Bike Share is great to cruise the downtown streets of Fargo. A few weeks ago, I decided to use Bike Share for the first time and take in the Fargo bar scene to take in the atmosphere.
And I got to thinking (scary, I know) about what Fargo bars best resemble North Dakota State student-athletes.
- The Bison Turf
Drive by the Turf and you’d think it’s 100-years-old because it looks like it’s about to crumble down in front your car. But walk inside on Wednesday and it’s packed with college students. Game day at the Turf is Wednesday.
Game day at the Fargodome is Saturday. NDSU students always show up for game day at the Turf, and junior defensive tackle Nate Tanguay always shows up on game day at the Fargodome. Tanguay is a tough dude; he stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 288 pounds. If the Turf resembles anyone at NDSU, it’s definitely the man who has collected 15-plus sacks in his first two years as a Bison.
- Kitchen Gremlin
This bar/restaurant goes unnoticed because it isn’t near the Old Broadway, Fort Knoks, Sports Bar or Rooters. Senior Erin Teschuk and Kitchen Gremlin have one, and probably only one, attribute in common: they are both fast. Teschuk broke her own school record Friday at the Stanford Invitational for the 1500-meter race with a time of 4:15.30. And since Kitchen Gremlin sits pretty empty on a Friday night, if you want to get served as quickly as Teschuk runs, don’t be afraid to walk into the bar/restaurant with the creepy name.
- Pickled Parrot
The NDSU softball team has a power hitter in senior shortstop Logan Moreland. This season she has already hit six home runs. Last season she hit seven home runs in 56 games and the year before that she hit eight home runs in 54 games. She’s a power hitter, and if you’ve ever been to the Pickled Parrot after midnight you’ll noticed that the beverages are quite strong as well.
- HoDo Restaurant and Bar
The HoDo is a fabulous place to get a fancy adult beverage. The people that go to the HoDo are generally a little older; I mean, you don’t see a lot of college students at this establishment. I imagine conversations that have to do with traveling go down at the HoDo.
“Where did you fly this week,” the man in the black polo asks.
“Kansas City, Mo.,” the lady in the bright red dress responds.
Funny enough, the Bison women’s golf team participated in the Kansas City Shootout, and finished in ninth-place with a three-round team score of 95-over par. The HoDo would be definitely be a place where senior Hailey Boner could talk about her travel stories and golf game.
- JL Beers on 1st Ave
The tiniest bar/restaurant downtown but a grand place to get a delicious burger and a tip-top beer is JL Beers. There’s also an NDSU soccer player named Amy Yang that stands 5 feet tall. She may be short but she’s a heckuva soccer player for the Bison. Last season she scored five goals, finished with nine assists and 19 points.
JL Beers doesn’t have the best seating option but that’s what makes it special. A bar/restaurant and a NDSU student-athlete have two things in common: they both are tiny but pack a punch.