NOVEMBER 25, 2009
A couple of recent visits to the Toasted Frog on North Fourth Street substantiate my impression that this may be the liveliest dining place in town. The restaurant, in an old, high-ceilinged building, is jumping with customers from the time it opens late afternoon and on into the evening.
The reason is the unique menu, which offers appetizers that are interesting, sandwiches you don’t find anywhere else and a full dinner menu. Then there’s the inviting aroma that comes from the wood-fired ovens.
Sweet potato fries, a signature item at the Frog, are served crisp with chipotle aioli sauce that makes you sit up and take notice. Then there are frog legs and fried cheesy pickles—dill pickles wrapped in Havarti cheese and fried. They are a favorite of many customers.
For some, it’s the appetizers to go along with something from the wine room or bar that bring them to the Frog. There are salads and soup. The seafood lavosh comes with shrimp, scallops, crab, artichokes, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, red onion and Havarti cheese. It was plenty for three and rated very good by some discerning friends the other night. Wood-fired pizza comes in various versions, including spinach and wild mushroom and barbecued pork.
Dinner prices are medium to high, with the most expensive item, lobster, at $32.
The appeal of the Frog is that you can spend $10 or $15 or you can have a sandwich or pizza for a midrange outlay. Or you can have a fine dinner of something like Asian spare ribs, fish and chips made with breaded walleye strips or brown-butter mahi-mahi served with a potato and vegetable.
At the heart of the kitchen is Chef Scott Franz, a local person who is imaginative and creative, according to Shawn Clapp, who owns and operates the Frog with Jon Holth. There are a dozen kitchen employees and a dozen on the serving staff.
The owners are hometown products and enjoy being part of the downtown scene. They grew up here and learned about restaurants working for Kim Holmes, the owner of Sanders restaurant. It was Holmes who encouraged them when they went to Fargo to head up the staff when the HoDo restaurant opened in Hotel Donaldson downtown. And it was Holmes who encouraged them to return and do something with the building that stood empty on Third Street.
Over the years, the place has been home to a furniture store and an auto dealership. Some remember when it was Lola’s, the Green Stamp Store or the Pink Hanger. Now a second Frog is being opened in downtown Bismarck. People say they like the Frog because it is trendy and full of energy.
Toasted Frog continues to operate in Grand Forks and Bismarck, North Dakota.