What Changed on Fargo's Food Map This Fall, From Downtown Coffee to South Fargo's Newest Patio

In early July, downtown Fargo lost two coffee shops that had each been around for about a decade. Twenty Below Coffee closed its Fargo and Moorhead locations at the start of the month. About a week later, Youngblood Coffee closed its only shop, The Forum reported. The two spaces are a block apart and around a corner from each other, and they sat empty through summer.

By November, both had new tenants run by people Fargo already knew. That's one of three patterns in this fall's restaurant changes, and each one shows up on a different part of the map. Downtown is refilling rooms it already had. The southwest edge is getting new buildings and the new crowds that come with them. Most of the closings came from the established south Fargo corridors in between.

Downtown's two empty coffee rooms went to familiar names

Neither new tenant is a stranger to downtown. Both had been running something in Fargo before they signed a lease.

1. Revival Specialty Coffee Bar moved into the former Youngblood space at 623 2nd Ave. N. and reopened Oct. 1.
2. Fiona's Filipino Cuisine took the former Twenty Below at 14 Roberts St. Its lease started Oct. 1 with cleanup and minor renovations.

Revival is a comeback

Revival first opened inside the First Avenue Market in 2023 and closed in October 2024. Owner Hannah Blazinski-Cuhel kept working downtown in the meantime as general manager of Würst Bier Hall. When she heard Youngblood had closed, she started working on bringing Revival back, according to The Forum.

"I'm excited to continue providing downtown with specialty coffee, especially in Youngblood's absence," she told the paper in September.

Revival is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. The signature drinks include Grandma's Snickernoodle, the Knit Blanket and Sheyenne at Night, along with espresso, matcha and chai. The food side covers bagels, avocado toast on sourdough, porridge and baked goods down to Rice Krispies treats and scotcheroos, The Forum reported in late October.

Fiona's is moving from a food trailer to a storefront

Fiona and Brian Rix built Fiona's Filipino Cuisine as a food trailer and catering business, serving at markets, Sanford campuses and events around the metro. A restaurant was the three-to-five-year plan. About six months after The Forum first profiled them in March, they had a lease on Roberts Street.

They plan to serve Filipino food, drinks, desserts and delicacies year-round, with karaoke nights and space for events and gatherings. "Most of all, we can't wait to create a place that feels like home and brings our community together," Fiona Rix told The Forum.

Both of downtown's July vacancies went to owners who already had a following and were ready for a storefront. Revival and Fiona's sit a block apart.

On the southwest edge, the new doors are on 55th

South Fargo's openings came in new buildings, not old ones. The two biggest both opened in the first eight days of October, and both have 55th in the address: one on 55th Avenue South, one on 55th Street South.

Chick-fil-A's announcement named the restaurant after its corner, Veterans and 23rd. It's a new freestanding building.

Bar 209 has more to it

Derek Leach and his brother opened the first Bar 209 in Bemidji in 2011. The name is just that building's street address. He picked the Tillstone site partly for its proximity to the Fargo Parks Sports Center at 6100 38th St. S., The Forum's Tammy Swift reported. Leach is a longtime youth hockey supporter.

"Fargo fits for me. It has a lot of well-thought-out growth yet it hasn't lost its hometown feeling." Derek Leach, to The Forum

Here's what to know before you go:

• Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight daily.
• Happy hour: Half price on everything from 2:09 to 5 p.m. on weekdays, plus a late-night special from 9 to 11 p.m.
• Menu: A scratch kitchen doing burgers, salads, pastas and appetizers. Named dishes include Thai'd Up rice noodles, wings, the House Smash burger and the PB Jealousy burger.
• Room: 168 seats in 6,800 square feet. The light maple bartop was built by Dakota Timber Co. in Horace.
• Families: Leach calls it a kid-friendly restaurant and bar.

The patio is the bigger change. Construction ramps up in spring on an outdoor space for 154 people, nearly as many as the dining room holds. It will look out over the pond and walking path south of The Shops at Tillstone, with a long pergola, three firepits, outdoor TVs and lounge areas where people on the walking loop can stop for a lemonade or an appetizer. If you already walk that pond loop, plan on a busier summer there next year.

The closings came from the middle of south Fargo

Fall's closings were in south Fargo too, but on corridors that have had restaurants for years.

• Red's Savoy Pizza at 3165 33rd St. S. had a closed sign up by Monday, Oct. 5. The tavern-style pizza spot opened at that address in 2023, The Forum reported.
• Starbucks at 2377 University Drive S. closed after business on Saturday, Sept. 26. It closed during a round of Starbucks closings nationwide, and the other Starbucks locations in Fargo-Moorhead stayed open, according to The Forum.
• Smashburger at 1801 45th St. S. set Sunday, Oct. 25, at 4 p.m. as its closing time after 16 years in south Fargo. It was the chain's only North Dakota location, known for burgers, shakes, malts and root beer floats, The Forum reported.

All three addresses are on established roads: 33rd Street, University Drive and 45th Street near the West Acres area. Taken with the 55th openings, the pattern this fall is that south Fargo's new rooms opened farther out than the ones that closed. Downtown's vacancies filled from within. Many of the vacancies in between have a long run of restaurant history behind them, and those spaces usually find new tenants over time.

North Fargo's change is about a building the city owns

Edgewood Tavern's news at 19 Golf Course Road looked like a closing when it first broke. The original Oct. 9 post said the tavern would close "for good" by the end of October. Within days the owners edited it: they're relocating the bar and restaurant, not ending the business, The Forum reported.

The reason is ownership. Keith Stensgard and Dave Glessner opened Edgewood Tavern in 2020 in the clubhouse at Edgewood Golf Course. The Fargo Park District owns the building, and the owners wrote that the district "has decided to go another direction for next year." Regulars with personalized beer mugs at the tavern can pick them up, or the mugs will move with the business to its new home, according to The Forum's follow-up.

Park Board President Jerry Rostad thanked the tavern for seven years serving golfers and the community. He said the district will find a new restaurant operator for the space through a public process, and will share details on how to submit proposals once they're available.

"The restaurant's patio provides a wonderful, panoramic view of the golf course," he said.

North Fargo is getting the same kind of change downtown just went through, an existing room waiting for its next operator. This time the landlord is the Park District, and the choice goes through a public process. North Fargo residents can follow the proposal call through the Fargo Park District.

Where the next round shows up

Most of the follow-up news will come from rooms that already exist. That includes Fiona's build-out on Roberts Street, Edgewood Tavern's announcement of its new address, the Park District's call for a clubhouse operator, and the Smashburger and Starbucks spaces on 45th Street and University Drive. Out at Tillstone, work on the Bar 209 patio is set to ramp up in spring, adding 154 outdoor seats overlooking the pond.

A new coffee bar around the corner or a big patio on your walking loop can change how buyers see your block. At Up North Real Estate, we track these changes street by street and factor them into a human-prepared valuation. If you're wondering how this fall's changes near you affect what your house is worth, request your home's value and we'll put the local evidence in front of you.