By Jodi Schwan

The restaurant and hotel under construction adjacent to Elmwood Golf Course will open a couple of months apart, but both have started hiring.

“Everything is going as expected and on schedule,” said Aaron Waldo, a partner in the ownership group Elmwood Hospitality LLC.

Aberdeen-based Quest Development is the developer and operator. General managers have been hired for the hotel and restaurant, “and we’re looking for staff immediately,” Waldo said.

Crooked Pint Ale House is scheduled to open by early December. The attached Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites likely will open about two months later, by early February.

Crooked Pint is a full-service restaurant known for its Juicy Lucy burger but with an extensive menu that includes sandwiches, salads, tacos and pot pies as well as local and regional beer, wine and liquor.

This will be the first South Dakota location for the concept, which has six locations in Minnesota. Owner and operator Hightop Hospitality also owns 25 Green Mill locations in four states.

The Crooked Pint in Sioux Falls “will work with the golf course, where people can pull up on their golf carts and come in for a drink or snack,” Waldo said. “We’ll also have a retractable roof over the golf course side, so people can sit out and enjoy the view.”

The restaurant is hiring for all positions, as is the hotel. Applicants can stop by the site or contact the company through questdc.net.

Waldo estimates there will be 30 people hired at each property.

Construction of the hotel lobby

The 116-room hotel will include a conference center with more than 3,000 square feet of meeting space that can be subdivided. It also “will come with all the full updated amenities,” Waldo said. “A pool, fitness center, business center, and all the guest rooms will have the most up-to-date fast WiFi, Keurig coffee makers and big flat-screen TVs, plus balconies overlooking the golf course.”

The opening should come at a busy time for the hotel industry, as the Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic comes to the nearby Convention Center complex in mid-February 2018.