FARGO - Well-loved downtown delicatessen BernBaum’s is closing its Roberts Street location and preparing to move to another downtown spot, while the co-located Mid Mod Madhaus furniture and antique store will be shuttered for good at the close of the business day Saturday, Jan. 26.
BernBaum’s owners Andrea Baumgardner and Brett Bernath announced Friday, Jan. 25, that they are moving their deli to The 400 building, also known as the old Powers Hotel, on the corner of Broadway and Fourth Avenue North. They would be occupying a spot fronting Broadway that was the previous home to Juano's and other restaurants, Bernath said in an email Friday morning, Jan. 25.
“We are really excited ... to be moving! But that means that it's time to say goodbye to 115 Roberts St.,” the BernBaum’s Facebook page recently announced. “Saturday, January 26th will be our last day in this space. We've been so grateful for our tiny kitchen, our window deli, and all of you who found beautiful ways to curve lines. But we are excited to create a better space for you all, our amazing community.
“So please stop by Saturday during our normal hours (8:30-3 or until food runs out) to grab a bagel, or a hug, until we get to feed you again! We don't yet have a re-opening date so stay tuned on social media for the announcement!”
The exterior of the restaurant area of The 400 is now being refurbished, said Tammy Burtness, president of MetroPlains Management.
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“We’re hoping they (BernBaum's) will be in there in the next 45 to 60 days,” Burtness said.
“It’s going to be a stable and excellent restaurant for the community in the area, and for our property, for our residents,” Burtness said. “It’s nice to see. It’s (the restaurant space) been vacant for a bit. So, I think it’s nice to see it being filled. And it’s always nice to (see) the downtown area coming alive and having more people in the area.”
BernBaum’s has been at 115 Roberts. St. N. for three years, but Baumgardner and Bernath said the lease covering the deli and Mid Mod Madhaus has ended.
The space won’t be empty long.
The artists’ collective Gallery 4, a fixture on the first floor of the Black Building on Broadway for more than 15 years, announced Thursday, Jan. 24, that they are moving into 115 Broadway. Gallery 4 officials said in a press release that they have tentatively set a March 1 grand opening celebration.
Bernath opened Mid Mod Madhaus in March of 2013. He has decided to close it permanently.
“It never caught on in Fargo,” Bernath said. “All of my higher-end stuff I had to ship out of state, sometimes out of country. It was never a passion. It was something to do, something to keep me busy.”
The Moorhead husband and wife team co-manage BernBaum’s. The deli remains open on Roberts Street until 3 p.m. Saturday. The couple then has one week to move their equipment.
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Bernath and Baumgardner said they are ready to expand.
“We’ve just been operating as a lunch counter, making a good living making lunch,” Bernath said. “We fully intend to go to three squares a day, seven days a week.”
Baumgardner said 115 Roberts St. doesn’t have a commercial kitchen. Still, within six months, they hit the revenue projections for three years into their business plan.
“A year into it, we started talking to a Realtor” to find a place with a commercial kitchen.
Bernath, 45, and Baumgardner, 50, owned Green Market Catering and Green Market Kitchen before starting BernBaum’s. He started flipping burgers at age 12 in a family owned fast-food restaurant. She has worked 25 years in the restaurant business as well.
The Roberts Street shop has been gratifying, but it’s not an efficient place to cook food, Baumgardner said.
“This has been nice. It’s been a great problem to have … because there’s more business than we can handle in a space,” Baumgardner said.
Baumgardner said that along with dinner service, they plan to expand their Jewish deli options, and add more soups and grab-and-go items.
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“I think it’s been a tremendous three years here, but we’d like to continue growing and changing and adapting,” she said.
