After a hard work week, a potent drink can be just the thing to help you relax. Grand Forks, North Dakota, is home to some of the most well-loved watering holes in the state. See what they have to offer below.
Bonzer’s Sandwich Pub
Image via Flickr by _Fidelio_ CC by 2.0
Since its opening in 1983, Bonzer’s Sandwich Pub has been a hub of relaxation and recreation in Grand Forks. It’s famous for three things: drinks, sandwiches, and a love for the Schooners. If you like the idea of enjoying frosty-cold beverages in a comfortable and inviting atmosphere, this is the pub for you.
Local regulars can’t get enough of Bonzer’s super-strong Long Island Iced Teas and Special Mystery Shots. Bonzer’s has a long list of beer options, both on tap and in the bottle, focusing on locally brewed brands. This pub has a team of well-trained bartenders, so if you have a favorite mixed drink, rest assured they can make it.
Bonzer’s offers hot, cold, and sub sandwiches that are sure to hit the spot. The Gasp Sub is a local favorite, containing every kind of meat Bonzer’s carries and all the trimmings. The Turkey Tremendous cold sandwich is also much-loved by regulars. It comes with a large helping of turkey, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise on an onion bun.
Vegetarians love the Meatless Monster cold sandwich. It comes on marble rye with Swiss, pepper jack, and cheddar cheeses, tomato, onions, lettuce, green peppers, mustard, and mayonnaise. If you want something unique, try the taco sausage dog with your choice of Polish sausage, bratwurst, or hot dog, smothered with taco meat and topped with shredded cheese and onion. It comes with tortilla chips and salsa.
Visit Bonzer’s Sandwich Pub at 420 Demers Avenue.
JL Beers
If you want to try a range of interesting beers from local, national, and international sources, stop by JL Beers at 2531 South Columbia Road in Grand Forks. The impressive number of beers on tap includes Black Butte from Oregon, Cold Press Black Nitro from Minnesota, Guinness Draught from Ireland, Narwhal from California, and Stone’s Throw from North Dakota. Beer lovers who enjoy hoppy flavors will love Berry Milkshake from Alaska, Greenway IPA from North Dakota, and King Sue from Iowa.
JL Beers’ list of classic and unique mixed drinks has something for everyone. If you like your mixed drinks sweet, try the Chocolate Apple, which combines chocolate stout with hard cider. If you’re old school and like a good mixed beer, try the Black and Tan combination of stout and lager. If you need a drink that will fill you up and get you going, try the Michelada, which is a domestic light beer with Clamato juice, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco sauce with a Cajun-seasoned rim and a lime slice. JL Beers also has a full menu featuring primarily burgers and chicken sandwiches.
The Loft
Grab your favorite drink, order a meal, and play a couple of games of pool at The Loft, located at 308 Demers Avenue in downtown Grand Forks. The Loft has daily drink specials, so show up when your favorite beverage is on offer at a lower price. Mondays are for Margaritas, Tuesdays are for Teas and Titos, Wednesdays are for wings and domestic on-tap beers, Thursdays are for collectible mugs of beer, Fridays and Saturdays are for vodka, rum, whiskey, and gin, and Sundays are for collectible mugs with Bloody Mary drinks.
The Loft offers buffalo wings by the half-dozen and dozen with mild, hot, honey barbecue, and parmesan garlic sauces or Cajun or lemon pepper dry rubs. The bar burger menu includes a classic half-pound hamburger, its cheeseburger counterpart, a bacon cheeseburger, and the double cheeseburger. Beer-battered fries, grilled cheese sandwiches, southern chicken tenders, nacho fries, and cheesy garlic bread are also available. The Loft holds After School Specials Monday through Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. These specials include a grilled cheese plate, the standard burger, domestic tap beers, white claws, and rail drinks at reduced prices.
Brick & Barley Bar & Restaurant
At 9 North 3rd Street in Grand Forks, you’ll find a bar and restaurant with an industrial-chic style, sidewalk seating, and live music. Brick & Barley Bar & Restaurant boasts a massive menu of magnificent beers. Lagers, ales, strong ales, wheat beers, fruit beers, porters, stouts, sours, ciders, and meads are all on offer to pleasure your taste buds and sate your thirst. Pizzas, burgers, hot and cold sandwiches, po’boys, seafood, and steak plates, and several varieties of macaroni and cheese are available on the food menu.
If you want something light to balance out your beer consumption, Brick & Barley Bar & Restaurant has 20 appetizer options, including crab cakes, salads, wings, baguettes, fry baskets, and nachos. Patrons adore the establishment’s mixed drinks. The bartenders are particularly talented, offering a variety of margaritas, mimosas, hard lemonade mixes, vodkas, Moscow Mules, and rum punches. The most popular martinis include the Grasshopper, comprising crème de menthe, crème de cacao, cream, and chocolate, and the Orange Dreamsicle, which has Dr. McGillicuddy’s Vanilla, orange juice, and cream. Merlot, pinot grigio, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, and champagne are available for wine lovers.
The Boardwalk Bar and Grill
Enjoy the combination of relaxed boardwalk atmosphere and an exceptional menu at the Boardwalk Bar and Grill by the Boardwalk Riverdeck at 415 2nd Street Northwest in East Grand Forks. Here you can enjoy your food next to a toasty fire pit on a screened deck. The bar and grill’s menu features a rare section dedicated to lavish, which is a large thin cracker topped with cheese and served with savory meats and veggies. Choose from seafood, chicken bacon ranch, veggie, Philly cheese, Hawaiian, and ragin’ Cajun lavish plates.
The grill’s bartenders are well-known for making exceptional classic mixed drinks such as Old Fashioneds, Cosmopolitans, Moscow Mules, a range of martinis, Cuban mojitos, and whiskey sours. The popular sidecars include cognac, Cointreau, and lemon juice.
Each of these great Grand Forks bars and pubs has all you need to tackle even the strongest hunger and thirst. If we missed a favorite spot of yours, let us know. We’ll add it to our list.
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