The name is not subtle, and neither is the bar: the Black Gold is a straightforward North Dakota saloon that leans into the oil-boom identity with pump-jack memorabilia and a clientele that includes a fair number of people who have actually worked on a rig. The beer selection is modest but cold, the whiskey list covers the basics, and there is usually a pool table free. It is the kind of bar where conversations start easily and the music is loud enough to dance to on Friday nights but not so loud that you cannot hear the person next to you.
For a traveller wanting to understand what the boom era actually felt like on the ground — the money, the rootlessness, the particular camaraderie of people far from home doing hard physical work — spending an evening at a bar like this is more instructive than any museum exhibit. The regulars are not unfriendly to visitors who show up without attitude.
Open evenings daily. Cash is preferred though cards are accepted.