Sept. 17, 2025

This piece is sponsored by Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.

From barbecue to nuts and fudge, plus a new place for ice cream treats, the food scene is expanding in Canton.

“That’s great news for the community, in addition to its job growth and housing expansion,” said Tyler Tordsen, CEO of Sioux Metro Growth Alliance. “Not only are these small-business owners providing fun new amenities for Canton-area residents — they’re offering a new reason for others in the Sioux Metro area to pay a visit.”

Nut, fudge shop adds other food

A former bank building in Canton now is filled with the aroma of fresh-roasted nuts while offering a new place to grab a meal.

M.I. Nuts Company moved into 102 W. Fifth St. earlier this year after fully renovating the space. It’s just west of the Lincoln County Courthouse.

Owner Michelle Oas began her business using a food truck, which is still operational, and discovered the Canton location as she looked for an indoor space to make fudge.

“I already roasted nuts and needed an indoor space to make fudge,” said Oas, who lives in Sioux Falls but banks in Canton and saw the building because of it.

“I thought I could rent a little space to make my fudge and nuts, but in order to do that, you have to have a commercial kitchen, so as I was getting the space ready, I said I might as well try to sell to people in town while I’m making it. So I took another office space, tore down a wall and then needed storage space, so we had another walkway into another office.”

Before she knew it, she was occupying the entire main level.

“Then I said, ‘How much fudge and nuts can one little town eat?’ So probably eight days before I opened, I said I should get a cold table and make some sandwiches while I’m roasting nuts. And the sandwiches turned into full-fledged meals.”

She now offers create-your-own sandwiches and pizza in addition to daily specials, including a popular French dip sandwich and garlic spaghetti bowls.

“Any time I do those, I’ll have a very busy lunch,” Oas said. “We have a very good sandwiches — I try to buy local for ingredients when I can — and the town has been really receptive. I love Canton.”

She also offers 12 varieties of fudge in addition to honey-roasted cashews and peanuts and cinnamon-roasted almonds and pecans.

Oas added an arcade in the space that can be rented for parties and includes pool, darts, foosball and video games.

It’s also open to the public during business hours.

M.I. Nuts is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.

Barbecue flavors

In the midst of expanding Noid’s Gaming Parlour, Chad Hendriks stopped a couple of times at Richard Simpson’s Who Wan’ Smoke barbecue food truck in Sioux Falls.

Hendriks loved the food and knew that barbecue would be a good addition at the bar and video lottery casino on Main Street, which he and his father, Doug, have owned for 10 years. Last year, they expanded with Noid’s Social Parlour in the other half of the building and wanted to offer customers more than bowls of candy and snacks and make Noid’s a destination for a meal.

Earlier this summer, he convinced Simpson to bring his smokers and grills to the patio area behind the building and take over the unused kitchen inside.

Simpson’s menu is based around bowls that include choices like ribs, brisket, pulled pork and chicken, and sides like his Southern-style charro beans, Southern mac-and-cheese and potato salad.

“Our tagline is ‘Home of the $10 bowls,'” said Simpson, who learned to cook from his mother while growing up in Texas and moved to Sioux Falls in 2013. The $10 bowl has chicken and one side; higher-priced bowls have ribs or brisket.

He recently added Doghouse Tacos, which include grilled, Italian Citrus-seasoned chicken on street-style corn tortillas with cilantro and onion, along with verde or guacamole salsas. He jokes that husbands who are “in the doghouse” with their wives can bring the tacos home, “set them down and walk away, and you’ll be good.” Other seasoned chicken flavors includes Sweet & Tangy and Spicy BBQ. Pulled pork is another option sometimes.

Once kitchen renovations are completed, he’ll expand the menu.

Who Wan’ Smoke also does catering.

“My whole goal is to create community through food,” Simpson said. “What brings people together is good food.”

While Noid’s at 109 S. Main St. is open daily, Who Wan’ Smoke’s hours are 4 to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Noid’s Gaming Parlour has a beer and wine license, and Noid’s Social Parlour has a full liquor license, so customers can enjoy a beer or cocktail with their food. Hendriks plans to turn the second floor of the building on the Social Parlour side into an event space that can be rented out.

The building, which was rebuilt in 1919 after the original burned down, was the longtime home of A.G. Noid’s drugstore, the namesake for the casinos, which have a total of 20 video lottery machines and also sell Powerball and scratch-off lottery tickets and pull tabs. There are TVs to watch football games, and dart leagues will start up soon.

Hendricks describes Noid’s as “becoming the Cheers of South Dakota. People walk in the door, and it’s like ‘Jared!’ The door opens, everybody looks.”

Ready for dessert?

Canton’s popular Sioux Valley Grille now has another reason for diners to visit — or extend their stay. A new ice cream parlor has opened in an area of the restaurant at 117 E. Fifth St. that had been used as an overflow dining room for larger parties.

“We had a blank canvas and thought we should bring back some nostalgia,” co-owner Peter Cobb said. “We wanted to give it more character, and so far there’s been a good response.”

The menu includes hand-scooped ice cream, cones, sundaes, shakes, malts and 1919 Classic American Draft Root beer floats.

“It’s open seating, so they can wait there if they’re going to dine in the restaurant, and it offers us the ability to potentially open more days just in the ice cream shop or in the afternoon,” Cobb said. “I don’t think people in South Dakota are afraid to eat ice cream in winter.”

The area also allowed the restaurant to add more bakery items, including homemade cinnamon rolls, pies, tarts and cakes.

“They’re a little more upscale, and we thought more baked options would be good for Canton,” Cobb said. “We’re also seeing a lot of business from outside Canton.”

He also hopes to bring back the restaurant’s Sunday brunch this fall.

For now, hours at Sioux Valley Grille are 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday and 4 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday.