April 18, 2024

Chicken and salads have made their way onto the new menu at The Smoked Culture BBQ & Brews. Smoked chicken quarters are now a choice for platters, and there are grilled chicken “sammiches” and wraps. The new sandwiches are Chicken Bacon Ranch and Buffalo Chicken With Bacon. The two grilled tortilla wraps are Chicken Bacon Ranch and Southwest. The three salads are California Dreaming, Snowbird and Smoked Feta Greek, all with the option of adding chicken for $2. New sides are white mac-and-cheese and potato salad. Rib platters are available now after 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday until they’re sold out. For all the details, see the online ordering menu here.

Monks Ale House has revamped its food menu. New appetizers are Monks Ale House Nachos and Pizza Party Queso with tortilla chips. Monks Classic Double from the Downtown Burger Battle has a permanent spot on the menu, and there’s a new Burger of the Moment that might change at any time. New pizzas are Pickle Pie, Hell Boy, Luchador and The Boomer. Download the menu here to get all the details. The kitchen for the craft beer bar is open from 3 to 9 p.m. weekdays, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Crack’d Pot Restaurant has three new breakfast specials: Hungry Harvey’s Special, Sunrise Sammich and The Reuben Omelet. Mike’s Special is still there too. The Texas-Sized Chicken Fried Breakfast is on the regular menu now. Breakfast is served all day; the specials just cost $1 more after 11 a.m.

A new menu for spring has arrived at Parker’s Bistro. New additions include beef bulgogi as a starter, a Green Goddess salad, Roasted Duck Breast, Filet Wellington and Vietnamese Sweet n Sour with shrimp, mussels, clams and fish in a tamarind broth with pineapple, seasonal vegetable, cilantro, green onion and garlic oil.

M.B. Haskett Delicatessen has a new spring dinner menu with scallops, quail, handmade pasta with housemade Italian sausage and several other starters and entrees. Dinner is served after 5 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Darla, the resident cat at The Cattitude Cafe, is celebrating her first birthday with a cat carnival-themed party Tuesday. Reserve a spot in the cat room to enjoy all the games, face painting, a spin-to-win wheel and treats. Hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The east-side Bagel Boy is celebrating the release of Taylor Swift’s new album Friday with a featured bagel. It’s available likely through the weekend and possibly longer. The (TTPD) Swiftie Bagel is a plain bagel with a black/gray swirl with edible purple glitter baked in and edible glitter sprayed on top. There is, of course, a signature cream cheese: Red Lippy. It’s a sweeter version that’s tinted lipstick red with a bit of glitter mixed in.

Invictus Pizza Kitchen has new shareables: pretzels with jalapeno cheese sauce, meatballs in marinara sauce with garlic cheese sticks and the garlic cheese sticks with your choice of dipping sauce. All sauces are made in-house.

If you want to encourage a young reader, Invictus Pizza Kitchen has a new Book for Bites program. It rewards kids with a free kid’s meal for every three books they read. The meal includes a create-your-own pizza, Rice Krispies Treat or applesauce and a kid’s drink. Teachers can request the certificates for their classroom. The offer is good with the purchase of an adult entree.

Starting Friday and every Friday this year, Wendy’s is offering free fries of any size with any purchase in the app.

To celebrate the Stanley Cup playoffs, Chipotle is offering its hockey jersey BOGO offer. Dine-in customers who wear a hockey jersey can buy an entree and get one free after 3 p.m. Monday. They can buy and get up to five free entrees.

Ken’s Korner is hosting a Jono’s customer reunion starting a 5:30 p.m. Friday. The longtime West Sioux bar closed in late 2020 and was replaced by a video lottery casino. Crystal Boehrns has been managing Ken’s since she lost her job at Jono’s.

Great Shots is hosting a meet-and-greet Saturday with the players and coaches of the National Champion South Dakota State University football team. They’ll be there from noon to 2 p.m.

In honor of Earth Day, Remedy Brewing Co. has partnered with Friends of the Big Sioux River to create another batch of Big Sioux Brew — beer brewed from purified river surface water. Everyone is invited to join in river cleanup Saturday morning — sign up here — and then stop by the brewery for the launch of the German Pilsner beer from noon to 3 p.m. Midwest Dairy will be providing cheese samples from local dairy farms. See how the Big Sioux Brew is made at fbsr.org/bigsiouxbrew.

Head to Critters Bar in Crooks on Saturday to vote in this year’s rib cook-off. Ten contestants will compete for the title and a people’s choice award. Judging starts at 2 p.m. It’s also a potluck, so bring a side dish to share.

Fans of fried chicken sandwiches have a couple of new options to try for a limited time:

• The Buffalo Buttermilk at Chick N Max features two crispy chicken tenders tossed in buffalo sauce and topped with buttermilk garlic sauce, pepper jack cheese and zesty dill pickles.

• The Memphis Style BBQ Chicken Sandwich at Slim Chickens is a hand-breaded and fried chicken breast, shaken in house barbecue sauce, topped with creamy coleslaw and layered with pickles on a toasted brioche bun.

Dave & Buster’s is donating $1 to Make-A-Wish for every strawberry shortcake purchase this month.

Here’s a look at the new cocktail menu at the downtown location for Lucky’s.

Changes in hours, service

Slim Chickens on Minnesota Avenue will be closed for remodeling Sunday through Monday, April. 28.

Here are other food and drink headlines from the past week.

Locally owned, grab-and-go coffee shop opens downtown

Lake Lorraine begins lakefront transformation with bar/restaurant groundbreaking

Jimmy John’s announces Brandon location; other national retail could be ahead