July 25, 2023

Now that the mosquitoes aren’t ruining every moment outside, don’t let summer escape without taking time to enjoy it. Here are six new and newer patios across Sioux Falls that offer a spot to unwind.

Alibi Bar & Grill/The Scapegoat

Just off Arrowhead Parkway, two restaurants share a new patio overlooking a quickly developing neighborhood.

The new location for Alibi Bar & Grill and the new pizza restaurant The Scapegoat features a patio on the back side of the building at 7400 E. Oak Grove Trail.

On the north-facing patio, customers will find a collection of tables that seat four or can be moved around easily to accommodate larger groups. There’s room for about 60 people. Umbrellas are coming to help provide shade when needed.

“It’s a great atmosphere with flowers in large planters and a creek flowing by,” said Chrissy Johnson, who owns the restaurants with her husband, Justin. “We also have a golf cart path, so the customers who live in the neighborhood can easily access us via golf cart or side-by-side if they choose to.”

The restaurants are within The Willows development, west of Willow Run Golf Course. Single-family houses and townhomes are being built on the other side of the creek.

With the Alibi open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily, the patio serves as a spot for lunch, dinner or late-night drinks. The bar has a full liquor license and is open those 21 and older. The menu features burgers and sandwiches, and the Alibi serves lamb chislic every Monday night.

The adjacent Scapegoat is family-friendly and has hours of 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Diners there will find artisan Neapolitan-style pizzas. Children are welcome on a small patio next to The Scapegoat.

The first outdoor live music event will be Aug. 1, Johnson said. Other features on the patio include yard games like beanbags and oversized Connect 4. The patio is dog-friendly.

BB’s Pub

On the northwest edge of the city, the relocated BB’s Pub opened its patio this season.

It’s a large space on the east side of the new building at 5402 W. University Trail along Marion Road.

“Our patio is perfect for anyone just wanting to sit, relax and enjoy the fresh air with a cold beverage,” said bar manager Ethan Harvey, a grandson of owner Dave Birger. “We are positioned pretty nicely where during the night we are just far enough north of Sioux Falls where it is dark but also has the city lights shining on the horizon, so it makes for a very nice view of Sioux Falls.”

BB’s has a full liquor license, so the drink choices are extensive. The pub recently added a soft-serve ice cream machine and is working on recipes for boozy milkshakes. There are 48 tap lines for beer.

The menu features smash burgers, specialty burgers, sandwiches, wings and broasted chicken.

Seating for up to 120 people includes mostly tables for six with a few that seat 12. Well-behaved dogs on a leash are welcomed.

“Hours for the patio are the same at the bar, so people are welcome to sit on the patio open to close if they choose to do so,” Harvey said.

BB’s even serves breakfast, so it opens at 8 a.m. every day except for Sunday, when it opens at 9 a.m. The bar is open typically until midnight daily.

That patio has a heater that can extend its use in chillier weather, but full service will end “once the temperature starts dropping or once the first snowfall comes,” Harvey said.

Until that happens, customers can enjoy occasional live music on the patio and play beanbags.

The Smoked Culture BBQ & Brews

Near The Empire Mall, a picnic table-filled patio offers a great spot for barbecue and beer.

The Smoked Culture BBQ & Brews features barbecue platters, “sammiches,” wraps and salads with lots of craft beer options. Other drinks include wine, new THC offerings and nonalcoholic beverages.

“Our restaurant patio, shaded by a beautiful tree with flowers, plants, outdoor umbrellas and pergolas, provides the perfect setting with music and delicious food for creating lasting memories around a table,” said Jess Jones, who started The Smoked Culture as a food truck with her husband, Ryan Gaede.

Speakers pipe out that music, but live music is featured occasionally.

For seating, there are eight picnic tables that seat eight diners, and there is one traditional table for a different style of seating.

Dogs are welcome on the patio.

The restaurant at 3400 S. 49th St. is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Fernson Downtown

While the main patio at Fernson Downtown gets all the attention, there is a secluded spot behind the building to enjoy that also can be reserved for private gatherings.

The taproom for Fernson Brewing Co. recently added new soft seating in the backyard patio, which is accessible through a doorway in the northeast corner of the building at 332 S. Phillips Ave. Outside, in a nook created by the adjacent buildings, there’s an L-shaped couch and low table set on a rug and a grouping of oversized chairs with cushions around another low table.

Additional seating at tables is available, and there’s even room for a set of boards to play beanbags.

In total, there’s room for a couple dozen customers. Reserving the space does come with a fee.

The building walls are painted white, so it’s not a dark space. A string of patio lights helps set the mood at night.

Of course, there are Fernson beers to drink, including the new Prairie Sun, and wine is available. Wagoo Burger runs the taproom’s kitchen, so burgers and fries are the signature items, and other sandwiches are available.

In the morning, Wagoo offers an Egg Smack menu with breakfast sandwiches, and Fernson Coffee + Tea offers drinks.

Dogs are welcome on the patio.

Lucky’s on Louise

Lucky’s opened its second location in Sioux Falls last summer along south Louise Avenue with a dozen or so tables and chairs on the patio.

Now, customers are enjoying upgraded furniture and umbrellas on the patio, which is separated from the parking lot with a low metal fence.

The seating wraps around the east and south sides of the building at 6401 S. Louise Ave. There’s room for more than 70 people at a mixture of high-top and standard tables that seat four and a few high-top tables that seat six.

On the east side, two large garage doors can be opened to the patio, bringing that feeling of the outdoors into the bigger space inside. Occasionally, there’s live music.

Just outside the patio fence on the south side, there’s an artificial grass area for playing beanbags and large-scale Jenga. Large planters with flowers and ornamental grasses separate the playing area from the parking lot.

Dogs are welcome all the time, but every Sunday is Paws on the Patio. There are toys and activities for pets, and the bar offers $8 “Hair of the Dog” loaded bloody marys.

Lucky’s has a full liquor license and a full lunch and dinner menu that was updated recently to include boneless and traditional wings, chislic, mozzarella sticks and desserts. After the kitchen closes, there’s a Munchies Till Midnight menu.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.

Session Ale Works

This new offering for the west side of Sioux Falls soon will offer an improved patio.

Session Ale Works opened in May but got the approval to sell beer just a few weeks ago, making the spot even more enticing for an after-work wind-down.

The restaurant and craft beer bar is at 323 S. Whitewood Circle, near 12th Street and Ellis Road in the Firehouse42 development. A large patio on the west side of the building, which includes other tenants, offers views of a private lake.

For now, there’s seating for 32 people, but that will change with the addition of more tables and chairs, eventually seating about 100 people — just as many as indoors. Session Ale Works plans to build a pergola and put up windscreens without obscuring the view of the lake.

A music series called Lakeside Live is set to begin next month.

Dogs are welcome on the patio.

Session Ale Works offers 27 tap lines, with local, state and regional beers that will rotate frequently. The menu features brick-oven pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, tacos and salads.

Hours are 11 a.m. to midnight daily.