Himalayan Yak Closed in June. Its Menu Came Back in Two Pieces at Two Fargo Addresses

"I was like, 'All right, this is an opportunity,'" Diwash Shrestha told InForum. He had just learned that Himalayan Yak would not be coming back to its old storefront in 25th Street Market.

Shrestha opened Mount Everest Kitchen in that storefront on Aug. 24. The day before, a family from Grand Forks had opened Anand Indian Cuisine in the Yak's newer space on 38th Street South. The Yak served both Indian and Nepali food. Its two old addresses now split that menu, with the Nepali side back where the restaurant started and the Indian side at its last home near West Acres. If you were a regular, the right address now depends on what you used to order.

Ten years, two addresses and a sign on the door

The Yak moved around more than most people remember. Its history explains why two separate restaurants could fill its two spaces in the same week.

1. 2016: Himalayan Yak opens in 25th Street Market at 1450 25th St. S. In 2022, InForum named chef Padam Gurung and Narayan Sapkota as the owners.
2. Late 2022: The restaurant announces a second location at 1109 38th St. S., in the former La Fiesta Mexican & American Grill building just north of West Acres Shopping Center.
3. March 13, 2023: The Yak moves everything to 38th Street. A Facebook post quoted by InForum placed it "right next to Osaka and Hibachi." Soho 23 then takes over the 25th Street storefront.
4. June 17, 2026: Signs on the 38th Street door say the restaurant has closed and will reopen at 1450 25th St. S. One reads "Stay tuned for updates," according to InForum.
5. August 2026: Anand opens on 38th Street on Aug. 23, and Mount Everest Kitchen opens on 25th Street on Aug. 24. Shrestha confirms that the Yak has closed for good.

Both spaces reopened about two months after the closing signs went up. The Kaur family took less than two months to gut and renovate the 38th Street interior.

The original storefront now leans Nepali

Shrestha told InForum his menu is about 70% Nepali and 30% Indian. In his words, that "flip-flops" the balance he saw on the Yak's menu. He also picked a name meant to signal Nepali food right away, so diners who have never been to Nepal see "Mount Everest" and know what the kitchen cooks.

The momo is the center of the menu. Of the 72 orders on opening day, 65 included the soup momo, Shrestha told InForum. The Mount Everest Kitchen menu lists that dish as veg jhol momo or chicken jhol momo, which are dumplings in a spicy broth. There are also chicken chilli momos tossed in chilli-garlic sauce and plain steamed momos that are hand-folded and steamed to order. Further down are vegetarian and non-vegetarian thali sets and a Mt. Everest biryani made with mixed proteins, saffron and whole spices.

The Indian third of the menu is still strong. High Plains Reader's September roundup praised the garlic chicken, pakoras, pulao rice, tandoori chicken and veggie momos. On Prairie Public's October 7 Prairie Plates segment, host Rick Gion and Shrestha talked through the momos, the tandoori chicken and the lunch buffet.

Shrestha already knew the building. He spent about nine years at Leela Thai Cuisine in the same mall, and he told InForum that owner Maya Perleberg taught him how to serve, manage staff and market a restaurant. He chose the space partly for its parking, its visibility and the businesses around it. As he put it, someone stopping in for coffee might see the sign and decide to try something new.

The West Acres space went fully Indian

Anand has no Nepali half. Co-owner Simi Kaur told InForum the restaurant serves a mix of Southern and Northern Indian food, with appetizers, kebabs, vegetarian and meat entrees, dinner options for two, and a buffet. The kitchen is built around a tandoor grill for kebabs and naan.

This is the family's second restaurant. Kaur's father, uncle and other relatives opened House of Punjab in Grand Forks in 2021, and it is still serving. In Fargo, Kaur runs vendors, the point-of-sale system, the website and the menu design, while her cousins and uncle cook. The name comes from a Punjabi word linked to peace and bliss. That's why the dining room uses browns, gray walls, wooden half-walls and brown leather booths.

The Anand menu includes Delhi's Tawa Chicken, Goat Banjara and a mix biryani. The dessert list is a good reason to stay after the meal. It has kesar kulfi with saffron, mango kulfi, ras malai, kheer with cardamom, and an $11 kulfi falooda served with vermicelli, basil seeds and syrup. High Plains Reader went on opening day. The reviewer liked the pakoras, samosas, chutneys, Delhi's tawa chicken and paneer tikka masala, and noted that later Facebook photos showed more buffet items than that first day.

Which address matches your old order

Both restaurants carry some of the Yak's menu, but they lean different ways. This table matches what you used to order with the place that fits it best, using each restaurant's website as of late October.

Check hours before you go, especially at Anand. At opening, InForum reported plans for both lunch and dinner buffets. High Plains Reader later wrote that the buffet started at 11:30 a.m. and the restaurant stayed open until 9 p.m., while Anand's own site lists the buffet starting at 11. Mount Everest Kitchen's dinner end time has also moved from the 9 p.m. reported at opening to 8:30 on its site. The restaurant closes from 3 to 4:30 p.m. between lunch and dinner.

Both lunch buffets run at the same time

Both buffets run from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., so on a weekday the choice comes down to which side of town your office is on and what you want to eat. Shrestha told InForum he built his buffet for people with 30-minute or hourlong breaks. The food is ready when you sit down, and you can try several dishes without spending half your break waiting on an order. Anand's site says its buffet changes daily based on "whatever the tandoor and the pots are doing," so there's no fixed buffet menu to check ahead of time.

Both places also do takeout. Mount Everest Kitchen takes online orders for pickup and you pay when you arrive, and Anand's site links to online ordering.

Opening day showed how much demand there is for this food in Fargo. Shrestha had planned to run his buffet all day, but the crowd grew faster than the kitchen could refill the trays, so the buffet ended early. If you want the soup momo at lunchtime, go early.

Both of these buildings found new restaurant tenants within about two months of a closing. That's a useful data point for anyone who owns or leases commercial space along 25th Street or the West Acres corridor. If you're thinking about what a space like that could lease or sell for, Tyler Bretz works on commercial and residential deals across Fargo and can walk you through how storefronts in this part of town have been turning over. Start with a free home valuation, or ask about the commercial side when we talk.