Bernie's — Restaurant in East Grand Forks

We live a little ways away and needed to grab a bite to eat on our way through town. It was around 2 during the week and things were decently slow although most of the tables did seem dirty, it appeared they could have used a dish person to be clearing/cleaning tables so the waitresses didn’t need to be doing that as well. We were seated within a few minutes and looked over the menus. The menu is pretty simple, mostly sandwiches or breakfast. The waitress came back about ten minutes later and apologized for the wait. We ordered the piglet with greens and the hot ham and cheese. We went and looked around at the goods at the front of the restaurant for a bit. Many of things seemed like they would only be found in speciality stores, so the prices were very high. Side note: I did appreciate that they had a gluten free menu, but I do not believe those items would be celiac safe. We then went and looked at the baked goods and decided on a brownie. The person who helped us was pretty stoic, but rang us up within a few minutes. When we got back to our table about ten minutes later our food was there. The piglet with greens was very good. The hot ham and cheese was just ok, and the store bought chips were not great. Paying almost $20 for a sandwich and chips felt overpriced. The brownie was also very good. The waitress checked on us before we even started eating and I do not believe she came back again. We had been done for awhile and realized we maybe need to pay up front. Our check wasn’t brought to us so we went and paid at the till. Overall I think the atmosphere of the restaurant really just was not our favorite. It felt slightly like a sterile cafeteria/old diner/grandma’s house. The walls were white and bare and honestly all the staff walked around just looking kind of sad. Again the food was overall pretty good, but overpriced compared to similar restaurants with similar items. The greens salad was excellent, though the portion was very small and you also needed to pay extra. I think my main feedback would be putting things in the store that appeal to all income levels. Although we do very well, I think spending $14 for a bowl or $95 for an apron is just not appealing to most people shopping around. If the atmosphere could be a little brighter and have a more cohesive design with a little more privacy between tables, that really would be ideal. The prices should really be lower with the menu the way it is. Unless the menu items are going to be elevated and more upscale, they should reflect more standard diner prices to appeal to that crowd. The staff could possibly use a moral boost and maybe extra help or organization of tasks. They seemed sad and it’s a long distance for staff to be walking back and forth from the kitchen - they could really benefit from a runner and someone clearing/cleaning tables. I’m not too sure we will go back, but we will see. I think there is a lot of potential in the space and a lot of the ideas, but possibly execution wasn’t 100% and could hopefully be refined...

What started out as being an evening and dining experience I was beyond excited about ended in probably one of the worst disappointments I've had when dining out. My significant other had planned an evening in Grand Forks, which we drove an hour and a half for, that included surprising me with dinner at Bernie's and then an event at the Alerus center. He knows how much I look up to Molly and how excited I was to try out her restaurant. When we pulled up I was elated and of course had to snap some photos, as I live for food adventures. We made sure to get there at 4:30 to beat any sort of dinner rush and enjoy a nice pleasant meal. We walked in and I snapped a photo of the front entrance because I thought it was super cute. From there the host sat us in the back and we began looking over the menu planning our meal and discussing everything. I was a kid in a candy store! However, that's basically where the excitement ended. We sat and watched a server check on the table two down from us and proceed to walk away. We figured we weren't sitting in her section. Then another server checked on another couple to the opposite side of us, she turned and glanced our way, then walked away. We remained patient and figured they might be busy, however, there were probably 6-7 tables total in the restaurant and three servers/host on staff. We waited. After 25 minutes, the host seated another couple. They were promptly greeted by a server, their water glasses filled, and their drink order taken. The server walked our direction with the water pitcher and we were thinking FINALLY we are getting served and we were cool with that. But the only thing that happened was another glance in our direction as she walked right by us. I looked at the photo I had taken in the front entrance and it was time stamped 4:39pm. The couple that were sat 25 minutes after us then received their beverages. At this point, our patience had worn completely and we decided to leave. This was supposed to be a late Valentine's dinner date for us, and it was something that my S/O was very excited to surprise me with. He could see how disappointed I was, as I almost had tears in my eyes. There's nothing worse than having high expectations and being excited to try something only to have a terrible experience. We left and as we were walking out I let the host know we were never greeted and she then asked where we were sitting, which was the icing on the cake because she is the one who originally seated us. I have worked in the service industry for over a decade so when I dine out I have a lot of patience, but I also have certain expectations. It is disheartening that what was supposed to be a great place, ended up a disappointment. We went down the street to the Blue Moose to eat and thankfully received wonderful customer service from a young kid who had a busy section with a couple of six tops and still gave us a...

Love the location of the restaurant, along the Red River. The restaurant is huge. Its simplistic open layout reminds of a Scandinavian theme. There is a bakery counter, cash register, bar area. Booths, tables and unique seating areas and a gift shop. The staff was super friendly and upon entering the river side entrance a baker and a cake was leaving I suppose to make a special delivery. We had the Knoephla soup which was like a gourmet version if there was such a thing, tender carrots, potatoes, and celery in a milky broth not heavy cream with dots of knoephla dough, garnished with fresh dill; served on farm style dishes along with the most delicious sour dough bread. It was a delight to our taste buds. We also had the burger with tots, the beef was excellent and tasty. We also had the Mac and cheese which topped with toasted bread crumbs, sooooo cheesy and delicious, it was served with a spring mix which had an Italian style light dressing on it. We also tried the grilled cheese and pickle sandwich which is similar to the fried pickle spears Molly Yeh has made on her show but on a thick yummy bread rather than wrapped in an egg roll wrapper. They serve cook products which is a plus for us Diet Coke drinkers. The bakery case was calling so we tried the chocolate dipped potato chip cookie (our favorite) , the peanut blossom cookie and the Oreo cookie all were yummy. Suzy couldn’t resist trying the S’more cocktail which only would have been more delightful if the marshmallow was actually toasted. Then we had to shop we bought the uffda hot honey and it is “uffda” hot. This place is a delight to...