A Taste of Downtown Fargo and Hey Y’all Tipsy Taco Bar

The Churn for Friday, May 30, 2025

In this week’s edition of The Heavy Table’s Churn newsletter, we tour the old and the new in downtown Fargo, and see if all the (negative) online hype about Hey Y’all Tipsy Taco Bar holds water. Heavy Table exists solely because of the support of subscribers like you - thanks for making our work telling the stories of food and drink in the Upper Midwest possible.

CRITICAL THINKING

The number of local food writers providing anything resembling a consistent, critical voice has dwindled in recent years, and we’re all poorer for it. You can win audience by being the loudest voice or prettiest face in the room, and you can win cash by talking up people with money to spend, but the old model of describing the world with nuance, wit, context and honesty in service of your readers has fallen into disrepair.

If you’re a paying subscriber to Heavy Table, first of all: thank you. But second of all: You’re the kind of person who makes it possible for us to keep exploring the world and painting it as accurately and colorful as possible with words, photos, and illustrations. 

This week: There was a lot of advance hype out there for Hey Y’all Tipsy Taco Bar, matched (if not exceeded!) in intensity by post-opening online hate. We got out to taste the tacos and experience the concept in order to give you the straight story. Read on!  – James Norton

HEAVY TABLE’S HOT FIVE

#5 Whole Grain Palmier at Laune Bread | Minneapolis

Jeanne Lakso / Heavy Table

I love pastries and desserts. But sometimes the only thing that'll set me right is something heavy on the whole grains. The latest whole grain object of my affection is Laune Bread's seeded whole grain palmier ($3.50). The most traditional thing about this pastry is its shape, curled in on itself like a butterfly's wings. The bakers have put together a magic mix of Baker’s Field whole wheat flour and other grains like spelt and emir to create a pastry that's the perfect mix of crispy and chewy. The exterior has the crunch of caramelized sugar, dredged in flaxseed, quinoa, caraway, and sunflower seeds, like a buttery seeded breadstick crossed with a kouign amann. The flavor is both wholesome and irresistible. It's the Keanu Reeves of pastries. – Jeanne Lakso

#4 Pepperoni Pizza at Hello Pizza | Minneapolis

James Norton / Heavy Table

Hello Pizza was born about a month before my son, which makes it 12 years old. I connect these two events because after spending a couple days in the hospital with my wife I zipped home to Longfellow to get some things we needed, stopping at Hello Pizza along the way. After all the stress and excitement of Joe's birth, a foldable, benignly greasy, legitimately New York-style slice was unexpected manna from heaven. I don't get down to Hello Pizza all that often (Brigadoon and Linden Hills are similarly accessible) but a recent visit for a piece of pizza demonstrated that quality hasn't slipped a bit. And Joe - now something of a pizza maven himself - absolutely loved his slice. – James Norton

#3 Rainbow Roll at Hikari Hand Roll | Minneapolis

James Norton / Heavy Table

The menu at Hikari Hand Roll is a little vague, and the name of the shop is quite specific; therefore, when I ordered the Rainbow Roll, I was expecting to get a hand roll; the arrival of inside out maki came as a bit of a surprise. It’s a bit of a production: tuna, yellowtail, salmon, shrimp, and avocado layered on a California roll (imitation crab and avocado), which make for a hell of a presentation on the plate. Looks can be deceiving, but they aren’t in this case; the sushi we tried was fresh, lively, and pleasant, and not as overloaded and difficult to eat as some of these multilayered stunt sushi rolls can be. – James Norton

#2 Tofu Taco Bao at Taiwan Little Eats | Madison, Wisc.

Stacy Brooks / Heavy Table

After scrolling my way through the Taiwan Little Eats menu at the restaurant's self-service kiosk, I went with the taco bao: a steamed bun stuffed with a slab of tofu.  My expectation was a serviceable quick bite, but what I received was downright delightful. The bao was tender and fluffy, providing a perfect contrast to the tofu's extra-crispy, crackly sear. The tangy pickled cabbage, peanuts, and a smattering of fresh cilantro upped the flavor, and a slightly sweetened, nuanced sauce tied everything together. – Stacy Brooks

#1 Pollo a la Plancha at Guavas Cuban Cafe | Minneapolis

James Norton / Heavy Table

What is it about chicken, beans, and rice? It’s a dish so simple that it’s almost impossible to see, but it’s a mainstay of local Latin restaurants’ menus, and every time I eat it, I feel good afterwards - it’s practically the definition of “balanced and healthy.” Whatever it lacks in raw culinary sex appeal, it more than makes up for by being delicious and nourishing. The Pollo a la Plancha at Guavas Cuban Cafe is no exception to the rule for this terrific meal concept, and it’ll do the standard chicken, beans, and rice one better by supplying you with a healthy serving of deliciously caramelized plantains. This is good food you can truly feel good about. – James Norton

ROCKY LAUNCH
Hey Y'all Tipsy Taco Bar has been raked over the social media coals. Does it deserve the rap?
By James Norton

Becca Dilley / Heavy Table

I like an online culinary torch-wielding mob as much as the next guy. "Hey," I sometimes think to myself, "look at this mob! Maybe I should join it to help make sure things don't get out of hand!" 

If Reddit and social media are to be believed, the good folks at Hey Y'all Tipsy Taco Bar should probably be locking the gates and unleashing the hounds right about now, because people are angry - about a "fusion bullshit" menu, about the restaurant's ownership group and its approach to public relations, and about the locally infamous $12 chips and salsa.

Becca Dilley / Heavy Table

It seems to me that at least some of this anger is reflexive - it's hard not to look at the restaurant's big, stationary Ferris wheel, remember the ongoing overpriced travesty that was Betty Danger's, and then not feel the blood red mist of berserker rage descend over your field of vision. 

And it doesn't help that "Hey Y'all Tipsy Taco Bar" might be the worst-conceived name of any place around here since the whole Elotes/Cantina debacle at Keg and Case. It's d-bag coded, which fits the spot's wallpaper-driven “Instagram-in-2019” decor.