A Review of My Experience at Fargo's, a Restaurant in Colorado Springs

During the summer of 2012, I visited a restaurant in Colorado Springs called Fargo’s. It is a family-run establishment that has been in the Springs since the 1940s and has gained quite a following. Fargo’s has been a top spot to take tourists or just to enjoy a nice dinner with the family. In this review, I will express the pros and cons and my personal view on the famous Colorado Springs restaurant.

First Impressions and Atmosphere

From the outside, Fargo’s looks like a very classy restaurant that would be very expensive. However, this impression might be due to its location. Surrounded by many unflattering one-bedroom houses, one must consider how good the restaurant looks compared to the surrounding area. Once you walk into the lobby, you are instantly taken aback by the amazing wall designs and luxurious couches, all while walking on red carpet to get to the seating area. The restaurant has two stories of seating and could easily accommodate around 300 people.

One unique feature of this particular restaurant is that you order your food from a window inside and seat yourself. All of the waitresses are dressed in old feathery dresses that evoke the 1940s, as does the overall atmosphere of the restaurant. There are luxurious stairways that look as though they belong in an older mansion-style house. Once you sit down, you notice mirrors throughout the restaurant with numbers on them. When your food is ready, your number will be posted on the mirror for you to come and grab it. This is an innovative idea, except Fargo’s is a pizza place that sells fairly large pizzas. The pizzas come out on hot pans that can burn your hand while taking the food back to your seat. Moreover, the pizza can easily spill when going up the huge stairs if one were to trip on a step. I would much rather trust a waitress over myself carrying a lot of food.

The Food

The main food at Fargo’s is pizza and salad. They are most known for their huge salad buffet, which offers numerous choices, along with plastic bowls for your salad. Their food is average at best. The pizza lacks cheese and especially pizza sauce. The crust is pretty dry, and the pizza sauce reminds me of the cheap one-dollar pizzas that I buy from Safeway. In other words, I have certainly had better pizzas in my day. All of the slices are cut small, so having six or seven slices in one sitting is not that far-fetched. The one bonus about their pizza is the awkward pepperonis on them, which are shaped like a bowl, giving the slice a much-needed enhancement. However, those pepperoni "bowls" often contain all of the grease from the pizza, which certainly skews one’s appetite.

Their salad buffet is, well, a buffet. The lettuce tastes like it has been sitting out for a long time and lacks the normal green color one would expect. The toppings for the salad are alright but certainly lack flavor and variety. If you aren’t in a salad mood, there are other options like pudding and cottage cheese. The pudding and cottage cheese are far from tasting homemade and are probably bought from Safeway. Other than pizza and salad, there isn’t much else to eat at Fargo’s, except for some spaghetti that isn’t too special either. With all that being said, you don’t go to Fargo’s for the food; you go for the awesome atmosphere.

The Unique Atmosphere

The atmosphere at Fargo’s has a certain positive feel that keeps customers coming back. Since their food is not great but still edible, the customers can overlook this and focus on the atmosphere. It is certainly a cool, fun, and exciting family atmosphere. There is a piano playing up-tempo songs the whole time, complemented by the crazy outfits and topped off with an awesome arcade room. Since I am no longer seven years old, the arcade room was not as cool as it would have been if I were young again. It is filled with old and new style arcade games that are cheap and surprisingly easy to win at. Despite every kid going to Fargo’s being in the arcade room, there are so many games that waiting for your turn is never a problem. This is the highlight of the restaurant for families coming in to eat. While the parents eat, the kids play as many arcade games as their quarters can buy. While the kids are busy, the parents get a break and enjoy the atmosphere without having to worry about their children acting up. Along with the arcade, the numbers on the mirrors are the coolest part of Fargo’s. The mirrors idea is by far the most unique way of telling somebody that their food is ready that I have ever seen. Even as technology advances and other ideas surface, Fargo’s has had this idea since the mid-80s, back when the mirrors lighting up was considered magical.

Conclusion

Fargo’s has been in Colorado Springs for a very long time and has a storied history. It is probably the most popular restaurant for families or tourists in the Springs. The food is alright, but the atmosphere is truly captivating. If you are a college student looking for good food and a fun and crazy night, then Fargo’s is one hundred percent not for you. However, if you drive a minivan with children in the back and the out-of-town in-laws visiting, then Fargo’s is the place to be. Colorado Springs does not have too many historic restaurants, so the locals value Fargo’s as one of the best places to go.