Ye Olde Malt Shoppe

You can't miss the bright red-and-white canopy lined with old-style Christmas lights at Ye Olde Malt Shoppe. This small 1950s-style cafe, named in support of the community's popular Dickens-theme winter festival, screams burgers and malts with a red-and-white checkered floor, retro counter and stools, Coca-Cola trinkets, and old-school milk shake glasses -- think poodle skirts and skinny Elvis. Jars of Gummi Bears, Hot Tamales and gum balls line the back wall, and they are only 25 cents per scoop. The atmosphere is friendly and easygoing, perhaps too easygoing with a general messiness coming from the cluttered counter, the miscellaneous knickknacks and a floor in need of a good sweeping. The menu is extensive, but fairly standard for these parts: fried appetizers, burgers and sandwiches, along with a morning breakfast menu with eggs, pancakes and omelets. Refreshingly, you'll find multiple salads on the menu, such as the cranberry chicken salad with almonds and feta ($6.99), a rarity in small-town North Dakota. Burgers are served hot off the griddle with crispy fries and coleslaw (from $4.49). The chocolate malts are cold, thick and just starting to melt around the edges of the glass when it arrives at the table. Though the Midwest has a lot of old malt shops, you don't get much variety in western North Dakota, making Ye Olde Malt Shoppe worth a visit.