Nancy Edmonds Hanson
After nearly three months of pandemic-mandated closures, several Moorhead restaurants and bars welcomed customers back Monday … outdoors.
From Harold’s on Main to American Legion Post 21, from Third Drop Coffee to JL Beers, Boulder Tap House, Legends Bar & Grill, Vic’s Lounge and the Fryn’ Pan, Moorhead establishments took advantage of the state’s relaxing of COVID-19 restrictions that have limited them to only take-out and delivery service since the middle of March. Others, like Rustica, plan to reopen soon, while some establishments, including the Speak Easy Restaurant, have decided to wait until the executive order is relaxed further in coming weeks.
Some, like American Legion Post 21, had a head start: They already offered patio service in the good old days. “We’re pretty fortunate to have had a nice, sheltered patio in the first place,” said Scott Moen, manager of the Legion club located just north of Highway 10. The club is open to the public. It had been offering take-out of its famed home-style cooking and daily specials since May 11.
“We moved the picnic tables – they all have umbrellas – onto the grass and brought our fiberglass tables out onto the pad,” he explained, “and our 15-foot outdoor bar was already there with its three big-screen TVs. We brought the pull tabs out, too. We didn’t have to buy anything.”
When the club began serving lunch Monday, they welcomed back a steady stream of regulars happy to once again have a place to gather. “It was nice to see everybody again,” Moen reports. “For some of them, seeing their friends here is pretty much their life. On Monday, they could finally get together with old friends again.”
One unexpected aspect of Monday’s opening was the solar heating. The official temperature in Moorhead reached 99 degrees – a record.
“It was hot, no doubt about it,” Moen conceded. “But our patio is protected. I’d have rather sat at ours – no doubt about it.”
A little further down Highway 10, JL Beers faced a different dilemma when the two-year-old business decided to turn what had been part of its parking lot into what management dubbed a “pop-up bar.”
“It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. We didn’t have much time to plan it,” manager Baylee Engquist reported. “We basically turned our parking lot into a nice patio just over the weekend.
“I think it turned out really nice. You wouldn’t know what it was before, except for the stripes.”
Like other establishments, JL Beers hued to state guidelines for limited service. Tables were distanced six feet or more apart, and the total number of patrons was limited to 50. Servers wore masks, and extensive cleaning was mandated. State rules also require that customers make reservations.
“We had a full patio from the time we opened,” Engquist said. “We couldn’t be happier with how it went, and our staff couldn’t be happier to be back. A big part of their jobs is interacting with our customers, and every seat was filled, 97 degrees or not.”
Their business, of course, is still down from the norm. Indoor capacity is 250 to 300; the patio can seat only a fraction of that. Curbside take-out and deliveries have helped, and this is a step forward. “Right now,” she observed, “we’re happy to take what we can get.”
Three months on the sidelines have been tough. But Engquist says there were bright spots: “When we first closed, we were astounded by the support we felt from the community. Over three months, we got really good support in terms of delivery and curbside orders.
“When Fargo reopened a couple weeks ago, we did notice a decline,” Engquist admitted. “But last night (Monday) was amazing.”
She added, “This has uprooted all of our lives, but we’ve been lucky. We appreciate the support of our community – our dedicated customers and our staff, who have been wonderful.
“These are just baby steps back to normal, but it’s going well.”
