Title: Grand Forks

Author: Marilyn Hagerty

Publisher: HarperCollins 2013

Genre: Nonfiction - Food

Pages: 237

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library; Nonfiction Adventure

Once upon a time, salad was iceberg lettuce with a few shredded carrots and a cucumber slice, if you were lucky. A vegetable side was potatoes—would you like those baked, mashed, or au gratin? A nice anniversary dinner? Would you rather visit the Holiday Inn or the Regency Inn? In Grand Forks, North Dakota, a small town where professors moonlight as farmers, farmers moonlight as football coaches, and everyone loves hockey, one woman has had the answers for more than twenty-five years: Marilyn Hagerty. In her weekly Eatbeat column in the local paper, Marilyn gives the denizens of Grand Forks the straight scoop on everything from the best blue plate specials—beef stroganoff at the Pantry—to the choicest truck stops—the Big Sioux (and its lutefisk lunch special)—to the ambience of the town's first Taco Bell. Her verdict? "A cool pastel oasis on a hot day."

I loved the premise of this book: a look at one town's restaurant reviews over the period of almost 30 years. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed at the outcome. Each review is presented as published. There is no interesting commentary connecting the columns. In that sense, the reader gets a bit lost in the repetition of reviews. I would have liked more..