THE EATBEAT: ‘Not your Grandma’s coleslaw’ at Green Mill

• Marilyn Hagerty

Marilyn Hagerty

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After having lunch three times recently at the Green Mill on Columbia Road, I have my next order there firmly in mind. I will ask for a Cobb Salad, and I will take half of it home.

The salad ($10.99) is a work of art and big enough for two or three people. The salad includes almost everything but the kitchen sink. You get chopped greens with chicken, crumbled bacon, green onions, eggs, avocado, tomatoes, black olives and bleu cheese crumbles. There’s also a gluten-free dressing.

This is what Shirley Jahnke ordered when I lunched with a group including Larry Jahnke and Don Puppe and his daughter-in-law, Sherrie Puppe, from Hensel, N.D.

SP was well-pleased with wild mushroom and chicken penne. Others drifted to burgers described as “classic Black Angus quarter pounders.”

The menu has enough variety to satisfy a variety of tastes. The food is good. There is a pleasant ambience with booths and tables on the sunny and spacious north side. And for those who like the bar setting, there are booths and stools on the south side of the restaurant.

Servers are attentive, sometimes, too attentive as I found while lunching and interviewing an out-of-town visitor. Over all, the Green Mill staff is pleasant and quick to acknowledge your presence. They seated me and Earl and Sandy Mason (EM) and (SM) promptly when we met for lunch on a midweek day.

Ordering was easy because EM knew exactly what he wanted from the lunch menu — mostaccioli. This is an Italian sausage and pasta tossed in Bolognese sauce and topped with shredded mozzarella. It’s served with garlic toast for $6.99 on the lunch menu. I was happy with a quarter pounder and fruit ($7.49), and SM enjoyed a veggie burger served on a ciabatti bun ($9.99).

The Green Mill has had an Asian slaw as a side dish. It’s described as “not your Grandma’s coleslaw.” It is made with peanut and pure plum sauce and fresh cilantro, cabbage, carrots, green onions and red onions with red.

Some people just love it. Otherwise, it probably wouldn’t be on the menu. My only reaction was “bring back Grandma’s version.”

The Green Mill is long on wings and appetizers. And it has a following for its pizza. One fellow diner was disappointed in the cheesecake because part of it was still frozen.

Kids eat free at the Green Mill on Sunday and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays. The Grand Forks Green Mill is one of 28 in this Midwest.

Green Mill

1930 S. Columbia Road

Owner: Paul Dzubnar, St. Paul, Minn.

Manager: Terry Anderson

Hours: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 a.m. weekends

Capacity: 284

Report card: An inviting, centrally located place for lunch, dinner and anything in between. Prices medium to high. Pleasant ambience. Menu has variety.

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