Saturday, May 22, 2010

Harvest Restaurant


Friday night in Linton, North Dakota. 60 miles south of Bismarck. Population 1,200.

This is a happening place.

No, seriously. It is. Don't let appearances fool you. Drive down Broadway past the Green Lantern bar towards the grain elevator and you'll find Harvest Restaurant. And this will make you very happy.

Harvest is run by Zila, a Brazilian woman twice my age with twice my energy and a kind, graceful way about her that pulls you in immediately. She moved to Linton, ND with her doctor husband who, bless his heart, saw the need for rural doctors and wanted to help. So Zila, not one to sit around the house, decided to open a fitness center.

In Linton, ND.

Then, she decided to open a restaurant next to the fitness center. Not just a burger joint. A restaurant with nice lighting, tablecloths, and multiple pieces of silverware sitting at each place setting. On the weekends, her son Edgar would man the grill with Brazilian BBQ every Friday and Saturday night, an all-you-can-eat feast of meat brought to you on big skewers and piled right on your plate.

In Linton, ND.

We were at Harvest in December to try the Brazilian BBQ and it was quiet. Too quiet. Just us and another table. The meal was amazing and I just hoped that they would get the publicity they needed to get Bismarck folk heading down Highway 1804 to check this place out.


That's my carnivore. See that gleam in his eye? He gets that any time he sees red meat. I love that he's holding his silverware, ready to attack. He also does that any time he sees red meat.

So we decided to visit Harvest last night to celebrate our anniversary. This time around, I was pleasantly surprised. It was busy, with about 10 tables filled, and they told me it was a slow night.

Zila and Edgar were pretty excited, not only because they are just enthusiastic people who love life and feeding their community, but also because last night the Bismarck news played this nice news story all about Harvest. Click on the link to see Zila, her son Edgar, and their lovely restaurant.

Now I can't wait to hear about the lines out the door at Harvest next weekend.

In Linton, ND.

8 comments:

  1. That restaurant looks wonderful. The newscaster said the buffet contains meat and a salad bar. Funny, I did not see anyone with salads on the plate. The meat is the big feature. We drive through Bismarck on our way to Montana each summer. I hope someday we will take the time to take the other road.

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  2. I love out-of-the way restaurants like this. The meat looks delicious! I grew up in New England and went to Portuguese festivals where big chunks of beef were salted like they did in the video and then roasted. SO good!

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  3. Happy Anniversary, sorry I am late with that!!
    But this restaurant looks fabulous and I am not even that much a meat eater, thanks for finding it for me. Maybe our next Sisters Trip, we can drive down that way. Love you, Aunt Shelley

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  4. I showed my meat-eater hubby the newscast. His mouth was watering as he watched. We'll definitely be taking a trip down there this summer :)

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  5. Beth---the comment from "david" was from me (Jana W, used to be B) I can't, for the life of me remember my password, etc.

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  6. I have heard great things about that restaurant, Beth! My grandparents have been there a few times; we'll have to check it out when we move back!

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  7. Sometimes the best places to eat are the little, family run restaurants tucked into small towns, be it Linton, North Dakota or Oakbank, Manitoba.

    My mister gets the same twinkle in his eye when he's around well prepared red meat.

    http://thefunkykitchen.com

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  8. Love the photo with the knife and fork ready. I can't IMAGINE living in a part of the country with so little variety in dining out--happy that Harvest is there to help out. Whenever you make it out to Seattle, we'll go on a whirlwind tour :)

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