Road Tips

Inca - Sioux Falls, SD

I was in Sioux Falls earlier this past fall to see a dealer that we've been doing business with for sometime, now. We had to meet late in the day because of scheduling conflicts and afterward I asked him if he wanted to go out and get some dinner. He begged off as he had something going on with his wife. So, I was on my own and sort of had a hankering for Mexican or Cajun food. Well, there really isn't any Cajun in Sioux Falls, but there are a handful of Mexican restaurants. On the recommendation of the desk clerk at my hotel, he steered me to Inca, a Mexican restaurant on the south side of Sioux Falls (see map).

In 1997, Julio Espino was sent to Sioux Falls to service sales systems for restaurants who were clients of the company he worked for. He actually drew the short stick to go to Sioux Falls as his colleagues all passed on the assignment. Espino spent some time in Sioux Falls and fell in love with the area. He also found that there was a paucity of Mexican restaurants in the city. He contacted a friend out in Seattle, Danny Navarro, whom Espino knew from the restaurant industry. He convinced Navarro to come out to Sioux Falls to help him open a restaurant. Navarro thought he'd only stay a few weeks to help Espino start up the restaurant, but he ended up staying in Sioux Falls, as well.

Espino had immigrated to the U.S. in the late 80's and helped a number of Mexican immigrants who moved to the Sioux Falls area. However, in 2007, Espino was convicted of hiring illegal immigrants - paying them cash for their services in his restaurant - and was sentenced to four years probation, six-months house arrest and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service over a two year period. It could have been a lot worse for Espino - his lawyer successfully argued that Espino had only hired the illegals to help them get on their feet as they worked to get citizenship, plus the fact that Espino contributed much to the Sioux Falls community (a point that even prosecutors acknowledged). Today, Espino helps other businesses when it comes to hiring practices and how to stay compliant with federal guidelines.

Espino recently opened a second location on Sioux Falls' west side - Inca Express - that has a smaller menu and more of a fast paced feel compared to the original Inca. He has also been thinking of putting a second Inca location on the east side of Sioux Falls.

The food fare at Inca is categorized as Chihuahuan-style. Chihuahuan region food is described as a melting pot of different cuisines picked up by immigrants to Mexico beginning in the 16th century. Not only do you find influences of Spanish food in Chihuahua, but you'll also find variances of French, Lebanese, Welsh and Italian foods. But most importantly to the Chihuahuan region are the Mennonites who immigrated to Mexico in the early 1920's, coming first from their lowland areas of Holland and Northern Germany, then to Canada before accepting an invitation from the Mexican government. Mennonite-raised beans, corn and chiles are now a staple for Mexican food and Mennonite cheese is considered the best of all the Mexican cheeses.  

The dining area at Inca is divided into two areas - the more spacious and well lit main area (below left) that has natural colors on the walls and ceilings, with pastels for the booth seats and table tops - and a smaller area along the west side of the building with booths lined along windows. I was seated at one of those booths next to the window and given a menu.

The chips and salsa at Inca are very good. The chips are light and very thin, but not thin enough where they break under the weight of the thick and very tasty salsa. Espino bottles Inca's salsa and sells it at various grocery stores around Sioux Falls. He estimates that they sell about 1500 to 1600 jars of salsa each month.

I was really in the mood for fajitas, but I found a few other interesting items on Inca's expansive menu. They had a number of steak and beef entrees, as well as a large number of seafood offerings. One thing that I don't think I've ever seen on a menu at a Mexican restaurant are scallops. They had a dish called Scallops el Mojo de Ajo - garlic/olive oil/lime juice marinated scallops sauteed with garlic and butter with fresh mushrooms. It sounded pretty good. They also had Chile Colorado - chunks of slow cooked pork in a red chile sauce. And I almost got the Tacos al Carbon - marinated beef chunks that are grilled, then served in soft corn tortillas with chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro and parmesan cheese. But I hadn't had fajitas for quite sometime and I decided to go with that. I also got a margarita to start out.

That was when the meal began to go bad.

The margarita was bad - one of the worst margaritas I've ever had. It was syrupy, much too sweet and I couldn't detect any tequila in it. It had one of the worst aftertastes, sort of like they needed to clean out the margarita machine. I drank just over half the margarita and waited for the waitress to come back so I could order a Dos Equis Amber.

The fajitas showed up, all sizzling and the onions and peppers were smelling good. There was a large plate of rice, refried beans and, interestingly, cole slaw, along with a small bowl of pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce and shredded cheese. It really looked promising.

The beef, however, was lifeless. It was overcooked and had almost no taste to it whatsoever. And there was a scarcity of beef on the fajita griddle. I had to pick through the mounds of cooked onions and peppers just to see if there was anymore hidden underneath. There really wasn't. While the guacamole and the veggies were fresh - and the beans and rice were good - I may as well just have gotten vegetarian fajitas. There was barely enough beef to put onto two of the flour shell tacos. And it really wasn't that good.

I was disappointed in my fajitas at Inca and I was very disappointed in my margarita. I can almost still taste that sweet, yet bitter taste on my tongue from that margarita mix. However, the service was good at Inca and I really enjoyed the chips and salsa. In hindsight, I probably should have gone with my gut instinct and gotten the Chile Colorado or the Tacos al Carbon. But my stomach was yelling for fajitas. They just weren't very good. I'm willing to give Inca another chance at some point, but for as little as I get back to Sioux Falls, it may be a long while before that happens.

Minerva's - Sioux Falls, SD

I was in Sioux Falls courting a prospective new dealer recently.  I had planned on taking him out to dinner that evening, but it turned out that he had some family obligations to take care of.  I asked him, "If you wanted me to take you to any restaurant in town, where would it be?"

He didn't even flinch.  "Minerva's, downtown."

So, since I thought I was going to take him out for dinner, I decided to treat myself to a good dinner at Minerva's (see map).

Minerva's has been in business since 1977 when Paul Van Bockern and a partner opened the doors.  The chef at Minerva's, Don Anderson, bought out Van Bockern's partner in 1986.  Minerva's is under the WR Restaurants umbrella, which is owned by Van Bockern and Anderson, and they operate a number of restaurants in six states. 

But their flagship restaurant continues to be the Minerva's in downtown Sioux Falls.  It's a very nice restaurant - I'm guessing the nicest in the area.  It has a big dining room with a party room in the back.  The bar was spacious and had some dining areas in there, as well. 

I asked if it were OK to eat at the bar and the hostess said, "Absolutely!  Enjoy yourself!"

I sat at the bar in front of a TV with a college football game on, I had my newspaper and I saw a refrigerator full of beer behind the bar.  I was set. 

The bartender, Tom, was a likable guy who was very helpful and friendly.  The menu was loaded with great choices of steak, pork chops, seafood and chicken.  I was leaning toward getting a steak and I had my eyes on two different ones - the Steak Michael - a New York strip that was encrusted in peppercorns, blue cheese, horseradish and parmesan cheese; and the Black Peppercorn Filet - a tenderloin filet encrusted in peppercorns, served with a bearnaise and mushroom sauce over a bed of fettucine alfredo.  I was having a tough time trying to figure out what to get.

Tom, the bartender, came over and asked what I was going to have.  I said, "I'm having trouble..." 

I told him my two choices and he said, "Obviously you want a steak.  Here's my suggestion.  Deep six both of those and get the Hunter's New York strip."  It's a center cut New York strip steak seasoned with Montreal seasoning (salt, crushed red peppers, black pepper and a game spice). 

I took his advice and a side of the garlic mashed potatoes with the steak.  He said, "You know, it's almost like we're twins or something.  That's what I always get when I order the Hunter's." 

With the meal, you get to participate in Minerva's massive salad bar.  It was pretty impressive, to say the least.  They had a lot of things to choose from, but I had to make sure that I didn't load up so I'd be too full to eat my main entree. 

Tom brought out my steak and it looked good.  It smelled good.  I cut into it - it was a little overcooked for a medium-rare - but it was still pretty good.  And the garlic mashed potatoes were good, too. 

I wanted some wine with dinner, and Minerva's sells wine by the glass.  I was interested in the St. Francis red blend they had listed and Tom gave me a generous tasting of the wine.  It was OK, but not what I was looking for.  I ordered up a glass of the J. Lohr Seven Oaks cabernet and it was pretty good.  Better than the St. Francis. 

As I continued to cut into the steak, I was disappointed that it was overcooked.  It was a little tough to chew at times, but it was still edible.  Tom asked me how the steak was and I told him that it was a little overdone for my taste.  He offered to take back a steak of which I'd eaten a third of already and send me out a new one.  I said that wasn't necessary.  But he was apologetic the rest of the night.

Tom and I got to talking about wine and he was telling me that his favorite of the wines they had to sell by the glass was the Black Opal cabernet-merlot blend from Australia.  He poured me a glass on the house after I finished my Seven Oaks.  It was pretty good, but I liked the robust nature of the Seven Oaks cab.  After I finished the Black Opal, he gave me a nearly full glass of the Seven Oaks - on the house.

Bitching about an over-cooked steak can bring benefits down the line. 

All in all, Minerva's was a great dining experience.  Even with a steak that was overdone, the service was good, the atmosphere was excellent and the food selection was top notch.  I'm hoping I get this dealer to come on board so I can get back to Minerva's sometime down the line.

Granite City Food and Brewery

Granite City Food and Brewery is a chain of about a dozen restaurants/brew pubs in the upper Midwest.  By now, you know that I usually try and stay away from chains like the plague.  But Granite City is still small enough that each restaurant has a little bit of local character to it. 

Granite City started in St. Cloud, MN in 1999 by Steve Wagenheim and brew master Bill Burdick.  Both had been involved in the restaurant business for a number of years prior to opening their first Granite City restaurant.  They just opened their 12th Granite City this month next to the Kansas Speedway in Northwest Kansas City.

Now, most brew pubs - I've found - are brew pubs first and the food is somewhat of an afterthought.  That's not the case with Granite City.  The food is really what brings the people in, the beer is so-so to OK.

Their beers are a little too sweet for my taste.  The Northern Light Lager has a smooth taste, but the aftertaste reminds me of a sweet beer along the lines of Falstaff.  Their Duke of Wellington Pale Ale is also a little too sweet for me.  It doesn't have that good pale ale bite that I like when I finish a swallow.

But as I said, the food is what brings the people in. 

They had just announced they were going to open a Granite City in Davenport sometime in 2003.  I happened to be up in Sioux Falls, SD one evening and just down the street from my hotel was a Granite City.  Turns out it was the second Granite City restaurant in the chain.

Granite City - Sioux Falls

As I found with all the Granite City's I've been to (4 so far), the Sioux Falls Granite City was spacious and well-appointed on the inside and the building looked attractive on the outside.  The one in Sioux Falls has a nice outside patio that overlooks a little pond with a fountain.  Nice touch.

I ordered the meat loaf for my first meal.  When they brought me my meal, I couldn't believe the size of the portions.  In fact, it was too much.  But that's been the trademark - and one of my largest complaints - of Granite City's food service.  There's just too much food. 

I do like their Honey Rosemary Filet Mignon, a filet marinated in honey, garlic and rosemary, then broiled.  Their meat loaf is an old stand-by for me - they grill the cooked meat loaf giving it a nice little flavor that you don't expect out of a meat loaf. 

Granite City's blue cheese peppercorn burger is pretty good.  And their Chicken Florentine lasagna is a good get, too.  They also have pretty good garlic mashed potatoes that you can get when you get a steak. 

And ask for the onion straws instead of french fries if you get a sandwich.  They usually use the onion straws - which are thin onion rings - as a garnish on burgers and other sandwiches.  They're much better than the fries.  And don't let them tell you they can't substitute the onion straws - they can.  I still don't understand why they don't have them available on the menu. 

In addition to the one in Sioux Falls, I've been to the one in Lincoln, NE, Cedar Rapids, IA, and, of course, the one in Davenport.  I've never had a bad meal, the service is always good, the beer is, well, it's OK.  Drinkable, but nothing outstanding.  And the one in Davenport is so popular of an eating destination that the wait can be upwards of 45 minutes to an hour on a Friday or Saturday night.

It's probably a good thing that Granite City says "Food and Brewery" rather than "Brewery and Food".  As I said, it's the food, not the beer, that makes Granite City good.

Tea Steakhouse - Tea, SD

I was in Sioux Falls one night and I was hankering for a steak.  I went on line to Michael Stern's web site Roadfood.com and he suggested a little steak house in a small town just south and west of Sioux Falls - The Tea Steakhouse in Tea, SD. 

The Tea Steakhouse was actually sort of tough to find.  It's not on a main road in the little town of Tea.  I had to finally stop at a convenience store and ask the gal behind the counter where this place was.  She cheerfully said, "Oh, it's two blocks to the east and two blocks to the south."  Yes, I actually DID stop for directions, but I knew that given the size of Tea, I would have found it within five minutes. (see map)

The Tea Steakhouse was sort of rustic on the inside.  They had a bar area that was off the main dining room that was full of local yokels.  But the two dining rooms didn't look very inviting - typical small town restaurant metal chairs and tables with no table cloths.  I asked if I could eat in the bar (they had a game on the TV there) and the hostess said that was no problem.

The bar at the Tea Steakhouse is called "O'Toole's" (Jim and Lisa, your hosts).  I never did find out if it was owned by the same people who owned the steakhouse, but it appeared to be one and the same place. 

I ordered a KC Strip, medium rare and a side of hash browns (on the recommendation of the bartender, a nice lady, I'm guessing in her mid to late 30's, who was going through some personal problems with an underaged daughter who was pregnant). 

I got the steak and I have to tell you, I was highly disappointed.  HIGHLY disappointed.  The steak cooked to a perfect medium rare, but it was tough, it was chewy, it didn't have that good taste you normally get with good KC Strips.  I swallowed a small bite and I swear it scratched my esophagus.  It hurt to swallow food for two or three days afterwards.

I was deeply disappointed in my steak at The Tea Steakhouse.  I was also disappointed in that Michael Stern sent me to a place that I wasn't happy with.  That hadn't happened before. 

I don't know if I'll try the Tea Steakhouse the next time I'm up in the Sioux Falls area.  I didn't think it was much to begin with and I don't know if I'll be pleasantly surprised the next time around.