Flavors of the Forks: 5 Cuisines You Need to Try

If you ever find yourself with $1 million in cash, I strongly recommend playing travel darts. Get a world map. Get darts. Throw darts at the map and fly where they land. We fly high. No lie. (Balling.)

Since I’m not a millionaire, I do the next best thing. I try to find restaurants in Grand Forks from the city or country or continent that my dart lands on. Luckily for me, a tank of gas in 2022 is roughly what I paid for a plane ticket to Paris in 2009. Serendipity.

Our first dart lands on… Africa.

1305 Stanford Rd, Grand Forks, ND 58203

We have plenty of African cuisine in the Forks. Safari specializes in East African and Somali dishes, including seasoned basmati rice, beef or chicken suqaar, and hilib arii goat meat. If you have children who you want to introduce to African cuisine, it’s easier than you think. As a father of three, five-and-under, they only act like “picky eaters” if I am going out of my way to persuade them to try something new. But they’ll eat anything I do, especially if I act like it’s totally normal. African cuisine is delicious, and if you’ve never tried it, you’ve been missing out. And don’t forget to bring the kids!

Alrighty, another dart lands on… Canada?

302 Demers Ave, East Grand Forks, MN 56721

This was bound to happen. Canada is an extremely large country (bigger than Australia) made absolutely massive by my Mercator projection map. We’re getting poutine at the Spud Jr and you’ll have to forgive that this is actually in East Grand Forks. (Honestly though… what could feel more authentically Canadian than driving for a bit and crossing a border to eat fried potatoes covered in gravy and cheese?) The Spud Jr. serves up all sorts of specialty poutines and if you want to know which kind we were all aboot (read in Canadian voice), click on the link. All I’m going to say is: cheese, gravy, beards.

Speaking of large countries… we just hit India.

3000 32nd Ave S, Grand Forks, ND 58201

The history of Indian cuisine is fascinating. The coastal regions to the south differ from the mountainous regions of the north in all kinds of ways. Peppers have different spice levels. Certain meats are more popular than others. And “curry” isn’t just a powder sold by McCormick, but refers to a whole class of spice blends. House of Punjab rewards numerous visits but make sure to order the tikka masala on your first trip. Branch out to lamb boti kabab or chicken tandoori on your second. Vegetarian? No problem. House of Punjab offers no fewer than nine vegetarian entrees for your enjoyment.

Another dart takes us to… Illinois?

How legit is “A” Town Food Truck? My friend Gene, a Chicago native, told me about it when I wouldn’t shut up about Italian Beef. If you’ve never been to Chicago, the Italian beef is to the Windy City what the cheesesteak is to the City of Brotherly Love… except the Italian beef is better. The only way to find the truck is to look for the bright yellow paint and sniff the aroma of sausage and onions on the flat top. Even if I’ve already eaten, I’ll stop and get a beef or sausage if I see “A” Town set up downtown. You should too.

One more throw lands on… the Sea of Japan, close enough: Japan it is.

3250 32nd Ave S, Grand Forks, ND 58201

Of all the foods and restaurants on this list, I most regularly crave the phoenix roll from Sakura. (And, full disclosure, the game-winning play is to get a double deluxe burger from Culvers, pick up the phoenix roll from Sakura, and eat both side-by-side with your favorite bottle of red wine from Happy Harry’s, but I digress.) Sakura offers more traditional sushi and sashimi options. Pro-tip: use chopsticks and go easy on the soy sauce and wasabi. The fish tastes lovely by itself. And of course, there are several sushi rolls with less-traditional ingredients to suit American palates like mine. For an appetizer, try the shrimp shumai. For the soup, go with onion.

These just happen to be the restaurants I know based on where the darts landed. So, I have to ask you, dear reader: what did I miss?