News
Big Mikes is the place to go for good food and great company
Alicia Wicklund
06/19/2012
Maxbass may be a small town in North Dakota, but it is home to Big Mikes Bar and Steakhouse that serves locals and newcomers scrumptious food with big taste, even if it comes off a small grill. It’s where great food and good people come together, as Mike Hassan, owner and chef would say.
Big Mikes Bar and Steakhouse opened just under 14 years ago on Oct. 1, 1998. Prior to owning the steakhouse, Hassan ran the cafe in Lansford for two and a half years - that was his extent of restaurant experience. At first, it was just a bar and in August of 1999, the brand-new kitchen opened. He initially opened with one bottle of Windsor as his only liquor.
“When I bought it, it was bar from front to back,” Hassan said. “One day I couldn’t find something to eat so I said, ‘Well, I guess I will just open a restaurant.’”
The place had sat closed for two years prior to Hassan, so much needed work had to be done.
“Yet the people were pretty receptive because it had been closed for two years and there is not much else in town other than two construction companies,” he said. “When I first opened the kitchen, we served three meals and were open Monday through Saturday.”
Currently, the bar has a separate entrance from the dining area and there is no smoking in the dining.
“It’s not a big place but it can sit about 56 chairs,” Hassan said.
Now and then he will get people in for the first time.
“The place is pretty centrally located, all within 18 miles of several towns,” Hassan said.
The food
The number one seller is the unbreaded eight to 10 ounce fillet of walleye. It comes with a choice of potato, garlic toast, salad or coleslaw. And what’s his secret? - Lemon pepper and cooking it on the grill.
“When I opened it and called it Big Mikes Bar and Steakhouse, I shortly found out that seafood was the biggest seller, the shrimp, scallops and the walleye.”
“I try to keep it so folks can go out and enjoy themselves,” he said.
Hassan said he learned to make a menu from what the folks want, except for prime rib.
“A lot have asked for that, but I think it’s an overpriced roast beef,” he said.
He has six and eight ounce. sirloins and 8 and 10 oz. ribeyes. The salads, especially this time of year, go over well. He has a chicken fajita salad made up of lettuce, tomatoes, onions and grilled chicken strips with taco seasoning, all topped with shredded cheese that is perfectly gooey once it gets to the table. That is served with tortilla chips and salsa.
Another favorite is the bacon bonanza salad that has lettuce, tomatoes, green peas, onions, bacon and cheese and is served with a slice of garlic toast.
Then there is the chicken stir fry, a blend of vegetables, grilled chicken strips and sauce served over a bed of rice with an egg roll.
“Personally I think it is too healthy so it is a waste of calories,” Hassan said, because he’s a burger guy.
His favorite kind of burger is a bacon cheeseburger with both cheeses, American and Swiss, and served on a regular hamburger bun. The burgers he serves are hand formed.
“It’s a decent burger, a third of a pound at least. Sometimes it’s a touch more. It just depends on how big my hand feels that day,” he said.
No other ingredients get added into the burgers.
He’s got a double bacon cheeseburger and also a deluxe with lettuce, tomato and onion.
“If it’s a deluxe, people use a knife and all burgers come with pickles,” Hassan said. “One young fellow thinks I should put a Trevor burger on the menu. Its two pieces of garlic toast with both cheeses and bacon on it. But he found out its pretty big too. He doesn’t know if he can get it mushed down enough to be able to eat it.”
He added, “We are suppose to have baskets such as the chicken strips, fries, toast and coleslaw, but then some folks want a salad, and others want criss cuts. So we get pretty lenient. It’s a small town. We have to be that way.”
As for fried sides, he’s got French fries, spicy wedges, criss cuts and onion rings.
The single hardest thing in the restaurant business, according to Hassan, is not knowing how many to plan for. His baked potatoes are the hardest because they all have to be cooked prior to supper starting.
He recommends for groups six or more to call ahead and let him know so they can accommodate.
“The goal is to serve everyone in 20 minutes, but sometimes it just doesn’t work,” he said.
He added he cooks on a two and a half foot long by 14-inch grill.
“A gal once told me a few years back that you never build a church for Easter Sunday,” Hassan said. “You don’t build a place too big to accommodate your regular flow of people. Fifty to 60 is a good night.”
Their single busiest night was 117 suppers.
“That is having to run people in and out of here a few times,” Hassan said.
He’s tried specials in the past, but they didn’t go over well as he would have leftovers. He’s tried soups and homemade pies too.
“That’s how you figure out what you’re going to have,” Hassan said.
Hassan has two others working beside himself.
He tried to do it all before and it got to the point where he had to cut back. One person had asked him, ‘Business must have gotten pretty bad?’ And he said, ‘Actually, it’s just opposite. It got too busy to stay open.’
“You try to make as many people happy as you can, but somewhere down the line you’ve got to keep yourself happy too,” Hassan said.
What he’s enjoyed the most over the years are the people. In a few weeks he will have a dog trainer out of Kentucky that comes every year and he said he will be there three days a week eating the walleye.
Hassan said there have been three fights in the bar, all within the first few months of opening.
“As soon as people found out this wasn’t a rowdy place, then they stopped,” Hassan said. “Kids all call it the old folk’s home.”
He doesn’t have a jukebox or pool table, just good food.
“The younger kids do know that if they want to get a burger, this is where they come,” Hassan said.
After 9 p.m. the kitchen closes, but they do have Pizza Corner pizzas.
As for drinks, Big Mikes is known for the Maxbass Sunset and nobody but Hassan knows what is in it.
It was a drink he originally concocted for a birthday drink, but folks said they liked it so he had to name it. It has three full shots and a dash, orange juice and sprite and comes in a tall drink glass.
He’s never tasted it, but people say they like it.
“I figured Tequila has the sunrise, Maxbass has the sunset,” he laughed.
About Big Mike
Hassan is originally from New York and moved to North Dakota because of the military. He retired in January 1995 and worked for a local farmer and then took over managing the café in Lansford in April 1996. He went into the military in August of 1972, as an aircraft structural maintenance guy.
His favorite TV show is Diners, Drive-ins and Dives featuring Guy Fieri.
“I tape it so that I am able to watch it,” Hassan said. “Some guys when they go to a department store run to the hardware or automotive section, but I run to the kitchen section.”
In the summertime Hassan races and takes care of the cemetery north of town, and during the winter he helps build race cars.
Big Mikes Bar and Steakhouse was named that because Hassan was considerably bigger before.
“I had a heart attack in 1993 so that limited what I could do. I put on a lot of weight,” he said. “I used to be well over 300 lbs.”
Big Mikes Bar and Steakhouse is located about 35 to 38 miles southwest of Bottineau and is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Food is served from 5 to 9 p.m., with the bar opening at 4 p.m. Thursday’s they are open until 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday about midnight.