Marge's Diner — Restaurant in Fargo

Our first experience here. As visitors from out of town, we read the reviews and thought it would be wonderful to try as we are staying in Fargo for four days at the Jasper Hotel across the street.

Upon entering, we realized there were people waiting, and we noticed there was open seating at the bar. We then asked one of the waitresses Megan if the two of us could sit at the open bar/ counter seating and were told NO we had to go back and scan the QR code to get on the waiting list. As we scanned the QR code, another couple came in behind us, looked at the open seats at the counter, and then said lets go sit at the counter

So they walked over and sat down and were served immediately by a young man After waiting, I decided to let the same gentleman named Al who was waiting on them, and he also seemed to be controlling the waiting list know that I thought it was very unkind what this couple had done.

As I conveyed the story to him, he said, "Well, how many are in your party and I said two ... Just like the two people who sat down in the same two empty counter seats that we had just asked about sitting in.

His reply," That's not my problem." You just have to wait." So I replied back. That we are waiting.. but now we are also surprised at your rudeness, and it wasn't the response we expected from you. And added we thought you might be more conciliatory. And also that you might like to be aware that your system doesn't seem to be working very well for checking people in.

He then said to us, "I looked on the list, and you've only been waiting for seven minutes." I then replied. That's not the point. You have a protocol here. We are new and trying to follow it. We thought you might like to know others are not doing the same.

He then said. Well, if you don't like it, you don't have to eat here. " You could go somewhere else.

I replied. We had made a special effort to come over here and have breakfast rather than at the hotel dining room. So NO just because of your rudeness, we were not going to go somewhere else. We would wait to eat.

He couldn't have been more unkind, rude, and even confrontational in the way he spoke to us.

During the conversation, Megan the waitress who we originally talked to overheard most of the conversation.

Once we were seated, we were so blessed to have Megan as our waitress.

She could not have been more kind and more attentive... Certainly, she was sensitive to the whole confrontation that we experienced with the employee Al.

With Megan's care and grace, she turned what was becoming a terrible morning breakfast experience instead to a delightful time.

The oversized pancake and eggs were all very good and very reasonably priced.

We were surprised at the end of our meal again. with Megan's thoughtfulness in giving us a small discount on our next dining experience.

We let her know how thankful and grateful and appreciative we were. She truly was an angel. And turned our day back to a very positive, enjoyable experience as visitors in Fargo. And at Marge's diner.

So when you first enter, make sure you scan the Q. R code if there's any sort of waiting crowd, then confirm you are on the list to be seated.

Also, it was a wonderful life lesson... how when 2 people handle the same situation differently, each can create a totally different experience.

May we follow Megan's response.🙏🌻

We returned the following morning for breakfast. Going very early we beat the Sunday crowd. We were greeted by our server and also Megan as she walked by with a special welcome and a smile.

We had scrambled eggs and also a basic eggs over easy. All warm and very good. The prices are...

Not good at all.

I recently had a late breakfast here. Right from the start I was put off by the presence of two homeless people camped out immediately adjacent to the entry of the restaurant. I had to almost walk sideways past one disturbed young man who seemed to be tweaking on meth.

Customer service is lacking big time. You are not greeted by a person but rather by a notice to scan in order to join a wait list.

Once seated, it took forever to be greeted (using that term very lightly) by the waiter and even longer to get my soda. Despite the restaurant not being full, service was exceptionally slow. If you are on any kind of time limit, think twice about eating here.

When my food arrived it looked awful. The plate of eggs was laying directly on top of the pancake. What's the purpose of that? I found it gross. As mentioned, I got the pancake which is more gimmick (due to the size) and much less taste. In fact, there was no taste. It was so flat and cold that it tasted as one would surmise cardboard to taste like. I had two bites.

I also got the scrambled eggs and hash browns. Horrible. They were incredibly greasy, actually inedible. I took photos. It was literally as if the food was sitting in a plate of grease (butter?). I had two bites of each and could not eat more. I was afraid I was going to get sick.

Despite my food being almost completely untouched, the waiter didn't bother to notice or care to ask me how it was. In fact, I never spoke to the waiter from the time I gave my order till I asked for my check (and had to wait for that too).

On a positive note, the interior of the restaurant does have a throwback/homey feel to it.

I eat out a lot. I can honestly say this was the worst food...

It’s a really cool space. The decor and atmosphere is fun. The food was just ok. The pancake was good, but it’s genuinely 10-12” diameter, about 6+ pancakes worth. It was on par with the shack pancakes as far as flavor and texture, but definitely don’t need bacon or eggs with it. The bacon was over cooked and very dry. Took one bite and it shattered into my lap. The scrambled eggs were rubbery and had a weird taste, like they were cooked on the same small griddle as everything else? Phantom flavors and specs in my eggs I couldn’t quite place. Tried my husbands hash browns and those were pretty tasty, well seasoned. His breakfast sandwich was pretty small, standard biscuit size. For $10 his meal wasn’t very filling. Coffee is self serve, not well set up. (Not labeled, not a good variety of “add ins”, some toranni syrups set to the side with sticky pumps, a cup of sugar packets, some kind of cream? Half and half? In a small coffee pot, not sure if it’s insulated/cold?) on a small cabinet thing that’s kinda dirty and sticky. For $5 a person it’s pretty disappointing, seen better setups in church basements. The coffee itself tasted pretty good, and I think it was bottomless? Wasn’t made very clear, only had one cup. Had to ask for water, no refills offered on it either. Overall service was just alright to poor.

Altogether it wasn’t anything much different than a truck stop breakfast experience. One or two good things, rest is meh to ok. Cool place, still has a lot of bar vibe. I’d be more likely to eat beforehand and get bottomless mimosas and try the mini donuts as an after brunch to sit and talk. Outside of that I don’t have any real desire to go back. Fairly pricey for the quantities...