & Fargo are far enough apart, I'd think.
(For the benefit of other readers, I'm in the Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco, CA. God, I can't wait to move out of here.) :)
Now what would make me mofe to GF in a second is if they built a Steak N' Shake AND a Dunkin' Donuts. :-D
It would be so great to have a Krispy Kreme. However, it seems to me like they would probably put one in Bismarck before they would think of one here. They would probably like to be able to service the entire western part of the state from a Bismarck location just like they currently service the entire eastern half from the Fargo location. Also, Krispy Kreme hasn't been doing so hot lately on the national level.
I've often thought that we may someday get a Tim Hortons. This is a Canadian donut/coffee chain similar to Krispy Kreme that was purchased by Wendy's in the last few years. They are expanding into several parts of the U.S. and I wouldn't be too shocked to see them come here since we are so close to Canada and we will have the presence of the Canad Inn (it can't hurt, can it?).
Your comment about Perkin's being inconsistent hit it right on the head. The one by Altru isn't too bad, but the one off Gateway is ghetto. And not ghetto good, ghetto bad..
jgs...which Perkins in EGF? Am I missing a Perkins? :)
That's ok, jgs! I was just confused. You're right...the Applebee's in EGF is very nice. I have also enjoyed their outdoor dining area a couple of times during the summer.
Lets make it possible for some LOCALLY OWNED (gasp) eateries to open. Places where food is cooked by actual human beings in Grand Forks instead of places that serve crevacked trans fat prepared halfway across the country.
Anybody given any thoughts to a Famous Dave's? I know that both Bismarck and Fargo have locations, but I haven't heard any rumors or anything for a Grand Forks location. Yummy barbeque and lots of other good food.
und student...
Yeah, I've heard a little about those dinners at Amazing Grains, but I've never been to one. I think Amazing Grains is a great business for downtown...it would be a good model for other business who want to move to the area. It offers unique merchandise that you won't find elsewhere in town and it caters to both the upscale and "hip" clientele we want to see more of downtown.
I think we could actually support more higher-end restaurants...and more lower and middle-end while we're at it (we can't all afford $20 for a meal). As far as Sanders type establishments go...from what I hear the new Capone's restaurant on Gateway is in the same ballpark with their prices. I wonder how well a restaurant with Sanders level prices is going to do out on Gateway Drive. Unfortunately, Gateway Drive is not known for being a very classy or upscale street. At least two other mid-level restaurants have failed in this same building, primarily because of the bad location. How is an upscale restaurant going to do much better?
ben...
I would love a Famous Dave's in Grand Forks! I've been to the one in Fargo (just once) and I thought the food was quite good. The decor is quaintly "country"...reminds me a little of the Boar's Nest on the Dukes of Hazzard. I haven't heard anything about a Famous Dave's in Grand Forks, but hopefully they might consider building one down the road.
I've been emailing various restaurant companies to ask if they have any plans for Grand Forks. I got this response from someone with The Pita Pit today:
The rumors are true, the Pita Pit will be coming to Grand Forks ND. The timeframe for opening has not been defined as this location is in the early stages of development. Thank you for your support. Please feel free to check in with us at www.pitapitusa.com to keep up to date with when are opening in Grand Forks. Take care.
Sincerely,
Paul Erwin
VP Administration
Pita Pit Inc.
paul@pitapitusa.com
Yes, Capones is an Italian restaurant. Like its name, it has a "mobster" or "organized crime" theme...I know, a little odd! It is located at the intersection of Gateway and Stanford Road...right across from Simplot and next to Burger King. The building used to be Fire Island and, before that, the Highway Host for many years.
From what I have heard, there are plenty of entrees in the $30-$40 dollar range...quite high for Grand Forks.
And especially at 20 bucks a plate!
Yes, Capone's is in the building that temporarily housed the Green Mill after the old Green Mill burnt down. As far as other empty restaurants in town, I can only think of the two empty Hardees (one on the corner of Washington and DeMers and the other on the corner of Washington and Gateway) and the Red River Cafe/Deli building. The Hardees building at Washington and DeMers (one of the busiest intersections in the whole state...used to be the busiest) sits on pretty valuable land. I would think that there would be quite a few interested parties looking at that one. It would even have a drive-through for a restaurant to use if they wanted to. There are probably other empty restaurants in town, but I can't think of any more.
Even at seven courses, I don't think I'll personally be spending $36+ for one meal anytime soon! They are going to have a special dinner on Valentine's Day: $100 per couple plus a minimum of $18 gratuity. They even have a little "entertainment" scheduled: a recreation of "dat thing dat happened on Valentine's Day many years ago" or however they so cleverly put it. Get it? The St. Valentine's Day Massacre...the real Al Capone's claim to fame. Tacky, huh? :)
You know what a totally romantic place is for Valentine's Day? Altru's cafeteria, which is where I'll be that night. ;) Or maybe I'll get a little bit spicy and order their online room service. I like to mix it up a bit and kick hospital-style (which is bland, because they can't salt food for the old folks). Yee-haw!
I would love to see an A&W go into that Hardees, JGS! It's a shame that we don't have an A&W in Grand Forks (except for the one in the Memorial Union food court which I have never been to). A&W has really good food at very good prices...kinda reminds me a little of Culver's (which I love). It would be a perfect fit for that building and that part of town. At one point, I had heard that they were going to build an A&W/Long John Silvers restaurant somewhere in GF like they have in Fargo, but nothing seemed to have ever come of it. I think that kind of restaurant would do very well in that location. A&W has really cute looking buildings...very 1950s diner...it would look good at that intersection.
42 comments! Wow...this has certainly proven to be a popular thread!
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